THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

Mark 4:1-20

Key verse 4:20

“Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop – thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what was sown.”

In Mark 4, there are four parables of the kingdom of God. Today’s passage is the first parable among them, which is called the parable of the sower. While the other three teach the characteristics of the kingdom of God, the parable in today’s passage teaches the importance of listeners’ attitude toward the word of God. The word of God is given to everybody. However, depending upon the listener, the fruit is different. Now I pray that God may give us ears to hear his word so that the kingdom of God may grow in our hearts and bear fruit.

I. The parable of the sower (1-12)

Look at verse 1. One day Jesus taught by the lake. A crowd came to hear his teaching. They were so many that Jesus got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. Jesus taught the word of God wherever he went from early morning to late night because only the word of God can give life and solve life problems. Jesus taught them many things by parables. A parable is a short simple story to illustrate truth. Jesus very often used parables to illustrate the spiritual truth, especially the kingdom of God. Interestingly enough, though, the meaning of a parable is revealed to those who have desire to know, but is hidden from those who are proud or have no interest. Therefore, only those who are humble and have desire to learn can understand Jesus’ teachings.

Look at verse 3. Before telling the parable Jesus said, “Listen!” Jesus warned that they must pay attention to his teaching. Though the people came to Jesus, all of them were not ready to hear the word of God. Some came to be healed by Jesus. Some came for lunch because they had heard that Jesus fed people. Some others just came without any reasons. Some people like the Pharisees came to accuse Jesus. Regardless, Jesus wanted all of them to listen to the word of God carefully and receive the kingdom of God. I know all of you here came to worship God. However, some of you might just wake up, still sleepy. Some might just come because it is Sunday. Maybe some came with troubles and worries in their hearts. However, this is time to listen to the word of God. Now are you ready to hear the word of God?

Read verses 3-8. A farmer went out to sow his seed. Usually, seed was sown by hand. The farmer put the seed into a large bag and slung it over his shoulder. Then, he walked across the field, throwing handfuls of seed onto the ground from the bag. Some seed fell along the path. The path was the wayside where people walked across the field. Since the path was too hard for the seed to penetrate, it stayed on the surface and the birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky soil. It sprang up quickly but it could not take a root because of rocks underneath. When the sun came up, the plants were scorched and withered. Other seed fell among thorns and grew. However, thorns also grew together and later on chocked the plants. So the plants did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It grew very well and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.

Here we learn that the seed were all the same but according to the soils the outputs were all different. A seed has potential to produce a crop, but in order for a seed to grow the soil must be good. The seed here refers to the word of God. Like the seed, the word of God has life in it. It has the potential to produce fruit in us. If the word of God is accepted, it grows and bears spiritual fruits abundantly. But if it is not accepted, the word of God stops growing and bears nothing.

Look at verse 9: “Then Jesus said, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’” Jesus sowed the word of God. Now whether it grows or not is up to the listener. Hearing is one thing and understanding is another. The parable of the sower is not difficult to understand. However, only those who have ears to hear can understand it. Those who have ears to hear are humble and willing to learn. They hear the word of God like a sponge sucks water. To such people, the word of God is alive in their hearts. Without ears to hear, however, it is impossible to understand the word of God. It sounds boring and out of date. It goes in one ear and out the other. The common symptoms that occur to those who have no ears to hear during the worship service are: they come late; they are easily distracted and look around very often; they go to the bathroom or kitchen at least one time; sometimes, they doze off and even snore; but strangely enough they wake up at the end of the message. So when sharing what we learn from the message after the worship service, they speak something else not related to the passage or just say, “It was good.” I hope, believe that all of you here have ears to hear.

Look at verses 10-12. After Jesus’ teaching, some people said, “His teaching sounds good” and some others said, “I don’t understand what he talked about.” Seemingly many of them did not understand the meaning of the parable and went home. But the Twelve and some others waited until Jesus was alone and asked about the parable. Though they did not understand the meaning, they had a learning mind to know the meaning of the parable. They have ears to hear. Jesus was pleased with them and said, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you.” What is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is the kingdom ruled by God. It is the kingdom of love and peace. The kingdom of God is the ultimate place God promised for all Christians, but it is established first in our hearts. (Luke 178:21) In a sense, Christian life is about the kingdom of God. Possessing the kingdom of God or not is a matter of salvation and a matter of death and life because men are under the rule of Satan and the destiny is hell. But thankfully, Jesus came to give us the kingdom of God. His first message was the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15) and his last message was also the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). The kingdom of God was the main theme of his teachings. The kingdom of God, however, is a secret so it is hidden. It is revealed only to those who ask and learn with a humble mind. But it remains secret to those are proud or have no desire. They may see but they will never perceive. They may hear but they will never understand. They are outside of the kingdom of God. So they are far from forgiveness. Here we learn again that hearing and accepting of the word of God is very important because it is about the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God begins to grow when we hear and understand the word of God. Therefore, ask and learn with a humble mind. Then God will show you the kingdom of God.

II. The meaning of the parable (13-20)

Let’s read verse 13: “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?” Jesus said that without understanding this parable it was not possible to understand others. It is because this parable is basic to all others and the kingdom of God begins to grow when we accept the word of God. Now Jesus explained the meaning of each soil. The farmer sows the word of God. The four different soils represent four different kinds of people.

First, the path. Look at verse 15. Someone is like the seed along the path. He hears but never accepts the word. The characteristic of this kind of person is that there is no room for the word of God to take a root in him. His heart is hard due to his fixed mind and prejudice about the Bible. He thinks that the Bible is out of date and is for old people. Some path-like people are allergic to the word of God. Some are very rebellious. Sadly, they are far from salvation. Two criminals were crucified together with Jesus. One of them was so stubborn that he did not repent to the end and refused to accept Jesus. He had a chance to see Jesus the Son of God next him but he missed the opportunity to be saved.

The path soil does not refer to unbelievers only. Even Christians can have such a mind. Self-righteousness or rebellious minds make us blind to the word of God. The Pharisees were like the path soil. Though they knew the Bible thoroughly, they never accepted the word of God. Also a busy mind, habitual Bible study, and lack of desire hinder us from accepting the word of God. Then, we lose the joy and peace of the kingdom of God. Jesus said that if the word is not accepted, Satan takes it away from us. The path-like people do not know the value of the word of God, but Satan knows it. Satan hates the word of God being preached because he knows that it saves people and gives the kingdom of God. So he somehow tries to take away the word of God from us. He tries to prevent Bible students from studying the Bible. Even at this time, Satan is trying to steal the word from us by filling our minds with something else like movies, daydreams, or tennis. 

Here is again the importance of humble and focused mind when hearing the word of God. Let’s pray that God may break up our hard minds and give us soft minds, humble minds, and desire to receive the word of God.

Second, rocky places. Let’s read verses 16 and 17. Rocky places have some soil on it so the seed can grow. Such people welcome the word of God quickly and grow for a while. They study the Bible faithfully. They attend all meetings. They even feed sheep! They look so good. However, we will see whether they are good Christians or not when trouble or persecution comes.

Several years ago, I met a faithful sheep. One day he came to the Bible study though he was going to have an exam just after the Bible study. And he willingly attended the summer conference that year. I was so impressed and thanked God for giving such a good sheep. Later he had money problems, and then he said that he would no longer believe in God and then left. In fact, we have all seen many people grow for a while and then leave when they face difficulties or when they need to make a commitment.

Typically, those who are like rocky soil are emotional. They become hot quickly and then cool down quickly. Emotion is sometimes necessary. However, the faith based on emotion is so shallow and superficial. Some people look for the church fellowship in search of fun so their faith is “fun faith.” Such faith will be blown away when trouble or persecution comes. Our faith must be built on the word of God. In other words, we need to take a deep root in the word of God.

The Bible emphasizes in many places that we have to let the word of God take a root in us. Colossians 2:6 and 7 say, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught …” This means that we need to have a personal relationship with Jesus through the word of God. Our personal relationship with Jesus grows as we know Jesus not only as the Savior but also as God and as the Lord. Our faith grows as we make a commitment to Jesus and conform ourselves to Jesus. In the course of taking a root, however, there are times when we reach down to the point where there are conflicts between the word and the rocks in us. These rocks are hidden. So they do not surface for a while until the word of God reveals them. These rocks refer to our own ideas, wrong motives, pride, inferior complex, life styles, preferences, and sinful habits that we do not want to change or give up. One Bible student studies very well. But deep inside, he has rocks of pride and inferior complex. Because of that, he does not take a deep root. If we break our rocks by believing and obeying the word of God, we can bear fruit. But if not, no one can bear fruit.

One thing interesting here is that Jesus compares the trouble and persecution to the sun. The sun is necessary for the plants to grow. Therefore, it is not trouble or persecution but their shallow root, their weak faith that stumbles people. Rather, persecution and trouble make us stronger in faith. One Bible student studied the Bible and believed in Jesus a couple of years ago. He enjoyed the Sunday worship service. But his parents began to persecute him that he did not help them with their business on Sunday. He was shaky and troubled. But through this persecution his faith grew stronger. Now he is free to serve God. Amen!

Let’s pray that God may break our rocks inside. Let’s pray for YDJ members to take a deep root in the word of God so that they can grow continually and bear fruits.

Third, thorny soil. Let’s read verses 18 and 19: “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” Those who are like the thorny soil receive the word of God and even take a root. But the problem is that they never bear fruit because the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things choke the word of God in them. These three take away spiritual nutrition from us and make our lives dry and unfruitful.

Someone says that life itself is worry. The Buddha said there are 108 worries in human life, such as sickness and death.  Someone says that today we need to add more worries like insurance, taxes, and bills. Anyway, since we live in this world, we can have such worries of life. Students worry about school. Graduates worry about getting jobs. Parents worry about children education. Some people worry about their visa status. Others worry about how to buy cars and houses. Old people worry about their health. Last week one coworker said in her testimony that once when she was so sick she felt she was dying and worried about her children and husband. She even left her last word that her husband might marry again after her death. But I think she is OK now. Anyway, when we worry too much, we shrink back and try to solve the problems by ourselves rather than live by faith. Worry comes from Satan. It is lack of faith. We have to remember what Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:25,33) 

Another thorn that makes us unfruitful is deceitfulness of wealth. Last week a couple from Virginia won mega million dollars by lottery. When I heard about this, I wondered if I could earn even a million dollars in my entire life. Money is so temping. With money we can do many things. But we should remember that money may make our lives a little convenient but cannot make us happy. Actually, more money gives more headaches. Look at Bill Gate in Microsoft. He is one of the richest men in the world. But his company has been sued so many times and so many people hate him. Some of them have made computer viruses out of anti-Microsoft. Lots of headaches to Bill Gate! He always talks about computer, but I have never seen him smile. Spiritually speaking, he is one of the unhappiest men. Seemingly, wealth makes us happy, but it does not give us happiness at all. This is deceitfulness of wealth. If we Christians love money, it takes us away from faith and makes our lives unfruitful. Lot in Genesis started together with Abraham. He thought he could possess both spiritual life and wealth. But he had to compromise to seek wealth and later he bore sinful fruit. Some people think that they can catch two rabbits at the same time like the rich young man in the Bible, who wanted to possess both eternal life and wealth on earth. But they lose both in the end. Jesus warned in Matt 6:24 that it was impossible to serve both God and Money. When we seek money, we become corrupted and lose eternal life. Instead, we Christians must seek God first. I thank God that there are many servants of God among us who seek God first rather than money. Shepherd Steve did not follow his classmates to the Silicon Valley because he decided to seek God first. Some families have suffered from financial difficulties but have been very faithful to giving to God. Some others give their materials sacrificially to God rather than enjoying their lives. May God bless them to be fruitful in the kingdom of God.

The last thorn Jesus mentioned is the desires for other things. These include desire for food, sleep, recognition from people, and lust. Especially, lustful desire devastates our souls. Many people, especially young people, are pierced by the thorn of lust and become powerless and do not grow. How can we overcome it? We can’t by ourselves. But the word of God purifies us and gives us power to overcome it (Psalm 119:9).

These three kinds of thorns, worries in this life, deceitfulness of wealth and desire for other things, grow small for the first time. So it is easy to neglect them. But if you don’t remove them now, they grow bigger and bigger and choke your spiritual life.

Lastly, let’s think about good soil. Let’s read verse 20: “Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop – thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.” The characteristic of those people is that they hear the word of God, accept it and produce a crop. First, when they hear the word of God, they listen carefully and then ask and learn. And then they hold it in their hearts. They make a commitment to God. They even persevere in the middle of trouble or persecution due to the word of God. Like farmers, they diligently cultivate themselves to remove rocks and thorns in them. So their lives are very fruitful. They bear fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22,23) They are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. (Psalm 1:3)  Interestingly, even among good soils the outputs are different. This shows that a better quality soil bears more. Likewise, those who live more absolutely according to the word of God bear more fruit.

Jesus is the best example of good soil. From his boyhood, he listened to the teachers carefully and asked them (Luke 2:46). Though he is the Son of God, he learned obedience from his sufferings (Heb 5:8). He took his cross daily and obeyed the word of God to the point of death. Finally, he rose from the dead and has become the first fruits of resurrection. Because of his death and resurrection, we all Christians can also enter the kingdom of God. We are all his fruits.

While preparing for this message, I wondered how I could be good soil in practice. I have learned that it starts from loving the word of God and simply obeying it. One common thing to those that are like good soil is that they all love the word of God. The late Missionary Samuel Lee was well known for his love for the word of God. He was one of the busiest men in the world but he always carried the Bible with him and read it whenever he had time. I believe that his faith and fruit came from his love for the word of God. I pray that I myself may love the word of God more than computer, TV, and tennis so that I may be changed into good soil and raise Jesus’ disciples.

In conclusion, the kingdom of God begins with the word of God. The fruit, however, is different according to the listener. Some bears nothing, but some other bears thirty, sixty, and even one hundred times. No one is born with good heart soil, however. And our hearts keeps changing. Let’s pray that God may help us to cultivate our hearts diligently like farmers so that we may love his word more and obey it and bear fruit. Let’s pray also for the spring conference next weekends so that our hearts may be prepared to hear the word of God.