What Are Three Parables Found In Mark 4

[Henoch Holverson]

HeavenlyFather,

Your love always exceeds the limits of our human longing. You aregreater than the desires of the human heart. We beseech you, Lord, to directeach thought and each effort of our lives so that our faults and weaknesses maynot obscure the vision of Your Son's glory or keep us from the peace You havepromised us. Direct Your love that is within us, Lord, so that our efforts inthe name of Jesus Christ may bring unity to our brothers and sisters within theChurch and the hope of divine peace to our brothers and sisters in the humanfamily. We pray in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.Amen.

Jesus' teaching in Parables was in fulfillment of the prophecy in Psalm 78:1-2. Parables are found in ancient secular literature as well as in theBible. The English word "parable" is the transliteration of the Greek word parabole.A parable is a short story that is a comparison based on a familiar lifeexperience that is used to teach a lesson. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word masal/mashalis used to describe this form of comparison to teach a lesson and is notlimited to narratives but includes everything from proverb to allegory or anextended metaphor or simile.(1) When the leaders of the covenantpeople began to oppose Jesus, in the tradition of the Old Covenant prophets, Hestarted speaking to the people in parables. When Jesus' disciples asked why Hetaught them in parables, He told them, "The mystery of the kingdom of Godhas been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables ... (Mk 4:11). Those in opposition to Jesus are like the Old Covenant leaders to whomGod had not given the ability to understand the message of the prophet Isaiahbecause of the hardness of their hearts (see Is 6:9-10 which Jesus will quotein Mk 4:12).

In chapter 2, Jesus told the short two-part parable of the "Old Cloth and Old Wineskins," andin chapter 3 He told the short parable of the "Strong Man." There are four more parables in chapter 4,and Jesus will tell His last parable in chapter 13. Altogether, there are ten parables in Mark's Gospel,using the same definition of a parable as those found in the Old Testament.(2)The Parables in Mark's Gospel:

Jesus can no longer teach within the towns because of thesize of the crowds, so He uses the open areas around the Sea of Galilee as Hisauditorium. With His audience gathered around Him, Jesus begins to teach inparables. Jesus teaches several "kingdom parables." These are parables thathelp to define the Kingdom of God that is coming. The Kingdom parables inMark's Gospel include the "Parable of the Sower," the "Seed that Grows Itself,"and the parable of the "Mustard Seed," all of which appear in St. Matthew's seven"Kingdom Parables" in Matthew chapter 13.

Jesus first parable is about sowing seeds in different kinds of soil;it is a very common topic for the 1st century AD agrarian culturewhere broadcasting seed over a wide area that would be plowed into the soillater was a common practice. Every element in the parable is symbolic.

Question: What does the seed represent in Jesus' parable? SeeMk 4:14 and Lk 8:11.

Answer: The seed is the "word of God," the Gospel message ofsalvation. It is the same message broadcast to every person within the scopeof Jesus' teaching.

Question: What do the different soil conditions where the seedis sown represent?

Answer: The different kinds of soil represent the differentkinds of human response to Jesus' message of salvation in the coming of theKingdom.

When the sower in Jesus' parable casts his seed, he casts it in everydirection into every kind of soil condition. This was a common farmingtechnique in which most, but not all, of the seed was expected produce healthyplants.(3) The technique used up a lot of seed, but the generosity inbroadcasting the seed assured the area was well covered and that many plantswould spring up resulting in a fruitful harvest.

Question: How is this method of sowing seed similar to Jesus'teaching?

Answer: Jesus "broadcasts" God's message of salvation in every direction.His message is received by:

The more difficult part of the parable concerns the comparison in thefour different kinds of soil where the seed falls. In Scripture the number fourrepresents the world. Jesus will explain the meaning of the parable in verses13-20. One of the keys to understanding the parable is that the produced fruitof the seed is far beyond a normal yield.

Question: In His answer to the disciples, what reason does Jesusgive for teaching in parables?

Answer: He says that "The mystery of the kingdom of God" hasbeen granted to them but not to those who are "outside."

This is one of the most difficult pronouncements of Jesus in theGospels. It sounds as if Jesus is deliberately excluding some people from thekingdom by hiding the meaning of His words. The key to understanding whatJesus is saying is in understanding what Jesus means by "the mystery of thekingdom of God." The word "mystery" is used in the Gospels only here in thesingular but it is also used in the plural in Matthew 13:11 and Luke 8:10. St.Paul, however, will refer to the "mystery" frequently in his letters. In theOld Testament "mystery" refers to God's divine plans that are secret notbecause God wants His plans to remain unknown but because the way they mustbecome known is through divine revelation. He reveals His plans only to theprophets for the sake of God's covenant people (see Dan 2:19, 28; Amos 3:7).In the New Testament it is the same. The "mystery" is God's divine plan formankind's salvation that has been hidden since the Fall of Adam but which isnow being revealed in Christ Jesus. As St. Paul wrote:

Then Jesus explains that "the mystery of the kingdom of God" has beengranted to them by quoting from Isaiah 6:9 in which God told His prophet concerningthe hardhearted covenant people to whom Isaiah carried God's word that theymay look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand. Jesustells them that "the mystery of the kingdom of God" will be withheld from thosewho oppose Jesus and understanding will only be granted to them and others whoreceive the Gospel of salvation with an open heart. The use of the phrase "themystery of the kingdom" is a term Jesus uses for the word they receive of the Gospelmessage of salvation and prepares us for subsequent references to "the word" inverses 13-20.

Question: What does the quote from God's message to the prophetIsaiah have to do with Jesus' mission and His teaching in parables? See Is 6:8-10and the prophecy in Ps 78:2 LXX: I will speak to you in parables,unfold what has been hidden since the foundation of the world. This verse isquoted by Jesus in Matthew 13:35.

Answer: God warned Isaiah that his message of repentance wouldnot be received by most of the people. Jesus is teaching in the tradition ofthe Old Testament prophets who taught in parables when the people and thereligious and civil authorities rejected God's messenger. Their hard andunresponsive hearts kept them from receiving an understanding of the prophet'smessage. As in the times of God's prophets like Isaiah, only those of openhearts who see with faith and hear with humility will grasp Jesus' message.Jesus is fulfilling that the Messiah would teach in this same tradition as isprophesied in Psalm 78:2.

In the time of the mission of the prophet Isaiah, the people wereobstinate and impenitent and they continued the more so in the rejection ofIsaiah's message that called the people to repentance.

Question: How is Jesus comparing the people of His generation tothe people of Isaiah's generation?

Answer: Jesus is comparing the rejection of His mission to the rejectionof Isaiah's mission. Like Isaiah's mission, many of the people of Hisgeneration will hear His parable teachings but will not respond in faith andtry to understand, therefore missing out on knowledge of the "mystery of theKingdom" that is the promise of eternal salvation.

Jesus will allow the hearts of some to remain hardened and unreceptiveto His mission in order to bring about God's divine plan for mankind'ssalvation (see 1 Cor 2:8). In the Old Testament God "hardened the heart" ofthose who stood in opposition to the children of Israel in order to bring aboutHis divine plan, like the already hard-hearted Pharaoh in the Exodus liberation,(see Ex 7:13, 14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 12, 34-35, 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:8;Dt 2:30). And in the mission of the prophet Isaiah, God blinded the eyes andclosed the ears of an already obstinate people (Is 6:9-10), turning theirrejected blessing into a judgment. As in the time of the Old Testamentprophets, so will it be for Jesus: the hard-hearted people who neglect to showtheir love for God through their humility and repentance are destined to becomeeven more hard-hearted and unresponsive to Jesus' message, as in the responseof the scribes, elders, chief priests, and Pharisees. Only those who areopened to the will of God for their lives will "look" and "see" Jesus' powerand authority through His miracles and "hear/listen" and "understand" HisGospel message of eternal salvation.

Question: Jesus describes those who hear the word of God but failto fully embrace the Kingdom. To what does Jesus attribute the three reasonsfor their failure? List the verses.

Answer: Jesus attributes the failure to produce the good fruitof repentance and conversion to:

This parable is about the receiving and handing on of Jesus'teachings. Notice there is again the command to hear/listen three times in4:23 (twice) and in verse 24. This parable is about "light." In the Gospel ofJohn, Jesus identifies Himself as the "light" three times:

However, in Matthew 5:14 Jesus identifies the Christian as the "lightof the world."

Question: Is this a contradiction in Scripture? See Jn 12:36

Answer: Certainly not! The Christian does not generate his own"light;" it is Christ Himself who generates the supernatural internal light ofthe Christian soul. We reflect the burning love of Christ within us. In John 12:36, Jesus tells the disciples "...believe in the light so that you maybecome children of the light." Jesus Christ is "the light" and it is Jesuswho empowers us to be "children of the light" who pass on His teaching.

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