The Ministry of Jesus in Galilee
Mark 1:16—8:30
A New King (1:16—3:6).
Kingdom is Near (1:15)
Popularity (1:16-45).
Conflict (2:1—3:6).
Jewish Leaders Reject Him (3:6)
A New Kingdom (3:7—6:6)
Kingdom Has Small Beginnings (4:3)
Continued Conflict (3:7-35).
Parables (4:1-34).
Parable of the Sower (4:1-9).
Mark records that Jesus taught, but rarely what He taught.
Recall, Mark focuses primarily on the actions of Jesus, that He was a servant.
But he does not entirely neglect His teachings, either.
He taught in many situations, through miracles, through confrontation, and now through parables.
Location (4:1).
Earlier Jesus had His disciples make ready a boat to escape the crowds, though there’s no indication He used it (3:9).
Now He gets into a boat while the crowd was on the shore, probably near Capernaum.
This no doubt gave Him a bit of a relief from the pressing crowds.
But it also provided a natural amphitheater for Him.
The water no doubt carried His voice so that it could be easily heard on the shore by many more people.
Then He taught them by parables (4:2).
What is a parable? An earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
Jesus was already said to have spoken in parables earlier (3:23).
But these are what we typically think of, to the point that the disciples later asked Him about these parables.
In our introduction, I stated that there were 11 recorded parables of Jesus in Mark, but that included the illustrations as in Ch. 3.
If we only consider our modern understanding of a parable, there are really only five here in Mark, and four are listed here: Sower, Lamp, Harvest, Mustard Seed.
Only one is unique to Mark, the Parable of the Harvest.
The Parable of the Sower (Soils) is the first and perhaps the most well-known.
But the first time it was heard, it was not so easily understood.
Content (4:3-9).
We will discuss the meaning later when Jesus does.
Listen! (4:3) – an exhortation to hear and understand. Coupled with vs. 9, it bookends the parable nicely.
Jesus uses common, everyday things that they could easily understand to illustrate His point. Sadly, many still didn’t understand.
They knew that seed won’t sprout on the wayside, that seeds on stony ground would die because they had hardly any roots, that seeds among thorns would choke, and that seeds on good soil would grow.
The real question is: Why is Jesus telling us things we already know? It must mean something more, but what?
One thing that was surprising was the yield (4:8). Typical yields back then were only about 4- or 5-fold. A 30-fold yield is only possible today with modern techniques and technologies, and then only in good years.
He then urges His listeners to understand—many are spiritually deaf.
Parable of the Sower Interpreted (4:10-20).
Jesus is asked why He speaks in parables (4:10-12).
Those around Jesus with the Twelve asked Him why.
Jesus had many disciples, many more than the Twelve. These were likely among the 70 Luke mentions in the Limited Commission (Luke 10:1).
While Jesus had appointed Twelve to be near Him, many others desired to learn from Him.
These were people with a sincere desire to learn, not just to hear Jesus out of curiosity/novelty or out of a desire to trap Him.
We often see parables as a means to explain things, but Jesus used them as a means to obscure.
Why would Jesus desire to obscure His teachings? Perhaps so He could still teach despite the opposition He was facing from the Pharisees.
Many teachings in Scripture are meant to obscure the meaning, particularly in the OT. Reason: 1 Cor. 2:7-8.
God’s divine purpose might not have been carried out had all of Jesus’ teachings been plain—John 16:29-30.
Eventually it was made plain to us all through the Spirit and His inspired Scriptures so we could all obey the gospel (4:21-22).
Understanding this parable was foundational to understanding all the others (4:13).
