7: Parables and explanations – Mark 4:1- 34

4Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ² He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³ “Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.
⁸ Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
⁹ And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

¹⁰ When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹ And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; ¹² in order that
‘they may indeed look, but not perceive, 
and may indeed listen, but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’” 

¹³ And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴ The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. ¹⁶ And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. ¹⁸ And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹ but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²⁰ And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” 

²¹ He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? ²² For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. ²³ Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” ²⁴ And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. ²⁵ For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” 

²⁶ He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷ and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. ²⁸ The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.” 

³⁰ He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; ³² yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” 

³³ With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it;
³⁴ he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. NRSV

Get into the Word

1. How does Jesus explain his use of parables? How do you think the disciples felt about his reason? How do you respond to this?

2. How does Jesus explain the parable’s meaning? Who is the farmer? What is the seed? What different situations do the “soils” represent? How do Luke and Matthew differ in Jesus’s explanation of the parable’s meaning?

3. What does Jesus ask about a lamp? Where do we normally put a lamp or a light? What meaning does he give this story? 

2. What does Jesus tell the people to do? Why is this important? What happens to those who don’t follow his suggestion?

3. How does Jesus use seed to explain his Kingdom? What kind of seed does Jesus talk about next? Why does he use this seed? What is the result of planting this type of seed? 

4. What differences are there in the parables according to Luke and Matthew [see Notes]? Why do you think the writers included some parables but not others?

Get Personal

How are you with truly “seeing” and “hearing”? How does God help you keep your eyes and ears fully open to his message for you?

(Cross-references to Matthew and Luke are given in brackets)

4:1. Matthew and Luke both include the parable of the sower. Matthew also puts Jesus in a boat and refers to many stories, [13:1-9]; but Luke says only that Jesus told this story to a great crowd and people from town after town came to him, [8:4].
Matthew’s version of the parable is almost identical to Mark’s. Luke differs in a couple of the details, such as lack of moisture for the seed on rock, and a hundred-fold increase in the crop on fertile soil, [8:6-9].
4:9. Ears to hear — the full meaning of the parable is available only to those who listen spiritually. Jesus used this admonition several times [check Matt 11:15, 13:9, 13:43, Luke 8:8 and 14:35].
4:10. The meaning of the parables — all three Gospels relate the disciples’ question about what the parables mean, and Jesus’s answer about the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven; and using parables to hide this information from “others,” but Luke omits Jesus’s statement, To those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 
4:12. Jesus refers to Isaiah 6:9-10; but all three Gospels differ fr each other and from Isaiah, [check Matt 13:10, Luke 8:14-15, and Isaiah 6:9-10. Deuteronomy and Jeremiah also talk about eyes that don’t see and ears that don’t hear.10].
4:13. Jesus’ explanation — In Matthew Jesus does not criticize the disciples, but says, “blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it,” [Matt 13:17].Luke records Jesus simply explaining the parable. There are some minor differences in the details of the explanation. 
4:21-25. The Lamp — Luke’s version is slightly different than Mark’s: No one after

lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light, [Lk 8:16-17]. Luke does not include Jesus’ statement about “the measure,” but the last statement is identical to Mark’s [and similar to Matt 13:11-12]. Matthew does not include the parable of the lamp.
4:26-29. The growing seed — neither Matthew nor Luke include this brief parable.
4:30-34. The mustard seed — Matthew includes this illustration in words very similar to Mark, [Mt 13:31-32], but without Jesus’ introductory question and without Mark’s comment about “many such stories and illustrations.” Luke does not include parable of the mustard seed.
NOTE: Matthew includes several parables that neither Mark nor Luke mention.
The wheat and weeds — a farmer does not pull the weeds because he doesn’t want to hurt the good seed; but he will separate the weeds and plants at harvest and burn the weeds. Jesus explains this parable to the disciples, [Mt 13:24-30, 13:36-43].
The yeast — a small amount of yeast will permeate throughout the dough, [Mt 13:33]. Matthew also refers to the prophecy in Psalm 78:2 where God said I will speak to you in parables. I will explain mysteries hidden since the creation of the world, [Mt 13:34-35].
The hidden treasure — a man discovers a treasure hidden in a field and sells everything he owns to buy the field and get the treasure, [Mt 13:44].
The pearl merchant — a pearl merchant will sell everything he has to buy a pearl of great value, [Mt 13:45].
The fishing net — the net catches all sorts of fish when cast, but on shore the good fish go into crates and the bad fish are thrown away. Jesus explains that this is the way it will be at the end of the world, [Mt 13:47-52].