Behold, there went out a sower to sow

In an earlier study, it was stated that Mark’s Gospel focuses on activity rather than on sermons, but chapter 4 does contain some of the Lord’s teaching. In particular, the early verses highlight the Parable of the Sower and the Seed, with an explanation to the disciples. Sometimes we are given the impression that the Lord told parables to elucidate spiritual truth; in fact, it was to obscure it from eyes that were already blinded, vv. 11, 12.

‘There went out a sower to sow’. This sower was diligent; he got on with his business, the sowing of seed. ‘In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand’, Eccles. 11. 6. Be busy, and enjoy the blessing of involvement, for ‘Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters’, Isa. 32. 20.

‘The sower soweth the word’. Sowing, whether in preaching or in witnessing, involves quoting the texts of scripture and explaining its truths. There is no substitute for that, for it is the means by which God promotes faith, and effects regeneration, Rom. 10. 17; 1 Pet. 1. 23. ‘Preach the word’, 2 Tim. 4. 2.

Some seed falls on the hard-packed path, and is immediately devoured by birds, a picture of hard, careless hearers from whose minds Satan ‘immediately’ snatches the truth preached. He is present with malicious intent at every gospel meeting.

There are listeners who are more thoughtful, and seeing the benefits of salvation ‘immediately receive [the word] with gladness’. There is no mention of sorrow for sin, or repentance, but merely an emotional response to the preaching. The test of persecution proves the profession of these stony ground hearers to be shallow and empty.

Thorny ground hearers are distracted by anxieties, preoccupied with materialism or obsessed with worldly things, all of which blunt the cutting edge of the preached word. Like the previous two, this soil is unproductive.

Happily, there is good ground, with fruit as evidence of reality. The yield rate varies, but, in this Servant Gospel, increase is anticipated in ascending order, for a servant will always expect the maximum possible. Being practical, if we have responded to the word, are our lives productive for God?