BaptistWay Bible Study for Texas lesson for March 24
Without a sower, the soil condition is immaterial
_Mark 4:1-20
___1 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. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."
___9 Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
___10 When he was alone, the 12 and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, "'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'"
___13 Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 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. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 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. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 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. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--30, 60 or even 100 times what was sown."
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_____By John Park Jr.
___She just bought her first house this past fall. It was brand new, and the interior and exterior of the house looked great, but the yard was a different story.
___The front yard contained no living thing, only dirt from the curb to the house. The backyard just happened to have a very small mesquite tree about five feet tall, surrounded once again by dirt all the way to the back fence. It was sad looking, really, so she liberated some more money to buy pallets of carpet grass and pleaded with family and friends to help put it down.
___The delivery truck showed up with the grass, and the family and friends showed up with the elbow grease and green thumbs. It was one of those Indian summer days in South Texas, but we labored with love, and by the end of the day, she had very tired friends and family and a beautiful yard.
___Oh, that it had been so simple 2,000 years ago in Palestine! Can you imagine what hardscrabble farmer Ahijah would have thought. Agriculture was the dominant lifestyle in Jesus' day, and it was to these people that Jesus spoke in parables.
___Understanding the context
___In our world today, a person can draw a lot of attention to a message very quickly by using the technological advances of the past 50 years. We can listen to the gospel by radio, television, video, tape, Internet and more. Yet God sent his Son to a primitive world where his message was spoken, heard and then repeated to others or transcribed by hand.
___Mark tells us the Messiah has arrived and he is preaching and healing. Great things are happening, although the response to him is quite varied among the people. Especially perplexing is the fact the religious professionals have progressively misunderstood and opposed Jesus.
___The parables Jesus uses in Mark 4 provide understanding of how the responses can be understood. The action Mark records in chapter 3 begins in the temple, moves to the lake, then to the mountainside and finally at a home.
___Parable of the seeds and soils
___The action of chapter 4 takes place at the lake again. The crowd was so large he used the boat (probably the one he asked for in 3:9) as a teaching platform in which he sat, as was the custom for teachers.
___Surely the crowd was buzzing about the reports of Jesus' activities and teachings. In addition, there also must have been those caught in the middle between the charismatic crowds and the religious leaders. Yes, Jesus was doing amazing things, but where did his power come from, and who was he?
___Jesus uses this opportunity to teach them using parables, which is the method he chose most frequently to explain the kingdom of God, to show the character of God and the expectations of God for his people.
___Parables are short narratives with two levels of meaning, usually taken from everyday life. Only seven parables are recorded in the Old Testament, and even though there were some rabbinical parables during this time, many scholars argue Jesus' use of parables was entirely new.
___In this case, he spoke to them of sowing seeds on four kinds of soil. A farmer went out to sow his seeds in a typical farming method in Palestine--throw the seed and then come back and till the soil, turning the dirt over the seed. In that context, the seed falls on four types of soil: Some fell upon a path, some fell upon shallow ground, some fell among thorns and some fell on good soil.
___Results
___Each type of soil yielded different results, which speaks on a variety of levels. Jesus could easily be illustrating the variety of responses to the seed he has sown. Jesus might have likened the stony soil to the minds of the scribes and Pharisees. He might have likened the stony shallow ground to the unstable enthusiasm of the crowd. But the seed, which is the word of God, is sown liberally.
___Another level of interpretation is in regard to the seeds we sow. When I sow Bermuda grass seeds in my yard, I am very selective in my throwing. Although grass seed is cheap, I am cheaper, so I don't want to waste seed where I don't think it will grow.
___Sometimes we may be tempted to exert caution or exercise judgment upon the opportunities we have to spread the seeds of faith. Thank God he chose to risk sowing seeds in soil such as my life and yours.
___Do the right thing
___One commentator says the main thing is that the sower went out to sow. God created man for relationship, and Jesus came to show us the way. The sower went out to sow. It was true for God, it was true for the early disciples, it was true during the persecution of the Christians, it has been true throughout history that the sowers went out to sow. This is God's plan for the furtherance of his kingdom.
___We should not be pessimistic about our prospects. The yield of the good soil, no matter in what proportion to the seed lost on unreceptive hearers, abundantly warrants the sower's faith and venture. Keep on sowing. The seed, which fell on the good soil grew up, produced a crop, multiplying 30, 60 and even 100 times.
___Dying to live
___Those who are good soil for the seed are those who hear the word, accept it and bear fruit. Good hearing is essential. Hearing that is not blocked or selective by ones' own pride. Humility is the humus of good soil in that there is a decomposition or death of substance that actually becomes fertilizer for the new life to spring forth. Although some people may feel "called" to bring humility to the lives of others, God is faithful to help us recognize our shortcomings, repent, bury the old life and walk in the newness of life.
___Like a rock
___Advertisers today may entice a person to own a truck that is built "like a rock," or to wear antiperspirant so that you can appear like a rock in a stressful situation, but God forbid that our hearts should become hardened.
___A rabbinical story speaks to this point. A young man desired to do the right thing, and so he approached the rabbi with a question: "Rabbi, how can I hide God's word in my heart?" The rabbi paused and then answered: "My son, you cannot hide God's word in your heart. The best you can do is to put God's word on your heart, then when your heart breaks, the word of God has opportunity to fall into your heart and take residence there."
___In St. Paul's Cathedral in London is a carved figure of a sower walking down the furrows of a field, scattering his seeds freely. It was placed there in memory of Canon Samuel Barnet, who ministered in the slums of East London. Underneath the figure are carved the words, "Fear not to sow on account of the birds."
___Truth can be lost before it penetrates the surface. Christian belief is so often "snatched away," not by conscious renouncement, but because it is not allowed to get down in ones' life. That which is kept on the surface inevitably vanishes. Such is the plight of the soil that is hardened on the path.
___Weed and seed
___The seed that fell among the thorns presents a picture of the strangled life. The roots were in the soil sharing the nutrition with the roots of the weeds and thorns. There was growth above the ground, but inevitably the weeds flourished and killed that which was good.
___This is the life in which there is no great priority. Everything is of the same size and importance, our lives can become overcrowded and rushed and then our prayers may be, "God if you'll just get me past this next deadline, then I'll get my life back in balance." We must make room for the word to grow in our hearts and minds that it may bear fruit.
___Don't be shallow
___When the substance of our lives (our soil) is thin, our initial desire has inadequate opportunity to put down roots because there is no invisible means of support. If you take "i" out of "soil" and replace it with "u," soil becomes "soul." My soul becomes shallow when I focus my life on pleasing "u," doing the things "u" do, etc. God gave us free will when we were gardeners in Eden. We still have free will, and we tend the soil of our souls. If in fact God is our priority and we choose a lifelong relationship with him, "i" have to stop living my life for "u" because my desire is for him.
___I need a life line
___I really appreciate that the disciples needed help understanding the real essence of this teaching. Jesus says, "If you have ears, listen to what I say." The human response is, "I hear your words, but I'm not catching the meaning." Then Jesus makes another comment that is somewhat difficult to understand.
___In verses 11 and 12, he draws a contrast of those who choose to receive the word into the good soil of their souls and those who are hardened to the word. It is the same contrast seen in the last part of chapter 3, where some people are on the inside with Christ and others place themselves on the outside. The spiritual secrets are available to those who want to receive them, but to those whose priorities are not spiritual, the truths of the parables cannot be understood.
Questions for thought and discussion
___ Who was it that took the time to sow "seed" in your life? How would you be different if they had not thought you a good prospect for growth?
___ Which type of "soil" would you describe as reflective of the condition of your life when the seeds of God fell upon you?
___ Do you think the condition of our "soil" remains the same throughout our lives, or can it improve or even worsen?
___ Is there an aspect of this parable that touches your soul in a provocative way?
___ How does this parable speak to you of God's grace and abundance?
___ What is the purpose of the "seed" in your life beyond a salvation experience?
___ What person have you passed by as a bad prospect that you need to reconsider?
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