The Parable of Seed and Soil
Mark 4Again he began to teach by the seaside. A large crowd was gathered around him, so he entered a boat in the sea and sat down while the multitude was on the land by the sea. He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching said, “Listen y’all! A farmer went out to sow. As he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it. Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil. Immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. Others fell into the excellent ground and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some produced thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much.” He said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
When he was alone, those around him and the twelve asked him about the parables. He said to them, “The mystery of the Empire of God is given to y’all. But to those who are outside, everything comes in parables, so that ‘seeing they may see but not perceive, and hearing they may hear but not understand, lest perhaps they should turn again, and their sins should be forgiven them.’”+Isa 6:9-10
He said to them, “Don’t y’all understand this parable? How will y’all understand any parables? The farmer sows the word. The seeds by the road are like people where the word is sown, but when they heard, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. Next are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy, But they have no root in themselves, and are short-lived. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, they immediately fall away. Others are those who are sown among the thorns. They have heard the word, but the anxieties of this age, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But these are the ones sown on excellent ground: those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit, some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times.”
The Parable of the Lamp
He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Shouldn’t it be put on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be revealed, and nothing was concealed except to become manifest. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”
He said to them, “Y’all must discern what y’all are hearing. By whatever measure y’all measure, it will be measured to y’all; and more to y’all. For whoever has will be given more, and whoever doesn’t have, even what they have will be taken away from them.”
The Empire of God is Like a Growing Seed
He said, “The Empire of God is like a human who scatters seed on the ground, then sleeps and gets up night and day, and the seed springs up and grows, though the sower doesn’t know how. For the soil bears fruit by itself: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, immediately the sower sends in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The Empire of God is Like a Mustard Seed
He said, “What can we compare to the Empire of God? What parable should we use to illustrate it? It is like a mustard seed sown in the ground, and even though it is smaller than all the seeds in the ground, yet when it is sown, grows up and becomes greater than all the garden plans, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell under its shade.”
With many parables like these he spoke the word to them, as much as they were able to hear it. He didn’t speak to them without a parable; but privately he explained everything to his own disciples.
Jesus Calms the Storm
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let’s go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took him with them, just as he was, in the boat. Other small boats were also with him. A massive windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. They woke him up and asked him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are dying?”
He awoke, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Be quiet! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was massive calm.
He said to them, “Why are y’all so afraid? How do y’all still have no faith?”
They were massively afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”