Mark 4:3-8; 14-20

³ “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.

⁴ And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.

⁵ Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.

⁶ But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.

⁷ And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.

⁸ 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.”

__________

¹⁴ The sower sows the word.

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;

¹⁷ 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.

¹⁸ Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,

¹⁹ 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.

²⁰ 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 found in Matthew 13:3-23 and Luke 8:5-18.

Listen! (v.3) — lit. “Be listening.” Not a military command, but but still an imperative.

The seed that was sown was the Word of God.

wayside (vs.4, 15) — Alongside the road, the hard surface next to a road or path.

On some [the truth] produces no vital impression whatever; it lies on the surface of a mind which the feet of earthly interests have trodden hard. There is no chance for it to expand, to begin its operation by sending out the smallest tendrils to grasp, to appropriate anything, to take root. And it may well be doubted whether any soul,  wholly indifferent to religious truth, ever retained even its theoretic knowledge long. The foolish heart is darkened. The fowls of the air catch away for ever the priceless seed of eternity. Now it is of great importance to observe how Jesus explained this calamity. … Jesus said, “straightway cometh Satan and taketh away the word which hath been sown in them.” … Men cannot reckon upon stopping short in their contempt of [truth], since what they neglect the devil snatches quite away from them. — Chadwick, pages 111-112.

takes away (v.15) = takes by force

stony ground (vs.5, 16) — Some commentaries say this means slabs of rock with thin layers of dirt on top. Wuest says “ground full of rocks.”

some (v.5) — other seed of the same kind

no root in themselves (v.17) — Those who have a superficial experience of divine truth but who have not permitted it to make its way into the inner recesses.

stumble (v.17) — “to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way upon which one may trip or fall.” Thus, to be offended in someone is to find occasion of stumbling in him, to see in another what one disapproves of and what hinders one from acknowledging his authority. Here, those who are like seed sown on ground full of rocks, are offended at the afflictions and persecutions in the sense that they find occasion of stumbling in them since the disapprove of them. — Wuest, page 88.

thorns (vs.7, 18) — weeds

among thorns (v.7) — Nobody would plant seeds among weeds. The seeds in this case were mixed with weed seeds.

choked it (v.7) = pressed around, thronged, almost suffocated, strangled, throttled

These (v.18) — The word “these” is not in the best texts. [It could be] “others.” … It fixes attention on the third type of hearers as calling for special notice. They are such as, lacking the thoughtlessness of the first and the shallowness of the second class, and having some depth and earnestness, might be expected to be fruitful; a less common type and much more interesting. — Wuest, page 88.

cares (v.19) = lit. “anxiety,” “worry,” “to be drawn in different directions,” “to be distracted”

world (v.19) — The course of life as it is lived currently on this earth by those who do not know God. Our Lord was referring to the worries of the people of this age who live apart from God.”

other things (v.19) — Things not in the categories of cares of the world and desire for riches, but which still distract on from being fruitful.

yielded (v.8) — tense indicates “kept on yielding” Same tense used with “sprang up,” “increased,” and “produced.”

The amount of produce is not the issue, for some ground brings forth more than others. Even though fruit may appear relatively meager, the fact remains, it brings forth fruit.