Scripture Reference: Mark 4:1-34
The Purpose of the Parables – Continued
From Last Lesson: Jesus tells the parables to everyone. The opportunity is there for anyone to come and ask Him for more.
In fact this is what Mark 4:24-25 is about. You are responsible for what you get, but at the same time it is God who decides what you will receive. In our limited human minds we will always find it hard to hold these two together, they are like parallel lines that never seem to meet. But they are both true at the same time.
Now what does this story have to say to us in our day and age? First, the parable explains why so many people rejected Jesus’ message then and yet still do today. To die or to grow, reject or accept? Even when Jesus, the Son of God, walked the earth in person, the great majority of His hearers rejected His message, because most of them were not “good ground.” So it is not surprising that people today reject Jesus Christ in just the same way. It happened to Jesus; it happened to His first followers; and it will happen to us, when we tell people the same story.
Yet, on the other hand, and this is the second point, for those of us who know Jesus, this story should encourage us to keep sowing. We never know what kind of soil we shall find when we go out to sow. Sometimes we shall be very surprised; sometimes the response will be a wonderful surprise, and sometimes it may be a very nasty surprise. In fact we have no choice but to sow as widely and as indiscriminately as the farmer in the story. But success is in God’s hands, not ours. If you truly think about it, there is a fifth kind of soil which doesn’t feature in the parable . . . the soil that gets no seed at all. Whose fault is it if the soil never meets the seed? We need to sow the message widely and, just like any farmer, we long for a successful outcome.
Lastly, this passage holds a very serious warning for anyone who is rejecting Christ’s message. Tacked on to the end of Jesus’ explanation of the parable of the sower is the cryptic little saying about the lamp (Mark 4:21-23). This mini-parable has been interpreted in various ways, but in this context the lamp which is “brought” surely represents Jesus and His mission. The message may be hidden to begin with, hidden away in parables, hard to understand. But in the end, truth will win out. One day, everyone on earth will be confronted with the truth shining out as a bright light, a beacon. As Jesus spoke these words, very few people, a few dozen perhaps, had any real idea of who He was, and even they didn’t have the full picture. But, as the years have passed, the truth of Jesus Christ has spread throughout the world, and now hundreds of millions have seen His light. One day there will be no concealment, as everyone on earth will be forced to see it. However, when that day comes, it will be too late for those who have spent their lives rejecting Christ. God will hold each of us accountable for the response we give to His Son. Jesus says, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” He tells us, “Take heed what you hear.” In other words, consider carefully what you hear today.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
You must be logged in to post a comment.