Mark 4
The parables of Jesus
Jesus often usen parables. There are about forty-one parables total in the gospels, but Mark records five.A parable places one thing next to another with a view to comparison.Why teach in parables?Mark 4:11 – So Jesus could teach His disciples in private.What are they about?Generally, to teach what the kingdom “at hand” is like.How should we interpret them?Don’t look for lessons in every small detail.Let Jesus explain!The kingdom is like a sower (Mark 4:1-20)
Mark 4:15 – Compare Luke 8:11. The seed is the word of God. The wayside is people who hear the word, but don’t grow with any depth.Mark 4:16-17 – The rocky place – people who hear the word but will not endure persecution.Mark 4:18-19 – The thorns – people who hear, but the word of God is choked out by the cares of the world.Mark 4:20 – The good ground that bears fruit.The kind of heart determines the reception and relation to God’s word. We determine what type of heart we have!Lamp under a bushel (Mark 4:21-25)
Compare Matthew 10:27. We should proclaim God’s word! See also Acts 13:47.Be lights of God’s world. Teach and do God’s word!The growing seed (Mark 4:26-27)
Compare I Corinthians 3:6-9. We are laborers together with God. We plant and water, but God gives the increase in His own time.See Galatians 1:7. We have no right to cross-breed or modify the message. See also Romans 1:16; I Peter 2:5. God’s church is not for entertainment or a social club.The kingdom is like a mustard seed (Mark 4:30-34)
The kingdom, from a small beginning, grows to a place of strength and comfort for those therein. Remember the figure of the kingdom in Daniel 2.The wicked vinedressers (Mark 12:1-12)
See I Peter 2:8. Unlike other parables, the Jewish leaders immediately understood the parable and knew He was condemning them.
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