The Sower Goes Forth Sowing Seed
Trugh Taught- The Secret of the Kingdom is revealed to God’s people
In our fallen condition, we need God to reveal eternal truth to us. We cannot access it without Him working first to reveal it to us. For us, God sends Jesus Christ to reveal the Father to us. He is the revelation God has for His NT people.
1 Corinthians 1:24–25 (ESV)
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
As we begin this section which is a lengthy teaching section in Mark’s Gospel, it’s important for us to understand that it was the continual practice of Jesus to teach in parables.
Introduction (4:1-2)
4 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:
Now there are many views as to what parables are. It is vital that we discover what they are and then their purpose before we look at today’s parable.
Para- alongside of. Parallel lines are one line along side of another line.
Able- Story or saying. Fable is a story.
So, a Parable is a story that travels along side of truth or doctrine. Often times a good parable is memorable but the point is that it illustrates a truth or doctrine. However, in order to illustrate a truth or doctrine, the Parable must have a connecting point to a certain truth. There must be a place where the parallel teachings intersect. If they don’t intersect, they remain separate and the story is not a parable but a riddle or a fable and that’s it.
Now, Parables did not originate with Jesus. There are Parables in the OT. Let’s look at one together.
The Story…
2 Samuel 12:1–4 (ESV)
12 And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
David’s Strong Reaction to the Story…
2 Samuel 12:5–6 (ESV)
5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
The Connecting Element…
2 Samuel 12:7–9 (ESV)
7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
The Right Response to the Truth…
2 Samuel 12:13–15 (ESV)
13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” 15 Then Nathan went to his house.
This is a great example of how Parables are to work.
Notice that 12 And the Lord sent Nathan to David.
Without this dynamic David would have not repented. The Lord takes the first step in bringing about David’s brokenness and repentance.
Now, Jesus used parables and analogies and illustrations all the time. There are over 60 different ones, or 60 that are located in the New Testament, mostly in Matthew and Luke, a few in Mark, and actually none in John. Now, the only way that a parable is going to be really effective is if it’s explained and if it’s simple. So, Jesus’ parables are not allegories. They are not complex; they don’t have hidden mystical meanings; they don’t have alternative meanings. They are simple stories that are intended simply to be laid alongside a spiritual truth to make that spiritual truth more understandable.
However, if you don’t know what they illustrate; if you don’t have the connector then they are riddles. An illustration without knowledge of what it illustrates is a riddle. They have to be explained. So, the same parable is an opportunity to make clear and an opportunity to make obscure. When Jesus tells a parable, to those to whom He never explains it, there’s no knowledge. To those to whom He explains it, there is knowledge.
So, a Parable has the ability when connected to a truth to help the hearers understand the truth. Parables also have the ability when not connected to a truth to further conceal the truth. They reveal and conceal. That’s exactly what Jesus does in our current passage.
Please Stand…
1. Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, Seed and Soils (Mark 4:3-9)
Mark 4:3–9 (ESV)
3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, 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 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Just like God sending Nathan the prophet to David to share the Parable, connect it to truth and bring about David’s repentance, so now God has sent us Jesus Christ to effect our repentance.
One purpose of Jesus appearing as a Man on earth some 2000 years ago was to display God the Father for us. He came to reveal truth to some. He came to expose the truths that had been previously hidden. He does so in Parables.
Here, we are told that
3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.
This is the ancient form of sowing grain seed. The way they did it is how we often plant grass seed…we broadcast it. We throw it out. I remember planting the grass seed around the pond after it was built. The wind was blowing just right and I could throw the seed up and the wind would carry it. This is how grain was planted in Israel during the days of Jesus.
As the sower threw the seed out it landed in different places…
4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
The path is the place where the donkeys pulling wagons and people traveled. The soil there was very hard and packed down. The seed simply laid on top and the birds came and ate it.
5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, 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.
Here, the seed fell unto soil that was not prepared and was rocky. The seeds here spouted and began to grow but really could not stay alive because there was no good soil for their roots. The sun came up and scorched the small plants and they withered away.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.
Here the seeds fell into areas where thorns were growing. The seeds sprout and a plant grows but there is no fruit because there not enough nutrients for the thorns and the plant. The plant is small and there is no fruit.
8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
Here is what the sower is after. He throws the seed and some of it lands on good prepared rich soil. This seed sprouts, grows healthy and then produces fruit…
” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Here is a command for the hearer to stop take notice and listen. It’s even more than that.
In the fall, mankind has lost the ability to truly hear God’s Word in a way God intended. We have become dead and lifeless much like the dead idols we so often tend to worship.
Psalm 115:4–11 (ESV)
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
8 Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
Since the fall, mankind is like the description here. However, for those God is going to save, His elect, Jesus gives the command for their ears to begin working. This command is effectual. Every ear of every person God is going to save turns on and they begin to listen. They hear now but they still need to perceive/understand.
2. Jesus Explains the Purpose of His Parables (4:10-13)
10 And when he was alone, those around him 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 is in parables, 12 so that
“ ‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’ ”
13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables but then explained them to His disciples privately. It is commonly thought because of Jesus’ response in verse 13 that they had inquired as to the deeper truth that was to be found in the parable.
Their ears heard and their minds perceived something bigger is taking place here but they needed Jesus to tell them.
We see here two categories of people hearing the same story…
To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God
but for those outside everything is in parables
For the first group, His disciples, they are given the secret of the Kingdom of God. For the second what Jesus says remains a riddle or maybe more literally an enigma.
Some, no doubt will believe later and the Holy Spirit will bring to mind all that Jesus taught. For many His Words stay a riddle.
This may seem strange to our modern ears but the reason Jesus quotes from Isaiah 6 is to say the same dynamic will take place here as He teaches in Parables.
When God calls Isaiah to preach to the Israelites God tells Isaiah that no one is going to listen, understand, or repent. Then Isaiah asks God, well how long do I have to preach to these people?
Isaiah 6:11 (ESV)
11 Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste,
This was God’s judgement upon a people who would not repent and so Isaiah’s preaching was used to seal their fate.
Jesus preaches and for some it is salvation and for other it is judgement.
3. Jesus Connects the Parable to the Truth (4:14-20)
14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along 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: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
As our Lord explains the meaning of the Parable to His disciples the key or connector between the story and the truth is the Kingdom of God. He explains how one is brought into God’s Kingdom.
14 The sower sows the word.
Jesus is the Sower here in the Parable. He sows the Word as He proclaims the Gospel or secret of the Kingdom of God. In Jesus Christ the Kingdom of God has come. Through Jesus Christ, people are brought into the Kingdom of God.
Jesus illustrates three negative responses that people often have when they hear the Gospel.
15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.
Some really don’t pay much attention to it. The activity of Satan in the world and their being in the world create a dynamic in which the Word of God really doesn’t even register with them. Their ears remain deaf to the Word of God.
16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.
These people have a superficial adherence to the Word. They spring up and at first look to be genuine Christians but then suffering comes along because of the Word and they are unwilling to endure trials because of Jesus so they fall away.
18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
The seed sown among the thorns sprout and produce the plant but the plant never produces fruit because the thorns choke it. Cares of the world and the pursuit of wealth choke the Word and there is no spiritual life within these people.
Then there is the positive response to hearing the Word of God.
20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
Here we see the difference. The seed sown is the same Gospel message of the Kingdom of God. The difference, however, is the soil it lands on. This is fertile soil, this is the black rich dirt that God has prepared for this purpose. This is the soil that has God to explain the meaning of the Parable and make the connection and its true interpretation.
These people hear the Word, believe the Word and the Word changes them. They will produce fruit.
Conclusion
What we must see today is that we live in the time of Grace and the time of the New Covenant. Contained within our Bibles is the secret of the Kingdom of God. We have been given the connector from the Parable to the truth just like the disciples were given. We have the Parable explained to us. We are not those on the outside who were being judged but we have the amazing opportunity to read the Word and believe.
Are you the good soil the seed lands upon?
Resources
Mark by William Lane
Mark by JC Ryle
Mark 4:5-6 CH Spurgeon
Words of grace
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