The Gospel of Mark
About the Parables: 4,10-13
The disciples quite frequently received private instruction from Jesus about which we the readers are already well informed. They are insiders in terms of this Gospel, his true family (3,31-35). Yet increasingly as we will see the disciples just fail to understand (see, for example, 8,21).
"Mystery" could be translated "secret". What was previously hidden about the kingdom of God is now being revealed through Jesus (Ep 1,9-10). The point is also clear in the ending of the letter to the Romans (Rm 16,25-27). This verse and the parallels in Matthew and Luke are the only time this word "mystery" is used in the Synoptic Gospels.
The quotation in verse 12 comes from the magnificent scene in chapter 6 of Isaiah where the prophets speaks of his call from God. Old Testament prophets would not get much of a hearing from the people, nor would the Church in the New. This quotation is given in the Gospel of John at the end of the public ministry of Jesus will in the Acts of the Apostles it comes right at the end of the book. It was an explanation of why the Jews were unable to accept the message of Jesus which seemed so clear and obvious to the early Christians.
Yet while the disciples may be insiders, in many ways they are still outsiders. They too are unable to understand the parable of the seed.
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The Word is Sown: 4,14-20
The interpretation of the parable is clearly about the word of God and its reception. If the emphasis of the parable was on the seed, now it is on the soil. The soil indicates those who will be receiving the seed. In the immediate setting of verse 14, the sower is Jesus himself as in verse 3. In due course though the sower will be the disciples themselves and then later still other Christian missionaries.
The path (rootless in the parable): taken by Satan
(birds were equated with Satan in some Jewish literature)
Rocky ground (quick germination but shallow roots in the parable): initial joy, but falling away at the first sign of trouble.
Thorns (germinating but then choked in the parable): the word is choked by the cares of this world.
Rich soil, from hearing and accepting the word comes a good harvest.
In the parable, we were told about germination, growth and harvest of the seed. So here in the interpretation we are given hearing (germination), acceptance (growth) and fruit (harvest).
Fitting this to characters in the Gospel we have:
The path: all Jesus' opponents, religious and secular. Thus 3,6 links the Pharisees and the Herodians.
Rocky soil fits well the disciples. They immediately follow Jesus (1,16-20) but as we will see they find Jesus very hard to understand and they all run away at the time of his arrest (14,50). Peter is a different rock (3,6) in this Gospel to the Peter of Matthew's Gospel where he is the rock on which Jesus will build his Church (Mt 16,18)
The choking by thorns is shown by the man in chapter 10. Jesus looked at him and loved him (10,21) yet he went away sad because he was very rich (10,22).
Finally, rich soil is all those little people who make brief appearances and show their faith in Jesus. Bartimaeus (10,46) is perhaps the best of these, only of him is it said that he followed Jesus on the way (10,52).
Chapter 55 of Isaiah concludes the 2nd part of the prophecy, that which encourages the exiles to return from Babylon to Jerusalem. There is the assurance that God's purposes will one day be achieved. The psalm coming near to the end of the Psalter gives a similar message.
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Sayings: 4,21-25
The questions in verse 21 imply first a negative answer then one which is positive. That is clearer in Greek than it may be in English. Lights go on the stand, not under the bed.
The sayings of these verses are used by Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5,15 and Mt 7,2) and applied to human conduct and behaviour. Mark's interest here is in the revelation of the message, the word taught by Jesus. Those who truly hear the word of Jesus and act upon it will receive a rich reward (verses 24-25).
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