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. And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 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. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Comment: Mark started his record of the life of Jesus with these words ‘The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God’ But so far we have heard little of what Jesus said. Yesterday we had Jesus’ stern warning words about blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and earlier we heard Him speak when He forgave a paralytic His sins. We have heard that people were impressed with His ability to teach but what is the gospel? We now have a series of parables, not His only way of teaching but a frequent method used to get His message across. Obviously He was getting so well known and the crowds were huge so He separated Himself by sitting in a boat right on the shore and people sat on the shore. Maybe kids played in the water! The object to farming is to put food on the the table for family, friends and the populus! In essence this story says that if a farmer is going to achieve this aim he needs the harvest to be good – variable maybe (30%, 60%,100% of what the farmer hoped for!) but something worthwhile! If the birds ate the seed, if there was no decent soil in which to grow, or if weeds choked out the seed which was trying to grow, then there would be no food on the table! It doesn’t take a genius to work out that this has to do with the seed of the gospel message and people’s hearts! The gospel can be snatched away by the devil or personal refusal to hear; the temptations and pleasures of everyday life can kill the starting to sprout response to the message; the mind of the person can be so rocklike and shallow that nothing really can take root. Jesus final word is ‘If you’re listening, take note! It is the end result that matters!’
Proverbs 22: 19-21 That your trust may be in the LORD, I have made them known to you today, even to you. Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge, to make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you? – We have the words of Jesus above and now a few from Solomon!
Prayer: Help me, O Lord to prepare the soil of my heart well for the growth of Your Words in me.
As I read it! 