Today, I am reading and commenting on Mark 4-5.

Mark recounts two parables concerning the sowing of seed by a farmer in today’s passage.  In the first one, the Parable of the Sower, Jesus explains to His disciples that “the farmer” sows the word, some of it is heard by receptive hearts and some is heard by unreceptive hearts.  In the second one, the Parable of the Growing Seed, Jesus does not explain it at all.  However, I think we can conclude that the seed in the second one is the word of God, just as it is in the first parable.  Which brings us to who is the farmer in each of these parables?  Sometimes we conclude that the farmer in the first parable is God.  This seems to make sense, since people are the soil on which the seed is sown.  However, in the second parable, the farmer cannot be God because it says that the farmer does not know how the seed sprouts and grows.  Yet, we believe that God knows everything, so the farmer must be those who speak the Gospel to others.  And that makes sense of the second parable.  We do not know how the seed which we plant grows and bears fruit in the hearts of others, but we can watch it happen.  I believe that we are to conclude that we are the farmer in both parables.  This changes the lesson we should take from the first parable.  Instead of spending time worrying about what sort of soil we are, we should busy ourselves spreading the seed which is the word of God.  And since we do not know how that seed will sprout and grow, we should not spend much time worrying about what sort of soil we are spreading it on.

I want to note that we should spend a little bit of time thinking about what sort of soil we are spreading God’s word on, not because we should avoid “wasting our time” spreading it on unproductive soil.  Rather, we should consider the type of soil on which the word of God falls in order to decide what other action we should take.  If the soil is god, then we should stand aside and allow the crop to grow, perhaps adding a little fertilizer, or watering it a bit, but primarily making sure we don’t trample on the crop which is growing.  However, if the seed has fallen among thorns, we should strive to help the recipient pull those thorns so that the crop can grow without being choked.  If the seed has fallen on rocky soil, we should seek to work with the recipient to remove the rocks and to fortify the soil.  Finally, if the soil has fallen on hard ground, we should seek ways to break up the ground and make it receptive to the word that perhaps another coming after us will sow.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on Mark 4-5.

I want to comment today on something Mark quoted Jesus as saying early in this passage.  He told His disciples that He taught using parables because they had been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but that those on the outside would “be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”  Then a little later He told them that whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed.  Which He followed by telling them to consider what they hear carefully because whoever has will be given more, and whoever does not have even what they have will be taken.  So, we need to listen carefully to what Jesus teaches.  Those who choose to misconstrue what He teaches will find it ever harder to understand later.  Yet, if we strive to understand His teaching, we will be able to learn it ever more clearly.  

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Mark 4-5.

I want to start by writing about Jesus saying some variation of, “If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”  Related to that Jesus quotes part of Isaiah 6:9-10. I believe He is warning us against intentionally missing what God is telling us.  Are we willing to hear what God has to say to us?  Today it struck me that we often miss the main point Jesus makes here when He talks about putting a lamp on a stand.  In Matthew, Jesus used the lamp as an example about being open about our beliefs.  Here the reference to the lamp on a stand seems to suggest that His teachings are not just for those initiated into the secrets.  Rather, He tells us that as we study God’s word more we will see more.  So, if we study God’s word in little pieces, we will have little bits revealed to us, but if we invest more into it, we will understand more.  And those who have little understanding of God’s word, and make no effort to increase that understanding, will lose what little understanding that they have.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 4-5.

Today’s passage contains another of Jesus’ parables which we do not often put much thought into, and, if we do, we tend to lump it in with the parable of the sower.  While the parable of the sower provides understanding for the parable of the growing seed, the latter has a different message.  As I read it today it occurred to me that when we are seeking ways to grow a congregation, this parable should speak to us.  Jesus tells us that the seed, which Jesus had just told His disciples was the word, is spread on the ground, which Jesus told His disciples was those people who heard the word.  The one who spread the seed need do nothing more.  In fact, Jesus says it doesn’t matter what else he does, the seed will grow according to its nature.  The one who sowed the seed need not know why the seed grows, and Jesus says we can’t know.  So, sow the word of God, and it will grow according to God’s plan.  As God says through the prophet Isaiah, God’s word will accomplish the purpose for which He sent it.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 4-5.

I was not sure what I was going to write about this passage because the incidents recounted here have been discussed from many different angles.  Then I came across what Jesus said to Jairus after he was told that his daughter had died: “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”  This came just after the woman was healed by touching Jesus’ clothes.  She was certainly frightened, but acted on her belief nevertheless.  And earlier in today’s passage we have the story of Jesus calming the storm.  There Jesus asked His disciples why they were so afraid, suggesting that they would not be afraid if they had faith.  So, we have a recurring theme in this passage.  The more faith we have the less fear we will feel.  No, that is not quite right.  The more faith we have the less impact fear will have on our behavior.  So, as we look at the world around us, let us not be afraid but just believe.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Mark 4-5

There are two powerful statements in today’s passage.  The first is Jesus’ response to the storm: “Peace, be still.”  What makes that so interesting and powerful is that He said it after the Apostles woke Him in a panic about the storm.  Having said that and calmed the storm He asked them why they were afraid.  Jesus was able to sleep during the storm because He had faith.  He knew that God was in charge of everything in the world, including the storm, and that God’s plans would be fulfilled.  There was no need, and nothing to gain, from staying awake and worrying about the storm.  When life’s storms beat at us we should try to live as Jesus lived, calmly and without fear.  Sometimes those storms will overwhelm even those among us with the strongest faith, when that happens we can call on God and He will provide us with the calm needed to face our lives.   However, sometimes we need to do for others what Jesus did for His Apostles and calm the storms which are overwhelming their faith.  Do you have the faith, do I have the faith, to call out to life’s storms, “Peace, be still” with the confidence that God will still those storms?  And remember, sometimes all it takes to calm life’s storms is for someone to calmly respond to them.

The other one is that of the woman seeking healing: “If I can just touch His robe…”  That is another statement of faith.  The woman knew, she just knew, that if she could get close to Jesus and touch His robe she would be healed.  Do we share her desire to get close to Jesus?  Do we share her faith that just being near Him will bring us healing?

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Mark 4-5

Most of today’s passage focuses on the power of faith and how just a small amount of faith can produce mighty results.  I suspect that today’s blog will be somewhat scattered, sort of like the first parable in the passage.  Let’s start there.  The parable of the farmer sowing seed has a lesson I don’t think I have ever heard anyone comment on and one which I never noticed before.  The parable describes different types of soil, some of which is better for grain to grow on than others and some of which is completely inhospitable.  However, in the parable the farmer spreads his seed equally on all of it.  Which brings us to the point, we should not attempt to only bring God’s word to those we think will be receptive.  We should spread God’s word to all and sunder.  Better to “waste” some of it on the hardened path where it will not root than to miss that small patch of fertile soil in the midst of the beaten down path.

Which brings us to Jesus’ teachings on faith which permeate this passage.  Why should we spread God’s word, even to those we are sure will not listen?  Because we should have faith that God can “plow up the hard ground of their heart”.  The parable of the growing seed goes into this a little more.  Just as the farmer does not need to understand how the seed grows into the plant which produces food, so we do not need to understand (and generally will not understand) how God’s word will work its way into someone’s heart to allow the Holy Spirit to transform them.  Mark’s account of the parable of the lamp gives us insight into how we spread God’s word to those around us.  We put our faith on a stand where everyone can see it.  No hiding it in under a basket or a bed.  Let the light of our faith illuminate everything we do.  That means studying God’s word and listening to His Spirit to determine what He wants us to do, and then doing it.  When we do the things which we understand we will come to understand more.  Finally, Jesus tells us to put into practice what little faith we have, because even a tiny grain of faith will grow into a mighty plant if given the chance.