Mark 4:1-34
What words of Jesus do you find most difficult to hear? To accept?
In chapter 3 we saw many different responses to Jesus. We saw growing hostility towards Jesus, particularly from the religious leaders; we saw the crowds fawning over him – but not for his teaching, but rather what he could do for them – healing, power, the spectacular, the show. Not for his words of life, forgiveness of sins - their greatest need. But for the sideshow of healing, something that he can do with the slightest of effort.
We saw that even his family, his mother Mary and his brothers and sister, thought that he was crazy.
But there were those who did the will of God. Look at 3:34 – where are they? Around Jesus, listening as he taught.
The first response we must have is to listen. Listen to Jesus.
After all, he made us with one mouth and two ears. That should tell us something (that means you should do twice as much listening as speaking)!
1. We must listen to Jesus.
4:1 Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore... 2 He taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables…: 3 “Listen!...9 “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
10 Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant.
20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
There is only one response, only one that bears fruit: those who hear the word and accept it. Those are the ones gathered around Jesus, asking him “what does it mean?”. Tell us more.
23 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” 24 Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more. 25 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”
And they are given more – even the very secret of the kingdom of God.
The others, however for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.
Around Jesus there are two groups. Those who listen and accept – and those who do not. And Jesus uses his parables, his stories, to judge these two groups.
10 Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant. 11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, 12 so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven.’”
Jesus speaks in parables in order to divide the crowd. He speaks plainly to those who come and ask, like his disciples – and so to the little understanding they have, more understanding is given. But to those who do not come to Jesus, even what they heard is quickly forgotten. It is taken away.
Jesus says this is a fulfilment of Scripture, and quotes from Isaiah 6 (Isaiah’s call to prophesy).
In chapters 1-5 of Isaiah we’re introduced to rebellious Israel, refusing to listen to and obey the words of God Almighty. Israel’s leaders are particularly singled out for their hard-heartedness and rebellion. Sound familiar? Same situation as here in Mark. They will not repent because their hearts are so hard. Isaiah’s job then was to confirm them in their unbelief, and show them the horrific truth: they now have become enemies of God Most High, and he will fight against them. A short while later, Jerusalem lay in ruins, and the people of the land were carried off into exile.
The warning is clear! Be careful, then how you listen to the parables! For you too may be left with old Israel, the old religious order, ending up as the enemies of God. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Don’t close your heart to the truth. For Satan (v15) comes at once and takes it away.
Then there’s the fickle crowd, the ones who v16, hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.
As soon as Jesus challenges their selfish lives, their set religious order, calls them to a new path, when it becomes costly to follow him – they fall away, abandon him, disown him, reject him, shout “crucify him”. How many do you know who have been in this group? There are people in this church who have fallen away because Jesus challenged them too much. Obedience was just too hard. A family has just left our church because of this. They were rocky soil. No root. Following Jesus was just too hard. Maybe that was you? I know it was me before Jesus had mercy on me. Maybe it’s you now? If it is repent, pray to God and ask for his mercy to change your heart.
And there are others, those who are among thorns. Those who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. Is that you, maybe? All too often, I’m afraid that could be me. Choked by idolatry, love for things other than God. Holding on to money and things, my reputation, my standing in the community.
Which soil are you? Hard path? Rootless? Choked by worries and idolatry? Or fruitful?
Now I could say that: you must be the fruitful soil. You must work hard at obeying Jesus. Pray more. Read the Bible more. Evangelise people. Do more for Jesus.
And although there is some truth in that – it is wrong. It is not the gospel. We are not the fruitful soil and we can never make ourselves the fruitful soil. To carry the parable a little further: only the farmer can plough the land, remove the rocks, fertilise and water and do whatever other magic things farmers do to soil to make it fruitful.
Because, if we’re honest, we often feel like the path, or the rocky ground, falling away when things become hard, or choked by worry, loving other things more than Jesus.
Thankfully, Jesus did not come for the spiritually superior, the “good people” the ones who’ve got it all together spiritually and can do it in their own strength thank you very much. He came for the sick – the sinners.
To strive, to achieve, to do it in your own strength – that leads to blaspheming the Holy Spirit: setting up another path to salvation other than Jesus. Only Jesus, the King of Gods Kingdom can save you. Nothing and no-one else can, not even you.
I want you to leave here tonight not filled with a to-do list, filled with guilt – but filled with praise and glory and wonder for the Lord Jesus. Listen to him, for his words are truth. Trust him – for he is at work, in you (if you belong to him) transforming you and changing you. For the kingdom of God is at work, unseen, in you, and in the world.
His word is the seed
2. His word is the seed, revealing Jesus, the powerful secret of the Kingdom.
14The sower sows the word.
A seed has massive power. In it, it has the potential to become a huge tree. It can transform the environment around it and channel it to become something new, something living. God’s word is the same.
But what is the word about? What is the content of the word. We see it there in v11. Those who listen will understand what?
11 You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God.
What is that? Some secret spiritual thing. Some magical incantation like the prayer of Jabez. Some magic thing that makes us able to fly through the Christian life and laugh at all the other ordinary Christians. No, the secret is Jesus! He is the revelation of God’s secret plan, now revealed. That God himself would come to fulfil his promises. God in person. Here, with us. Amazing. It’s so familiar, we lose sight of how breathtaking it is. Praise God!
We’ve seen that right from the first verse of Mark’s gospel. The Good News about JESUS. It’s all about Him.
And the word that is sown, the word that we also sow as we share the Good News, is the word about Jesus – the good news of the arrival of the King of God’s Kingdom. He is the Lord who will come suddenly to his Temple (amongst his people). He is the Lord whose way was prepared by John the Baptist. He is the One who can be baptised in our place to fulfil the righteous requirements of the law – he who knew no sin identifying with sinners in order to save us. He is the one who can heal at a word, who has power over evil spirits (we who are in Him need never fear curses or spells or ancestors or black magic or voodoo – He has power over all that). He is the stronger man who can bind up the “strong man” (Satan). He has power over the Law – his touch cleanses the leper and makes him lawfully clean – Jesus is not made unclean. He is the Lord of the Sabbath, the Lord over the Law. He is the doctor of souls who came for sinners, and will never turn aside those who ask him for help. He is the one who can stand and proclaim “your sins are forgiven”.
He is the one who stands upon the mountainside, and calls forth 12 men, the new 12 tribes of Israel reforged. The new people of God, who would fulfil the promise to Abraham of all nations and peoples being blessed. The Church.
Who is he? He is not a prophet or an angel, or he would take great pains to ensure that the focus of attention was NOT on him, but God. For what prophet or angel would even allow the charge of blasphemy?
And Mark says: he is the King himself standing before us: the ultimate revelation of the mystery of God. God is shown to us in Jesus. What was hidden is now revealed in Jesus. 21 Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine. 22 For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. 23 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
The secret of the kingdom, the Word of God, is Jesus.
And he is at work.
3. The kingdom of God is at work, with unseen power
26 Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. 28 The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. 29 And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.”
If you listen to Jesus (that is, accept the seed) – well, that seed takes root in you, and grows and grows. We don’t know how, but “on its own” (that is, not by human effort), just like the earth produces crops, so the kingdom will grow in you until harvest-time. The Spirit is at work.
Christian, the Lord is at work in you. The seed is growing. As Philippians 1:6 says I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (that is, Christ’s return). Do not fear, but trust. Listen to him, and obey him in joy for he is at work in you, and you will see a harvest of righteousness, you will see fruitfulness if you trust in him. Only he can change a heart, so trust in him to change yours.
But this parable is more than just the individual believer. And to help us understand it, let’s look at the next parable as well.
30 Jesus said, “How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it? 31 It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds, 32 but it becomes the largest of all garden plants; it grows long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade.
Indeed, the church is growing, surging forth in the world. We do not know how, but 2000 years on, the church spans the whole world. From a tiny seed in a backwater Roman jurisdiction where an unknown Jewish trouble-maker was crucified, spread this enormous empire spanning centuries and engulfing the whole world – every people-group, nation, and tongue. The church is the greatest empire the world has ever seen. It is the fulfilment of the prophecy of Ezekiel 17, which Jesus is referring to, where the prophet Ezekiel sees God take a branch from the top of a tall cedar (Jesus, descendant of King David, the top of Israel the tall cedar) and plants it on the top of Israel’s mountain (Jesus crucified in Jerusalem on Mount Zion) 23 It will become a majestic cedar, sending forth its branches and producing seed. Birds of every sort (that is all the nations) will nest in it, finding shelter in the shade of its branches… I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do what I said!”
The church, with invisible power going out among all the nations. The kingdom of God will flourish because our Sovereign Lord wills it. He has spoken and he will do it.
And that is helpful for us here in little Rock International Church. For our job is to be faithful to the words of Jesus. To listen to him. To help others listen to him. And then to trust in the unseen power to bring growth. We will not grow either in numbers, or in maturity, in any other way. We must listen to Jesus. No strategies or methods or techniques or music or styles of preaching or hours of prayer or technologies or whatever else. No, we humble ourselves before the word of Jesus, and trust in his unstoppable power.
For he is the King of God’s Kingdom. He is the secret revealed. He is the word spoken.
And we respond by listening, and in joy receiving the word, trusting the Lord of the harvest to do his work, and produce a harvest within us.
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