A 5-day per week study.

January 15 – Reading Mark 4:21-34.

Read and believe in Jesus.

“With many such parables He spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.” Mark 4:33

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The Gospel according to Mark 4:21-34.

Unlike Matthew, but SO like Mark’s style, this short passage in Chapter 4 contains all the parables of Jesus that Mark recorded.  Other than the parable of the Sower, they are all “short and sweet…and pithy.”  (Mark liked action and didn’t spend too much time on Jesus’ discourses.)

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Vss. 21-25.

NOTE: From Mark 4:10 through 4:34, Jesus is in an intimate setting, speaking only to a small group of true followers and “the Twelve.”

Remember that Jesus and the good news about Him and His kingdom are often pictured as “light” to a dark world.  Even though Jesus is speaking to these few believers, the gospel is not meant to be hidden.  Jesus asks them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed…. or put on a stand?”  The answer is to be put on a stand so it will light the house. 

(Remember the little children’s song, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.”) 

Jesus was telling these men the truth (what the “Sower” parable meant), but they were not to keep it to themselves; they were to share it, eventually with the world. (See Matthew 28:19-20) 

“Pay attention to what you hear,” Jesus said. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added. For to the one who HAS, more will be given.”

These men were key to spreading the gospel throughout the then-known world.  Jesus told them to “pay attention.”  And as they learned, applied, and eventually shared the “light,” more would be given to them.  

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Vss. 26-28.

Only Mark records this Parable of the Seed Growing.  It complements the Parable of the Sower and how the seeds planted in GOOD SOIL grow.   In that good soil, the seed sprouts and grows. First, the blade appears, then the ear, and lastly the full grain in the ear. 

When the Gospel is presented, and the Word enters an open and fertile heart, it produces spiritual growth and, finally, the harvest, when God “saves” the person. 

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Vss. 30-32.

This Parable of the Mustard Seed pictures the kingdom of God. It begins as a small influence, but grows to a worldwide ministry.  

In this parable, Jesus says that “a grain of mustard seed” is the smallest of all seeds on the earth.”  (It isn’t actually the smallest seed in existence, but in comparison to all the seeds the Jews sowed, it was the smallest.)

A mustard seed “can” grow up to a major bush of fifteen feet or so, with branches capable of supporting birds’ nests.  So, Jesus is picturing a smallish sphere of salvation that could grow so large as to shelter and benefit many people. Even unbelievers are blessed by association with the gospel and the power of God in salvation. 

In both the Parable of the Lamp and this one, Jesus is encouraging his true followers that even though their influence seems very small, it will grow and reach many.  They are to be faithful to learn, grow, and apply.

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Vss 33-34.

“With many such parables…” (Mark doesn’t feel like putting them all down in writing)  “…He (Jesus) spoke the word to them, as much as they were able to bear.”   And while He explained everything to His close disciples, to the crowds (Mark says), Jesus “did not speak to them without a parable.”

Only if His hearers were interested and asked Jesus to teach them further, would He respond.  Sadly, most of the crowds came to Jesus for what they could get – healing, release from demons, a spectacle to watch, a riddle to ponder, and later, “free bread and fish.”