Mark - Lesson 5

Lesson 5

Preparing Our Heart’s Soil

Mark 4:1–25

Son of Man, Son of God

Studies in Mark’s Gospel

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

We read in Mark 3 of conflict, mountaintop experiences, and the redefining Jesus did during this time of His ministry.  Jesus began experiencing increasing conflict with the religious leaders as He addressed their hypocrisy.  Jesus was moved by their sin to anger, but also compassion and grief, as He is now by ours as well.  A shift took place at this time in the Galilean ministry, and although Jesus would continue to minister to the needs of the multitudes, He began to select out of His followers twelve men who couldn’t have been a more unusual bunch, yet turned their world upside down (or should we say right side up!), making an impact that history cannot and had best not ignore, no matter what skeptics and heretics want us to believe about church history and the Bible.  We discussed these men and their impact fairly extensively.  We left off studying a two-pronged attack on Jesus by the enemy on two fronts:  by the religious leaders, accusing Him of being empowered by Satan, and saddest of all by His own family members thinking He had lost His mind, and they came to “take custody of Him.”  Jesus closed off that section with what was our memory verse, that those who do the will of God out of an obedient heart are His mother and brothers, made part of the family of God.  Mark 4 records teachings Jesus gave later that same day[i] that are as alive to us today as they were in the time in which He lived. Let’s turn to that now and find out what it says for us today.

DAY ONE: Parables and Mysteries

Please carefully read Mark 4:1, 2 and answer the following questions.

1. Describe the scene in verse 1.  What did Jesus do in view of this?

2.  The Greek construction of a great multitude tells us that this was a bigger crowd than ever.[ii]  Jesus began once again to teach them, implying in Greek that this was a continued process of teaching, possibly often repeated.  What method did Jesus use to instruct to the crowds (v. 2)?

3.  The word parable means a comparison, a short story used to illustrate a truth by comparing it to something common to them to make it more understandable; an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.  Parable comes from the Greek para, alongside or next to, and bole, to throw; so it means one thing thrown next to another for comparison.  Matthew and Luke record many parables that Jesus told, but Mark records few, for he was writing for the Roman mindset.  Mark wanted to record what Jesus did more than what He said.  In fact, Mark even skips the Sermon on the Mount.  It is as though he was trying to show his readers that if they understood what Jesus did, they could truly see who He was.  So it seems logical that if Mark included certain parables in his Gospel, they must be vital, and we should pay attention to them closely. Warren Wiersbe well described the importance of parables:

A true parable gets the listener deeply involved and compels that listener to make a personal decision about God’s truth and his or her life...A parable begins innocently as a picture that arrests our attention and arouses our interest. But as we study the picture, it becomes a mirror in which we suddenly see ourselves. If we continue to look by faith, the mirror becomes a window through which we see God and His truth. How we respond to that truth will determine what further truth God will teach us.[iii]

What were some of the reactions Jesus got from those who heard His parables and teachings in the following passages?

Matthew 13:36, 57
Luke 13:17
Luke 18:31–34
Matthew 21:45, 46; Luke 11:53, 54

Scripture Memory:  This week we will be memorizing Mark 4:24, 25.  Review the passage several times throughout the day each day this week, and by the end of the week, you should have it memorized completely.

Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”  Mark 4:24, 25 (nkjv)

DAY TWO:  Parable of the Soils

Please carefully read Mark 4:3-9 and answer the following questions.

1.  Jesus told them a parable about a sower, some seed, and the soil.  How did Jesus begin and end His parable to assure the audience’s attention (v. 3, 9)?

2. Listen means to hear with attention and listen carefully.  Just because most of us have the physical ability to hear doesn’t mean we truly hear and comprehend it.  We’ll see what Jesus was doing by this later in this study.  He also used the phrase of verse 9 in His dictated letters to the seven churches in Revelation.  What are some of the things He promised for those who truly listen and apply what He tells them (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 25-29)?

3.  We are going to do something a little different with this parable:  make a chart for future reference of what it is saying to us.  Before you re-read verses 3-9 and fill in the chart provided for you below, here is some important background information on the contents of the parable:[iv]