Chapter 4:1-9.
1AND again he began to teach by the sea (side). And there was gathered unto him a great crowd so that he went on board ship and sat in the sea; and all the crowd were by the sea on the land. 2And he was teaching them many things in parables, and said to them in his doctrine, 3 Hear: behold, the sower went forth to sow.
4And it came to pass as he sowed, some fell beside the way (side), and the birds (of the air) came and devoured it (up). 5And other fell on the rocky [ground], where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprung up because it had no depth of earth; 6 and when the sun arose, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered (away).
7And other fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
8And other fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing, and bore one thirty, and one sixty, and one a hundred. 9 And he said (unto them), He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Notes and Suggestions.
The parable given in this section is closely connected with the moral import of the incident which immediately precedes (3:31-35).
There it is taught that Israel’s relationship with the Lord after the flesh is broken, and only those who do God’s will are recognized, and this on account of the nation’s blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.
We may trace the growth of this opposition as given in the former chapters: ―
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2:06
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Scribes inwardly object to the Lord forgiving sins.
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2:16
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Scribes and Pharisees object to His eating with publicans and sinners.
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2:24
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Pharisees complain of disciples plucking corn on the sabbath.
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3:06
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Pharisees and Herodians plot to destroy Him.
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3:21
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His kindred say He is beside Himself.
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3:22
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Scribes from Jerusalem declare that He casteth out demons by Beelzebub.
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3:29
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This, the Lord said, could not be forgiven, being blasphemy against the Spirit.
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Then the Lord immediately explains the new ground of relationship with Himself (3:31-35); and by the parable of the sower teaches the role He undertakes on that account.
This parable then skews the new character that the ministry of Jehovah’s Servant would assume in consequence of the nation’s rejection of Himself. It was of no avail to come to Israel as the Fruit-gatherer; an entirely new work must be begun. He presents Himself therefore as the Seed-sower. This parable is thus a descriptive sketch of the Lord’s own ministry. Being delivered in parabolic form, and interpreted only to His own disciples (4:10), opportunity remained for reiterated calls to the nation to repent. This mode of teaching was greatly used by the Lord, even with the disciples to a modified extent (John 16:25), suiting especially, as it did, the time of the Gospels.
Verse 1. — Again. Compare Mark 1:16; 2:13; 3:7-9.
On board ship. The ship or boat was probably the one set apart for the Lord’s use (3:9). Hence the parables then spoken are sometimes known as the “boat-parables.” In Matthew 13. we have seven, in Mark 4:26-29, an eighth, and from Mark 4:33 we gather that many were spoken.
All the crowd. As the Lord’s words fell upon the ears of the many classes of hearers in the great multitude, an instance was then afforded of the sower sowing the good seed.
Verse 3. — Hearken. Observe the recurrence of this word in verses 15,16,18,20. Everything hinged upon hearing the new teaching (verse 9).
The sower. The parable of the “sower and the soils,” and that of the wicked husbandmen (Mark 12:1-12) are the only ones that occur in all three of the synoptic Gospels.
The act of sowing indicated that the Lord was introducing what was new, and what also was capable in itself of bearing fruit, provided the soil was congenial.
Verse 4. — The wayside. Hard beaten paths ran across the fields, on which some of the grain would fall as it was being scattered over the face of the ground. There it could not penetrate the soil, but would lie exposed to the numerous birds which are never very far away from the sower.
Verse 5. — The rocky ground. A thin layer of soil upon the rocks received some seed. The tiny rootlets were thus absolutely prevented from growing downwards, so that all the life of the seed was directed to the growth of the stalk upwards. All appeared to be going well till the fierce heat of an Eastern sun beat upon it. Then it quickly withered, for the roots could reach no stores of moisture from beneath. Contrast the “tree planted by the rivers of water” (Psa. 1:3).
Verse 7. — Among the thorns. Thorns were used to form hedges between fields (Mic. 7:4; Ex. 22:6), from whence they would be likely to spread into the cultivated soil. This does not appear to have been an uncommon occurrence (Jer. 4:3; Job 5:5). From the parable it is clear that the thorns were not grown at the time of the sowing, but the roots were there. The thorns, growing more quickly than the corn, robbed the latter of its nutriment. The corn was therefore practically strangled and became unfruitful.
Verse 8. — Good ground. This was soil that had been well tilled and prepared for the seed.
There is a gradation observable in the fourfold division of this parable. With regard to the seed: —.
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1
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On the wayside.
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Does not grow at all, being stolen.
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2
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On the rocky soil.
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Springs up, but soon withers.
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3
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On the thorny soil.
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Grows up, but bears no fruit.
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4
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On the good ground.
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Springs up, grows up, bears fruit abundantly.
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Then with regard to the soils: —
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1
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The path.
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Totally unsuitable.
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2
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The rocky soil.
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Slightly suitable.
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3
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The thorny soil.
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Suitable, but full of thorns.
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4
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The good ground.
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Exactly suitable.
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Brought forth. A hundredfold was not unprecedented, for Palestine is extremely fertile. Isaac’s crops yielded at this rate (Gen. 26:12).
The order here (thirty, sixty, a hundred) is the reverse of Matthew’s (a hundred, sixty, thirty), while Luke only mentions the greatest rate of increase.
There are three classes of fruitless hearers (way, stony, thorny); and three of fruitful ones (thirty, sixty, a hundred).
Verse 9. — Ears to hear. Some had ears to hear, but did not hear (Jer. 5:21; Ezek. 12:2). But any who were really desirous to learn would be taught of God (John 7:17). Compare Ezekiel 3:27.