Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 3 Study # 5
May 12, 2020
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(156)
1901 ASV
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."
- I. The Word Falls Into The "Thorns".
- A. Others, who exist, being sown into the thorns.
- 1. The original statement: "and another (singular) fell into the thorns and the thorns came up and they choked it (singular) and it did not give fruit".
- 2. The interpretation: "and others (plural) there are who (plural) are being sown into the thorns. These are they who hear (aorist) the Word, and the anxieties of the age and the deceitfulness of the wealth and the longing regarding the 'rest' entering choke the Word and fruitlessness comes to be". In respect to "the mystery of the Kingdom of The God" (4:11), that people "hear" The Word is most fundamental to this "mystery". As a most fundamental element of the "mystery", the "hearing" of The Word must take its place in our hearts and minds as the most important element in God's production of that Kingdom, both now and in the age to come.
- B. The details.
- 1. "Others" is singular in the parable and plural in the explanation and "they are...". "They are" is a statement about the nature of this case: these exist.
- 2. These are described as "being sown into the thorns" (the "other" seeds).
- a. "Thorns" is a word that is used in eleven texts in the New Testament. Six of these eleven are found in the words of this parable in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Two of these eleven are found in Jesus' words about whether anyone seeks useful fruit (grapes -- Matthew 7:16, or figs -- Luke 6:44) from a thorn bush. Two others of these eleven are references to the mockery of a crown of thorns placed upon Jesus by His tormentors after His trial. The final use of these eleven is found in Hebrews 6:8 where "earth" that yields "thorns" and thistles is "worthless and close to being cursed" and ends up with all its 'growth' being burned. This is contrasted to "things that accompany salvation" even though the author writes of those who participate in salvation that "they" might possibly be "worthless earth".
- b. The use of the "thorns" in respect to the "crown" plaited by the soldiers and placed upon the head of Jesus (so that they might torment Him by driving the thorns into His scalp by hitting him with a rod (Matthew 27:30) and by mocking His identity as Israel's King) makes the "thorns" a torturous mockery...indicating the scoffing unbelief and hatefulness of His creation/creatures. This may well indicate the interpretation of the seed being "choked" as an indication that a major issue in fruitlessness is the painful mockery of those to whom The Word is proclaimed, but hate it.
- 3. These are characterized as fruitless because of three issues.
- a. In spite of "hearing The Word", there is the issue of the "anxieties of the age".
- 1) Anxieties.
- a) In Matthew's record of this "interpretation", he uses "The Anxiety of The Age" (13:22) as an indication that there is a singularity to this "problem" that, then, runs outward into multiple aspects of the problem.
- b) Jesus' word here is only used in six texts of the New Testament and, for the most part, is left unexplained as though everyone would understand it. But, in the only "positive" use of the word translated "anxiety" (2 Corinthians 11:28), Paul gives it "content". That "content" is the interplay between the realities of "love for" (in this case, "another"), and the "potential disasters" that lie in wait if certain "values", "beliefs", and "choices" are not "in place" so that those disasters come upon the "beloved". Paul lived, daily, under the awareness of how critically important "love", "faith", "choices", and "actions" are in terms of how "life" unfolds for those involved and he "worried" about those to whom he had ministered The Word as to whether, like the Galatians (in particular) and many others, they would put aside their early love/truth/choices/actions" regarding The Word because of the pressures of "life".
- c) In our text/context, the "anxieties" were "thorns" that drew people away from "faith".
- 2) Of "The Age".
- a) Mark uses the word translated "the world" in 4 texts (3:29; 4:19; 10:30; and 11:14).
- i. In 3:29 it is used to communicate "never" in the declaration that forgiveness would "never" be given. In this text, the "never" concept is in a phrase that is literally "unto the age". It means that "the age" will never see the forgiveness for those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
- ii. In 4:19 (our current text) it is used to indicate that "The Age" is characterized by a production of certain "needs" that are defined in terms of whether, or not, a person's "life" will run according to his/her wishes.
- iii. In 10:30 it refers to "an Age to come which will be characterized as "the time when eternal life is to be fully experienced".
- iv. In 11:14 it refers to the same concept of 3:29.
- b) Mark's use strongly implies that "this age" is in direct conflict with "the age to come" in terms of "needs" and "loyalties".
- 3) Thus, the "anxieties of the age" simply means that people will have "wants/needs/wishes" in "this age" that do not reflect any real confidence in the promised age to come, and, thus, people will be drawn away from the values and truths regarding that coming age because of their commitments to the values and lies regarding the present age.
- 4) This is the first of three elements of this age that "choke" The Word.
- a) The verb translated "choke" is rare in the New Testament (used only five times -- Matthew 13:22, Mark 4:7, 19; and Luke 8:14 and 8:42, four of which are uses relating to this parable).
- b) The only text that gives us a graphic picture of the meaning is Luke 8:42 where "the crowd was choking Him". The meaning is not "choking" so much as "pressing upon Him". If that "pressing" happens to be around the neck, "choking" is a legitimate translation, but that is not the case in this text. This "choking" is simply trying to get to Jesus by shoving and pushing so that the disciples have a great difficulty in making a path for Him to move forward.
- c) Thus, the first "aggressive pressing upon" has to do with the way "anxieties" are used to deflect "The Word" from its proper place at the center of man's considerations.
- b. In spite of "hearing The Word", there is the issue of the "deceitfulness of the wealth".
- c. In spite of "hearing The Word", there is the issue of the "longings regarding 'the rest of things'".