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 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 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 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."

- Mark 4:1-20

On Saturday we read that Jesus and the disciples went into a house, likely the family home of Peter and Andrew in Capernaum.  Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  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.  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.  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!"  In our readings in Mark's Gospel, Jesus has just recently appointed the twelve who will be sent out as apostles.  His fame has reached all around the territories of Israel and including the Jewish diaspora in nearby Gentile territories.  And most recently, He has begun to face open hostility from the authorities, who now seek to destroy Him (see Saturday's reading, above).  His own family tries to distance themselves from Him, most likely they are fearful at the danger He's courting in open opposition to the religious authorities, who now plot with Herod's supporters against Him.   But the multitudes, who've heard all about Him and what He has done, flock to Him.  It is at this point that Jesus begins preaching in parables.  Parables are word-pictures, which reveal spiritual truth.  But now that it is these great crowds He preaches to, and not merely those who have committed to being His disciples, and that even among His hearers are no doubt those who are hostile to Him, He preaches in a way that is not overt, but has hidden meanings for those with "ears to hear."  Jesus' parables illustrate the things of God, aspects of the Kingdom and of our faith, for those who desire to hear and to learn.  My study bible points out that even among those who have spiritual ears to hear, not all have the same degree of understanding.  This first parable introduces us to parables, and to the Sower, the One who sows the seeds.  It is the first parable told in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

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.'"  Jesus quotes from Isaiah to explain to the disciples His preaching in parables.  (See Isaiah 6:9-10.)  My study bible explains that 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 intended to open the eyes of His hearers to the truth and to lead them to produce the fruit of righteousness.  But the preaching of parables demonstrates that people are responsible for their own insensitivity to the things of God, and their own lack of receptivity; those with hardened hearts are unable to accept the message of the parables.  Nothing is held back from those who desire to learn; faith is open to all.  But, as my study bible says, God permits our self-chosen blindness.

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 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 this parable Christ reveals Himself as the promised Messiah.  He is the sower foretold by Isaiah (Isaiah 55:10-13). 

How do we bear fruit in God's word?  How do we understand the parables?  One thing is certain, that on the journey of faith, Jesus' teachings will give us messages that depend upon right where "we are at" at the moment.  In the parable of the Sower, Jesus gives the pitfalls and dangers to our faith.  There is the work of Satan that comes and snatches away the word from the heart.  There is the heart of "stony ground" which receives His word with gladness, but the shallowness of their receptivity means it endures only for a short time, but perishes under any challenge and difficulty because of the faith.  Then there are the other things Jesus warns us about our lives:  the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things -- which choke out our faith.  It's as if He's warning us that we always need to make time and space for our faith and especially for His word, the things of God we're taught.  The rest of our lives, and all the other things that we may chase after in life, are liable to crowd out the things of true worth, distract us from where we need to be and what we need to focus on.  It seems to me that these are the pitfalls of the journey of faith, that all of us may be, at one time or another (or even many times in our lives) susceptible to the problems that Jesus notes can come in our receptivity to the word in our hearts.  But there is always repentance, or change of mind.  We may recognize our mistakes and turn back on the road toward Him.  It is Christ's word, if we think about it, that makes all the difference in our lives.  The things that choke out the word will always be there, will always be a part of the world, will always be waiting to take our attention away, to lead us down an empty path, to make us stumble.  But it is Christ's word that stands in the center of life, in the place in our hearts that we really and truly need to pay attention to if our lives are going to be in the right place.  It is in that place that we find a kind of peace and reconciliation that really doesn't exist anywhere else, certainly not while we're chasing all the rest of it.  Isaiah came to call people's attention to the acts of God in their midst, and the word of the Sower still lives in our midst, if we just pay it the proper attention.  Let us give it the place it needs in us, so that our soul may take its rest and refreshment therein, so that we may return and be healed of the brokenness the world will offer.  At some point we must choose, and come to the understanding that it is up to us to care, and to place our right priorities first.  Christ's decision to speak in parables tells us that this is, indeed, up to us.