Mark 4:21-34: “Jesus Says To Let Our Light Shine
In This World, Then He Teaches The Parables Of The Crop & Mustard Seed”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked at verses 1-20 of chapter 4 of Mark, and
Jesus’ parable of the Sower.
1.2.
We discussed that Jesus had now made a transition in His teaching and
that He now began to teach the multitudes only by the mechanism of
parables. We discussed the nature of
parables.
1.3.
We then studied closely Jesus’ ‘Parable of the Sower’.
2.
In our study today, we are going to look at verses 21-34 of Mark
chapter 4.
2.1.
In our previous study, we looked at Jesus’ ‘Parable of the Sower’ and discussed the
four soils mentioned in the parable and how each soil represents the four
different types of heart receptivity of the heart to God and His word:
2.1.1. The soil along the way that was snatched up by the birds of the air symbolized those who hear
God’s Word but because their hearts are not properly prepared to receive and
believe the Word, demons (“birds of the air”) come and snatch the Word
right out of their hearts and minds.
These people do not really understand the Word and they do not think
about it too much after this.
2.1.2. The hard soil symbolizes those who hear the Word of God initially, and they believe
it. However, they have no firm root in
themselves, and because their hearts are not properly prepared to receive the
word, then when trials and temptations come in their life and they realize that
there is a price to pay for following Christ, then they fall away and no longer
have trust in Christ alone for their salvation.
2.1.3. The soil among the thorns symbolizes those who hear the Word of God
initially, and they also believe it.
However, temptations of this world, whether the love of money and
possessions or just the lusts of the flesh, cause them eventually to fall away
from the Lord. They fall away from the
Lord also.
2.1.4. The good soil symbolizes those who hear the Word of God and believe it, and they
start and continue bearing fruit to the Lord.
Their hearts are receptive to the Lord and they bring forth differing
amounts of fruit to the Lord (which comes as a result of various factors in
their life). They believe and continue
in the faith.
2.2.
Jesus appears to have been concerned that His disciples might become
discouraged
after His teaching of the Parable of the Sower because three out of four of the
soils were not fruitful and represented people who turned away after hearing
the Word of God. The disciples, like the
rest of
2.2.1. One parable, “The Parable
of the Crop” will encourage them to realize that God’s Word continues to
work in people’s hearts long after we share it, and thus it will accomplish
what God has sent it to achieve.
2.2.2. The kingdom ‘Parable of
the Mustard Seed’ includes both an encouragement that the Word of God when
shared will continue to grow and establish Christ’s Kingdom in the church, but
also a warning because the church will in time will grow to become something
that it was not meant to be (a mustard plant growing up to become a tree with
big branches), and it will become inhabited by emissaries of Satan (symbolized
by birds in the branches).
2.3.
Jesus will begin this study by teaching His disciples that they must
let the light they have received shine for Christ, and never cover up their
light.
3.
VS 4:21-23 - “21 And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or
under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? 22 “For nothing is hidden, except to be
revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 “If anyone has ears to hear, let him
hear.”” – Jesus tells His disciples that a lamp; is
not to be put under a basket or a bed, but rather it is to be put on a
lampstand
3.1.
Jesus has been teaching His disciples since He first called them to
follow Him. Now, He has taught them some
parables and told them that He will from now on be teaching the multitudes in
parables. He has likewise explained the
Parable of the Sower to His disciples.
Jesus knew that His disciples might be thinking that they alone were
supposed to be privileged to know their Master’s thoughts and teaching. However, Jesus tells them here that they have
a responsibility with everything that they are taught, a responsibility to
teach others and share those teachings and wisdom with others.
3.2.
Who or what is Jesus referring to as a ‘lamp’ when He says, ‘a
lamp is not brought’?
3.2.1. Jesus’ teaching is the lamp.
3.2.2. Jesus’ disciples themselves
are the lamp.
3.2.3. Jesus Himself is the lamp
that is supposed to shine through His disciple’s lives.
3.3.
Jesus and His teaching was given to the disciples not to be hidden or
kept to themselves, but rather ‘to be put on the lampstand’. Jesus told His disciples on another occasion that they are the light of
the world, and again that they are to let their light so shine that men might
see their good works and glorify their Father who is in heaven. Likewise, Jesus said that we are to be salt
and light to the people of this world who do not know God. We are to be a beacon of light and declare
the truth of the light we have received, and show that through our good works
as well.
3.4.
People can hide their light in
many ways:
3.4.1.
Being a silent witness and not
telling others the gospel.
3.4.2.
Many times we Christians can so
live in our Christian bubble that we don’t even rub shoulders with people of
this world who don’t know Christ. We
need to get out of our bubble and become a friend of sinners like Jesus did.
3.4.3.
We can just be lazy and not really
care if people come to Christ because we are caught up in our own life and
world, and this is perhaps symbolized by putting our lampstand under our bed.
3.4.4.
We can hide our light by
compromising with sin and then that bright light becomes more and more dim.
3.5.
Jesus reveals that everything that He has been teaching or will teach
His disciples is given so that they would teach others: ‘For nothing is hidden, except to be
revealed nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light’.’ The church is not a secret knowledge society,
and Jesus did not come to give secret knowledge to the few.
3.6.
Jesus finally says this statement He often repeated in the New
Testament, ‘If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear’, but in light of the fact
that the vast majority of people can hear and virtually everyone has ears, what
did Jesus mean? The answer is that the
hearing that Jesus refers to is the hearing so as to believe and act upon or
obey that Word.
4.
VS 4:24-25 - “24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it
will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 “For whoever has, to him more
shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away
from him.”” – Jesus tells His disciples to be careful
what they listen to because by their standard of measure it will be measured to
them, and more will be given to the one who has, but the one who does not have
even what he has shall be taken away from him
4.1.
These verses are highly metaphorical and very difficult to interpret.
4.2.
Jesus uses two metaphors to refer to receiving and obeying God’s Word
when it is delivered to you, that of to ‘listen’ to it and also to ‘have’
it. If you receive and obey God’s Word,
more of His Word will be revealed to you.
4.3.
Evidently the ‘standard of measure’ that a person uses refers to
how well one recognizes the Word of God for what it is. If you often recognize God’s Word for what it
is, God will give you just so much more understanding of His Word.
4.4.
The last phrase is an oxymoron of sorts: ‘whoever does not have, even what he has
shall be taken away from him.’ How can
what you don’t have be taken away from you?
The lesson is that you need to be those who listen carefully to what God
is saying to you, and seek diligently to get to know Him through His Word.
4.5.
If we reject God’s Word by refusing to believe and obey it then one of
the sad realities that occurs is that God begins to be silent to us and we lose
the ability to know or understand His thoughts and will in our life.
5.
VS 4:26-29 - “26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the
soil; 27 and he goes to
bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself
does not know. 28 “The soil
produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain
in the head. 29 “But when the
crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”” – Jesus tells His disciples the Parable of the Crop
5.1.
Mark is the only gospel writer who includes this parable in his gospel.
5.2.
This parable is an encouragement to Jesus’ disciples concerning their
preaching and teaching of the Word of God.
They had heard Jesus teach that three out of four of the types of soil
end up being worthless and bringing forth no fruit or crop, and they may have
felt that it may not have been worthwhile to preach and teach God’s Word. What Jesus teaches here though is that long
after you share God’s Word with people that Word continues to bear fruit in
their life.
5.3.
Here, Jesus tells us that a man ‘casts seed upon the soil’,
meaning that he shares the Word of God with someone. But, then the man ‘goes to bed’ and
then the next day he ‘gets up’, and lo and behold ‘the seed sprouts and
grows’. But, the man does not know ‘how’
this has happened, it is truly a mystery to him.
5.4.
There are several things that work together to cause the seed to grow
overnight:
5.4.1. The seed.
5.4.1.1.The seed has DNA that
contains all of the instructions need to create and grow a crop.
5.4.1.2.The seed corresponds to the
Word of God itself, and there are many passages of scripture that tell us that
God’s Word is powerful and will accomplish that which God has determined for it
to accomplish, for instance:
5.4.1.2.1.Hebrews 4:12, “12 For the word of God is living and
active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the
division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the
thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
5.4.1.2.2.Isaiah 55:11, “11 So will My word be which goes
forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what
I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
5.4.1.2.3.2 Timothy 3:16-17, “16 All Scripture is inspired
by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training
in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God
may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
5.4.1.2.4.Jeremiah 23:28-29, “28 The prophet who has a
dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in
truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord. 29 “Is not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters
a rock?”
5.4.2. The soil.
5.4.2.1.Good soil has the proper
nutrients in it to cause the seed to sprout and grow up to a mature plant.
5.4.2.2.A person’s heart for God
itself is an ingredient that causes the Word of God to grow in his life and
draw him close to God and mature him spiritually.
5.4.3. Water.
5.4.3.1.Soil with no water will not allow
even the best of seeds to sprout and grow.
But, the farmer himself is dependent upon the elements in order for the
seed he plants to grow.
5.4.3.2.Paul wrote that God causes
the Word that is preached and taught to grow by watering the seed: 1
Corinthians 3:6, “6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the
growth.” We as Christians preach and teach God’s Word
but the growth of our ministry is dependent upon God. He must be with those whom we share God’s
Word and through the circumstances He directs cause that Word to be watered.
5.4.3.3.God waters the Word we have received by teaching us
things in repetition and reinforcing a concept we previously have learned, just
as it is written in Isaiah 28:13: “13
So the word of the Lord to them will be, “Order on order,
order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,”
That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.”
5.4.3.4.God also waters the Word by sending people who encourage
us and reinforce that word, and also by the circumstances He places us in,
including trials and tribulations.
Truly, all things are working together for good in the lives of those
who love God and are called by Him (Rom. 8:28).
5.4.4. Light.
5.4.4.1.Photosynthesis is required
for any plant to grow. Darkness is
optional (as we know from the incredible growing season in
5.4.4.2.God is the One who brings
understanding of the truth of God’s Word to people’s lives, and He can and will
do that with the Word of God that is shared.
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all the truth: John
16:13, “13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He
will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative,
but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to
come.”
5.5.
It has happened several times in my life that people whom I shared
God’s Word with have approached me many years later and told me how God used
something I taught or said in a great way in their life. I am usually completely unaware even of what
I shared with them or taught that time when they were there to hear, but that
Word eventually started to sprout and grow and produce the effect in the
person’s life that God intended that Word to produce.
6.
VS 4:30-32 - “30 And He said, “How shall we picture the
6.1.
After teaching the Parable of the Sower, Jesus had encouraged His
disciples about the Word of God teaching them the Parable of the Crop and how
that the Word of God will continue to grow and bear fruit long after we share
it. Now, He gives them the encouragement
that the Word of God will grow, the church will grow strong, but He warns them
at the same time that growth will bring many dangers and internal corruption.
6.2.
Jesus’ parables
are the most difficult portions of the Bible to interpret. The most
difficult of Jesus’ parables to understand are His kingdom parables. Likewise, I believe Jesus’ kingdom parables
have been more misunderstood than perhaps any other in the scripture.
Many good Bible commentators miss the point in interpreting these parables.
6.3.
From Matthew chapter
13, we see that Jesus actually taught a total of six kingdom parables.
Luke includes two of these parables, and Mark only taught one.
6.4.
Kingdom parables
begin with Jesus saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like…,” or something
to this effect.
6.5.
The interesting
thing about Jesus’ kingdom parables is that there is given nowhere an
interpretation of them. The reader is left to interpret them with the
Lord’s help and in light of the rest of scripture.
6.6.
As was often His
teaching style, Jesus begins this teaching by asking a question, stimulating
the thoughts of His disciples, “How shall we picture the
6.7.
The ‘
6.8.
Who that you
believe that Jesus is primarily addressing in this parable can affect what it
is that you believe that Jesus is teaching through these kingdom
parables. Is Jesus trying to teach His disciples more truths to further
prepare them? Or, is Jesus speaking to those who are lost and trying to
encourage them of the fact that His kingdom is going to grow? I believe
that it is more natural to consider that Jesus is continuing to instruct His disciples
here.
6.9.
The major key to
interpreting Jesus’ parables has to do with interpreting the symbols in the
parable in the light of scripture. What is central in doing this is
comparing scripture to scripture for consistency and looking for consistency of
symbols. “Expositional Constancy” is the term that theologians
have used to express the fact that there should be consistency between
scriptures. This is expected if we believe that God does not contradict
Himself. If something is a symbol of good in one scripture we would
expect it to be a symbol of good everywhere. Likewise, if something is a
symbol of evil in one scripture we would expect it to be a symbol of evil
everywhere. Etc., etc. We will see this concept come into play when
we consider the symbol of the ‘birds’ in this parable and the “leaven”
in the next kingdom parable. Both Mark
and Luke include this Parable of the Mustard Seed right after the Parable of
the Sower, and that parable had the birds of the air symbolize demons.
6.10.
Note here in this
parable that Jesus’ compares the
6.11.
Now, lets
consider the symbol of ‘birds’ that is used. They will rest in the
branches of the tree. Many think that the ‘birds’ symbolize simply
the peace that will extend over the earth when Christ’s kingdom eventually
grows up into dominance on the earth. However, ‘birds’ are a
metaphor for evil by Jesus in His parables. In fact, from Matthew 13 and
Matthew’s account of this parable, prior to teaching this parable Jesus had just
taught the Parable of The Sower, and in that parable the ‘birds’ that
eat the seed that the sower spread by the wayside symbolize “demons.”
It would be highly unlikely that Jesus would immediately begin to speak of ‘birds’
in His very next teaching as being a good thing. Rather, it must be that
the birds symbolize the fact that as the
6.11.1.In 2 Peter 2:1-3, Peter tells us that there will always be false brethren
who will come in amongst God’s people in the church, “2:1 But false prophets
also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among
you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master
who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 And many will
follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be
maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their
judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep”
6.11.2.This has been the history of the church since Christ’s
resurrection. Gnosticism crept into the church in the first generation
after Christ. This was followed by other aberrations. In the third
century when
7.
VS 4:33-34 - “33 With many such parables He was
speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; 34 and He did not speak to them without a parable;
but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.” – Mark tells us that Jesus was teaching many parables and that He was
not teaching without using parables, and each of those parables He was
explaining in private to His disciples
8.
CONCLUSIONS:
8.1.
Let your light shine, don’t hide
it. What you have learned you are to
share wherever you go.
8.2.
Don’t be encouraged, the seed of
God’s Word will grow and accomplish what God has for it. Be content to plant seeds in people’s lives
knowing that God’s Word will continue to grow until it accomplishes what God
sent it to accomplish.
8.3.
Beware, the church when it grows
may become something it was not meant to be, and Satan will plant men and women
within to hinder and thwart God’s work.