Mark 4: 1 - 20 (SS)

Mark 4: 1 - 20

Observations:

Jesus goes to teach by the sea once again. His fame and notoriety is growing and a very large crowd gathers to him. He gets in a boat and pulls away from the shore, and teaches the crowd many things through parables.

The one parable that Mark records is:

	Sower Plants Seeds/Word on:
	Path	Rocky	Thorns	Good Soil
Parable	Seeds fell on Path	Not much Soil	Thorns Grew	Grain produced
	Birds Devoured seeds	Plants sprang up without root	Choked plants	Grew up
		Sun scorched plant and it withered away	No grain yielded	Increased in yield 30x; 60x and 100x
Jesus' Explanation	Word is sown	Hears Word and immediately receive with joy	Hears the Word	Hears the Word
	Satan takes away Word sown in them	No roots - but endure for a while	Choked by: Cares of the world Deceitfulness of riches Desires for other things	Accept the word
		Tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word	No Fruit	Bear Fruit - 30x; 60x and 100x
		They fall away

Characteristics of Seeds:

1. Life giving


2. Penetrating


3. Subtle


4. Necessity of death

Interpretation:

The quality of soil: Could it indicate the state of our hearts; the state of our belief?

What is the reason that Mark puts this parable in the text? What is Jesus revealing to us about the mystery of the Kingdom of God?

Application:

Does it begin with the soil or the seed?