Mark 4:21-41

Mark 4:21-41

Jesus presents three parables; the lamp, the seed growing at night, and the mustard seed. He also addresses our responsibility in the learning part of being a disciple. In verses 22-25 and later in verses 33-34 we see that the student part of being a disciple is very serious. In short, we are responsible for what we have been taught. It is possible for the word to go in one ear and out of the other. The disciple who wants to learn, who studies, who seeks God will grow and will be given new insight, understanding and opportunity. The one who has will be given even more! If we handle the discipline of learning in a sloppy way, what we do have will be taken from us. The learning can be in the simplest things. When we hear the story we can walk away at our current level and there we will remain. But if we want we can meet the Lord privately and take it to the next level. The stories and teaching are not meant to be heard and then ignored, like a lamp under a basket; rather, they are to be studied and considered like a lamp on a lampstand.

Jesus gives two illustrations of what transpires in our lives. We can't really understand the how of what is happening in the discipleship transformation. It is like a seed planted and then begins to grow. We need to appreciate that mystery, but we will never fully understand it. That appreciation is such that we focus on the result, the mature grain at the end. We may not be able to explain why our lives are so changed and sometimes the change is subtle enough that in a single moment we may notice very little, but the difference is ultimately massive and undeniable. How great is that change? It is as great as the size of a mustard tree when contrasted to a mustard seed.

How well did the disciples grasp the lesson at that moment? Apparently, they did not grasp it very well. Taking his disciples to the other side of the lake they are caught in the storm. They are needlessly terrified and they came to Jesus (which is always a good plan) and asked for rescue. Jesus rescues them and then calls them “timid” and asked where was their faith. The learning opportunity had arrived. Not all learning is in a book perhaps some of the best is in life. At verse 41, they asked a great question. How they ended up processing that question is the point at which they matured.

Mark 4:1 - 20

Mark 4:1 - 20

This parable ought to be called the parable of the four soil conditions. The first three soils are non-productive. We are tempted to say that they are victims, but if we look closely we see they are not victims, but perpetrators of their own doom.

The first soil is hard. It is hard because of emotional rebellion or selfish resistance to God. We all have the capacity to refuse to hear God's word in some area of our life. That hardness makes it impossible for us to even hear the call of God for our lives and leads to greater hardness or hardness in other areas of life.

The second soil was shallow. On the surface things may have looked good. The life of faith is easy when things are good, but things are not always good. Circumstances may be a testing and refining from God to purify us. They may be a temptation of the enemy to ruin us. From our own perspective we may not be able to tell the difference. The results reveal our character and what is under the surface. How would we fair under persecution and affliction? Note also that the Lord says, "They have no firm root in themselves." In persecution and affliction we cannot rely on others.

This third soil appears to be doing well, at least longer than the rocky soil. Notice the two forces at work in the demise of these plants. There is the “deceitfulness of riches” and the “desire of other things”. It is not riches or things themselves that are the problem, but our attitude toward them. If we believe money and things can solve our problems then we are these weeds. How are riches deceitful? Why are things desirable? The Lord is speaking of both the miser and the spender here. They both believe that “having” will satisfy. If worry about money is a problem, either in having enough to get what you want or hanging on to it, then you are in the weeds.

We see the soils are not passive victims, but active participants in their own ruin just as the good soil is an active participant in its productivity. We see here a partnership between the soil and the seed, between the word and the disciple. Grace is the opposite of earning, but it is not the opposite of grateful service and effort.

"Lord: remove from my heart anything that might make me unproductive for You. AMEN"