The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE SEED IN FOUR KINDS OF SOIL
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE SEED IN FOUR KINDS OF SOIL
Lesson Plan:
1. The Sower – The Seed (vs 3, 14)
2. Seed on the Hard-Trodden Path (vs 4, 15)
3. Seed on Thin Soil Upon a Rock (vs 5, 6, 16, 17)
4. Seed Falling Among Thorns (vs 7, 18, 19)
5. Seed in Good Cultivated Ground (vs 8, 20)
Lesson Setting:
Time: Immediately after our last lesson "Malignant Unbelief"; in the autumn of 28 A.D., 'on that
day' (Matthew).
Place: By the shores of the Sea of Galilee, not far from Capernaum.
Place in the Life of Christ: The beginning of a new method of teaching, no doubt because of growing
opposition. The last quarter of the second year of His ministry.
Introduction: Jesus began to teach "by the sea side" (Mk. 4:1) on the very day of our last lesson (Matthew). He sat in a boat, a (very) great multitude on the shore.
Mark 4:2 ... "And he taught them many things by parables."
The Method of Teaching by Parables: The Group of Parables – Eight parables were spoken at this time – two recorded in all of the first three Gospels, one in Matthew and Luke, four by Matthew only, and one by Mark alone. Five of the parables were spoken to the multitudes including the disciples, three to the disciples alone. The Subject of all of them is the kingdom of heaven, in its many aspects, and relations. That kingdom is like a gem with many facets, and there is always danger that we will leave out some of the facet, thus hindering our view. It is like the many colored rainbow, and, looking at it through the stained glass of our prejudices or background or training, we may fail to see some of its colors as they really are. We need all these parables if we are to realize the true nature of the kingdom of God. A Parable: A brief narrative founded on real scenes or events such as occur in nature and human life, and usually with a moral or religious application. The little girl was very near the mark when she said that a parable is 'an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.' The method is that of taking some one set of facts, familiar and material, and making them explanatory of other facts, strange and spiritual. Invariably in the teaching of Jesus, a parable was a picture of things seen, intended to reveal and explain things unseen. Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact, and no spiritual fact can be understood except by first knowing the natural fact, which is, as it were, its double. Illustrations from nature are but letters of the alphabet by which we spell influence. Nature seems to have been created with a purpose to express in visible and concrete forms the spiritual truths we most need in our daily lives. Most of us seldom realize fully any spiritual truth until we have placed it beside its counterpart in nature. "Earth is crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God" (Frances E. Tyner). "What if earth Be but the shadow of heaven, and things therein ... Each to the other like, more than on earth is thought" (Milton). The New Epoch in the Teaching Method of Jesus. The circumstances out of which His method grew: First, there had developed a strong and persistent opposition to Jesus and His teaching. Read Matthew 11 and 12, nothing how the writer has massed into effective presentation a series of hindrances to the progress and success of the ministry of Jesus, which are all varying attitudes or points of view of different classes. There was danger of the misrepresentations and misunderstandings of the scribes as to the kingdom Jesus preached, bringing on a collision with the Romans that might threaten to prematurely end His work. Second, the disciples had reached that period in their education by Jesus, when many questions and difficulties no doubt arose concerning His kingdom; and these parables gave the necessary answers and solutions.
Why did Jesus now begin to teach in parables? The double reason is given in verses 11 and 12, corresponding to the two classes, i.e., the disciples and the bitter opponents of Jesus' work. First, unto the disciples it was given to know the mysteries, the deep truths, of the kingdom of heaven, and the parable was one of the best means of teaching those truths. (a) They are word pictures. A story is the universal language. It is the same in all times and tongues. It is most plain to the unlearned, most stimulating to the thoughtful, and most attractive to all. (b) It awakens thought, stimulating the mind and sets it to work. It brings a problem whose solution strengthens the intellect. (c) It illustrates and illuminates truths, like the sun shining through a stained-glass window. (d) It puts truth in forms that may gradually unfold under larger experiences, as an acorn develops into an oak. (e) It is a picture of familiar things which are everywhere reminding one of the truths it taught. (f) By parables truths are put in so simple a form that a child may understand them, yet so deep in meaning that Christian thought for two thousand years has pondered over them without exhausting their treasures. Second, that the opposers "seeing may see and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand" (Mk. 4:12). (a) Parables presented the truth about the kingdom of God, but in such a way that those who wished to know the truth could see it more and more clearly, but those who were prejudiced and would distort and pervert the truth, saw the word picture yet could not while in that condition see its depth of meaning; and Jesus did not want them to see it, because it would not help them, but would injure the kingdom of God. For instance, if Jesus had plainly told the facts about His kingdom, which have since been realized, its true relation to the Jewish commonwealth and the Roman Empire, no power could have made them understand what He said, or kept them from perverting His meaning, from arraying the whole Jewish commonwealth against Him, making Him out a traitor to the Roman emperor. The phrase lest at any time they should be converted, etc. (v 12), is not to be construed as the reason why all things are done in parables (v 11), but with their refusal to perceive and understand for fear they should be converted. (b) Still it is true that Jesus wanted them and all men to be converted and saved, and that some good seed might sink in their hearts if they would permit it. They did not want such a person as Jesus to be their Messiah King, they would not see Him as He was. The Gospel was for them as much as for others, but they would not, as related in Matthew 23:37.
Scripture Reading: Mark 4:3, 14
1. The Sower – The Seed
All good seed, but four kinds of ground in which it is sown. The fourfold division represents but one truth: All things being equal, the growth and fruitfulness of a seed is determined by the nature of the soil upon which it is cast. Expressing that law in terms of spiritual life, we might say, all things being equal, the effect of truth upon a life is determined by the condition of the heart into which it falls.
v 3 ... "There went out a sower to sow." The farmers of Palestine, then as now, lived in villages as a protection against robbers, going forth to the open fields to sow their seed. So Jesus went out from heaven to sow His seed in this world. So every sower must go forth to the fields where the good seed is needed. Sower is a general term for any one sowing seed; Jesus Christ being the greatest sower of truth, the Holy Spirit teaching and filling our spirits with truth whether through Providence, or men, or nature; making every spiritual preacher, teacher, elder, deacon, and disciple a sower as well as a hearer. The seed scattered from the hand of a child grows as readily as from an older saint; though perhaps not as skillfully. Sowing the good seed goes on ceaselessly. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand."
The Seed: "Soweth the word" (v 14), 'the word of God' (Luke). The Bible, the Gospel, God's Word in whatsoever form it may come, the truth of the kingdom of God. Could it perhaps also include the Word of God embodied in the lives of His people? There are various ways to present our Lord, Jesus Christ, as revealed in God's Holy Scriptures, for all times, and seasons, and soils, and cultures. However good the seed, for it to yield a spiritual harvest, it must be sown in good soil, watered from heaven, and vitalized by the Holy Spirit, as by the sun in the spring. Note: God gives us only seeds of truth, seeds of His kingdom, seeds of holy joy and heavenly character, together with all the help we need for their growth and culture. It is in God's seed that the whole mystery of life on earth is enwrapped. Note: The Great superabundance of seed which God sows in the natural world as typical of the good seen He sows in the spiritual world. In a few years, one grain of corn could cover the whole earth with growing corn. There are thousands of times as many seeds as can find room to grow. Darwin once found nearly five hundred seeds in a cupful of mud from the bottom of a pond. This is a type of the abundance of good seed in the spiritual world. And this abundance is given to prevent any person from becoming a desert for want of seed sown in his heart.
Scripture Reading: Mark 4:4, 15
2. Seed on the Hard-Trodden Path
v 4 ... "As he sowed, some fell by the way side." The sower could scarcely keep many of his seeds from falling by the wayside, for grain fields in Palestine are seldom fenced, and both pedestrians and beasts of burden use freely the narrow paths intersecting them. The ground, of course, is beaten hard, and the seed that falls there remain conspicuously on the surface. Frederic W. Farrah expressed it thus: "Descending to the plain of Gennesaret, we passed a hillside which was black with over one thousand crows, who were waiting there for the unhappy plowmen to move far enough away for them to descend on their fields. Our horses are actually trampling down some seeds which have fallen by the wayside, and larks and sparrows are busy picking them up."
v 15 ... "These are they by the way side." "They that have heard" (Luke) "when anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not (Matthew). A thousand cares, and pleasures, and worldly interests, bad actions, unworthy thoughts, selfishness, have tramped over the heart, so that the good seed cannot sink into it. When one is intensely interested in any one thing, other and better things remain unheeded and make little or no impression. The heart is hardened often by the routine of daily life, monotonous and persistent. There is an epitaph which is so significant of the common failures of life, 'Born a man, he died a grocer, or a banker, or a millionaire, etc.' The only thing that can keep our daily work, and cares and burdens from hardening the heart to the religious life, is doing them all from the highest and noblest motives. If you continually hear truth without putting it into practice, it will soon lose its power over you. No matter how full a reservoir of maxims you may possess, and no matter how good our sentiments may be, if we have not taken advantage of every concrete opportunity to act, our character may (probably will) remain entirely unaffected for the better.
v 15 ... "Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts," by the natural law forever working in us. It is surprising how soon a desire will die of inanition if it is never fed. There is a hell to be endured hereafter, but often we make a form of hell for ourselves in this world by habitually fashioning our character in the wrong way.
Scripture Reading: Mark 4:5, 6, 16, 17
3. Seed on Thin Soil Upon a Rock
v 5 ... "And some fell on stony (rocky) ground, where it had not much earth." It did not fall among stones, because of the nature of the rocks the most vigorous growth of wheat may be seen on land which at first sight seems covered with stones; for there is deep, rich soil between the stones. The dry underlying rock held the sun's heat like a hot-bed, forcing the seed, so that "immediately it sprang up;" but the roots were shallow, burned up by the over-heated soil, while the rock prevented the roots from reaching down where it was moist and cool, so that ...
v 6 ... "when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away."
v 16 ... "Who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness." Their emotions are touched, but the word does not reach their nature, and their will and character are unchanged. They are moved by the winds of popular excitement or enthusiasm, but there is no new life. Their fault is not the mere fact of receiving the word with joy. For joy is a characteristic of deep as well as shallow natures. Absence of joys in a religious life is a sign, not of depth, but of dullness. Joy without thought is a definition of the stony-ground hearer.
v 17 ... "And have no root in themselves." The desires, resolves, good intentions, glows of feeling, that are not put into action, and made a habit, will always wither away. The test comes "when affliction (R.V. 'tribulation') or persecution ariseth for the word's sake." Perhaps there will come a time when your allegiance to Christ will mean a loss of popularity, property, or position. 'Tribulation' is derived from the Roman instrument for threshing, separating the grain from its husks and chaff. It means the trials, perplexities, and temptations, each testing what we really are. Often numberless small annoyances are greater tribulations than heavy sorrows. A whole army can be defeated by small things.
v 17 ... "Immediately they are offended," stumble and fall in the path of life. Can you stand the test? Have you?
Scripture Reading: Mark 4:7, 18, 19
4. Seed Falling Among Thorns
Some "are sown among thorns" (v 18). Not among standing thorns, but among those, beneath the surface, ready to spring up. These thorns are not briar bushes, or brambles, but an after growth of a variety of thistles as is intimated in the phrase "the thorns grew up" (v 7). These thistles come up thickly in the wheat-fields of Palestine. The natural time for them to appear is after the wheat has ripened.
v 7 ... "And choked it." In good soil? Yes, but preoccupied with the roots of thorns, wasting itself in nourishing weeds. It must have room to grow. Here and there one may see small stalks protruding, but they are stumps of a most noxious weed of Gennesaret, i.e., the strong and rapidly growing prickly astragalus (a coarse, perennial plant, with its roots penetrating several feet deep).
v 18 ... "Such as hear (R.V. 'have heard') the word." The seed has been planted, and in good, rich soil, with vast possibilities of harvest; in persons who are active, skillful, talented, capable; and who ought to be powers for good, and for the building up of the Kingdom of God.
v 19 ... "And the cares of this world." Absorption in worldly interests, i.e., duties, labors, anxieties about business, household duties, school studies, athletics, etc., all good things in and of themselves. They should never be neglected. But there must be such trust in God, such devotion to higher things that even daily cares shall help us on toward God. The good is often the enemy of the best. The old proverb, 'Of two evils choose the less,' is out of date. Today the exhortation must run, 'Of two good things choose the better.' We must ask concerning every claim that is presented to us, not merely 'Is this good in and of itself?' but 'Is this the very best to which I can give my life just now?'
v 19 ... "And the deceitfulness of riches." Not merely the possession of riches, but the desire for them. There is ever glamour; an elusive promise in riches that lure men on to pursuing them at all costs. Riches which deceive by giving us the impression that they are able to bestow what they cannot give; which make things seem honest which are not so.
Illustration: The desire for riches is well represented by Browning in his 'Pied Piper of Hamelin,' when the song led all the children of the town to follow him, into the dark cave from which they never came forth. But one little lame boy was unable to reach the cave, and he told the people the entrancing vision which charmed the children tripping and skipping to "run merrily after the wonderful music with shouting and laughter."
v 19 ... "And the lusts of other things," which promise so much happiness with the same fascinating attractions as the vision of wealth; but which can be realized only by seeking first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness. "... a sower in Palestine knows that he should ... get his seed in early. If he sows too late, his wheat will have a hard contest with the inevitable thorns ... sure to appear ..." (Farrah). Christians should always work diligently to get heavenly seed in early, remembering that if it is received while the cares of this life are multiplying, then the cares of this life will by nature easily overtake the seed, because thorns always grow faster than wheat. The sharp thorns of Palestine thistles are not as piercing as the thorns tormenting those who step into and try the deceitfulness of riches and lust.
Scripture Reading: Mark 4:8, 20
5. Seed in Good Cultivated Ground
v 8 ... "Fell on good ground, and did yield fruit." 'Growing up and increasing' (R.V.). Herodotus mentions that two hundred fold was a common return in the plain of Babylon. In the natural world there has been a remarkable development of the amount of fruit produced, plus a remarkable quality increase. Those sown on good ground, i.e., such: (a) as hear, (b) and receive, (c) in a good and honest heart, (d) and yield fruit, (e) with patience, (f) growing up and increasing. Hold it fast, as distinguished from wayside hearers. In a good and honest heart, vs the stony ground hearers. Yielding fruit, vs the thorny ground hearers. The School of Practice: (a) The harvest is of the same kind as the seed. If we sow bad seeds, i.e., thistles, thorns, upas-trees, then the harvest will only be thistles, thorns, and upas-trees. There is no escaping this law. And it helps us to understand why good men do not always receive as much of this world's riches as some bad men do. Good men sow seeds of character, usefulness, love, spiritual joy, and they reap what they sow. But the worst of men can bear good fruit, through an open heart, receiving the good seed. (b) Good fruit includes the fruits of the spirit, the Sermon on the Mount, all the precepts of Jesus, and all that is taught by His example. The fruits that grow on the True Vine of which Christians are the branches. (c) We need patience, both with ourselves and others. Why? Because while some harvests mature fairly quickly, others require time to grow and ripen. Some ripen in a few weeks; others require years to bear fruit. (d) This parable not only represents four types of people, but four possible conditions of your mind and heart. Hence, every part of it speaks directly to your soul. (e) The harvest is vastly larger than the amount of seed sown. There is virtually no limit to the amount of fruit we may bear, or to the improvement in quality. Our hearts and lives are God's cultivated field. In 1 Corinthians 3:9 we are told that we are "God's husbandry," that is 'God's tiled land' (R.V. margin), i.e., God's farm, God's garden, which He cultivates and enriches, cleanses from weeds and insects; and on which He sends His sunshine and rain; so that we may bring forth much fruit.
