Mark 4:1-9, The Parable of the Sower

1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea [this is one reason why Jesus needed fishermen as disciples: they had boats he could use], and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables [first time “parables” appears in Mark, meaning “illustrations”], and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” [This is not a lesson in Palestinian agriculture but a story designed to teach a specific lesson.] 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” [This is an invitation to explore and ponder what has been said. Other teachers might celebrate that they have attracted large numbers, but Jesus knows the mixed motives and true hearts of these people. His parables are designed to test his hearers’ spiritual response, not intelligence. To hear means we have received the illumination of the Holy Spirit who alone opens our blind eyes to the truth of God. Jesus’ parables are designed to convey one central truth. They are not allegories with various levels of meaning. This parable is concerned with the different kinds of ground the seed falls upon: the hard heart, the shallow heart, the overcluttered heart, and the good heart. All are present when the word of God is preached.]