The Key To A Fruitful Harvest
Text: Mark 4:1-20
4 And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.
2 And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,
3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
13 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
14 The sower soweth the word.
15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.
18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
1. The Telling Of The Parable (vv. 4:1-8)
Jesus tells a parable. A parable is a story designed to illustrate a truth using familiar images or experiences. A parable has
The parable concerns a farmer planting seed for a crop – wheat, barley, etc.
- In Jesus’ day, the farmer didn’t plow and plant the crops in rows. He would plow with a wooden plow and simply break up and soften the ground and then scatter the seed indiscriminately by hand.
- The farmer’s field might be bordered on one side by a fencerow covered with thick bushes, weeds, and thorns and bounded on another by a walkway.
Even though he tried to be careful with the casting of the seed, some would fall on the walkway or in the bushes and thorns where it could not grow well.
1) Unprepared soil
1] The wayside (v. 4)
- Some seed fell by the wayside, the walkway, where the soil had been compacted and where the farmer’s plow would not break up the soil.
- The effect of hardened soil is
2] Stony ground (v. 4-6)
- The stony ground was shallow; there was a layer of rock under a thin layer of soil. The seeds show initial promise but soon succumb to the scorching sun. The plants wither and die.
3] Thorny ground (v. 7)
- The thorny ground was probably around the fence rows where native plants, grasses, weeds and thorns grew. The seeds that fell among the weeds could not compete for sunlight, soil, and nutrients. It simply couldn’t flourish and produce fruit.
2) Prepared soil (vv. 8-9)
- The “good ground” was prepared to receive the seed, and it ultimately produced fruit in
2. The Teaching Of The Parable (vv. 9-12)
- Jesus’ reason for telling the story wasn’t actually about seed or dirt. It was about God’s truth and men’s hearts.
- He closes the story out with a declaration: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (v. 9)
This statement, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” alludes to passages from the Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel (cp. Jer. 5:21, Ezek. 12:2)
A person who has “ears to hear but [does] not hear” is
- What Jesus was saying in effect was, “Let those who are not rebellious receive this teaching.” Let those who are not rebellious, those who have willing hearts, receive the truth of God’s Word.
- The real point of his story is that a man’s “
3. The Truth Of The Parable (vv. 13-20)
1) Rejecters of God’s Word (vv. 13-15)
- The hardened soil of the way-side represents those who do
2) Shallow followers (vv. 16-17)
- Shallow followers are described by the seeds that fall on the stony ground, the rocky soil. They stumble in their walk with God or faith in God due to difficult life circumstances. They may have initially embraced Jesus, but when the problems (e.g. persecution, difficulties, etc.) come, they fall away from Jesus.
3) Comfort seekers (vv. 18-19)
- Thorny-ground people have enough stick-to-it-ness to see roots begin to form, but their faith can’t compete with their love of
- Anxieties steal their attention, and the desire to acquire more and more things distracts them from the Word. They are soon lost in the tangles of materialism.
4) Accepters of the Word (v. 20)
- Jesus said that the good soil represents those who “
- They receive it even if they don’t fully understand it. They welcome God’s Word into their hearts.
4. The Translating Of The Parable
1) Are we productive, persevering believers?
2) Are we busy, preoccupied believers?
3) Are we in the shallow soil of a superficial faith?
4) Are we hard-hearted and have no interest in spiritual realities?