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Texts -- Mark 4:1-28 (NET)

Context
The Parable of the Sower
4:1 Again he began to teach by the lake . Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there while the whole crowd was on the shore by the lake . 4:2 He taught them many things in parables , and in his teaching said to them : 4:3 “Listen ! A sower went out to sow . 4:4 And as he sowed , some seed fell along the path , and the birds came and devoured it . 4:5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil . It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep . 4:6 When the sun came up it was scorched , and because it did not have sufficient root , it withered . 4:7 Other seed fell among the thorns , and they grew up and choked it , and it did not produce grain . 4:8 But other seed fell on good soil and produced grain , sprouting and growing ; some yielded thirty times as much, some sixty , and some a hundred times .” 4:9 And he said , “Whoever has ears to hear had better listen !”
The Purpose of Parables
4:10 When he was alone , those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables . 4:11 He said to them , “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you . But to those outside , everything is in parables , 4:12 so that although they look they may look but not see , and although they hear they may hear but not understand , so they may not repent and be forgiven .” 4:13 He said to them , “Don’t you understand this parable ? Then how will you understand any parable ? 4:14 The sower sows the word . 4:15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown : Whenever they hear , immediately Satan comes and snatches the word that was sown in them . 4:16 These are the ones sown on rocky ground : As soon as they hear the word , they receive it with joy . 4:17 But they have no root in themselves and do not endure . Then , when trouble or persecution comes because of the word , immediately they fall away . 4:18 Others are the ones sown among thorns : They are those who hear the word , 4:19 but worldly cares , the seductiveness of wealth , and the desire for other things come in and choke the word , and it produces nothing . 4:20 But these are the ones sown on good soil : They hear the word and receive it and bear fruit , one thirty times as much, one sixty , and one a hundred .”
The Parable of the Lamp
4:21 He also said to them , “A lamp isn’t brought to be put under a basket or under a bed , is it? Isn’t it to be placed on a lampstand ? 4:22 For nothing is hidden except to be revealed , and nothing concealed except to be brought to light . 4:23 If anyone has ears to hear , he had better listen !” 4:24 And he said to them , “Take care about what you hear . The measure you use will be the measure you receive , and more will be added to you . 4:25 For whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have , even what he has will be taken from him .”
The Parable of the Growing Seed
4:26 He also said , “The kingdom of God is like someone who spreads seed on the ground . 4:27 He goes to sleep and gets up , night and day , and the seed sprouts and grows , though he does not know how. 4:28 By itself the soil produces a crop , first the stalk , then the head, then the full grain in the head .

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  • Dalam Rumah Yang Gembira [KJ.447]
  • Inilah Hari Kelima Puluh [KJ.241]
  • [Mar 4:14] Ye Sons Of Earth Prepare The Plough

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General; What is a Christian?; 2 Corinthians 2:11

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The Lord proceeded to give Isaiah specific instructions about what He wanted him to do and what the prophet could expect regarding his ministry (vv. 9-10), his historic-political situation (vv. 11-12), and his nation's surviv...
  • "The section begins (1-6) and ends (23-29) with double illustrations drawn from nature and agriculture. Between lies a meditation in eight broadly equal parts on how Jerusalem's leaders refused the word of invitation and inhe...
  • This pericope repeats and refocuses the invitation just extended (vv. 1-3). The offer continues to be to come to God, but the focus shifts from receiving satisfaction to resting in faith and from salvation's freeness to its t...
  • These verses provide the answer to God's question in 3:1. This is the repentance that was necessary for Yahweh to return to His "wife."4:1a The Lord clarified that for His people to return to a blessed condition they must ret...
  • It was common when Jesus lived for forerunners to precede important individuals to prepare the way for their arrival. For example, when a king would visit a town in his realm his emissaries would go before him to announce his...
  • 13:10 The disciples wanted to know why Jesus was teaching in parables. This was not the clearest form of communication. Evidently the disciples asked this question when Jesus had finished giving the parables to the crowd (cf....
  • Jesus interpreted His first parable to help His disciples understand it and the others that followed (cf. Mark 4:13).13:18 Since former prophets and righteous people wanted to know this revelation and since the unbelieving co...
  • Notice first some linguistic characteristics. Mark used a relatively limited vocabulary when he wrote this Gospel. For example, he used only about 80 words that occur nowhere else in the Greek New Testament compared with Luke...
  • I. Introduction 1:1-13A. The title of the book 1:1B. Jesus' preparation for ministry 1:2-131. The ministry of John the Baptist 1:2-82. The baptism of Jesus 1:9-113. The temptation of Jesus 1:12-13II. The Servant's early Galil...
  • Mark omitted Jesus' year of early Judean ministry (John 1:15-4:42), as did the other Synoptic evangelists. He began his account of Jesus' ministry of service in Galilee, northern Israel (1:14-6:6a). Because of increasing oppo...
  • 2:1-2 These two verses are an introduction to what follows. Mark frequently used summaries such as this one (cf. 1:14-15, 39; 2:13; 3:7-12, 23; 4:1, 33-34; 8:21-26, 31; 9:31; 10:1; 12:1). They are a mark of his literary style...
  • The call of Levi as one of Jesus' disciples was the setting for the second instance of opposition from the religious leaders that Mark recorded in this section.2:13 "Again"(Gr. palin) identifies this incident as a different o...
  • There are some structural similarities between 1:14-3:6 and 3:7-6:6a. The beginnings and endings of these two sections are similar. The first section describes Jesus' ministry in Galilee before the religious leaders determine...
  • This pericope introduces Jesus' continuing ministry in Galilee following the religious leaders' decision to kill Him (cf. 1:14-15; 2:13). It provides much more detail than the parallel account in Matthew.3:7-8 The sea to whic...
  • Jesus' selection of 12 disciples constituted an important advance in His ministry. These men would be the primary beneficiaries of His training for leadership to carry out His mission. The plot to take His life made the train...
  • As Jesus' ministry expanded, so did rejection of Him as God's anointed servant. Mark documented the increasing rejection that Jesus experienced (3:20-35) and then showed that Jesus taught the multitudes in parables as a resul...
  • Jesus apparently taught these parables shortly after the incident Mark just finished recording (3:20-35; cf. Matt. 13:1). This was a very busy day in Jesus' ministry that evidently included all the events in 3:19-4:41 (cf. Ma...
  • Jesus introduced and concluded this parable with instructions that His hearers should give it careful consideration (vv. 3, 9, cf. v. 23). Mark's account of this parable is almost identical to Matthew's. It is the only parabl...
  • 4:10 Mark alone noted that those who asked Jesus to explain the parables included the Twelve plus other disciples (v. 10). Evidently their question concerned why Jesus was using parables to teach as well as what they meant. H...
  • 4:13 Jesus believed that the disciples should have understood the parable of the soils. It is, after all, one of the easier ones to understand."The blindness of men is so universal that even the disciples are not exempt from ...
  • Jesus' statements in this pericope appear throughout the other Gospels. Verse 21 occurs in Matthew 5:15 and in Luke 11:33. Verse 22 is in Matthew 10:26 and in Luke 12:2. Verse 24 appears in Matthew 7:2 and in Luke 6:38. Verse...
  • Since this parable supplements the parable of the soils, it appears that Jesus addressed it to the multitudes (cf. vv. 1-9). Mark is the only evangelist who recorded this part of the discourse. Each parable to the multitudes ...
  • There are four miracles in this section. Jesus authenticated His words (vv. 1-34) with His works (4:35-5:43). He demonstrated power over nature, demon possession, illness, and death....
  • Many unique features of Mark's narrative indicate that it came from an eyewitness account, probably Peter. These include mention of "that day"(v. 35), "as He [Jesus] was"and the other boats (v. 36), the stern and the cushion ...
  • The increasing hostility of Israel's religious leaders and the rejection of the multitudes (3:7-6:6a) led Jesus to concentrate on training His disciples increasingly. This section of Mark's Gospel shows how Jesus did that. Wh...
  • Jesus continued His response to the critics by focusing on the particular practice that they had objected to (v. 5). The question of what constituted defilement was very important. The Jews had wandered far from God's will in...
  • The Olivet Discourse is the longest section of Jesus' teaching that Mark recorded (cf. 4:1-34; 7:1-23). Mark used this discourse as a bridge between Jesus' controversies with Israel's leaders (11:27-12:44) and the account of ...
  • 13:1 This discourse evidently followed Jesus' departure from the temple on Wednesday with His disciples. The stones that caught the disciple's eye were probably those above the floor of the temple courtyard. Herod the Great h...
  • Evidently Jesus made this prediction in the upper room before the institution of the Lord's Supper. Mark probably inserted it here in his narrative because of its logical connection with Jesus' arrest in Gethsemane.14:27-28 W...
  • Adams, J. McKee. Biblical Backgrounds. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1965.Alexander, Joseph Addison. The Gospel According to Mark. 1881. Reprint ed. London: Banner of Truth, 1960.Alexander, William M. Demonic Possession in the N...
  • Luke's account of Jesus' parables by the sea is the shortest of the three, and Matthew's is the longest. Luke limited himself to recording only two parables, namely the parable of the soils and the parable of the lamp. He the...
  • As in the other Synoptics, Jesus gave the first parable to the crowds and then interpreted it for His disciples.8:4 Luke omitted reference to the setting for this teaching. It was the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Instead he s...
  • Jesus continued speaking to His disciples.8:16 This was a favorite saying of Jesus' (cf. Matt. 5:15; Mark 4:21; Luke 11:33). In view of the context here the lamp refers to a person who has the light of God's Word within him o...
  • Jesus used His condemnation of the Pharisees' hypocrisy as an occasion to warn His disciples against being hypocritical. The context of this teaching in Matthew's Gospel is Jesus' instruction of the Twelve before He sent them...
  • 28:23 Luke's concern in this pericope was to emphasize what Paul preached to these men and their reaction to it. The term "kingdom of God"probably means the same thing here as it usually does in the Gospels, namely Messiah's ...
  • In this pericope Paul reminded Timothy of the apostasy that Jesus Christ had foretold to equip him to identify and to deal with it.143"The change that occurs at 4:1 following the hymn of victory, then, is not unexpected. Oppo...
  • "The author steadily develops his argument that Jesus is supremely great. He is greater than the angels, the author of a great salvation, and great enough to become man to accomplish it. Now the author turns his attention to ...
  • James next introduced an objection to his thesis that faith is dead without works. He put it in the mouth of a hypothetical objector. This literary device of objection and response was a common one that Paul also used (Rom. 9...
  • An invitation preceded the promise, as in all the letters to follow (cf. 1:3). Jesus was the only person to issue this invitation in Scripture. The Gospels also record Him doing so seven times (Matt. 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Mark 1-9
  • And when He was alone, they that were about Him with the twelve asked of Him the parable. 11. And He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these th...
  • "And Jesus said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, Or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? '--Mark 4:21.THE furniture of a very humble Eastern home is brought before us in this saying. In the...
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