Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 3 Study # 7
June 2, 2020
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(160)
1901 ASV
20 And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
- I. The Word Is Sown Into "The Good Earth ".
- A. In the original words of the parable, Jesus said, "And others [seed] fell into the good earth and it was giving fruit, ascending and increasing, and it was bearing: one, thirties; and one, sixties; and one, hundreds".
- B. In the interpretation, Jesus said, "And these there are who were sown into the good earth; they are hearing the word and they are embracing and they are bearing fruit: one, thirties; and one sixties; and one, hundreds".
- II. The Details.
- A. "And those ...".
- 1. Mark used the word translated "those" in seven texts of his Gospel.
- a. His first use is in 1:9 where his focus is upon "those days" when John was baptizing all who professed to accept his message of forgiveness through repentance, but particularly focused upon his announcement of "The Coming One" Who was to "baptize you with the Holy Spirit". "Those days" was in contrast with any other set of days.
- b. His second use is in our current context: 4:11. He used it in this text to indicate a distinction between "you" who have been given the mystery and "those" who are outside and "get everything in parables". This use "to indicate a distinction between groups" sets the stage for the next use.
- c. 4:20; our current text. The "distinction between groups" is that which exists between the three "fruitless" "soils" (places into which broadcast seeds fall) and this one "soil" which he calls, 'the earth, the good' (which is a Greek way to emphasize the characterization of 'the earth' as 'good').
- d. The remaining four uses are... .
- 1) 8:1 used as in 1:9 (In those days...).
- 2) 12:7 used as in 4:11 and 20 (making a distinction).
- 3) 13:19 used as in 8:1 and 1:9 (...those days...).
- 4) 13:24 also used as in 8:1 and 1:9 (...those days...).
- 2. This word is a masculine, plural, pronoun and refers to "seed" as "The Word": "And those there are which are sown into the earth, the good...".
- B. "... they are ...". This is a statement about the fact that "those seeds exist". We would say, "And there are those seeds which...".
- C. "... who are sown upon the earth, the good ..."
- 1. The "form" linguistically is a definite article that is associated with a participle, but that association is interrupted by the descriptive phrase "...into the earth, the good...". It literally reads "...who, into the earth, the good, were sown...". The focus is upon the "landing place" where the broadcast seed "landed".
- 2. The "landing place" (the soil) is described emphatically: it is earth that is good.
- a. This is the issue of "the distinction": the three prior "landing places" were not good.
- 1) "Earth".
- a) Mark uses this word in 17 texts in this Gospel.
- b) In the parables of chapter 4, it is used seven times.
- i. The first is 4:1 where Mark is setting the stage where Jesus is in a boat on the sea and the "very large crowd" was "on the land" facing Jesus and the sea.
- ii. The next two (4:5 and 8) are in the text of the first parable as Jesus gave it to the very large crowd and refers to the stone where the seed did not have much "earth" and to "the earth, the good".
- iii. The next, 4:20, is in Jesus' interpretation of the first parable as He explains the fourth type of "landing place" into which the seed, The Word, was sown.
- iv. After that, in the fourth parable (4:26), Jesus returns to the "earth" motif as well as a "man who casts seed upon the earth", and in 4:28 attributes the growth of the crop to "the earth...of itself".
- v. And the last use in respect to the parables is in the fifth (4:31), and last, where the Kingdom of God is likened unto a "mustard seed...sown upon the earth" in which the "seed" of significant insignificance is what produces a very significant plant.
- c) Four of the seven are used in the first parable and its interpretation.
- 2) "The Good".
- a) Mark uses "good" in 11 texts of this Gospel.
- b) The first and second uses are 4:8 and 4:20 in which the phrase, "the earth, the good", is found in the first parable and its interpretation.
- c) There are six uses in chapter nine, five of which describe a situation where "good" is contrasted with disastrous outcomes when measured by consequences imposed because of "bad" behavior.
- d) The issue of "good" is clear: it is "good" in that it suits the major purpose intended. The sower sows his seed, not for birds to eat, not for the sun to wither, not for the competitors to stunt, but for "fruit". That there may be lesser purposes is not particularly set forth, but is not denied.
- b. It is an element of the "mystery" of the Kingdom that "the sower" has a "purpose" that is not discriminately pursued: he broadcasts his seed knowing full well that some of it is going to fall in unproductive places.
- D. "...sown...".
- 1. This is, without dispute, a primary element in an agricultural motif.
- 2. This motif is used by Mark only in this chapter of parables.
- a. Seven of the nine uses are in the first parable and its interpretation.
- b. The last two are in the final parable in Mark's collection regarding "the mystery of the Kingdom of The God". Thus, first and last, the parables rest heavily upon this agricultural metaphor. Thus, "The mystery of the Kingdom of The God" finds its identity revealed most significantly in this exceedingly well-known agricultural activity: those who do not have the ability to understand God's Kingdom's nature are ignorant in spite of living within the milieu of Israel's most fundamental "life" behavior (sowing seed and reaping harvests; agriculture provides the physical sustenance of "life" and the economic foundations for all of its commerce). One cannot help but think of the promises in the Old Testament regarding the "land flowing with milk and honey" and their part in the promise to Abram of a land to replace the land from which he was commanded to depart. The roots of "life" are the metaphorical roots of "Life".
- E. "...on...".
- 1. The prepositions used in this parable.
- a. The seed sown in regard to the first type of "soil" was sown "alongside" (para) the path/road (4:4).
- b. The seed sown in regard to the second type "fell upon" (epi) the rock (4:5, 16).
- c. The seed sown in regard to the third type "fell into" (eis) the thorns (4:7, 18).
- d. The seed sown in regard to the fourth type "fell into" (eis) the good earth (4:8), but was "sown upon" (epi) the good earth in the interpretation (4:20).
- 2. The switch in respect to the fourth soil may be significant.
- F. "...hear the Word and embrace [it]...".
- 1. "Hearing" is always, in this parable, the first step; the elemental foundation for understanding "the mystery of the Kingdom of The God".
- a. Of Mark's 41 uses of this word in this Gospel, ten of them are in chapter four and they all relate to the issue of "hearing" The Word.
- 1) In 4:3 there is the exhortation to "hear".
- 2) In 4:9 there is the exhortation to "hear" if one has "ears to hear".
- 3) In 4:12 there is the explanation for Jesus' use of parables and the intention is decidedly "judgmental"; Jesus is going out of His way to make sure that "they...while hearing may hear and not understand lest they...return and be forgiven".
- 4) In 4:15, 16, 18 and 20, each "category" of people who are parabolically "types of soil" are said to "hear" and, in spite of that, three of the four are fruitless.
- 5) In 4:23, after the second parable, there is an exhortation: "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear".
- 6) In 4:24 there is a strong caution to be careful to be discriminating in regard to "hearing".
- 7) And in the final reference in this chapter (4:33) there is a further explanation for the use of parables in respect to the "hearers" capacity "to hear".
- b. Clearly, though "hearing" is always the first element in "the mystery", it is not, generally, effective: three out of the four "landing places" for the sown seed are fruitless.
- 2. Mark adds to "hearing" another characteristic of "the good earth": reception.
- a. Jesus'/Mark's choice of a word for this other characteristic is one which is only found in six texts of the entire New Testament and Mark is the only recorder of a "Gospel" who uses it.
- 1) Matthew, in his Gospel, used a word that is translated "understands" (13:23).
- 2) Luke, in his Gospel, used a word that is translated "holds fast" (8:15).
- 3) John, in his Gospel, does not record this parable, but in a like simile, says the "seed" has to "die" before it can become fruitful; using the "grain of wheat" as a metaphor for the person who seeks to be fruitful for God (12:24).
- b. Mark's choice of the word "receive" is, interestingly, used in Hebrews 12:6 to refer to "every son whom He (the Lord) receives". The implication is that those who "hear The Word and receive it" are those whom God, in turn, receives for the process of discipline and scourging in view of a greater participation in His Kingdom.
- c. It is also used by Luke in Acts 15:4 (to describe an enthusiastic 'reception' of Paul, et. al.), in 16:21 (to describe Paul's accusers of being strongly resistant to his message because it is "unlawful" for them to "observe" them, being Romans), and in 22:18 (to describe the refusal of the Jews to "accept" Paul's testimony).
- d. The only other time the word is used is Paul's use in 1 Timothy 5:19 where he forbids the "acceptance" of an accusation against an elder on the basis of only one person's witness.
- e. In each case, the issue of this word in the New Testament is "acceptance with a view to observance"; i.e. "to embrace as a principle for living". There is no "fruit" from "hearing" without "intention to follow the down-line developments as they come".
- G. "...bear fruit, one thirties, one sixties, and one hundreds".
- 1. This "bearing fruit" is the entire point of the parable: the expectation of the sower is rooted in the desire for "fruitful seed-growth" and the parable is all about the sorrowful absence of such in three out of four "landing places" for the broadcast seed.
- 2. A large element in "the mystery of the Kingdom of The God" is this issue of "fruitfulness" as a consequence of the indiscriminate proclamation of The Word to people in this world.
- 3. And Jesus taught that the level of fruitfulness would vary without giving cause.
