Mark Study 18
The Seed and the Soil
Mark Study #18 by Michael Spencer
Step into the study, pour yourself a cup of coffee, get comfortable and let's enjoy the Gospel of Mark. 
Our scripture this week is Mark 4:1-8 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
And Mark 4:14-20 The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."
I preached my first sermon at age 15. No one gave me any instructions or guidance, I simply tried to follow the pattern of good preachers I knew. I soon found that imitation is not exactly flattery- at least when done by a 15 year old preacher-boy! I did learn that at least half of a good sermon is selecting a good text. (That's one reason I am a Baptist who likes the lectionary.) My first text was the parable of the sower. And that sermon was better than many I've preached since because this is a great sermon on its own. It captures the greatness of its preacher- Jesus of Nazereth- and the greatness of the Kingdom message he brought.
First, a few words about parables in general. Parables are an area of study that can occupy a lifetime. Simply defined, a parable is a story used to illustrate a greater truth. Next week we will look at Jesus' stated intentions about using parables- an intention that will know doubt surprise many. The history of Biblical interpretation is full of bizarre and unwarranted interpretations of parables. Many of us have probably listened to some interpretations of parables that have made us wince. ("Well, what this means to me is....") Because parables contain what I call "representative factors" i.e., elements that do represent other things, there is the option of interpreting those representative factors in a highly personal or biased way. It is important with parables- perhaps more important than with most other parts of scripture- to do good exegesis. What did this mean in its original context? How does it fit in with the larger context? What this means "to me" is not the place to start. For this reason I highly recommend consulting commentaries on the parables, particularly those commentaries with a solid exegetical purpose and no "ax to grind." And please remember- our interpretation of parables is not authoritative, but tentative. Much damage can be done when our view of a particular symbol takes on the nature of the "Word of God."
Parables were commonly used by the rabbinic teachers of Jesus' day. He certainly did not invent them, though it is safe to say that the amount of parabolic material preserved in the New Testament indicates that Jesus was the absolute master of the parable. Even secular and unbelieving scholars must admit that Jesus' use of parables is brilliant. Parables created an instant memory device for the audience. In Jesus' teaching, parables served the purpose of both revealing and obscuring, a paradox we will discuss next week. There is no doubt that Jesus saw a connection between the Kingdom of God and the nature of parables. The Kingdom is present, but unseen, except to those who have "eyes" and "ears." Parables have the same characteristics. There is even a "riddle" aspect to the parables that requires desire in order to understand, parallel to Jesus' claim that the Kingdom is for those who are hungry, thirsty, needy and otherwise ready to receive.
The parable of the Sower (or the Seed or the Soils) is unusual, in my opinion, because of two factors. First it is complex and it is almost a rule to say that parables tend to have a single, main lesson. This is very important to properly work with parables. Every element is not "the point" of the parable. In fact, I would say that it is not really important that every element have an interpretation. (Do the pigs in the prodigal son really have to mean something spiritual?) This parable certainly breaks that rule, however, because it has many parts, several messages and multiple symbolic elements. But it is an exception in that regard. The other unusual aspect of this parable is the interpretation that is included later in chapter 4. This is really almost the only place where an interpretation of a parable is detailed by Jesus himself and each element interpreted. In most parables, we are without this sort of detailed explanation and we shouldn't attempt it, at least not with the confidence that our interpretation is authoritative.
The setting of the parable is memorable. Jesus teaches from a boat while the people sit around the shore. One commentator suggests this may have been for acoustical reasons as well as to get away from the pressing crowds. A natural cove may have provided an amphitheater type of effect which would allow Jesus to be heard by a large number of people. As the person responsible for sound in a large auditorium where we hold daily worship during the school year, I am glad to know that Jesus may have personally understood some of the trials of those who simply want things to be heard! Verse two also reminds us that Jesus taught "many things" using parables and we certainly don't have them all.
The setting of the parable is agricultural. Many of the rabbinic parables of the day dealt with royal families, relations between kings and subjects and such. Common, "ignorant" people were often overlooked in popular storytelling. It is interesting that Jesus told some parables about Kings and "important people," but most of his parables focused on the life of the poor and the agricultural culture of his audience. There is a lesson here for any communicator. Illustrative material can be found in the common experiences of any person. Those of us who teach and speak the Gospel should imitate Jesus in illustrating by using familiar experiences that relate the Gospel to the lives people actually live. Our communication shouldn't be a Christian version of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."
Everyone who heard Jesus would be able to relate to the familiar scene of a sower walking on a path through the field (not on a main road used for travel) spreading seed. The diverse kinds of soils one might find in a field were well known to the audience. And of course, everyone knew the hope that a crop would return many more seeds than were planted. A hundredfold return would have been especially abundant, though not necessarily miraculous. The various fates of a seed was the sort of thing even a child could understand. If it fell on hard soil, the birds would eat it. If it took root in shallow soil, the sun would cause it to demand more moisture than it could reach and it would wither and die. If it fell among hostile weeds, it could be choked out by the more aggressive plants. But if the seed fell on good soil, a return would be likely, though the size of that return was unknown to the farmer until the harvest. All of this would have been extremely familiar to Jesus' audience. In fact, this parable lacks the sort of "twist" or "surprise" that is often part of parables- an unusual turn that catches the hearer and creates interest.
But behind the common is the uncommon. In the small is the big. And in the simple planting of seeds, there is Kingdom truth and spiritual reality. This is, for me, one of the most important lessons of the parable. God's truth is illustrated (and actually present) in all the common things of life. When we learn to look at life with eyes open for the work and truth of God, we will receive glimpses and revelations of grace and power. Even the most common action can become filled with the presence of God as we see His truth illustrated and alive in all of life. God is so gracious as to make himself known to even the simplest in the "book of life," i.e. life's common experiences can become an avenue of truth and teaching when we are alive to what God is saying. Scripture is, of course, our anchor in truth and all truth must conform ultimately to the truth of God in scripture. Still, we should look for God to speak in the ordinary and not just in the extraordinary. Jesus' use of parables certainly shows us that he saw his Father at work in everything and related all of life to the presence of the Kingdom of God.
When Charles Spurgeon began his pastor's college, he required that his students take the natural sciences and not simply theology and Bible. As he reveals in Lectures To My Students, Spurgeon felt the world of nature was full of illustrative material and he wanted his students to learn to think in this way. Spurgeon's method has been long cast aside, as it is has now become somehow "spiritual" to be ignorant of anything other than "Christian" subjects. The result, in my opinion, is that we increasingly communicate only within our own cultural ghetto and fail to see God present and at work in the wider world. In the end, our communication is hampered and we sound less and less "real" to the world we speak to.
The reader should look at Matthew 13 and Luke 8 to see how the other evangelists communicate the explanation of the parable. Still, in all three synoptic Gospels, the same major points are present. I will briefly summarize what I see here and invite my readers to add your own observations.
The Message of the Kingdom of God is constantly going out into the world; into the hearts of people. This clearly had implications for those who heard Jesus, but it has implications for every person. If we believe the Bible's teaching on revelation, then the light of the knowledge of God comes to every person. Those who actually hear the Good News about Jesus and the Kingdom are most fortunate. Christianity is, of course, vastly different from other worldviews because it teaches that God himself takes the initiative to send the Word to the world rather than simply requiring that men crawl out of the own darkness and find him on their own. The Word comes to us from the heart of our Creator and it what it does in us is important.
Satan is actively working against the Kingdom message. Satan cannot defeat the Kingdom of God. That is absurd. But he can work against it taking root in the hearts of individuals and bearing fruit in us. Satan is no longer fighting directly against God. He is the "spoiler," venting his hatred at God by working to corrupt God's purposes in the lives of people. Jesus wants his hearers to know that at the point at which they hear the message, Satan is at work to take it away. And if our hearts are not open- if they are hard and resistant- then it is an easy matter for the Gospel to be quickly snatched from our consciousness and replaced with more worldly concerns. Christians make a grave error when they assume Satan is about "Satanic" rituals, etc. His work is more common. Simply distract and remove the truth and his purpose is accomplished. No robes, candles or sacrifices necessary. Satan is probably closest to us when we are most likely to be hearing God's Word.
The Kingdom message must take root in our heart by real faith. This is an issue where Christians have deep an profound disagreement, but I believe Jesus is teaching that temporary faith is not real saving faith. I have no doubt that the Bible describes false religion many times as being similar to the real thing, but lacking certain key elements- in this case, there is no root, i.e. no faith that is permanent and that is truly rooted in the heart. I do not see this as teaching the possibility of losing genuine salvation, but teaching how a false profession may temporarily resemble genuine faith. As one engaged in a primarily evangelistic work, this part of the parable constantly reminds me that a mere profession is not salvation.
True faith bears fruit. Again, we are on theologically controversial ground and my own point of view is not necessarily the majority view. It certainly makes a major difference here if one believes Jesus is teaching that unfruitfulness can be part of true faith. I believe the Bible teaches that true faith always bears fruit, in some measure and at some time. An unfruitful faith, in this parable, is one where a trust in God has been replaced by a trust in wealth and a concern for worldly success. I certainly see where it is reasonable to say Jesus is talking about a real Christian who is merely unfruitful, but this does not comport with the rest of the parable or the rest of the Bible. Luther said that we are saved by faith and not works but never by faith that is without works. Fruit is a necessary evidence of true faith. A false profession of faith may initially have many characteristics of real faith, but if it ultimately loves wealth and not God, it is not true faith. This obviously warns us about the security that true faith provides and the danger Western Christians face in a culture that tells us- daily- to trust in wealth and possessions for security, identity and self-worth.
The same point also demonstrates that the fruitfulness that accompanies true faith may not necessarily be the same. There are different kinds of fruitfulness and differing amounts of fruitfulness. The Holy Spirit bears fruit in the life of every true Christian, but there are real differences in each believer. Sin has its consequences in our lives and most of us can say that there have been intended harvests which sin has taken from us. We should refrain from being overly judgemental towards other Christians because of this very thing. All of us have seasons of more or less fruit and only God can truly judge the reality of my faith and only God can see what is really fruit in my life. What appears to be fruit to man may simply be the flesh and what is invisible to man may be fruit that God greatly desires and values.
Certainly, there is much more in this parable. These are only suggestions. Jesus is telling us that the message of the Kingdom contains in it the power of the Kingdom, the power to transform lives for God's purposes. But this Gospel takes root in the heart, not just in the mind or the ears. The enemy opposes the Kingdom and loves to take it away while it is still a seed in our hearts. The world is hostile to the values and loves of the Kingdom and wants to choke it out. Our own commitments are fickle and temporary and we often do not grasp the Kingdom as eternal. The vast number of "temporary believers" demonstrates the truth of this parable. Lord, make us good soil, fruitful and well rooted in You.
Questions
What is your favorite parable? What parable is the hardest to understand? Why do parables often communicate better than a simply saying the point without illustration?
Why do you think Jesus used parables so often, but so rarely interpreted them?
How would you respond to someone who said that a good sermon should not depend on illustrations?
Michael mentioned that Spurgeon required his students to study science in preacher's college. What secular subjects would make Christians today better communicators?
Michael said that Christians often speak in a cultural ghetto, i.e. they speak in a way that they understand one another but outsiders do not understand. Give an example of something Christians commonly say that is obscure to other people.
What is the danger of not communicating the Gospel in a way others can understand in their own world?
Have you ever heard an interpretation of a parable that you felt was off the wall or too highly personalized?
What would be your response to someone who said this parable teaches a hundredfold return on any financial offering we give?
Jesus felt the message of the Gospel was more important than miracles. Why?
In what ways should we be sowing the seed in our community?
Some might say this parable teaches we should share the message and not try to persuade anyone to believe because their heart determines their response. What do you think?
How does Satan snatch the word away? What do you think of Michael's assertion that the devil is very near us when we hear the Word of God?
Michael interprets the parable that only the last "soil" is a true believer. How do you read it?
Does fruit (works) always accompany true faith- at some time and in some measure? What about the thief on the cross?
What do you see "choking" the Word among Christians in your world?
Jesus seems to imply that God and wealth are competitors for our faith. Can a Christian be rich or must he/she give it away to be obedient and faithful to God?
Michael assumes that there are many false professions of faith in modern Christianity. Do you agree?
Jesus says true believers have different levels of fruitfulness. How might this actually among Christians?
Michael says some fruit is just flesh and some fruit is visible only to God so we should be cautious in judging others. Do you agree? Does this mean we should never conclude someone is not really a Christian, but always assume they are?
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE: Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg, Broadman and Holman. This is a new textbook for college and seminary level students of Jesus and the Gospels. It will be the standard work for the field among conservative schools and I recommend any serious student acquire the book. The Gospel introductions are excellent and the material is classroom tested and useful.