Mark 4:10-20 Explanation of The Parable of the Sower
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: January 15, 2018, Mark 4:10-20
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
When he was alone with the Twelve and those around him, they began to ask him about the parables. He told them, “The secret about the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside, everything comes in parables so that ‘they may see clearly but not perceive, and they may hear clearly but not understand, otherwise they might turn around and be forgiven.'”
(Understanding the Text) Jesus said that He taught in parables so that people would hear the message and not understand. He is quoting Isaiah here “Go!” he responded. “Tell this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Dull the mind of this people, deafen their ears, and blind their eyes. By doing so, they won’t see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed” (Isa 6:9-10). On the surface it sounds like Jesus is manipulating the people to fail to understand, but in reality He is referring to a proverb based on Isaiah. Jesus wanted people to come to Him, so there had to be a reason to speak in parables. Part of the answer may be the audience. Jesus contrasts the disciples with people on the outside. My thought is that these people are still on the fence in their decision to choose Jesus or not. They are still uncommitted. Thus, they are not ready for deeper truths of the kingdom of God. Even if they understood on a shallow level, they would not understand that there are deeper levels. If Jesus told them the truths directly, it would go in one ear and out the other.
Another thought that I have is that Jesus was having to explain a foreign culture, the culture of heaven, to people who had few common points to understand, provincial people with little experience outside of their own little world. He used parables to try find a connection between the people and heaven. Yet, the people still couldn’t understand.
Then he told them, “You don’t understand this parable, so how can you understand any of the parables?
(Understanding the Text) Jesus had been training the disciples and had chosen them as the best for the job He needed done. He is trying to get them to think on a deeper level, a spiritual level. His words seem to imply that this is one of the easier parables for them to understand. I think for some of them, all they saw was the story of a farmer. They knew that there was a deeper meaning, but were not sure what it was. After having heard the story all our lives, the meaning seems obvious, but if I did not have the cultural background and heard the story, I would probably be confused also.
The farmer sows the word. Some people are like the seeds along the path, where the word is sown. When they hear it, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others are like the seeds sown on the stony ground. When they hear the word, at once they joyfully accept it, but since they don’t have any roots, they last for only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes along because of the word, they immediately fall away. Still others are like the seeds sown among the thorn bushes. These are the people who hear the word, but the worries of life, the deceitful pleasures of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word so that it can’t produce a crop. Others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, accept it, and produce crops—30, 60, or 100 times what was sown.”
(Application) The seed is the word, but is the farmer us or the Holy Spirit? The lesson I have for today is that people can be changed from one place to another. The people on the path can be moved to good ground. The people among the thorns can be moved to good ground. The people of the rocks can be moved to good ground. I know this from my own experience. The Holy Spirit moved me from the path in my teenage years by making me ask about the meaning of life. I remember watching television and suddenly having the questions pop into my head. He kept distracting me with the question for weeks before I went to the YFC meeting. I don’t think I was ever rocky soil, but the weeds and thorns were definitely me. I was choked out long before my marriage. The spiritual failure of my marriage and then later after my divorce my spiritual failure when I tried to go back to church finally showed me that the only way to succeed was to be in good soil and to get rid of weeds that interfere with my spiritual growth.
A thought about rocky ground: The people hear the word and joyfully accept it but have no roots, so they leave the word. In a sanctuary lecture by Fred Bischoff at lightbearers.org, he quotes an Ellen White writing where she talks about people who listen to sermons with emotion and excitement but then go home and forget about the message they heard. She says that they needed to incorporate the message into their daily lives. I think putting down roots and having good soil means incorporating the lessons into our daily lives. One way to change from rocky soil to good soil is to read the Bible. To put down roots, we have to apply the Bible to ourselves. We need to meditate on the Bible and accept its truths into our whole life, not just the part that goes to church or listens to an online sermon.
(Understanding the Text) What is the production? Is it new converts or spiritual fruit? Consistency within the parable would say that since people are seeds that producing more seeds would be to produce more believers. However, this parable also says that the farmer sows the word which means the seeds are also the word of God. Thus, the meaning of the production might be more flexible. The NT consistently talks about fruit as the fruit of the Spirit, so the production could be talking about the transformation of our character. We hear the word; we accept the message; we become transformed-some more than others. Maybe the meaning is both-internal transformation and new converts. I like the transformation better than new converts because if we are counting numbers, my score is zero. I tend to think the meaning is primarily internal transformation simply because of all the fruits of the Spirit ideas in the NT. (I hope I’m not accepting that interpretation because I feel more comfortable and less inadequate with it.)
(Revelation of God) God is extravagant in His blessings and work. He does not carefully hoard His seed only planting it where it has the best chance to grow. He flings the seed everywhere trying to plant His transformational word in even the hardest of hearts because He does not want anyone to perish. He sends rain of the good and evil alike. His blessings are for everyone, but not everyone will accept His blessings.
(Prayer) Help me to accept your extravagant blessings and be thankful for them rather than blasé about all the beauty that You have given me. Open my mind to the lessons that You want me to learn and make me fruitful for You.