Mark 4

CHAPTER 4THEME: The sower; candle and bushel; seed growing; mustard seed; stills the stormIn this chapter of Mark we find several parables and then the miracle of stopping the storm. This has all been in the Gospel of Matthew, except for one particular parable, which is given here that is not found in Matthew, and it is the only part that makes it different and outstanding, as we shall see. First we find the parable of the sower as a declaration and then we have the exposition of the parable of the sower. This is followed by other parables and then one miracle. We said in the beginning of the Gospel of Mark that this is a Gospel of action; yet here the emphasis is upon parables with only one miracle. But you will notice that the parables which Mark gives are parables of action. Each one of these parables is really a very moving thing. That’s why we titled our booklet on Mark, Marching Through Mark. The emphasis is still upon action, even when Mark is giving the parables.

Mark 4:1

Matthew gives us quite an emphasis at this point for he says that Jesus went out of the house and He entered into a ship on the sea. This action as recorded by Matthew is very symbolic. The house generally illustrates the house of Israel, and the seas represent the nations of the Gentiles. His very action is that He turns from His people and He goes to the world. That actually is the background of these parables, and they need to be looked at in the context of global situations. I think this is very important for us to see. These took place, by the way, during the height of His ministry. He was very busy, the pressure was upon Him, and He was physically weary. In fact, He was so tired, as we shall see in this chapter, that He fell asleep in the ship at sea. He was asleep because He was weary.

Mark 4:2

Jesus adopted the use of parables as a way to teach the people many things. At this point He is about halfway through His three years of ministry. He had used certain symbolic illustrations before, such as telling the woman at the well about the water of life; He had told His disciples that he would make them fishers of men and that the fields were white unto harvest. Also He had talked about salt and light and foundations of rock and sand in the Sermon on the Mount. But these are not parables. Now He has adopted the parabolic method and tells the parable of the sower.

Mark 4:3

THE SOWERThese are the three areas where the seeds fell, and they represent the unsaved that do not accept the gospel. They do not accept the Word of God. Their lives are like the wayside where the birds devour the seedthe Devil takes away the Word. Others fare like the stony ground where the sun withers it because there is no depth of soil for it. On the thorny ground the thorns choke it. But then there is the good ground.

Mark 4:8

Now here we have only a fourth of it falling on good ground, which represents the ones who are saved, the ones who receive the Word. But there are different degrees of fruit-bearing here: thirty, sixty, and an hundredfold. You remember the Lord said to His own in that Upper Room Discourse as He was going out on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane, “I am the genuine vine.” Then He told them that He wanted them to bring forth fruit, more fruit, and much fruit. There are three degrees of fruit-bearing in those who are His own in that instance, just as we find three degrees in this parable.

Mark 4:9

He puts up a danger signal. It’s like the “StopLookListen” sign at a railroad crossing. Even so, it is obvious some missed it because we find in the next verse:

Mark 4:10

There were obviously some who didn’t understand the parable at all. When they ask Him, He answers with these verses that have a certain degree of ambiguity. Let me give you an explanation that might be helpful. The reason that Jesus resorted to parables from this point to the end of His ministry is arresting. His enemies rejected His teachings, and the multitudes had become indifferent to spiritual truths. They were actively interested in His miracles, but not in the spiritual application.

He now resorts to the use of parables to enlist their interest. The antagonistic attitude of His enemies and the lethargy, indifference and incomprehension of the multitudes necessitated a change to the use of parables so that those who hungered and thirsted after righteousness would be filled and those who wanted spiritual truth could have their eyes opened. We find the same thought in the second chapter of 1 Corinthians, where Paul writes: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” Then he goes on in verse 1Co_2:13, “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1Co_2:9-10, 1Co_2:13-14). This is a great principle that Paul put down, and it is still applicable today. We can use every means to try to get people to understand spiritual truth, but they must want to understand them before these things can be made real to them. I would like to make this statement: If a person’s heart and eyes are open and he wants to know, then the Spirit of God is going to bring in the great truth to his heart. He will make these things quite real and living for that person. We sometimes use the expressionI know I say it rather carelesslythat you’ll be lost if you do not accept Christ as your Savior. That is not really the truth, friend. The truth is that you are already lost. The point that should be accurately stated is that you will continue to be lost if you do not receive Christ as your Savior. You’re not on trial, my friend. If you are a lost person, you are lost. Now it is your reaction to and reception of the Word of God that are going to determine whether you will be saved or not. Will you accept Him as your Savior? Somebody may say that this is beginning to move into a philosophical realm and this is not reality. This is asking a person to do something that is rather spooky, rather superstitious. I don’t think it is at all, my friend. Let me illustrate it. Mrs. McGee and I were down in Florida and found that we had bought tickets from an airline that was out on strike. We had to go back to Los Angeles on another airline, but we could use our original tickets. When I called the girl at the airport, she was able to confirm the fact that we had tickets with the airline that was on strike, and she assured us our tickets were good, our plane would leave the next morning at a certain time, and we should get to the airport about thirty minutes ahead of that time. You know, friends, I have never met this girlnot even to this good daybut I believed her. Mrs.

McGee and I were there at the airport the next morning. Our tickets were good. The plane was there and we boarded it. We believed every bit of information about that plane, and don’t try to tell me that plane was not a reality. In just such a way God has given His Word. He asks you to trust Christ. God’s Word is the seed that falls. What kind of soil are you today? Are you the one with the thorns so the seed falls by the wayside or on thorny ground? Or does God’s Word fall on good ground? That is the important thing. All of us are lost, and it is our reception of the Word of God that determines whether we are saved or whether we remain lost. Now He gives the exposition of the parable up through verse Mar_4:20.

Mark 4:13

I’ll go over it quickly. The sower is the Son of Man and the seed is the Word of God. The birds by the wayside are SATAN. The stony-ground hearers are those who let affliction and persecution turn them from God. That is the flesh, and many people today are letting the flesh keep them from God. Then there are the thorny-ground hearers, those who let the cares of the world distract them. That is the world today. So many people today are letting the world shut them out from God. Then the good-ground hearers are those who are converted genuinely by the Word of God. They bring forth only percentages of fruit and only one third of these bring forth an hundredfold. So we see that we have here a parable with real action.

Mark 4:21

CANDLE AND BUSHELWhat we have here is a parable of the candle and its action. Light creates responsibility. A man who receives the truth must act. We are held responsible to the degree to which we have had light given us. The light is shining, and your response to the light is all important. The point is, you and I were in darkness until the light of the gospel got through to us. We get the impression that man is a sinner, but because of his weakness or because of his ignorance. But Paul says very candidly (in Rom. 1) that men, when they knew God, glorified Him not as God. Man is a willful sinner. That’s the kind of sinners all of us are, and the light that comes in will create a responsibility. We are lost, and if we do not accept the Light, if we do not accept Him, we remain lost.

Mark 4:23

This is action. God demands this action. Faith is action. Faith is acting upon what God has said. How important that is today. I come back to the illustration of our plane trip. You must act on the fact that you have a ticket. You must believe and trust that there is a plane and that it is going to carry you right to the place you wish to go. But just sitting there in the airport believing it won’t get you there. You must believe it enough to board the plane. That is what it means to believe.

Mark 4:26

SEED GROWINGHere is an unusual parable that our Lord gave and only Mark records it. It is another parable of action. It is about the “Kingdom of God.” Remember that I said the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven are two terms that are used. Actually, here they are synonymous, but the Kingdom of God is not identical with the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of God is the larger term including the whole universe; the Kingdom of Heaven is God’s rule over the earth, which is, of course, in the Kingdom of God. For instance, the state of California is in the United States, but it is not the United States. It is in it. So when I am in California, I am also in the United States. Our Lord talks about the growing of the seed here. Even today we still don’t know too much about the growing of a seed into a plant, and then producing fruit. It is a mystery to this day. This is another parable of power and action. The old bromide is true: “Great oaks from little acorns grow.” After all of the years of scientific progress, there is not much more men can add to this. The label of osmosis adds little to our understanding, although the reservoir of knowledge has been increased. During the month of March I traveled by train from Atlanta, Georgia, to Los Angeles, California. Spring had already come to the southern section of our country. Trees were budding, flowers were bloomingthe azaleas in Mississippi were gorgeous, and the farmers everywhere were plowing and planting. No one could tell just what was happening, but everyone was reacting to it and accepting it with full enjoyment and happy anticipation of the future harvest. Tremendous power was being released in nature as nitrogen took on the garment of green. If God let it go at once it would make a hydrogen bomb sound like a Chinese firecracker. This parable illustrates the power of the Word of God working in our hearts and lives. What a marvelous parable it is. Now we have the third parable about seed in this chapter.

Mark 4:30

MUSTARD SEEDMustard is not food; it is a condiment. And the growth of a mustard seed into a tree is unnatural. This pictures the outward growth of Christendom into great organizations, big churches, large programs, all produced by human energy and not by the Holy Spirit. The birds in the branches are not even good. They represent Satan.

Mark 4:35

STILLS THE STORMNow we find here that when our Lord leaves off teaching, they go out into the sea. He wants a rest because He’s tired. He goes to sleep. And then we find this miracle of His quieting the sea. Do you know what made them fear? It was not so much the fact that He quieted the storm but that it responded immediately. It just leveled out; there was a sudden calm. This miracle was so great that it made these men afraid. What a wonderful lesson we learn here. He puts us into the storms of life in order that we might grow closer to Him and that we might know Him better. Jesus, Savior, pilot me Over life’s tempestuous sea: Unknown waves before me roll, Hiding rocks and treach’rous shoal; Chart and compass come from Thee Jesus, Savior, pilot me! Edward Hooper “Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me”