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Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."
And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade."
And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.
- Mark 4:21-34
Yesterday, we read that again Jesus 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 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 the 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."
Also He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." Jesus gives us clues here regarding the mysteries of God, just as He has begun to reveal the nature of His preaching in parables. Christ has called Himself the light of the world. His mysteries are light. He speaks of revealing that light into the world, to who may have the "ears" to receive this light that is the word of God.
Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." Here again is the emphasis on how we "hear" spiritually. That is, how we "receive" His word. My study bible says this is a call to attentive listening and discriminating response. "We must not only hear, but hear properly. More will be given to those who respond to Christ with open hearts; they will grow in understanding." My study bible quotes Mark the Ascetic: "Do the good you know, and what you do not know will be revealed to you."
And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." This is a parable that only occurs in the Gospel of Mark. My study bible tells us that the kingdom refers to the whole span of God's dispensation or plan of salvation. It says that the man is Christ, while the seed is the gospel. His sleep indicates the death of Christ from which He will rise. That the man does not know how the seed grows shows Christ doesn't manipulate human response to the gospel; each person, rather, is free to receive it and to let it grow in his or her own heart. The harvest indicates the Second Coming, a time when all will be judged on their reception of the gospel.
Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade." The parable of the mustard seed is found in all of the Synoptic Gospels. This beautiful parable is one we're familiar with, but it's told vividly yet simply here in Mark. We note the details, expressive of the graciously expansive nature of the seed: the sturdy herb gives such growth that even birds may shelter in its shade -- these birds of the air are suggestive of angels, our helpers and messengers of the word into the world.
And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. My study bible says to us that to unbelievers, the parables of the Kingdom remain bewildering. To those with simple faith, it tells us, these stories that use common images reveal truth in ways which they can grasp, as they were able. This is a reassurance that expectations of understanding are commensurate with capability; that is, of no one is there demanded more than they are able to grasp.
Parables are beautiful stories: simple, but full of uncountable facets. Each one may give us more and more understanding through time, as our own experience of faith grows within us. Yet, even without the experience and understanding, they lure us in (as is appropriate to the work of the apostles Jesus called fishers of men!) so that we respond and are engaged through them. In that sense, each parable works like a jewel, something beautiful and intriguing, to study upon, whose various glimmers of light are renewed each time we look or "reflect" again. We may come to understand and observe the work of the Kingdom in our own lives by revisiting the parables. The branches of this sturdy bush that grows from the tiniest of seeds may be meaningful to us as we observe and look back upon the work of God in our own lives, or the understanding that has grown that we have through the experience of our faith. Transforming life experiences that have demanded tough choices will be seen, upon reflection, as vehicles for this work, and we experience our own growth like the seeds planted in the day that grew even in the night as we were "unaware" and not necessarily able to observe at the time. This is the way the parables work for us, and continue to give us understanding via metaphors of every day life. No matter where we are or what we do, we still can understand the growth of plants, what seeds do, how a lamp gives light. All of these feed us with an understanding of the nature of our faith, how the Kingdom works both in us and in the world. The important thing to understand is that they work in us, and in accordance with our own receptivity. To cultivate a hunger and thirst for the things of the spirit is healthful and good in this reflection, in the sense of the parables that Christ teaches. As we have, so it will be given. What we are able to receive makes us capable of being given more. This is the life in God, the appropriate and good gifts God gives us. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.
