Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow

And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed that some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred." And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him him hear!"

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. And he said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that

'Seeing they may see and not perceive,

And hearing they may hear and not understand;

Lest they should turn,

And their sins be forgiven them.'"

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

- Mark 4:1-20

In yesterday's reading, we learned of the conflicts surrounding Jesus' ministry. Jesus is surrounded, mobbed, by those who wish to follow Him, especially for healing. But His family, His relatives, having heard about this, say, "He is out of His mind," and they seek to find Him. The scribes who come from Jerusalem claim that He has Beelzebub -- that by the ruler of the demons He casts out demons. But Jesus replied in parables: "How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. . . . And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house." He then warns everybody that blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven, although all manner of other sin will be. Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You." But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?" And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."

And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. Again, Mark repeats the scenes by the sea, of great multitudes coming to Jesus. This time, He must get into a boat to teach. We recall, from Monday's reading, how He had to keep a boat ready when teaching at the sea, in case He should be crushed by the crowds. Here, we presume, the multitude has even grown, and seeks Him more vehemently.

Then He taught them many things by parables . . . In yesterday's reading, Mark gave us the first of Jesus' parables introduced into his Gospel -- the teaching of a house divided against itself. Parables were common in the spiritual history of Judaism already before Jesus' time and the Old Testament records them. A parable, my study bible teaches, is a story in "word-pictures, revealing spiritual truth. The Hebrew and Aramaic words for parable also mean 'allegory,' 'riddle,' or 'proverb.'" They give vivid illustrations from daily life so that we get glimpses of truth, depending on our faith, our capacity. My study bible says, "Parables give us glimpses of Him whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways" (Is. 55:8,9).

. . . and said to them in His teaching: "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed that some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred." And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him him hear!" As in Matthew's Gospel, the first parable we're given by Jesus is a kind of parable of parables. We get the elements of our world that would be common then to those listening: seed, scattering the seed, good ground, earth, the birds, the hot sun, waiting on a good or poor crop. We can picture Jesus sitting in the boat, talking to this crowd, with the sun shining down, the birds flying, the wind blowing that may scatter seeds, the sandy soil of the beach, even the thorny plants in this environment. It's as if, for this massive crowd, He is trying to communicate something specifically because the crowds have now grown so big. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" He wants to pull those out of the crowd who can truly hear. In that sense, Jesus' "seeds" contained in the parable are themselves destined for the "ground" in His audience. It's a parable within a parable; He's teaching them His own effort to communicate -- and yet it's not all up to Him.

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. And he said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God . . . " My study bible points out: "The mystery is the reality of the presence of the Kingdom itself, revealed in Jesus and perceived by faith." Here is the element of the mystical introduced. Parables are not simply a matter of clear interpretation, but designed to draw us into a place where our spiritual "ears" are tuned, honed, refined, to hear. How can we receive this mystery?

" . . . but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that 'seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.'" There is a deliberate way, here, that things are not simply handed to the crowds. It is akin, in some sense, to Jesus' teaching to His disciples that they should not cast their pearls before swine. But here the teaching delves deeper into the subtleties of this mystery of the kingdom. For those who are not prepared to receive, the mysteries remain just that, a mystery. Those who will repent and be called into the Kingdom are those for whom the ground of the heart is truly ready and receptive. The quotation comes from Isaiah, but also Jesus' words are echoed throughout Old Testament Scripture.

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble." The interesting thing here is that even the disciples must work ask, seek to understand this parable. But they have been called, and clearly they thirst for what is contained in the teaching. The Sower is Christ Himself, sowing the word. Those who are not disciple material immediately lose the word to the adversary of this world -- the word has fallen by the wayside. A stony heart may hear the "good news" of the Gospel with gladness, but its truth isn't deeply rooted in the heart, and this doesn't last. When adversarial conditions arise, persecution or tribulation "for the word's sake," immediately they stumble. This ground of the heart, therefore, teaches us about love. Discipleship, that which will not trample the pearls, that which sticks through difficulty, even persecution, is rooted in a relationship of love.

"Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." It's interesting how these conditions for the seeds of the word come to us in stages. Here, the thorns of the world, those things that may prick our hearts and plague us with pain, are the cares of the world, including "the deceitfulness of riches" and "the desires for other things." What we see is the competing reality of the ways of the world. The word is given out for free, yet it is the deepest and dearest treasure. The things of the world, the cares of the world, are from a mindset taught by the world: that everything is to acquire, a material good, a competition for something scarce, something to chase after -- and these concerns, if we let them get out of the perspective of faith, can choke the word within us, crowd it out. It is a question, it seems to me, of what comes first -- what we allow to be our whole lives. And, it seems to me, we can approach spirituality wrongly as something to be acquired like a worldly good possessed, or a frantic list of works, like a resume that is built up in our own image. Ironically, it is these who become unfruitful.

"But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred." In yesterday's reading, Jesus asked, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?" And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother." Let us put the two together, and come to understand what it is to bear fruit. The mysteries of the kingdom, revealed through the word, must fall on the good ground of the heart to bear fruit. That is the part of us with spiritual perception, with "ears to hear." In contrast to the cares of the world, it is all about receiving. In so doing, in seeking to know and do the will of God, we become fruitful -- a part of the abundance of the "family" of Jesus, His mother, sister, brother. Think of crops springing up and yielding and growing, expanding in fruit -- and the image of a "family tree." There are all levels of fruit that belong to this tree. Each member may bear his or her own "children" for this harvest. Note that there is no competition among them.

My study bible has a note that says that here, Jesus refers to "hardness of heart as the cause of lack of understanding. Jesus is not disclosing truth to some while hiding it from others. He proclaims the Good News of the Kingdom openly to all, but only those who repent and believe can perceive the power of the Kingdom in Him and in their lives." It also notes, "The gospel of God's Kingdom is powerful but our heart response determines its fruitfulness in our lives." So let us think about fruitfulness, and what it is to be fruitful. Certainly fruit has to do with a call, with a response to the seed planted by the word, and with following, in repentance, where that leads us. Jesus' teachings today, and Mark's portrayal of His interaction with the disciples, teach us also something about time. Time is necessary for the harvest of fruits, as well as care, the tending of the vines or crops, the care of the soil, the nurturing of the good ground for a fruitful harvest. We don't know what those fruits may look like, but we know who are Jesus' mother and brother and sister. Let us tend to the good ground of our hearts, the nurturing and the valuing of the word there, the repentance that Jesus notes to His disciples. We turn and turn again to the word, to our "daily bread" of spiritual food, to that which nourishes, feeds, and leavens the whole. The care of the heart is for good fruit, and this is a lifelong task. It takes root, and spreads, and only the Father may know the full outcome. Can you have the faith to allow this to proceed in you? Or do the cares of the world choke its power, crowd out the time, and takes its true care away?