Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 1 Study # 4
February 4, 2020
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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(139)
Thesis: This parable is not "about" the "sower", but rather "about" what happens to the seed that is sown.
Introduction: We have been giving our attention to Jesus' "teaching many things by means of parables". We have seen a strong implication that the first parable had a particular significance in that Mark presented it with a "double-double" in
4:2's "teaching/saying" and
4:3's "Listen/Behold". The reason for this seems to be two-fold: first, the method of teaching/saying is through "parable" which possesses the "problem" that men will "understand" according to a "natural" inclination to force the difficult issues to conform to what they already think they "know"; and second, Jesus made this "parable" a kind of key to understanding all those which follow (
4:13).
This evening, we are going to deliberately restrain our own study by initially restricting ourselves to the parable itself.
- I. The Reasons For This Restraint.
- A. It is a part of Mark's burden in his record that decisions made about Jesus and His message were regularly poorly rooted.
- 1. In 2:7 Mark recorded that "certain scribes" immediately jumped to a false conclusion because of seriously flawed "theology".
- a. There has already been a two-fold foundation laid for this "immediate" jump to "significance".
- 1) Jesus' "teaching" was unabashedly "new", with concepts that the people had never seriously considered.
- 2) The "scribes" recorded as making this "immediate jump" had a personal, inner reason to attempt to discredit Jesus: they were humiliated by the fact that the people could tell that Jesus seemed to have "authority" and that they did not.
- b. We can see from the highly "dangerous" concept of "the pervasive, general teaching of the Word of God" that the latter (personal humiliation) drove the former (the use of "theology" to discredit Jesus).
- c. The "danger" here is that every person who considers the words of the Bible does so out of his/her own "personal reasons" and "formerly developed theology" where the latter will be determined by the former.
- 2. In 3:21 Mark recorded that "those alongside of Him" (afterwards identified as His immediate physical family) put forward the nonsense that Jesus needed to be "taken in charge" because He was "mentally confused".
- a. We have already seen that this "poorly rooted decision" was drawn because of the significantly dangerous position that those who supported Jesus were in because of the "official determination regarding Jesus" that He was in league with Satan.
- b. In this case, it is not "bad theology" that is the useful "tool" of "personal reasons"; it is bald stupidity driven by craven fear.
- B. There is even a parable in this set of parables that presses us to be very careful: 4:24-25.
- II. The Nature of This Restraint.
- A. We are going to do the "impossible".
- 1. We are going to make every effort to "forget" two types of information.
- a. First, we are going to try to "forget" our own personal theologies.
- b. Second, we are going to try to "forget" everything we have already heard about this parable.
- 2. We are going to do what we can to simply delve into Jesus' parable without looking any further than 4:9.
- B. We are going to re-consider what Jesus' actually "taught/said" as our obedience to His "Listen/Behold".
- 1. First, how is this parable typically identified? (The Parable of the Sower).
- a. This is the actual introduction: Literally, "The one who is sowing (present tense, articular participle; atypical for historical narrative) went out (Aorist, Indicative; typical historical narrative) to sow (his identity is fulfilled by his action; "ho speiron speirai").
- b. However, the parable, when considered as a whole, is not about his "sowing": it is "about" what happened to the seed after it was broadcast.
- 1) This "about" is, technically, the most important first step in true understanding: the "subject" must be correctly identified.
- 2) Thus, the "subject" of Jesus' parable is what happens when a sower sows seed.
- c. Thus, we need to "set aside" what we have previously generally "heard".
- 2. Second, we are in a quest for the "complement" of the "subject": what did Jesus actually say about what happens when a sower sows seed.
- a. He said, "Some of the seed fell alongside the trampled path" and what happened to the seed in that case was "the birds devoured it".
- b. He said, "Other seed fell upon a layer of rock that had a thin covering of earth over it" and what happened was that the seed "immediately" germinated because there was no depth of earth but then it was withered by the heat of the sun because it had no "root".
- c. He said, "Other seed fell into "the thorny plants" which outgrew the seed so as to choke it so that it gave no fruit.
- d. He said, "Other seed fell into "the good earth" and what happened was that it was giving fruit by ascending and growing and bearing in different measures.
- 3. Third, we are in a quest for "literary design" implications: How is "meaning" and "significance" affected by the way Mark has already presented his record?
- a. Primary to this question is the combination of statements in our text regarding Jesus' choice of "parables" and His closing imperative: "he that has ears to hear, let him hear".
- 1) This automatically means that understanding cannot be assumed.
- 2) This automatically means that one must deal with earlier established "personal issues that drive decisions" and "the use of 'theology' to justify protecting those issues".
- b. Then, there is the deliberate "turn" in chapter four to the "with Him" section of Mark's record, identified in 3:14 and extended to 6:7.
- 1) This automatically means that Jesus is teaching His disciples, not evangelizing those who are making up large crowds who want healings and exorcisms.
- 2) Since the "teaching" is prelude to the "commissioning" in 6:7, we can see that Mark's literary design is pushing us to try to see Jesus' teaching as preparation for His disciples when they go forth to preach (probably anticipating difficulties they will face so that they can overcome them).
- 4. Fourth, we are in a quest for "legitimate theology" as we attempt to "harmonize" our most immediate conclusions with a very large body of "other conclusions".
