The Gospel of Mark
Sowing the Seed: Mk 4,1-9
The scene is set by the evangelist as the story teller in verses 1 and 2, getting the crowd in place whilst Jesus gets into the boat.
The crowd has got bigger since the previous chapter, it is now "very large". Sitting as Jesus also does for the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5,1) is the classic position for a rabbi teaching.
"He began to teach" in verse 1 is a unique emphasis of Mark. It is omitted in Mt 13,1.
In verse 2, we find that Jesus' priority as always is to teach (1,21). Teaching by means of parables must aim to encourage thought, whether as in the Old Testament they are just proverbs or here in the New Testament where they are often stories. Jesus as a teacher is trying to draw out his listeners and get them to respond. How successful he will be, we will see as the discourse and the Gospel unfold.
Dt 6,4 opens the great prayer of Israel, the proclamation of the one God. The parable though is more about the seed than the sower who is only mentioned at the beginning. Yet, once we have read the parable, then we will need to think more about who might be the sower
Making a list of the fate of the seed may help later with the interpretation:
verse 4: path: eaten by birds.
verses 5-6: rocky ground: withered for lack of roots.
verse 7: thorns: choked (Gen 3,18, which is of course after expulsion from the Garden of Eden)
Thus, the seed first fails to enter the soil (verse 4), then it develops shallow roots (verses 5-6) and finally it sprouts only to be choked (verse 7).
Finally, the full progression is also found in verse 8 where the seed is successfully sowed, sprouts strongly and therefore yields a successful havest. (It is hard to know if this harvest is one beyond all reasonable expectation.)
Verse 9 is therefore another call to listen and respond. This theme will now be taken further in the verses that follow.
At this stage in the discourse, the call is for a response to the teaching of Jesus, hearing the parable in itself. To what does it refer? Who might be the sower? Taking the parable in itself, the sower could be seen to be Jesus himself. In the Gospel, his teaching has been a proclamation of the kingdom of God (1,14-15). The later parables (1,26.30) are also about the kingdom of God. So here, with the successful sowing, it is the true family of Jesus (3,31-35) who will receive the promise that the abundant harvest of verse 8 will be achieved.
Back now to the main page and then to the next stage of the discourse.