Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 8 Study # 1
July 14, 2020
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(172)
NASB
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.
- I. Mark's "Parables-Conclusion".
- A. Jesus "was speaking" (elalei) to them... .
- 1. All of a sudden, Mark abandons his focus upon lego in favor of laleo.
- a. He used lego in 248 texts in his record.
- b. He had been using lego, in relation to the parables, in eight texts (4:2, 9, 11, 13, 21, 24, 26, and 30).
- 2. In contrast, he used laleo in only 19 texts in all of his record.
- a. In respect to the parables, he only used it twice (4:33 and 34).
- b. Mark's point is the same one that he recorded in 4:10-12: Jesus did not intend for those "without" to understand His Kingdom, let alone His words regarding it, but this summary does have some indication that His "to you" and "those without" are not without varying shades of impact. The presence of Judas Iscariot among "His disciples" and the reality of 120 people in the upper room on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:15) both indicate that Jesus' "categories" were not "settled" so that "those" to whom the mystery was a "given" and "you" who are "disciples" were general facts, not "nailed down" absolutes.
- 3. laleo is used when "sound" is the issue, not "content".
- a. It is instructive that Paul's use of laleo in 1 Corinthians focuses upon the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues where the point is that, often, men are not intended to understand (14:2 and 23) what is being said.
- b. 1 Corinthians 14:8 illustrates the problem: if men hear a trumpet, but do not recognize its tones, they will not know how to respond.
- c. Mark's switch to laleo is a clear indication that Jesus was not concerned that the majority of His hearers understand His words: 4:12.
- B. "...with many such parables".
- 1. That there were "many such parables spoken" indicates that Mark was deliberately selective in recording the ones he recorded.
- 2. "Many" does not help when "understanding" is not the point.
- a. There were only five parables "necessary" to begin to reveal "the mystery of The Kingdom of The God".
- 1) There was the "main" parable: the parable of the "landing places" with its focus upon the fruitfulness of the seed being dependent upon the character of the place where it landed.
- a) Then there was the parable of the Coming of The Lamp, which was primarily for the disciples.
- b) Then there was the parable of the Selection of the Standard of Measure, which was also primarily for the disciples, and pushed the issue of The Lamp into deeper regions of understanding.
- 2) Then there were two "follow-up" parables regarding "similarities" between certain present common experiences and The Kingdom of The God, which were for the great crowd.
- a) The first of these two concerned the "fruitfulness of the earth" without any need for understanding by the sower.
- b) The second of these two concerned the "fruitfulness of the grain of mustard" which addressed how what men consider highly insignificant is, in The Kingdom, the most significant for the result intended.
- b. Though Jesus did not mean for the crowd to understand, He did want His disciples to grasp the "mystery".
- 1) Thus, for Mark's readers, it is necessary to know that there were "many" other lesser "points" regarding "The Mystery" that the disciples needed to know before they were "sent forth to preach".
- 2) Thus, we have this: we do not get to read "the many", but we do have the basics.
- 3) Thus, we can "get" the main "points" of "The Mystery".
- a) The "main" main point is that The Kingdom of The God is "all in" in respect to the production of a harvest that satisfies the King (i.e., there will be such a Kingdom).
- b) A sub-set of "lesser points" for the disciples.
- i. The "Coming of the Lamp" signals a strong necessity for allowing The Lamp to be and to do because these issues determine the degree to which "fruitfulness" will develop.
- ii. The "Standard of Measure" signals a critical requirement for the disciples' own personal growth in "having" understanding so that they may be more and more "fruitful".
- c) Then another sub-set of "lesser points" for everyone.
- i. In The Kingdom's acquisition of a harvest, "good earth" is all that is necessary on the "harvest" side of this "point".
- ii. In The Kingdom's acquisition of a harvest, the "grain", which is the Word of God sown, is totally adequate to produce the "fruitfulness that is sought from "the good earth".
- C. Jesus' "speaking" was under an umbrella: "being empowered to hear".
- 1. Mark said that Jesus was speaking "just as..."
- a. This indicates a "standard" that is in place.
- b. This also indicates that there were others in the crowd who were not selected to be in Jesus' "discipleship mode" as those who would be sent forth to preach, but were given some ability to "hear" with understanding.
- 2. The "just as" is deliberately pointed to human inability matched with God's ability.
- a. Some were "empowered to hear" and in varying degrees (30, 60, 100).
- b. The passive voice means that they did not have it within themselves to "hear".
- 1) The "hearing" was for "understanding".
- 2) The passive voice means that "understanding" was going to be only by the grace of the power of God.
- D. Jesus was making a distinction.
- 1. He was speaking to the crowd made of up three groups.
- a. One group was set for destruction: they would not be forgiven.
- b. Another group was "empowered" to escape that destruction.
- c. The third group was "selected" to be those who were going to be the preachers of the message of The Kingdom.
- 2. Mark said that Jesus "released all things to His own disciples".
- a. The "all things" means "a greater body of truth regarding The Kingdom" than what the rest would "get".
- b. The restriction of the teaching to "parables" was deliberate with the three groups in mind.
- c. Even within the group of those who had the parables "released" (used only in this text and Acts 19:39) to them, there was a difference in the degree of understanding that developed.
