Mark 4

Mark 4

4:1-20 JESUS is teaching the public again and He tells them the parable of sowing seed and He concludes the teaching with the phrase, “Whoever has ears to hear with, let him hear!” vs. 9 CJB. This is a key statement that He makes when teaching, especially in The Revelation. The reason He makes this statement when teaching is explained in the next few verses; after the teaching time the disciples asked Him why He taught the people in parables. He replied, “To you the secret of the Kingdom of GOD has been given; but to those outside, everything is in parables, so that they may be always looking but never seeing; always listening but never understanding. Otherwise, they might turn and be forgiven!” vss. 11-12 CJB, which is a quote from Isaiah 6:9-10. Speaking to Isaiah when Isaiah realized he is a sinner from a people who are sinners because they have GOD’s Word but they do not follow it.

“He said, ‘Go and tell this people:

                        ‘Yes, you hear, but you don’t understand.

                        You certainly see, but you don’t get the point!

                        Make the heart of this people [sluggish with] fat,

                        stop up their ears, and shut their eyes.

                        Otherwise, seeing with their eyes,

                        and hearing with their ears,

                        then understanding with their hearts,

                        they might repent and be healed!’”

CJB “Then YESHUA said to them, ‘Don’t you understand this parable? How will you be able to understand any parable?’” vs. 13 CJB then He goes on to explain the parable to the disciples. The sower sows the message, those along the path no sooner hear it then the adversary comes and steals it; the rocky patches are trials or persecutions that come along and those who had received the message with joy fall away; the thorns are the cares of life and the world that choke out the truth and they are fruitless; and the rich soil produces 30, 60 or 100 fold of fruit.

Verses 21-25, “He said to them, ‘A lamp isn’t brought in to be put under a bowl or under the bed, is it? Wouldn’t you put it on a lampstand? Indeed, nothing is hidden, except to be disclosed; and nothing is covered up, except to come out into the open. Those who have ears to hear with, let them hear!’ He also said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you are hearing! The measure with which you measure out will be used to measure to you – and more besides! For anyone who has something will be given more; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away.’”CJB Verses 24b & 25 are often misquoted in reference to finances and giving. But JESUS is talking about what we hear and what we do with and about it! GOD knows everything, nothing is hidden from Him so when we try to hide things like secret sins or our relationship with GOD that we are embarrassed about in certain company it will be revealed.

Verses 26-32 JESUS returns to planting seed to teach His Eternal Kingdom, “And He said, ‘The Kingdom of GOD is like a man who scatters seed on the ground.’” The sower cannot see what is happening but the seed and the ground are doing what they are supposed to do and that brings forth fruit, then comes the harvest. That is all we need to know, we sow the seed by sharing the Gospel and HOLY SPIRIT works in the soil of the persons heart to bring forth fruit of the Kingdom. Then He talks about the mustard seed, the littlest of the field (food) seeds yet the result of its growth is a plant that birds can nest in it. In Matthew JESUS tells the disciples that if they have faith as a grain of mustard seed than they can move a mountain just by telling it to move: Matthew 17:14-21.

Verses 33-34, emphasize that JESUS only taught the people in parables but explained them to His disciples.

Verses 35-41, later that day JESUS and the disciples cross the sea of Galilee and get caught in a storm so severe that they think the boat is about to sink; even though JESUS is asleep in the stern of the boat. When they wake Him up in fear and ask doesn’t He care that they are about to die; He chastens them for their lack of faith or trust. Then He commands the storm to stop and the disciples wonder in fear who he really is. The word faith has become almost mystic in the Church, but its basic meaning is trust (I have done a study on this). So JESUS was asking the disciples, “Don’t you have any trust in Me yet?” That is the same question JESUS is asking us!