Commentary in Simple English on the Gospel that Mark wrote

Home Introduction Contents Notes Previous Page Next Page
 

CHAPTER 4 [4.1] Some of the teaching of Jesus

Verses 1-20 The Sower and the Seed

(See Matthew 13: 1-23, Luke 8: 4-15.)

This is the first and the longest of the stories that Jesus told. We call these stories 'parables'. People often say that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. This is quite true. In a parable there is nothing strange. It is simple. It uses everyday events or characters we all know. In this way it presents a message which comes with real force to the hearers. In a 'fable' there may be animals that talk. This does not happen in a parable. The parables are part of the way in which Jesus taught people. It is good if we can use things which people know about in our teaching.

These verses split into four parts:-

1. Verses 1 and 2 Jesus sits in a boat to teach. The people stand on the shore of the lake and they listen to him.

2. Verses 3-9 - The story itself [4.2]

The farmer ploughed the land three times before he sowed the seed. First he cut down and burnt the thorns (verse 7). Then when he ploughed the land he buried the roots of the thorns. When he ploughed again he brought them up.

The farmer sowed the seed (verse 3) in rows which we call 'furrows' or 'drills'. He loaded a sack of grain on a donkey. He cut a hole in the sack. The seed ran out as he led the donkey up and down the field. (Verse 4) He lost some of the seed on the way to the field. He then ploughed a fourth time to cover the seed. There was not much rain and the last ploughing turned wet soil over onto the seed.

The farmer was short of grain to use as seed (Psalm 126: 6). He also needed grain for food. If he did not use it for seed there would be no harvest. There would be hunger until the new crop was ripe.

In the Bible, birds often stand for what is bad, as in verse 4. What is bad acts quickly if truth does not win. (Verses 5 and 6) The sun burns some plants which do not have good roots. (Verse 7) If the soil is good, the thorns will grow well. (Verse 8) The same sun ripens the grain which the farmer sowed on good soil.

Jesus often used the words of verse 9. You will find them in Revelation too. We all have ears. Some of us, but sadly not all of us, have 'ears to hear' the truth which Jesus teaches.

3. Verses 10-13 (Verse 10) The followers of Jesus ask him about His parables. Jesus uses words from Isaiah 6: 9 and 10. (Verse 11) He tells His followers that God has given to them the 'secret of the Kingdom of God'. He means the secret of the way into the Kingdom. God gives this secret to them. Other people are outside the Kingdom. That is grace: whatever God gives to us. Verse 12 tells us that there is more than one way to hear God's Word. If we hear God's Word in the wrong way it will do us no good. [4.3] These words are not about whether we should preach or not. They are about how we hear.

(Verse 13) Jesus says: 'This parable is not a hard one. Others will be less easy'

4. Verses 14-20 Jesus tells His followers what this parable means.

(a) Verse 14 The seed is God's word. (Verse 15) Some of the seed falls where the farmer has not ploughed the soil. Our hearts are like the soil, which needs to be broken up ready for the Word of God to be sown in them. You will know some hard people who hear the Word of God preached but it does them no good (Psalm 57: 17; Isaiah 66: 2).

(b) Verse 16 In some places the hard rock was not far down. The seed which is sown in this soil grows quickly but does not have good roots. Some people start the Christian life so quickly that we cannot keep up with them. We are sad when they do not last. We need roots (Psalm 1: 3) which go deep down into God's truth. If we have roots like that our faith will last. (Verse 17) There are people whose roots are only shallow. The joy of these people does not last. We must be ready to live by faith. We must be ready to suffer for the faith. We must die in the faith.

(c) Verse 18 Thorns grow well in good soil but they do not let the good seed bear fruit. (Verse 19) 'Cares of the world' and 'pleasure in riches' are not at all the same. They are opposites. Yet what they do to the Word of God in our lives is the same. Riches are not wrong but to love money is wrong (1 Timothy 6: 10). Look at the wise man's prayer (Proverbs 30: 8). Our life will only hold just so much. 'Desires for other things' will crowd out the Gospel.

(d) Verse 20 When the Word of God falls into good soil and grows it produces up to a hundred times as much as the farmer sowed. (See Genesis 26: 12.) This is a good harvest but it does happen. Some people are good soil. They keep the Word: Satan does not take it from them. They have joy, but they have a deep root too. They may have some trouble with thorns but they keep worry, wealth and other things in check. We must pray to God that we may be like good soil and give Him a great harvest.

This first story about seed tells us about the Sower and the different kinds of soil. Now Jesus tells two more stories about seed. These are to do with the life which is in the seed (verses 26-32). But something else comes first.

(Verses 21-25) A Lamp on a Stand

(Verse 21) I think that this was a family joke among the fishing people who lived in Capernaum. The young fishermen came home. They were tired and hungry at the end of the hard day. Home was a dark little house. They asked: 'Mum, what is for dinner?' 'Light a lamp and you will see', she replied. 'Where shall we put the lamp, Mum?' 'Why, put it under the sleeping mat - or tip the meal barrel up over it.!' Of course, they knew all the time that it must go on a stand to give light. (Verse 22) In the same way we must share the light that Jesus gives to us with as many other people as we can. God hides his truth in us, but He does this so that He can bring it into the open. (Verse 24) If we give to God all that we have he will give far more back to us. (Verse 25) If we have real faith in Christ, God will give more to us.

(Verses 26-29) The Growing Seed

I plant seeds in my garden. I bury them in the earth. I cannot see them. They start to grow. I do not know how or why or just when. There is life in the seed. There is also life in the Word of God. We must sow it. Just how, when or why it comes to life we may never know. We can hope that there will be a harvest for God's glory one day. [4.4]

(Verses 30-32) The Mustard Seed

(See Matthew 13: 31,32; Luke 13:18,19.)

The Old Testament compares the great powers of the world to trees which grow to a great size (Daniel 4: 4-27; Ezekiel 17: 22-24; 31: 1-14). But (verse 31) Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to mustard which is a garden plant. This grows from a tiny seed. (Verse 32) Mustard may grow three metres tall. This is taller than most vegetables, but it is still only a plant.

Some people think that this little story only means that the church of Christ will grow from very small beginnings. But the 'birds of the air' are usually bad. I rather think that Jesus says to us here that the church can become too big and hard. Then the people who are not real Christians come into the church. They take what they can get from the church, just as the birds eat the seeds.

Verses 33 and 34 sum up for us the way that Jesus taught. It is so easy when we teach other people to show off how much we know. We must ask ourselves whether the people we teach can receive what we say. We need to pray to God for wisdom. This is why prayer matters so much.

Verses 35-41 The Storm on the Lake

(See Matthew 8: 23-27; Luke 8: 22-25.)

This chapter began (in verse 1) with Jesus in a boat. It ends in the same way. In verse 35 it is the end of the day. Jesus asks His followers to take Him across the Lake. This is to the east side. So (verse 36) they set out.

The Lake is deep in a hollow, with mountains around it. This is why there are sudden storms. The wind rushes down from the mountains when no one expects it.

Several of the followers of Jesus were fishermen. They had always worked on the Lake. (Verse 37) This storm was so bad that they were really frightened. Jesus was a carpenter and teacher, but they thought he could at least help to throw water out of the boat! (Verse 38) But He slept. (Who else slept in a boat in a storm? See Jonah 1:5. But Jonah was not weary he was seasick. He had not preached all day long.)

There are three questions here: -

A) Verse 38 - 'Teacher, don't you care if we drown?', His followers ask Jesus. Of course He cared for them and He still cares for us now (1 Peter 5: 7). He did far more than they had hoped. He stilled both the wind and the waves.

B) Verse 40 - Jesus asks: 'Why are you so afraid?' Unbelief is the opposite of belief. Fear is the opposite of faith.

C) Verse 41 - Jesus' followers ask: 'Who is this?'

This is the question which goes back to Chapter 1: 27. We know that our Lord Jesus Christ is a real man who cares for us. He is also the Son of God who has power over the forces of nature. The followers of Jesus had not yet found this out.

Jesus was in the storm with them. If we are God's children, Jesus will be with us too in the storms of life.
 
Home Top Introduction Contents Notes Previous Page Next Page