He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

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 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 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 read that so many people crowded into the house to hear Jesus that no one could even eat a meal.  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house 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 told them, "Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."  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.   In recent readings, Mark's Gospel has been making it very clear that Jesus is swamped by people; more and more are coming to Him.  Here there are bigger crowds than ever.  This sets the stage for something new to be introduced into Jesus' ministry and teaching.

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 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 hear!"  For the crowds that have grown so large to include all kinds of people, Jesus teaches in parables.  Here, the central parable that begins our introduction to Jesus' teaching style:  the parable of the Sower.  My study bible notes that the Hebrew and Aramaic words for parable also mean "allegory," "riddle," or "proverb."  It says, "The Scriptures, especially the Gospels, are filled with parables--images drawn from daily life in the world to represent and communicate the deep things of God.  Parables give us glimpses of Him whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways (Is. 55:8,9)."

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.'"  In yesterday's reading, Jesus spoke about the importance of the perception of the work of the Spirit.  Some (His relatives) thought He was out of His mind, some (from the religious establishment) attributed His healing powers (including exorcism) to the work of demons.  He spoke of the condemnation of those who would blaspheme the Spirit, attributing the work of the Spirit to evil.  Today's reading follows these teachings, and adds to them in the sense in which Jesus teaches us that some will perceive spiritual truth and some will not, and that this, in fact, is part of the purpose of His teaching in parables.  My study bible identifies the mystery as "the reality of the presence of the Kingdom itself, revealed in Jesus and perceived by faith."  It teaches:  "The truth communicated by Jesus' parables, however, is not evident to all who hear them.  One must have spiritual eyes and ears to hear, and even then there are degrees of understanding of the parables."  (Indeed, Scripture will always give us new things if we have "ears to hear.")  "Thus," my study bible says, quoting today's reading, "'to those who are outside, all things come in riddles.'"  It adds, "Jesus' quotation of Isaiah 6:9-10 does not mean He used parables to blind the people or to lead them to punishment.  On the contrary, it demonstrates that the people are responsible for their own receptivity:  having grown dull and insensitive, they are unwilling to accept the message of the parables.  As the mission of Isaiah in the Old Testament was to open the eyes of Israel to see the acts of God, so the parables of Jesus are given to open the eyes of His hearers to the truth, and to lead them to produce the fruit of righteousness."

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."  My study bible has two notes on this passage:  (1)  "Discipleship requires both that we have a personal relationship with Christ and that we understand what He teaches" and (2) "The gospel of God's Kingdom is powerful, but our heart response determines its fruitfulness in our lives."

Perhaps what's most striking about Jesus' parables is their timeless quality, and perhaps their eternal and ever-present relevance to our lives.  At any time, one may consider this parable, and His teachings about it to His own disciples, and find some relevance to one's own life and - most importantly - the spiritual condition in which one finds oneself at this time.  Sometimes I've experienced any and each of these states of being in my own life and spiritual progress:  there are times when I feel threatened and overwhelmed by some sort of tribulation, times when the word seems to have disappeared in me, times when the cares of the world seem to threaten what I hold dear in my heart.  But the words remain true:  we are to endure, and endurance comes through acceptance.  This remains a truth for as long as we walk on this spiritual journey, and turn again to be healed, time and time again, trusting in His love.  And the words of my study bible remain true and strike for me a chord of experience:  that in His Person, in relationship, we come to an understanding that is rooted in the heart and that grows more deeply through time, within ourselves.  This is the way that understanding comes, through relationship, through experience, and the insight we receive from walking with Him.  So, what do you hear in this parable today?  What do you see in His teachings for yourself?  How does He teach you today?