Jesus and Parables

May 28

Read: Mark 4:1-9

The Parables of Jesus

Parables are a unique tool that Jesus uses to teach and to “sift” through those people in the crowds. The word itself shares a root with the word “parallel”. In short, a parable is a story that Jesus lays alongside something else to teach you about that thing, The matter being taught about is called the referent. Parables - similar to jokes - work because they always include something unexpected… some twist or tension… and they function like riddles for the hearers. In this way, the crowds would leave talking about what Jesus had spoken… seeking out the sometimes cryptic meanings of these parables. In a way… parables always have a punchline, just like jokes do. Today we come to the very first parable in the gospel of Mark.

The Sower and the Seed

It says in verse 2 that Jesus had been “teaching them many things in parables”. We don’t have recorded for us the other parable he had told the crowd… or the other teaching for that matter. The only thing we have from this public teaching is this parable of a man sowing seed. We get so caught up with the moment that Jesus makes it into an allegory for the disciples that we don’t really think about it as a parable for the crowds. Imagine being in the crowd and hearing this story.

Jesus starts by declaring “Listen!” (v.3) I imagine this caused everyone to perk up. It seems like this was the closing element of this teaching session. It was important. I bet the people were all leaning in a little after Jesus called for their attention. He begins to tell a story about a sower. The outcomes for the seeds were actually pretty common… normal… believable. There is nothing shocking about eaten seed, withered seed, scorched and choked seed, or fruitful seeds. These farmers and agrarians would have expected as much. So what is the punchline of this parable? What was it that was so important that Jesus declared “Listen!” ? This is where we are tempted transport ourselves out of the crowd and fast forward in the story to become one of the disciples. But think for a moment. This was only a parable for the crowd of listeners… Jesus made it an allegory for the disciples! The crowd didn’t follow Jesus to a different location and get the special description that he gave. The truth is… there is no way APART FROM THE WORDS OF JESUS TELLING YOU that you could or would get that definition from the parable itself. For the crowds… all they got was the parable itself.

What would have been shocking for the crowds is this: Why is this sower treating his seed this way? In a day and age when seed is expensive and scarce… why would a sower just throw it all around indiscriminately? That makes no sense! Think about your own experience… if you were planting seeds or a crop how would you go about doing it? Would you just walk outside and start scattering seed everywhere… on the walk way, in the rocks, on the dirt that was not tilled, or into a clump of weeds and thorns? This is what was mysterious, cryptic, and puzzle-some about the parable; a wild sower and the reckless wasting of precious seeds. The crowds probably left thinking, “that sower in the story Jesus told was so wasteful… so stupid to just throw those precious seeds around!” Remember, these crowds had to grow there own food! When your ability to eat and stay alive hangs on the outcome of your seed planting… you get pretty particular about setting your seeds up for success!

Jesus ends with “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (v.9) He introduces the idea that not everyone will get it. If you were int he crowd, I bet you would leave wondering if you had “ears to hear”. I bet people left talking about a number of different things Here are some options:

Whatever Jesus is doing, he is not doing it in the conventional way:

Jesus is bringing a messages that will go out - be “sewn” - in a way that does not make sense to us… in an unconventional way. Jesus is not doing things the way we expect. It will be shocking and different. It will be broader than we expect. It will be in places that we would never guess… or environments we would never guess.

Whatever Jesus has up his sleeve, he is not hindered by scarcity the way we are:

Seeds were scarce and expensive. No farmer / sower could afford to just throw them willy-nilly wherever he wanted. Whatever Jesus is up to, his has resources that are beyond the norm… or the proverbial seeds are just not that expensive to him!

Even though many will “hear”, not everyone will have “ears to hear”:

As people looked around at each other in the crowd, I bet they were murmuring “what does he mean by this?” The varied outcomes of the seeds would have reminded them that the fate of these “seeds” is not all the same. I wonder if the y left thinking about seeds or sowers? The point is that these stories… these parables… are going to sift the crowds and start to serrate those that the Lord has quickened from those who do not have “ears to hear”.

For us today:

The parable of the sower and the seeds shows us that Jesus is unconventional in what he does… unexpected in how he acts. His value system is different than ours… he does not interact with “seeds” the same as we do. Jesus is willing to do things that may even seem “wasteful” at times… like broadcast sewing his seeds everywhere! Jesus must have access to a source of life and stability that leads to him being able to “sew” this way… he is not desperate like his life hangs on having to get every seed to grow and germinate. In fact, Jesus seems ok with using a story where some seeds never make it. What else comes to mind? What do you think you would have left thinking if you were in the crowd? Love you guys and more to come. - JDP