Chapter 4
The Good Soil
Mark 4:1-20
MARK 4:1-20
1 He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 “Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 “And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 “Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 “Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.”
13 And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 “The sower sows the word. 15 “These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 “In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
MARK 4:1
He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.
Teaching them many things in his parables
How long had it been since the masses of the working poor in Israel had someone who spoke directly to them and not just to impress his intellectual peers? Jesus does two things; he goes to those people and he speaks in their vocabulary. What his religious contemporaries never grasped was that it took more wisdom to speak to the people in stories they would understand than to lecture to his peers about theological flights of fancy to which only academic purebreds could nod their silly heads (talk about the “noisy gong or clanging cymbal [1 Corinthians 13:1]” denounced by Paul).
Do I follow the precepts of Jesus? Do I go to those often neglected by the churches and speak in stories they would understand? That’s the sign of my Christian depth — not how many syllables I can fit into each word of a sermon. Am I trying to impress the intelligencia or bring Christ to the needy?
MARK 4:2-12
2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 “Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 “And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 “Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 “Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.
“To you has been given the mystery...”
If we are to understand why Jesus was speaking in parables, we must understand the phrase, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables.” Otherwise the sentence, “They might return and be forgiven,” will seem harsh and judgmental.
Jesus was being hounded by the religious authorities of this time. They had accused him of being Beezlebul (another name for Satan). They were already plotting against him. They gathered in every crowd to capture everything he might say and find a way to undermine or arrest him. Jesus spoke in parables to confound them while simultaneously enlightening the most simple of his followers.
Matthew 11:25
At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.”
It was an amazing strategy. Those who worked the farms would know exactly what Jesus was speaking about while the critics would go back to Jerusalem to report; “Well, uh, er, he talked about farming.”
The exact wording Jesus uses with his followers is also important. Let’s look at the sentence again: “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables.”
First, let’s look at mystery [G4466 Musterion]. This root word for this term [G3453 Mustes] means “the initiated.” Mystery was less about an unexplainable event or unsolved crime than it was a creed that only the initiated would understand. Once the gawkers and the connivers — the “outsiders” [G1854 Exo] — left the crowd, Jesus explained the meaning of his parable to his intimate followers including the Apostles.
Just who were these initiates? They were the true followers of Christ. Christ defined them when he spoke about who was his mother and who were his kin:
Mark 3:33-35
33 Answering them, He *said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34 Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He *said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 35 “For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
He explains it again when he says:
Mark 4:11-12
11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.”
Just occupying space in the crowd didn’t make one an “initiate”; an insider or family member of Jesus. Doing God’s will, seeing and perceiving, hearing and understanding; from learning to praxis. That’s what makes us followers of Jesus.
How much of a follower am I? Do I walk away with the uninitiated? Get my Sunday God-fix and go back to living without changing in the least compassionate manner? How “initiated” am I into living the Gospel of the laborers in the field and not just the temple elite? Do my visits to church accent a week of visits to the poor, alienated or incarcerated? Will I be found in the rest homes, impoverished schools, homeless shelters, juvenile halls or jails? Do I follow Jesus after the crowds have left?
MARK 4:14-15
14 “The sower sows the word. 15 “These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.”
“Beside the road”
Satan was a malevolent and real presence to Jesus. I know that some consider their theology as “post-satanist”; considering Satan a defunct story told to correct misbehaving simpletons. We need to remember Jesus wasn’t post-satanist and he had an inside track on the concept.
There were many terms for Satan, each one definitive of his nature. Mark chooses the word Adversary [G4567 Santanas]. This name is in direct opposition to the word for the Holy Spirit, Advocate [G3875 Parakletos]. They are opposites in the court of eternity. One tallies our faults, the other stands before the court. The Adversary does not arguing our innocence (for we have none before God) — the Advocate presents Christ’s sacrifice as our sole and complete defense.
I think I will side with Jesus over contemporary theologians on this issue. If Jesus believed in Satan, I will too. According to our Lord, the Adversary seeks to pluck us up before we apply the seeds of service in our life. In the span of time between hearing and doing, Satan does his work.
This has implications for both leaders and followers alike. Leaders, it is our responsibility to never share a teaching without giving an application. Don’t leave disciples pondering, send them away into action. Followers, we need to remember that there is a vast gap between hearing and acting. It is a gap that the Adversary is only too willing to fill. He will fill it with 1) cynicism, 2) self-doubt and 3) the falsehood that one person doesn’t make a difference. Consider the words of Margaret Mead; “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Aspire to be one of those citizens.
MARK 4:16-17
16 “In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.”
“On the rocky places”
Faith that is only as deep as our emotions is a faith planted on rocky soil. Sadly, in our culture, we often follow our emotions and our physical needs like they are the true gods of our lives. When people chase from church to church searching for the worship service with the best LCD presentation, the most moving music or most aesthetic worship facilities, they are only taking their faith rock-deep. The firm root of faith is “faith practiced/faith shared.”
To be fair, leaders must know we have no excuse for shoddy worship experiences. There is no excuse for giving less than the best to God. However, we need to be clear on what God calls great worship:
James 1:22-27
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
The true — and deep — joy of a worship experience is when we are surrounded by those who have been set free from poverty, abuse, or victimization of any sort. When we are not “a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer.”
Then our joy is not a false emotionalism. Then alone is our faith a deeply rooted seed.
MARK 4:18-19
18 “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
“Sown among the thorns”
Jesus confronts three issues that make us unfruitful in our walk with him. They are:
1. The worries of the world
2. The deceitfulness of riches
3. The desires for other things
Nothing immobilizes us more than the constant distraction of worldly wants. Jesus is not talking about sustenance here; he is talking about simplicity. At a certain point, we move beyond what we actually need and start accumulating things based upon our fears. It might be status fears — wanting to impress our neighbors or associates. It might be the constant anxiety of wanting things because of a chronic compulsion for more. This is what Jesus says prevents us from bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God. "Simplify," Jesus tells us. Every day, find one way to be liberated from the false promises of this world.
When we teach incarcerated kids about wealth, we them; “Wealth is the ability to give.” I could have a billion dollars but if I cannot give I am chronically poor. I will always feel poor. Instead, let us give our way into freedom; let us liberate our lives with simplicity.
MARK 4:20
“And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
“On the good soil”
What does it take to become good soil? The word “good [G2570 Kalos]” means commendable, honest, honorable, sound or fair. It is something others observe in us not something we exclaim about ourselves. Do others find our decisions sound and fair? Do they consider us honorable and honest? Do we model behaviors others commend? It is by living in such a manner that we become leaders. It is not the authority we have that makes us fruitful. A person could have all the authority in the world and be a virtual desert; a dry, parched land with no sustenance. It is our influence that makes us fruitful. How commendable our lives are — especially to the “least of these.”
We need to strive to live influential lives. We must rid ourselves of worldly concerns including titles and possessions. The closer we are to Christ the less we long for this world’s authority. Make us simple, Lord. Simple enough to be filled by you. Plant us in the Good Soil.
Mark 4:4:21-25
By Your Standard
Mark 4:21-25
MARK 4:21-25
21 And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? 22 “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”
MARK 4:21
And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand?”
“Put on the lampstand”
Put under or put on? Where is my lamp? There is much we need to understand about this verse for it is not just about hiding the flame but even more, about being unable to hide it.
Remember, this is not a discussion about a flashlight. We are talking about a living flame here — not an electronic one. Herein is the critical point in this verse. What would happen if we put a flame under a bed or a basket? We may not be able to see it for a while, but that doesn’t mean we’ve contained it. In a few minutes the flame will consume the bed or the basket and we are left with a raging fire. Similarly, the flame of God cannot be contained. The Religious Authorities had tried to contain Jesus. Then, the Roman government tried to contain the early church. How often throughout the eons have political governments tried to contain justice, how often have religious bureaucracies tried to contain the Holy Spirit. Surely, there is a momentary darkness but the darkness cannot be sustained. The flame will not only find a way but it will consume the very container that tries to confine it.
This message of Jesus is often taken as a warning to those who might be “evangelically meek” But it is about far more than that; it is about those who would try to contain Jesus or the justice he preached. It harkens back to the challenge of Gabriel (the Angel of the Lord) when Gideon (the warrior of the Lord) was threshing wheat in the wine press.
Judges 6:11-13
11 Then the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.”
The phrase “O valiant warrior,” drips with sarcasm. Here is the Lord’s warrior threshing wheat in hiding. You don’t thresh wheat IN an enclosure. You go up on a hill and thresh it in the wind lest your family winds up eating dirt and chaff with the wheat.
Gideon was hiding. The valiant warrior of God was being anything but valiant and Gabriel is sent to call him on it!
How many of us are Christians threshing wheat in hiding? Sure we can be Christians among Christians. We can be candles in a chandelier factory, drops in an ocean. But will we take justice to the poor? Will we be accused of the accusation the religious leaders made of Jesus? Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them [Luke 15:2).”
Will we be light in the darkness? Streams in the desert? Will we thresh on the hilltop? Or, will we try to contain the unquenchable flame?
MARK 4:22-23
22 “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
“Nothing is hidden”
Christ is telling us about the nature of sin. No sin is private; all of our actions either add to the web of deception in the world or bring more light to the darkness.
Yet, Jesus is also telling us that more than our actions stand exposed. Our intentions are also a part of the web of deception or the circle of light. We can cause harm in this world by refusing to act (sins of omission) just as surely as we can sin by direct action (commission).
When I know of injustice and turn my back — that doesn’t free me of culpability. I am allowing injustice by ignoring it. In fact, to purposely ignore is the root form of ignorance.
When we examine the life of Jesus, he is far less harsh on those who committed sins than those whose omitted justice. Read the following example:
John 8:3-11
3 The scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, 4 they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” 6 They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 7 But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground 9 When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. 10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”
To the woman, he says simply, “Sin no more.”
But to the judgmental and self-righteous, he is harsh:
Matthew 23:13-15
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 [“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”
Indeed, there are eight woes of the self-righteous and judgmental Pharisees. The intentions of the heart ARE what Christ wants us to root out. For indeed, out committed sins are easy to see, our omitted attitudes are much harder to abandon.
MARK 4:24-25
24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”
“By your standard…”
What standard did the Pharisees use to measure others? How did it differ from the standard that Jesus used? The Pharisees measured external appearances. They were dead grass spray-painted green. Jesus measured the inner intentions. He goes as far as to confront the Pharisees with a quote from Hosea [Hosea 6:6]; “But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE.’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners [Matthew 9:13].”
We can make all the right appearances, fulfill all the correct rituals, but if our lives lack compassion we will not live in the joy of God. This is not just a statement about an eternal relationship with our Creator; it is about the present too. There is no real joy ever to be found in priding self and judging others. The deep abiding joy of God comes in humility and service. The reason there are so many self-help books on the bookshelves today is because none of them work. There is ultimately no help in self. Freedom is to be found in giving one’s self away.
“For whoever has, to him more shall be given.” Who loses love by giving it away? Who loses joy by sharing it? Yet, the person who hoards the few compliments they have or whatever sincere gratitude they possess because of personal aggrandizement or the inability to give credit where it is due, that person will find their circle of caring friendships only diminish with time. They might be surrounded by other cynics, they might be awash in wealth and worldly prestige, yet their lives will devoid of compassion and grace.
If I want to know how I will end my life, I have to analyze how I invest my life. If I invest my resources on solely on self — especially the most precious resources of friendships and time — then I will end my life in a world no larger than my needs. However, if I give myself to Christ’s new commandment, “love others like I loved you,” then my life will be rich with companionship and compassion. I forge the chains of eternity each day of my life. By which standard do I want to measure my life; by what I have or what I’ve given?
Mark 4:26-34
“The Kingdom of God Is Like…”
Mark 4:26-34
MARK 4 26-34
26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows — how, he himself does not know. 28 “The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 “But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
30 And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 “It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE.”
33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; 34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
MARK 04 26-27
26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows — how, he himself does not know.”
“The kingdom of God is like...”
The words of Jesus confused political leaders (like Pontius Pilate and Herod), religious leaders (like Nicodemus and the Sanhedrin), and even his own apostles (when the principles of Christ’s Kingdom clashed with their desires to be the new political and religious authorities). However, our Lord’s simple stories — while confounding the wise — enamored children, the ostracized and the downtrodden.
Where do I fit in that picture?
Do I have a hard time “comprehending Jesus” because his message conflicts with my compulsion for personal comfort or gain? Do I try, like Nicodemus, to fit Jesus into my box when he tried to persuade Jesus to “become one of us?” Am I like the woman at Jacob’s Well flirting with the eternal? Do I, like Peter, want Jesus to stay comfortably at my house in Capernaum and not make the sacrificial journey of salvation to Jerusalem?
The temptations of Satan are so evident in the statement; “I’ll help you achieve your ends, Jesus, if you use my means.”
We won’t understand even the simplest statements of Jesus if we can’t sacrifice our very intentions to him.
Matthew 16:24-26
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
The kingdom of God is like a principle I will never understand through my head or my wallet. It is like, Jesus says, “A man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows — how, he himself does not know.”
How can an earthly being ever understand how the broken seed of self-sacrifice will become the fruit of total unity? How can we possibly comprehend that only humility, gratitude, service and simplicity can lead to eternal joy when the world tells us to choose pleasure, approval and manipulation?
One person who truly “got it” was Catherine Doherty, a Russian immigrant raised as part of the aristocracy. Her life changed dramatically when she was sent to the Russian Front at age 15 to be a nurse. While there, most of her family was killed and she immigrated to Canada with her new soldier-husband. Though she lost everything, she became a popular speaker against communism until the Great Depression. Then, feeling deeply committed to the plight of the poor, she sold everything to offer housing for the indigent and spent her days begging for blankets and food.
A movement grew around her and Catherine found herself accused of being a Communist. She was forced to leave her community and moved to New York where she started another shelter.
At 67, she moved back to Toronto with the hopes of retiring to her community there, however she was rejected. Not being one to wallow in blame or anger, her later years became the most productive of her life as she furthered the cause of the poor.
Catherine wrote a prayer called the Little Mandate, which goes as follows
The Little Mandate
Arise — go! Sell all you possess. Give it directly, personally to the poor. Take up My cross (their cross) and follow Me, going to the poor, being poor, being one with them, one with Me.
Little — be always little! Be simple, poor, childlike.
Preach the Gospel with your life — without compromise! Listen to the Spirit. He will lead you.
Do little things exceedingly well for love of Me.
Love... love... love, never counting the cost.
Go into the marketplace and stay with Me. Pray, fast. Pray always, fast.
Be hidden. Be a light to your neighbour’s feet. Go without fears into the depth of men’s hearts. I shall be with you.
Pray always. I will be your rest.
We too must learn to be little, simple and childlike to understand Christ. Like Nicodemus, we must abandon our complexities to understand the straightforward Gospel of Jesus. Like the religious, the political, and — at times — the disciples, we don’t “get” Jesus when our lives and agenda are too complicated.
As for me, when will I learn that thinking about seeds, preaching about seeds or hoarding my seeds does not make them grow? Only letting them go, burying them deep, allowing God to do the work, only then will my hard shell break open and abundant life sprout forth.
MARK 4:28-29
28 “The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 “But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
“First the Blade, Then the Head”
To Jesus, maturity comes from being “in the soil”; knee deep in the dirt of life. Experiential knowledge comes first, head knowledge last. I can’t grasp what is on Christ’s mind until I have buried myself in his heart.
To apply this type of learning to our education system (public and private) would require complete restructuring. In order to teach like Jesus taught — “first the blade, then the head” — teachers and ministers have to create opportunities to catch disciples/students in the act of service. That means that teachers and ministers are primarily models of service seeking always to create opportunities for disciples/students to join them in the field. Like a good swim instructor helping nervous children enter the alien environment of water, they invite children into the pool — they don’t push them.
Does that sound like my style of teaching? Am I creating opportunities to catch people working “in the soil?” Or, do I just stick with preaching and lecturing from a classroom or sanctuary because it is easier?
Jesus shows us that the greatest teacher models what he/she wants to teach. Model, invite, and send; that is the pedagogy of Jesus.
“First the blade, then the head.”
“When the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle”
Here is the last action a greater teacher takes with his students/disciples; he harvests. The wheat is worthless unless it’s baked into bread and then only when it is blessed and broken.
Matthew 26:26
26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
Do we have a vested interest in Jesus? Are we willing to be first invested and then harvested by Christ, to be blessed and then broken? Not just symbolically, not just ritually, but literally. To be broken of selfishness and pride so that we can offer service in humility, gratitude and simplicity? Are we prepared to be “put to the sickle” laying ourselves down for the good of others?
MARK 4:30-32
30 And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 “It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE.”
“It is like a mustard seed...”
The mustard plant was a poor man’s fence. It was used to give privacy to a family and safety to birds. The birds would not only warn of intruders but also bring joy to the household. The shrub started very small when planted but, given the right conditions, it would grow very large.
This plant is supposed to resemble our faith. Though the seed of Christ seems miniscule at first, when carried in our hearts and cultivated through our works we become advocates, confidantes, and a joy to others.
How close am I to living out these mustard plant values? Do people turn to me for advocacy, in trust, and to receive joy? Therein is the measurement of the Mustard Seed faith.
MARK 4:33-34
33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; 34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples
To follow Jesus is to know God. We don’t need to feign understanding of all his teachings; we just need to follow him where he would go while emulating what he would do. We learn most about Jesus when we love like he loved.
The disciples were neither the most intelligent nor the most powerful people in Israel. In fact, they were just the opposite. They were the laughingstock of the Jewish elite. Still, they hung out with Jesus. When Jesus said, “What do you seek,” all they wanted to do was to go with him, to “Know where you are staying [Jn 1:38.”
What more do we need to ask of Jesus?
Do we want to know God? Then we must hang out with Jesus. Go where he would go, do what he would do, and Jesus will “explain everything” to us. More than anything else, hanging out with Jesus gives us a perspective of the world that is akin to the eyes of God. If we truly go where Jesus would go we would find a perspective that promotes advocacy for the least of these and love of the outcast. Stripped of the pride and self-righteousness of this world, we would understand the world from “God’s point of view.”
To “hang out with Jesus” is to see the world from the eyes of compassion and to be moved by the poor:
Matthew 9:36
36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
When I “hang out” with Jesus, I see like God. The more we “go where Jesus would go” the more we “see what Jesus would see,”
That’s when I truly begin to understand what the “Kingdom of God is like.” It is like freedom to the captive, food to the poor, restoration to the wounded, and forgiveness to the sinner. Can I understand that kingdom or am I too enamored by my own personal agenda?
God, rid me of my agenda so I can embrace yours. Help me to “love, love, love, without ever counting the cost.”
Mark 4:35-41
“Over To The Other Side”
Mark 4:35-41
MARK 4:35-41
35 On that day, when evening came, He *said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd, they *took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. 37 And there *arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. 38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they *woke Him and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. 40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
Overview
“Go over to the other side”
Jesus can be difficult, especially when he asks us to, “go over to the other side.”
You are about to bed down and get comfortable, you’ve already been working hard all day. You’re ready to put up the tent, kick back and tell fishing stories about who had the biggest catch. Then here comes Jesus. He’s not sitting down yet. You don’t like the look in his eye. Finally he says; “Why are you getting comfortable, you need to ‘go over to the other side?’”
With Jesus, it is always about the other side.
In Matthew 14:22, he tells the disciples to go over “to the other side” of the lake and meets them halfway across; only he’s walking on the water. He sends them constantly to the pagan nations “on the other side [Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1, John 6:1].” Why can’t Jesus just get comfortable on this side, the side we are already on, my side?
Not only does he send his followers to the “other side”; but he sends them at evening. Every fisher knew that a lake given to storms will always face the worst weather when evening comes. To their credit, these reluctant followers still trudge their way to the boats and resignedly push out for the other side despite the propensity for a storm. Jesus is not only difficult, he is also persistent, there will be no rest tonight.
Do I “go over to the other side,” when Jesus tells me?
I know my side, I know where I am comfortable, I know where the risk of a storm exists and yet, Jesus is still pointing with annoying constancy. Do I roll over and climb deeper into my comfort zone or do I obey and go?
Each of us knows where the “other side” is in our town. Each of us knows where the potential of a storm is highest. Faith is all about going there especially when the odds are against me. It is about going to the other side when I know that a storm is unavoidable. Faith is knowing the odds are against me and going anyway. Do I go?
The miracles that happen in this reading are immense; grand and miraculous. Yet, they would never have happened if the disciples had not taken the very first step. They knew there was a high chance of a storm and they still went to the other side. If my faith walk is missing the miraculous it is not because Jesus has gone to sleep in my bow. It is most likely because I got too comfortable. So comfortable that I would not “go to the other side.”
We must remember that even though the odds are against the disciples, Jesus is in the boat with them. He’s in the boat with us too. We never go to the “other side” alone. So, let’s go…
MARK 4 35-37
35 On that day, when evening came, He *said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd, they *took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. 37 And there *arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.
When evening came
Surrounded by hills and at a depth of 680 feet (207 meters) below sea level; the Sea of Galilee was a funnel for surprisingly sudden and dramatic storms. The sea itself was shaped like a wind tunnel at twelve and one-half miles long and anywhere from four to seven and one-half miles wide. Still, the disciples were some of the lake’s most seasoned, professional fishers. They would be experienced enough to know that it is almost always the evening when the worst storms blasted down upon the tranquil lake. That’s when the cool air clashes with the heat with such force that the lake would look like a wading pool with six full-size Sumo wrestlers doing cannonballs in its center.
You have to admire these disciples for even listening to Jesus. They knew what they were heading into and they went anyway. This was a bold response to a Christ-centered command. Once again, we find the disciples willing to follow their Lord to a place where most of us would never go.
Jesus, on the other hand, was not exactly ignorant of the forces of nature (having been privy to their creation). We must not think that he would be caught unawares by this storm either. No, what we see here is the Lord purposely taking these disciples into a precarious situation. Humanly we might even ask; “If Jesus really loved them, why would he put them at risk?”
There are two possible answers to this question and the truth is probably found in a blend of them both:
1. They weren’t really at risk;
Wherever we go in Christ, we never go “at risk,” if we are going where he commands. We can be assured we are going with his authority. Christ himself prays for the protection of our souls from the greatest threat we could ever face — the Evil One:
John 17:15
“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.
The only danger to truly fear is separation from God and we cannot be separated from God if we are obedient to his commands:
Psalm 86:11-13
11 Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. 12 I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Your name forever. 13 For Your lovingkindness toward me is great, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
Romans 8:31
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
Hebrews 13:6
...so that we confidently say, “THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?"
Romans 8:37-39
37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If Jesus sends us into the storm (when he sends us into the storm) we can be assured that he goes with us. We can go forward in his confidence.
2. Jesus sends us into the storm for our growth.
Jesus was fully aware of the storm ahead and with clarity of purpose headed out to sea. Whether you believe this was an intentional decision set up by Jesus or a teachable moment, the lesson is clear: Jesus can use any situation to increase our faith.
Our Lord’s commands are never empty and the storms we go through with Jesus will bring us incredible growth. Rather than fear the storms we need to train our hearts to see them as opportunities. There is no empty storm with Jesus!
MARK 4:38-40
38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they *woke Him and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. 40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
“Do You not care?”
We seem far more likely to panic when we go knowingly into a storm than if we stumble upon it. I can just imagine the disciples muttering among themselves rather than waking up Jesus to confront him and the more they grumbled the more they became helpless.
Do we make these fatal faith flaws?
· Do we presume Jesus is unaware of our trials?
· Do we grit our teeth and blame God when our seas become stormy?
· Do we presume that just because we experienced storms in our life “pre-Jesus” that those experiences should cease because we have “found Jesus?”
The response to these questions should be; “no, No, and NO!”
We are a new creation when Jesus enters our life. God is neither dormant nor distant and we have a living advocate who goes with us to confront our fears. We still face storms, we just do not face them either alone or without purpose.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
When we sail with Christ the rules have forever changed. No matter how similar the landscape seems, no matter how many times we have previously faced a storm, no matter how many times we would like to place the blame instead of take the helm, we need to realize that Christ adds a new dimension to our lives. We may be sailing the same waters but we have a new purpose and therefore, a new strength.
In addition, this is one of the reasons that Jesus doesn’t reveal our future paths in detail. I have to laugh about this because if someone handed me a job description for what I do as a missionary of Christ, I probably would not accept it! Living by faith, going to jails, shelters and rest homes daily; I’d be nuts to take my job. Yet, God sort of snuck up on me one line item at a time. Suddenly, I found myself doing this without ever planning to do it. My whole life feels like the part of the job description that reads, “All other things as assigned.” God’s path is not easy, but it sure is exciting.
Rebuked the wind
As I mentioned before, Jesus was not accidentally in the storm; he was right where he expected to be when he sent those little fishing boats upon the lake at evening time. His deep sleep in the midst of a raging storm is a model to us of a Godly calmness in a stormy world. He expected the storm yet, he also knew God’s will was going to be achieved. What does Jesus model? “Expect great storms but expect God to be greater.”
His sound slumber isn’t a sign of apathy (as the apostles thought). He sleeps the deep slumber of great confidence. This is God’s storm, what has Jesus to fear?
We too need to pray for a similar attitude of confidence. Obedience to Christ will increase the storms in our life but it will also increase the confidence in our hearts.
The words and actions of Jesus model the response of a Christian standing in the midst of any “unexpected” storm:
· He rebukes the wind
To rebuke [G2008 Epitimao] could best be translated as; “He sized up his opponent then firmly put him in his place.”
Jesus doesn’t size up the storm against his own human stature; he sizes it up against God’s divine stature. A friend of mine once preached to some of my friends in the jail; “Don’t tell God how big your problems are, tell your problems how big God is!”
Size up your problems against God’s stature, not your own.
1 Samuel 17:37-40
37 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor. 39 David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” And David took them off. 40 He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.
· He silences the sea
Next Jesus silences the sea, telling it to; “Be still [G5392 phimoo].” Literally, he “muzzles the sea,” he “puts it to silence.”
Faith in Christ silences our adversary. A threat is only a threat if it can take away something that you value. However the Christ-centered person has only one value; to love like Jesus. The adversary can’t touch us when we are centered in Christ. The obedient Christian abides in God’s love.
John 15:4-10
4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
· Nothing can separate us from such love:
Romans 8:35-39
35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written,
“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”
37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The result of Christ’s rebuke is not just “calm”; but “absolute [G3173 megas] calm.” This word was used of great achievements or huge accomplishments. Imagine a calm so unexpected and so complete that it leaves observers terrified (as we witness in the apostles response to the storms immediate cessation).
That is the calm of Jesus Christ. Our Lord’s encompassing calm not only includes him but it also exudes from him. It is a commanding calm that extends to everyone and everything around him.
Some theologians have improperly tried to reduce this scripture as Jesus extending his calm only to his disciple’s attitudes thus enabling them to “ride out” the storm. It is always mentally tempting to reduce the great works of Christ to our own humanistic terms; but it doesn’t pan out. As we plainly see, Jesus’ miracle is not merely for one boat but there are many boats on the boiling sea. He doesn’t calm the crews, he doesn’t calm the captains, he rebukes the source and the source ceases to harass the followers of Jesus.
In like manner, we have the miraculous power to “size up and silence” the source of the storms in our lives. Let’s use that miraculous power to bring peace to all the boats tossed about by the storms about us.
· And, he challenges his followers to deepen their faith.
“Why are you afraid?” is the tame version of what Jesus really says. The word we translate as “afraid” [G1169 deilos] translates more closely to cowards or cowardly. “Why are you cowering?” Or, “Why are you cowards?”
Jesus doesn’t encourage our faith; he demands it. It is not an option; it is fundamental. It is as though Jesus is telling us; “Absolute faith is the only acceptable response to God!”
If we don’t get faith, we can’t get God. Without faith, we remain victims of the circumstantial. Double-minded people tossed upon the sea:
James 1:2-7
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord.
Jesus rebukes his follower’s faithlessness as much as he rebukes the adversarial sea. Will our lives be marked by such a faithful response? So deep we do not fear going over to the other side, sizing up and silencing the adversary, or even extending Christ’s calm to an ocean of storm-tossed boats. For, if God is for us, who can be against us [Romans 8:31]?