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Mark Chapter 4 Study Reference

“Whoever Has Ears to Hear”

Mark 4:1-34
I. He taught them many things by parables. Why did Jesus utilize parables?
A. The most common answer is, “He used stories and settings people understood to make
Gospel points.”

  1. NOT why Jesus says he uses parables.
  2. Mark gives us part of Jesus’ reason in verses 10-12.
  3. In Matthew 13: 10-17 Jesus gives us a fuller answer
  4. Spiritual truths require a spiritual heart
    a. Parables were intended to confound those who didn’t believe and enlighten those
    who did.
    b. In order to understand the parables of Jesus we have to open our spiritual eyes,
    and open our spiritual heart.
    c. Twice in chapter 4 Jesus says, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
  5. According to Jesus those who refuse to believe, those who are spiritually dead will
    see and hear the works of the Lord, but they will not understand them spiritually.
    a. Paul echoes this in 2 Corinthians when he says those who carry the message of
    Christ are a “pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved, but to
    those who are perishing we are the aroma of death.”
    b. Truth is a reminder of our mortality and insignificance apart from God’s glory.
  6. My prayer for us all is the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 1: 18 – “I pray th~t the eyes of
    your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has
    called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his
    incomparably great power for us who believe.”

B. So, yes, to those who believe parables use themes we understand to reveal spiritual
truths.

  1. But to those who do not believe they are just stories.
  2. Faith is a key to unlocking the truth of God’s word.

C. One thing you’ll notice as you navigate the Gospels is that the parables are sometimes told a little differently in different gospels.

  1. The disciples are remembering what they heard.
  2. Jesus probably repeated his parables many times.
  3. Remember he preached constantly and in many different places.

II. The Parable of the Sower (1-20_

A. Farmer sows seed.

  1. Seed falls on different kinds of ground (path, rocky, thorns, good soil)
  2. Path never had a chance to germinate, eaten by birds before it could ever sprout
  3. Rocky sprang up quickly, but didn’t have deep roots.
    • Sun scorches and the plant withers.
  4. Thoms – seeds were strangled and never bore grain
  5. Good soil- came up, grow, and produced a good crop

B. This is one of the few parables Jesus also gives us the answer too, which gives us an
interpretive pattern to follow with others.

  1. Seed is the word of God.
  2. Soils are the heart with which we receive the Gospel.
    • Path never has a chance – Satan snatches the word (Luke 8 says so they may not believe and be saved). THIS IS INSTRUCTIVE
    • Rocky soil – hear the word and receive it with joy (Luke says they believe for awhile). Can someone be saved and fall away? Pistueo – believe/ Pistis -faith
    • Thoms – takes root, but never bears fruit (Luke says they do not mature).
    • Good soil – hear, accept, and produce a crop (Luke says hear, retain, and persevere).

III. The Lamp on a Stand (21-24)

A. Lamp is the truth (specifically the truth as revealed by Christ)

B. God doesn’t want the truth concealed- he wants it revealed.

  1. Opens a window in the purpose of the parables.
  2. God doesn’t speak in parables because he wants the truth hidden.
  3. He speaks in parables because he wants unbelievers to open their closed hearts.
  4. To believe so that they can receive.

C. Interestingly Jesus used the same parable in Matthew 5: 14-16, but in a different context.

  1. WE are the light.
  2. Should not hide our light from the world.

IV. The Growing Seed

A. Theme: Keep sowing and don’t give up.

B. We are to sow the word of God wherever we are, but we can’t make anyone believe.

C. But God is always at work, even when we are asleep. (It’s called Prevenient Grace).

D. Results will happen naturally.

E. We sow seeds, God is responsible for the result.

F. That should give us great comfort .

G. Harvest is death or Christ’s return, when fruit bearers will be gathered to God.

V. Mustard Seed

A. One of smallest seeds (about the size of a pin head).

B. Grows large enough for birds to perch on branches.

C. In this case the seed is God’s Kingdom/the Church.

  1. Any move of God often starts small, as just a seed of faith.
  2. But if God is in it it will grow.

D. The Church

  1. About 100 in the Upper Room at Pentecost.
  2. 7,500 by AD 100
  3. 1 million by AD 250
  4. 34 million by AD 350
  5. 2 billion today.