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13 Then Jesus said to his followers, “Don’t you understand this story? If you don’t, how will you understand any story? 14 The farmer is like a person who plants God’s message in people. 15 Sometimes the teaching falls on the road. This is like the people who hear the teaching of God, but Satan quickly comes and takes away the teaching that was planted in them. 16 Others are like the seed planted on rocky ground. They hear the teaching and quickly accept it with joy. 17 But since they don’t allow the teaching to go deep into their lives, they keep it only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they quickly give up. 18 Others are like the seed planted among the thorny weeds. They hear the teaching, 19 but the worries of this life, the temptation of wealth, and many other evil desires keep the teaching from growing and producing fruit in their lives. 20 Others are like the seed planted in the good ground. They hear the teaching and accept it. Then they grow and produce fruit—sometimes thirty times more, sometimes sixty times more, and sometimes a hundred times more.” ~ Mark 4:13-20
Today we return to Mark 4 where the Lord Jesus is alone with His followers and He is giving to them the explanation of the parable of the soils. This story was something the disciples would all relate to, an agricultural story, a picture that they all knew very well of a man sowing a bag of seed.
In v.13 of today's passage we read, "Then Jesus said to his followers, “Don’t you understand this story? If you don’t, how will you understand any story?"
Since we were born sinful, we had to be rescued from the bonds of sin in order to have a relationship with God. Our sin separated us from God. This is why the Lord Jesus came to pay the penalty for sin. He did this in order to free us from the grasp of the devil. Once we are "born again" we are positioned to know the Lord for ourselves and to understand the teaching of the Lord Jesus. It all begins with a heart that is receptive to the voice of God.
In v.14-15 of today's passage we read, "14 The farmer is like a person who plants God’s message in people. 15 Sometimes the teaching falls on the road. This is like the people who hear the teaching of God, but Satan quickly comes and takes away the teaching that was planted in them."
In this parable, the Lord Jesus is the farmer who spread His seed or the secret to the kingdom of God. This first type of soil, the Lord Jesus accentuates is the one that is shallow. Due to shallowness of heart, Satan takes away the teaching that was planted. These people are those who never enter into a personal relationship with God because the truth never penetrated their hearts.
In v.16-17 of today's passage we read, "16 Others are like the seed planted on rocky ground. They hear the teaching and quickly accept it with joy. 17 But since they don’t allow the teaching to go deep into their lives, they keep it only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they quickly give up."
This type of soil or heart shows interest in the truth and even expresses joy over its discovery, but, only for a short time. Initially this person gets excited about the Gospel, but his excitement wanes. His problem is that he gets excited about everything and nothing is all that special to him. So, since this person runs from one thing that excites him to another, he misses the reality of the Gospel. He has never been born again. And, when he gets challenged in his faith, when suffering shows up, his response becomes, "How could a God of love allow this? I'm not going to believe this anymore." The problem was he didn't believe in the first place.
In v.18-19 of today's passage we read, "18 Others are like the seed planted among the thorny weeds. They hear the teaching, 19 but the worries of this life, the temptation of wealth, and many other evil desires keep the teaching from growing and producing fruit in their lives."
This person shows some receptivity to the truth but it really never penetrates his heart because the deceitfulness of riches choke the word right out of his life. This person has a crowded heart. The seed goes in, but there are weeds all around it that prevent it from maturing. The root system of the weeds take up the nutrients in the soil preventing the growth of the seed. And then, when hard times come and God doesn't work in his life like he thinks He should, he turns away from the truth.
Sadly, the same truth that awakens one blinds another. Just like the same sun that melts the ice, hardens the clay. The same rain that waters the field, floods the river. The same truth that opens a person's eyes, blinds another's because they essentially do not want to get it.
In this parable, of those who hear the word, 25 percent show no growth at all, while 50 percent the growth is minimal and only temporary, and, only 25 percent show real spiritual connection to God. That means 75 percent reject the message of the Gospel.
In v.20 of today's passage we read, "Others are like the seed planted in the good ground. They hear the teaching and accept it. Then they grow and produce fruit—sometimes thirty times more, sometimes sixty times more, and sometimes a hundred times more."
This is the one that hears the word, accepts it, and the word bears fruit in and through his life. This is the fruitful heart. Notice the sentence, "sometimes thirty times more, sometimes sixty times more, and sometimes a hundred times more." That means to the degree that we invest in God's culture to that degree will we reap of His bounty. The key is yieldedness on our part. And then, it is up to God to produce the results.
