He gives some parables about God’s kingdom
4
📚And again he began to teach by the lakeside, and a huge crowd gathered before him, so that he went into a boat, and sat out on the lake, and the whole crowd was on land by the lake. 2 📚And he taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching said to them, 3 📚“Listen! Look, a sower went out to sow. 4 📚And as he was sowing it happened that some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds of the air came and ate it up. 5 📚And some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil. 6 📚But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 📚And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 📚And other seed fell on good ground, and springing up and growing it yielded a crop. Some seed produced thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundredfold”.
9 📚And he said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”.
10 📚And when he was alone, those around him together with the Twelve asked him about the parable.
11 📚And he said to them, “To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those outside all these things come in parables, 12 📚so that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; that they might not be converted and their sins be forgiven them”.
13 📚And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? But how then will you understand all parables? 14 📚The sower sows the Word. 15 📚And these are the ones by the wayside, where the Word is sown. But when they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the Word that was sown in their hearts. 16 📚And in the same way these are the ones who are sown on stony ground. When they hear the Word, they immediately receive it with joy. 17 📚But they have no root in themselves, and so last only for a time. Afterwards, when trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, immediately they fall. 18 📚And these are the ones who are sown among thorns; they hear the Word, 19 📚and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things coming in, choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 📚And these are the ones who are sown on good ground; they hear the Word and receive it and bring forth fruit, some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundredfold”.
4:1-20 Matt 13:1-23. Mark records slightly different words than Matthew to convey the same truth. In v 11 he uses the phrase “The kingdom of God” while Matthew has “The kingdom of heaven”. Evidently the two phrases often have the same meaning. On this kingdom see note at Matt 4:17. Mark adds the words “otherwise they might turn and be forgiven” to Matthew’s account in Matt 13:13 but omits verses 14,15. And Mark 4:13 is not found in Matthew. In v 19 Mark has words not found in Matt 13:22 – “The desires for other things”. Desires for the things of this earth, good or bad, may be just as powerful in choking the influences of God’s word in our lives as worry and wealth. Compare 1 John 2:16; Col 3:1-2. Luke gives other variations in his account of this parable (see Luke 8:4-15).
When there are differences in wording which of these three writers has given the accurate account? The answer is, all three. Jesus probably spoke more fully than any of them record, saying all that they have written down and even more. God’s Spirit led each of the three to choose words and phrases in keeping with the overall emphasis and purpose of his Gospel. This is true of all the variations in language used by the writers of the Gospels in reporting the words and works of Jesus.⚜
21 📚And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not to be put on the lampstand? 22 📚For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed; nor has anything been kept secret that will not come to light.
23 📚If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear”.
24 📚And he said to them, “Carefully consider what you hear. Whatever measure you use will be the one used for you; and to you who hear more will be given. 25 📚For to the one who has more will be given, and from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away”.
26 📚And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man scatters seed in the ground, 27 📚and night and day he sleeps and rises, and the seed sprouts and grows; how, he does not know. 28 📚For the earth produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 📚But when the grain shows itself ready, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest 📖 has come”.
4:26-29 This parable is found only in Mark. On a literal level, when good seed is planted in good soil there will be inevitable sprouting and growth. The fact that the sower does not understand the process does not affect it. Growth may be slow, but it is spontaneous, automatic. This is true also of the kingdom of God working either in individual lives or in its working in the whole earth from beginning to the harvest. God’s Word is the living powerful seed sown in men’s minds and hearts. It will sprout and grow and produce a crop, though men may not understand how or be able to see it or control it. Compare 1 Cor 3:6-7; 1 Pet 1:23-25.
This is strong encouragement to preachers of the gospel, to teachers of God’s truth. They should have great confidence in the power of the Word and working of God. But the fact that there is spontaneous growth does not relieve those who hear God’s Word from responsibility – see vs 23,24.⚜
30 📚And he said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we illustrate it? 31 📚It is like mustard seed, which, when sown in the ground, is smaller than all the seeds that are in the ground. 32 📚But when it is sown, it grows up and becomes the largest of all garden plants, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade”.
33 📚And with many such parables he spoke the Word to them, as much as they were able to understand.
4:33 Some things the disciples could not grasp. Compare John 16:12. Jesus used comparisons and illustrations to illuminate all His teachings. It is likely that He used many which are not recorded in the Bible. Compare John 20:30; 21:25.⚜
34 📚But he did not speak to them without a parable. But when they were alone, he explained everything to his disciples.
4:34 Verses 13-20 is one example of the explanations Jesus gave. Matt 13:36-43 is another.⚜
He causes a storm to cease
35 📚And the same day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side”.
36 📚And when they had sent the crowd away, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. And there were also other boats with him. 37 📚And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already becoming full of water. 38 📚And he was in the back part of the boat, asleep on a cushion. And they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing?”
39 📚And he got up and rebuked the wind, and said to the lake, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 📚And he said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”
41 📚And they were very afraid, and said to one another, “What kind of a man is this, that even the wind and the lake obey him?”