Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 4:3

Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:

3. Hearken ] This summons to attention is peculiar to St Mark.

went out ] The expression implies that the sower did not sow near his own house, or in a garden fenced or walled, but went forth into the open country. Thomson’s Land and the Book, p. 82.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Mar 4:3

Hearken; behold, there went out a sower to sow.

Parable of the sower

This parable is both a solemn lesson and warning, and also a description of what is actually taking place in the world. There are calls to lead a holy life perpetually going on; there are either sudden rejections or gradual forgettings of those calls. Such calls may differ in degree, and strength, and strikingness of the impression, but they are all calls; a truth is distinctly embraced by the mind of the person at the time: he sees that something is true which he had not realized to be true before, and had only held in word. That person can never afterwards say he did not know or was not made fully aware of Christian truth; or that it was always brought before him in such a way that he could not recognize it. He has been made to see it, and to recognize it. The point with which this parable deals is the various kinds of treatment accorded by different people to these calls. Let us look at the several classes.

I. The unscrupulous. By a bold, proud, sometimes even sudden and impulsive act of sin, they cast out of their hearts something which incommodes and annoys them, and threatens to interfere with their plan of enjoyment. These are they who have made up their minds to get on in life, and they refuse to let anything interfere with the realization of this desire. Judas. Ananias and Sapphira. I do not say that a man may not recover spiritually after having inflicted such a blow upon himself, but it is a dreadful act, which provokes the righteous justice of God, and that worst of punishments, a hardened heart.

II. The light-minded and careless. These could receive the Word, because that merely implies the capacity of being acted upon by solemn and powerful representations of the truth; which they might be, lust as they might be impressed by some striking scene or incident. But, being without energy of their own to take hold of the Word and extract its powers, they soon fall away. To begin a thing, and to go on with it, are two totally different affairs. The commencement is in its own nature something fresh; but to go on with an undertaking is to do things over and over again, when all the freshness has disappeared, and no incentive remains but the sense of duty. This is the true test, and under it how many fail! Upon how many do we count for continuing their profession under different circumstances? Is there not a regular expectation formed in us, when we estimate the manifestations which men make, that they will not last; that they have their time, like the seasons or periods of weather, and that they will end as naturally as they have begun? Can there be a greater contrast to the abiding faithfulness of the gospel pattern?

III. The worldly. These are not light-minded men altogether; they are serious as regards this world, calculating, exercising forecast, attentive, persevering; but it is solely in relation to this world that they maintain this gravity and seriousness. They do not give a place in their thoughts to another world. What a common mistake with regard to religion this is! Our Lord says, Ye cannot serve God and mammon; and yet it would almost appear as if one-half of mankind had determined to prove Him a liar, and to show that that is possible which He declared was not. Each one thinks that in his own particular case there will be a complete agreement in these two great aims and undertakings, the earthly and the spiritual; that others may have missed this union, but that they will fix upon it. They enter upon their course in life with a swing. Feeling no hesitation about themselves, they plunge into the thick of the struggle for the worlds possessions, they are carried away with the ardour of the pursuit, and they do not imagine at all that they are injuring or suppressing the religious principle in them. They think that can maintain itself, and therefore they never think of looking after it, to see how it is faring. And so the stream carries them along, being interested in the objects of the world, content with supposition and doing nothing about religion; until that which has thriven by practice has completely driven out the principle which has had no exercise, and the result is a simple man of the world.

IV. Opposed to all these is the treatment given to the word by the honest and good heart. Not sinning against light; not abandoning what it has undertaken; not captivated by worldly pomp and show: it is faithful to God; it knows the excellence of religion; it is able to count the cost, and make the sacrifice which is necessary for the great end in view. Have we this? We cannot be certain of it until we have continued and persevered to the end. Those who have begun well may boldly cast away the Spirit, or they may fall away from grace because they have no root, or they may be swallowed up by the cares and aims of worldly life. We know not what we are till we have been tried to that extent which God thinks fit. But so far as we have striven, we may feel a comfortable sense that we do possess that heart; and certainly, if we have not striven, we cannot give ourselves any such hope. Let us strive to enter in at the strait gate, and to be found among the faithful. (J. B. Mozley, D. D.)

The effect of Divine truth as conditioned by the state of mens hearts

The title with which we are familiar is almost a misnomer. It is not the sower who is most prominent, for the seed of the Word is a more important factor; nor yet is the seed, for it is the four kinds of soil into which it shall fall that determines the seeds future. If preachers and teachers are drawing lessons from the parable, then it may be well called the Parable of the Sower; but if the hearers of the Word are getting their lessons from it, they will find the greater part of the parable telling of the soil and the false growths therein that may render the Word unfruitful. Jesus, standing by the seashore, and surveying the motley company before Him, gives us a prophecy of the future of His truth among men. It cannot win an easy triumph. The seed is Gods own, but it does not create its own soil. It drops on what is at hand, and is to be scattered broadcast, to meet varied fortunes. (E. N. Packard.)

The sower

I. The function of the sower, not destructive but constructive; not to root up or remove, but to plant.

II. The loneliness of the sower. A sower. The reaper may work amidst a company, but the sower is always alone. Thousands reap the fruit of what one man sows.

III. The season when he goes forth to sow. No foliage, no verdure, sky cloudy, and air cold.

IV. Sowing is a sorrowful process. He goes forth weeping. He must part with a certain amount of present good, in order to obtain a larger amount of future good.

V. The nature of the seed which he sows. The word of truth must be the word of life. (Hugh Macmillan.)

The sower

I. The sower.

1. Unity of purpose. His work was seed sowing, not soil culture.

2. Variety of results.

II. The seed.

1. Its origin. Every seed was originated by Christ. But there is a sense in which every man originates his own seed. This he does when he is true to his individuality.

2. Its vitality.

3. Its growth. Man can sow, God alone can quicken.

4. Its identity. The seed is the same in all ages and climes.

III. The soil.

1. Hardness-Some seeds fell by the wayside, etc

2. Shallowness-And some fell upon stony places, etc.

3. Preoccupancy-And some fell among thorns, etc.

4. Richness-Other fell into good ground, etc.

This soil contained all the qualities essential to fruitfulness. Moisture, depth, cleanness, and quality. (A. G. Churchill.)

The leading ideas of the parable explained

These are-the sower, the seed, the ground, and the effect of casting the seed into it.

I. By the sower is meant our Saviour Himself, and all those whose office it is to instruct men in the truth and duties of religion. The business of the husbandman is, of all others, most important and necessary, requires much skill and attention, is painful and laborious, and yet not without pleasure and profit. A man of this profession ought to be well versed in agriculture, to understand the difference of soils, the various methods of cultivating the ground, the seed proper to be sown, the seasons for every kind of work, and in short how to avail himself of all circumstances that arise for the improvement of his farm. He should be patient of fatigue, inured to disappointment, and unwearied in his exertions. Every day will have its proper business. Now he will manure his ground, then plough it; now cast the seed into it, then harrow it; incessantly watch and weed it; and after many anxious cares, and, if a man of piety, many prayers to heaven, he will earnestly expect the approaching harvest. The time come, with a joyful eye he will behold the ears fully ripe bending to the hands of the reapers, put in the sickle, collect the sheaves, and bring home the precious grain to his garner. Hence we may frame an idea of the character and duty of a Christian minister. He ought to be well-skilled in Divine knowledge, to have a competent acquaintance with the world and the human heart, etc. Of these sowers some have been more skilful, and successful, and laborious than others. Among them the Apostle Paul holds a distinguished rank. But the most skilful and painful of all sowers was our Lord Jesus Christ.

II. The seed sown, which our Saviour explains of the Word of the Kingdom, or as St. Luke has it, the Word of God. The husbandman will be careful to sow his ground with good seed. He goeth forth bearing precious seed. By the Word of the Kingdom is meant the gospel. Let us apply it-

1. To personal religion. In the heart of every real Christian a kingdom is established. Now the seed sown in the hearts of men is the Word of this kingdom, or that Divine instruction which relates to the foundation, erection, principles, maxims, laws, immunities, government, present happiness, and future glory of this kingdom: all which we have contained in our Bibles. It is the doctrine of Christ. Again, let us apply the idea of a kingdom.

2. To the Christian dispensation, or the whole visible church. In this sense it is used by John the Baptist, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven, that is, the gospel dispensation, is at hand. All who profess the doctrine, and submit to the institutions of Christ, compose one body of which He is the head, one kingdom of which He is the sovereign-a kingdom which, He himself tells us, is not of this world. Now the gospel is the seed of this kingdom, as it gives us the laws by which it is to be regulated, of worship, ordinances, discipline, protection, increase and final glory. Once more, the term kingdom is to be understood also.

3. Of heaven, and all the happiness and glory to be enjoyed there. The gospel is the Word of this kingdom, as it has assured us upon the most certain grounds of its reality, and given us the amplest description of its glories our present imperfect faculties are capable of receiving.

III. To consider the ground into which the seed is east, by which our Saviour intends the soul of man, that is, the understanding, judgment, memory, will, and affections. The ground, I mean the earth on which we tread, is now in a different state from what it was in the beginning, the curse of God having been denounced upon it. In like manner, the soul of man, in consequence of the apostacy of our first parents, is enervated, polluted, and depraved. It shall suffice at present to observe, that as there is a variety in the soil of different countries, and as the ground in some places is less favourable for cultivation than in others, so it is in regard of the soul. There is a difference in the strength, vigour, and extent of mens natural faculties; nor can it be denied that the moral powers of the soul are corrupted in some, through sinful indulgences, to a greater degree than in others. As to mental abilities, who is not struck with the prodigious disparity observable among mankind in this respect? Here we see one of a clear understanding, a lively imagination, a sound judgment, a retentive memory, and there another, remarkably deficient in each of these excellences, if not wholly destitute of them all. These are gifts distributed among mankind in various portions. But none possess them in that perfection they were enjoyed by our first ancestors in their primeval state. The ground must be first made good, and then it will be fruitful.

IV. Consider the general process of this business, as it is either expressly described or plainly intimated in the parable. The ground, first manured and made good, is laid open by the plough, the seed is cast into it, the earth is thrown over it, in the bosom of the earth it remains awhile, at length, mingling with it, it gradually expands, shoots up through the clods, rises into the stalk and then the ear, so ripens, and at the appointed time brings forth fruit. Such is the wonderful process of vegetation. Nor can we advert thus generally to these particulars, without taking into view at once the exertions of the husbandman, the mutual operation of the seed and the earth on each other, and the seasonable influence of the sun and the rain, under the direction and benediction of Divine providence. So, in regard of the great business of religion, the hearts of men are first disposed to listen to the instructions of Gods Word; these instructions are then, like the seed, received into the understanding, will, and affections; and after a while, having had their due operation there, bring forth, in various degrees, the acceptable fruits of love and obedience. And how natural, in this case, as in the former, while we are considering the rise and progress of religion in the soul, to advert, agreeable to the figure in the parable, to the happy concurrence of a Divine influence, with the great truths of the gospel, dispensed by ministers, and with the reasonings of the mind and heart about them. To shut out all idea here of such influence would be as absurd as to exclude the influence of the atmosphere and sun from any concern in culture and vegetation. Let the husbandman lay what manure he will on barren ground, it can produce no change in the temperature of it, unless it thoroughly penetrates it, and kindly mingles with it; and this it cannot do without the assistance of the falling dew and rain, and the genial heat of the sun. In like manner, all attempts, however proper in themselves, to change the hearts of men, and to dispose them to a cordial reception of Divine truths, will be vain without the concurrence of Almighty grace, Reflections:

1. How honourable, important, and laborious is the employment of ministers.

2. What a great blessing is the Word of God.

3. What cause have we for deep humiliation before God, when we reflect on the miserable depravity of human nature.

4. How great are our obligations to Divine grace for the renewing influences of the Holy Spirit. Let not the regard which the sower pays to Divine providence, reproach out inattention and insensibility to the more noble and salutary influences of Divine grace. (S. Stennett, D. D.)

The four kinds of soil

The growth of the seed depends always on the quality of the soil. The stress of the story lies not on the character of the sower, or even on the quality of the seed, but on the nature of the soil. The character of the hearer determines the effect of the Word upon him. We should cultivate the habit of profitable hearing. It is well that our students should be instructed how to preach, but it is equally important that the people should be taught how to hear; for if it be true, as is sometimes cynically said, that good preaching is one of the lost arts, it is to be feared that good hearing also has too largely disappeared; and, wherever the fault may have begun, the two act and re-act on each other. A good hearer makes a lively preacher, just as really as a poor preacher makes a dull hearer; and eloquence is not all in the speaker. To use Mr. Gladstones illustration, he gets from his bearers in vapour that which he returns to them in flood, and a receptive and responsive audience adds fervour and intensity to his utterance. Eloquent hearing, therefore, is absolutely indispensable to effective preaching; and so it is quite as necessary that listeners should be taught to hear, as it is that preachers should be taught what and how to speak.

1. Taking, then, first, the things to be guarded against, we find foremost among these the danger of preventing the truth from getting any entrance into the soul at all. The seed that fell upon the pathway lay on the outside of the soil. The ground had been so hardened by the tread of many feet, that the grain could not get into it. The soul may be sermon-hardened as well as sin-hardened. But another thing which makes a foot walk over the soul is evil habit.

2. But a second danger to be avoided is that of shallow impulsiveness. So the man of shallow nature makes a great show at first. He is all enthusiasm. He never heard such a sermon in all his life. He seems greatly moved, and for a time it looks as if he were really converted; but it does not last. It is but an ague fever, which is succeeded by a freezing chill; and by and by some new excitement follows, to give place in its turn to another alternation into cold neglect. He lacks depth of character, for he has nothing but rock beneath the surface. He seems to have much feeling, indeed, and his religion is all emotional; but, in reality, he has no proper feeling. It is all superficial. That which is only feeling, will not even be feeling long. Now, the fault in all this lies in a lack of thoughtfulness, or a neglecting to count the cost. The man of depth looks before he leaps. He will not commit himself until he has carefully examined all that is involved; but when he does thus commit himself, he does so irrevocably. He who signs a document without reading it will be very likely to repudiate it when any trouble comes of it; but the man who knew what he was doing when he appended his name to it, if he be a true man, will stand to his bond at all hazards. Now, the merely impulsive, shallow, flippant hearer acts without deliberation, signs his bond without reading it, and is therefore easily discouraged. When he is called to suffer anything unpleasant for his confession, he breaks down. He had not calculated on such a contingency. He enlisted only for the review, and not for the battle; and so, on the first alarm of war, he disappears from the ranks. He did not stop to consider all that his enlistment involved; he was allured only by the uniform, and the gay accessories of military life: but, when it came to fighting, he deserted. The enthusiastic convert is often preferred to the calm and apparently unimpassioned disciple. The growth in the one seems so much more rapid than in the other, that he is put far above him. But when affliction or persecution arises, what a revelation it makes! for then the enthusiasm of the one goes out, and that of the other comes out.

3. But we must look to the kind of thing to be guarded against, which we may call the preoccupation of the heart by other objects than the word heard by the man.

II. The qualities to be cultivated by gospel hearers, as these are indicated in the Saviours explanation of the seed which fell into good soil.

1. Attention: they hear.

2. Meditation: they keep.

3. Obedience: they bring forth fruit with patience. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Eastern cornfields

Our grain fields are level, and covered with the crop from hedge to hedge. But theirs were broken patches, not unlike the little croft you may see before a Highland cottage. It is not fenced; the footpath to the moor, the well, or the village runs through it; the soil is wavy, and dotted with rocky hillocks; bushes of thorn and thistle are in the corner. As the crofter sows his little plot, some seeds fall on the footpath and its hardened margins, some on the rocky knolls, and some among the thorns, as well as on the best soil. Such uneven seed fields stretched then along the Lake of Galilee, sloping suddenly up from the shore. The soil was deep at the waters edge, but grew shallower near the foot of the little hills. Very likely Christs hearers were then standing upon or within sight of such a field. (J. Wells.)

Life in the seed

Dry and dead as it seems, let a seed be planted with a stone flashing diamond, or burning ruby; and while that in the richest soil remains a stone, this awakes and, bursting its husky shell, rises from the ground to adorn the earth with beauty, perfume the air with fragrance, or enrich men with its fruit. Such life there is in all, but especially in gospel, truth. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

Force in the seed

Buried in the ground a seed does not remain inert-lie there in a living tomb. It forces its way upward, and with a power quite remarkable in a soft, green, feeble blade, pushes aside the dull clods that cover it. Wafted by winds or dropped by passing bird into the fissure of a crag, from weak beginnings the acorn grows into an oak-growing till, by the forth-putting of a silent but continuous force, it heaves the stony table from its bed, rending the rock in pieces. But what so worthy to be called the power as well as the wisdom of God as that Word which, lodged in the mind, and accompanied by the Divine blessing, fed by showers from heaven, rends hearts, harder than the rocks, in pieces? (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

Propagation in the seed

A single grain of corn would, were the produce of each season sown again, so spread from field to field, from country to country, from continent to continent, as in the course of a few years to cover the whole surface of the earth with one wide harvest, employing all the sickles, filling all the barns, and feeding all the mouths in the world. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

Varied soils

The wayside hearers do not take in the seed at all; the rocky ground hearers take in the seed, but do not let it sink deep enough; the thorny ground hearers take it in, but take in bad seeds also; the good-ground hearers take the seed into their deepest heart, and take in nothing else. In these four sorts of soil you see the beginning and end of spring, summer, and autumn. In the first, the seed does not spring; in the second, it springs, but does not grow up; in the third, it grows up, but does not ripen; in the fourth, it ripens perfectly. (J. Wells.)

The duty of the sower

A pastor or preacher is a workman hired and sent out to sow the field of God; that is, to instruct souls in the truths of the gospel. This workman sins-

1. When, instead of going to the field, he absents himself from it; nothing being more agreeable to nature and Divine law than for a servant to obey his master, for a seedsman to be in the field for which he is hired, and whither he is sent to sow.

2. When he stays in the field, but does not sow.

3. When he changes his masters seed, and sows bad instead of good.

4. When he affects to cast it on the highway, i.e., loves to preach only before people of fashion and influence.

5. When he fixes on stony ground, from whence there is little hope of receiving any fruit. If interest, inclination, the spirit of amusement, or self-satisfaction determine a pastor to attend chiefly on such souls who seek not God, and whose virtue has no depth, he has but little regard to his Masters profit. He must not, indeed, neglect any, but he ought not to base his preference on worldly motives.

6. When he is not careful to pick out the stones, and to pluck up the thorns. The sower Complains of the barrenness of the field; and perhaps the field will complain, at the tribunal of God, of the negligence of the sower, in not preparing and cultivating it as he ought.

7. When he does not endeavour to make the seed in the good ground yield fruit in proportion to its goodness. (Quesnel.)

In framing this parable, our Lord classified the hearers of the Word according to His own experience as a preacher, basing His classification not so much upon generalities as upon well-remembered illustrations. It would not be difficult to exemplify this, by specimens drawn from the records of His dealings with men (Bruce, e.g. has found examples of each kind of hearer in St. Luk 12:11; Luk 21:13; Luk 9:57; Luk 9:61-62, and in the case of Barnabas). It will suffice at present, however, to give point to His descriptions, by recalling the divers effects produced by His claims to the Messiahship.

1. There were men hardened by Jewish prejudice, and seared with worldliness, who looked only for material advancement by the establishment of a new kingdom, and yet flocked to hear His words, meek and lowly as He was. They might possibly have been impressed, had not the Pharisaic enemies of the Cross, the emissaries of Satan, stepped in with their specious arguments, and caught away the seed before ever it found any lodgment in their hearts.

2. There were others of an emotional temperament, who were carried away in the excitement aroused by His sudden popularity, who, when they witnessed the wonderful works that He did, would have taken Him by force and made Him a king; and yet, staggered by the first check their enthusiasm received, within twenty-four hours went away backward, and walked no more with Him.

3. There was another class, more limited, no doubt, who saw in Him the beauty they desired, and recognized His goodness; men, too, whom He loved in return for all that was best in their lives; but who failed at last because their heart was not whole. Underneath all this there was a root of bitterness-love of riches, or pleasure, or even distracting cares of home; and though for a time these blemishes showed no vitality, not springing up simultaneously with the crop of new desires, yet by the vapidity and rankness of their growth they just spoiled the life when it was on the eve of bearing fruit.

4. The last class was composed of those whose hearts the Baptist had prepared, and the Lord had opened, who were waiting for the consolation of Israel: men like Andrew, John, Nathanael, or women like the devout band who ministered to Him of their substance, and in varying degrees of productiveness bore fruit in their lives. (H. M. Luckock, D. D.)

Likeness between the Word and seed

Gods Word has all the hidden life of a seed. Take up a grain of wheat in your hand, and ask yourself where its life lies. Not, surely, upon the surface; not in its inner compartments as a distinct thing. Chemistry will give you every material element it contains, and you will be as far as ever from knowing or seeing the very thing that makes it a seed-that mysterious something we call its life. Within that little mass of matter there lies a force which sun, rain, and soil shall call forth with voices it will hear and obey. God hath given it a body, and to every seed his own body. The hidden life and unwearied force of the wheat grain furnish analogies to the Word of God. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the Word of Christ shall not pass away. This is not because of any arbitrary fiat of Omnipotence, any mechanically conferred sanctity, but because it is an eternal seed, to which God has given eternal form. But this vitality is not lodged where we can see it. (E. N. Packard.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

See Poole on “Mat 13:1“, and following verses to Mat 13:23. The parable is recorded both by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and is of excellent use:

1. To show the excellency of the word of God, which is here (as in other places) called the word; it is the seed of God, the good seed: and the excellency of the ordinance of preaching, for that is the seed sown.

2. To show us the different effect of the word preached from moral discourses and philosophical disputes, from which can be expected no fruit; but where the sower soweth the word, there is yet a very different effect. Some bring forth the fruit of faith and holiness, and the abiding fruit of it, though in different degrees. But many, yea the most of those that hear it, either bring forth no fruit, or no abiding fruit, which is indeed no true fruit. The causes of this are, some mens perfunctory and careless hearing, never regarding to meditate on it, apply it to their own souls, or to hide it in their memories. Others not suffering it to sink into their hearts, and to take root in them, though it may at present a little affect them, and make them matter of discourse. Other mens thoughts being taken up with business, and the care of this world, and their hearts filled with the love of the things of this life, which they cannot part with when trouble and persecution for the owning and profession of the gospel ariseth.

3. It likewise teacheth us a sure note of unprofitable hearers of the word, as also of those whom the word is likely to profit, and have any good and saving effect upon. The former hear, but never regard whether they understand what they hear, yea or no. The others are not satisfied with hearing unless they understand; for those who went to him to know the parable, were not the twelve only, (who are often called his disciples emphatically), but those others that were about him, to whom it was

given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God.

4. The most of our Saviours hearers were doubtless members of the Jewish church, yet our Saviour, Mar 4:11, styles the most of them those that are without; which teacheth us that not only such as are out of the pale of the church, but those also who are out of the degree of election, those to whom it is not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, are in Christs account without. For other things concerning this parable, they are fully spoken to in our notes;

See Poole on “Mat 13:1“, and following verses to Mat 13:23.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

3. Hearken; Behold, there went out asower to sowWhat means this? See on Mr4:14.

First Case: THEWAYSIDE. (Mar 4:4;Mar 4:15).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Hearken, behold, there went out a sower to sow. By whom is meant Jesus Christ, who came forth from God as a teacher, and went out into the land of Judea to preach the Gospel, which is sowing spiritual things among men; and this may be also applicable to any faithful minister of the word.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

1) “Hearken; Behold,” (akouete idou) “Behold, hear ye, or all give attention,” a call to rapt and honest attention, without which one can neither understand nor obey, Mat 13:9; Luk 14:35; Rom 10:17; Act 3:22-23; This parable is also recorded, Mat 13:1-23; Luk 8:4-15.

2) “There went out a sower to sow:” (ekesIthen ho speiron speirai) “There went out, of his own choice or accord, the sower to sow.” The seed and sower represented the following and Jesus is that sower, the Son of man, Mat 13:37. The good seed He sowed was the word of the kingdom, and the “children of the kingdom,” the kingdom of heaven, that is the church, as executive of the work, service, and worship of Jesus in this age, Mat 13:19; Mat 13:38. These have, hold, or possess a joint heirship of Jesus Christ, in the millennial age, to rule and reign with Jesus, over both Israel and the world, in that Golden era, with the Twelve Apostles of the church, sitting on or presiding over the twelve tribes of restored Israel, Luk 22:28-30.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(3) A sower.Better, the sower.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

3. Behold, there went out a sower to sow The Greek has the article the; the sower. The sower of the seed is the preacher, and the original sower is the Lord himself. Our Lord had, no doubt, during his preaching in Galilee, plentiful experience of the various classes of hearers he describes in this parable.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

“Listen. Behold a sower went out to sow.”

‘Listen.’ Jesus stresses, both here at the beginning of the parable, and at the end (Mar 4:9), that men must listen carefully. He wants them to be aware that the story has hidden meaning. This dual exhortation emphasised that He saw this parable as of special significance. It was a parable about the life transforming power of His words and of His message, and their response to it was all important for it would determine their whole future.

The use of parable and allegory was well known among Jewish teachers, for it was a powerful way to grip and illuminate the mind once the parable was understood, (although none, apart possibly from John the Baptiser, spoke to the huge crowds that Jesus did) and like John, Jesus used every day illustrations familiar to all. Both men, in the light of Isaiah’s teachings (Isa 32:15-18; Isa 44:1-5; Isa 55:10-11), saw the coming of the Kingly Rule of God in terms of God’s activity in nature, and of the activity of the Holy Spirit pictured in terms of rain being poured from Heaven. But Jesus wanted the people to give the illustrations deeper thought. All were familiar with the problems attendant on growing food. The hard and stony ground which their primitive tools often made little impression on, the precious seed that could so easily be wasted or lost. And all grieved over the birds who ate the seed before it could take root, the grain that grew too quickly without being deeply rooted, the weeds that choked the seed. They were an everyday experience of life and a burden for many. They were a part of their struggle to survive. But Jesus’ question was, did they realise that they were illustrative of what could hinder them receiving His all important message? They should have known it, for the use of such pictures were a continuation of the methods of the prophets (Isa 5:1-7; Isa 27:4; Jer 4:3; Jer 12:13; Eze 2:6).

He also wanted them to recognise that for those who did listen and absorb His message there would be spiritual fruitfulness and a wonderful harvest. To these people harvest represented their hope for the future, and they recognised that no harvest was quite as important as the final Harvest in the last day. It pointed to the glorious future that could be theirs under the blessing of God. Jesus wanted them to realise that this time of harvest was approaching, and that He wanted them to partake in it fully. Those who had listened to the preaching of John the Baptiser were aware of his stress on spiritual fruitfulness, and on barrenness, in the face of the judgment, and of the coming work of the Holy Spirit (Mat 3:8-12; Luk 3:7-9). Now Jesus reinforces that message and expands on it. All that they hoped and longed for was dependent on their willingness to receive and absorb His teaching.

This parable compares those who hear the word, and in three ways fail to receive it successfully, with those who do receive the word, and produce fruit at three levels. It is another presentation of the two ways (Mat 7:13-14). It will be noted that the emphasis is not so much on the harvest as on what is, or is not, produced. It is a brilliantly simple analysis of men’s hearts. With some there was no interest. With some there was interest but no depth of thought or understanding. With some what interest there was, was choked by other things than the word of truth, by cares, anxieties and a desire for wealth. Notice also the fate of the seed which has failed to yield fruit. Some was devoured, some withered in the sun, and some was choked. The failures thus came for a variety of reasons but the end result was the same, there was no fruitfulness. Each listener was left to think for himself what it was that might be the hindrance in his own life. And then the glorious goal was set before him that he could, if he truly responded to Jesus and His words, produce one hundredfold.

It has sometimes been argued that Jesus original intention in this parable was simply to build up to the idea of the Harvest, with that as the sole emphasis of the parable, but a moments thought will reveal that this really cannot be so unless Jesus was talking to half-wits. And He was not. He was speaking to people steeped in the Old Testament and later Jewish tradition, and inevitably when they heard of the birds swooping down to seize the seed their ears would prick up and they would think in terms of powers of evil and of demons, and even of Satan himself, in the light of Jewish tradition where birds were commonly seen in that way (compare also Gen 15:11; Gen 40:17; Gen 40:19; Isa 18:5-6; Jer 7:33; Jer 12:9; Eze 39:4; Eze 39:17 where the descent of birds is something that fills men with foreboding). We can compare here Rev 18:2, which echoes those traditions, where devils, unclean spirits and unclean birds are seen to be operating in parallel (compare Isa 13:21; Isa 34:11; Isa 34:14-15).

But even more so when they heard of sowing among thorns their minds would immediately call to mind the words of Jeremiah, ‘Do not sow among thorns’ (Jer 4:3), and ‘they have sown wheat and have reaped thorns’ (Jer 12:13). It was inevitable. They could hardly have failed to do so. And thus alert minds would already be looking into the details of the parable and asking themselves what it meant. And it can hardly be doubted in the light of this that Jesus intended them to do so.

‘Behold a sower went out to sow.’ This was an everyday sight in season, and crucial to their existence., and they would see in their mind’s eye the sower with his bag over his shoulder, walking along distributing the seed as he went. And in view of Who was telling the story they would be reminded of the words of Pro 11:18, ‘he who sows righteousness has a sure reward,’ and, somewhat guiltily (because they had not done it), of Hos 10:12, ‘Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, until he come and rain righteousness upon you.’ They would recognise that this sower was therefore somehow connected with this call to repentance, and for them to become prepared ground so that righteousness might flourish in their hearts. That Jesus was therefore issuing such a call for repentance and a turning to righteousness, in the light of the presence in Him of the Kingly Rule of Heaven.

And what would He sow? They would find their answer in Isa 55:10. In that passage the seed for the sower resulted from God’s rain falling on God’s earth, producing ‘seed for the sower’, a seed which would then through God’s provision of rain and sun be sent forth to fulfil His will, accomplishing what He pleased and prospering in the way in which He sent it. And there it was seen in terms of the word of God going forth to accomplish God’s will of salvation and deliverance. Jesus wanted them to know that John the Baptiser had been a sower (Joh 4:36-38), and that He Himself was now at that moment sowing seed among them declaring that the Kingly rule of God had drawn near (Mar 1:15). He wanted them to recognise that the fulfilling of God’s promises humanly speaking depended on their responsiveness to what He said. The discerning among them would recognise that it was so. Indeed those who had responded to the teaching of John the Baptiser would instantly be reminded of it.

While the description ‘a sower’ was general, Jesus was not philosophising. He was not just saying, ‘have you thought about this? Isn’t it interesting?’ He was too aware of the newness and uniqueness of His message that the time for response to the Kingly Rule of God was here. No. His message was that God sent sowers out to sow and now something new was being sown. And the question was, did they realise it? Would they respond? The prophets had been sowers, as had John the Baptiser (Joh 4:36-38). Now He wanted them to recognise that the Sower Supreme was here and that others too would sow as He did, who would be sent out by Him. And they must be ready to receive their words.

It is not accidental that this parable follows immediately on Mar 3:35. There we have the lesson of what Jesus was calling men to do in His teaching. He was calling them to respond to and obey the will of God. It was in that way that the Kingly Rule of God would be established. And that will was especially revealed in His own teaching. The question was, therefore, were they ready to do the will of God, or was His word to be choked by events of this life? Mark certainly intends us to see that the preaching of the Kingly Rule of God is in mind (Mar 4:11; Mar 4:26; Mar 4:30).

Some have sought to deny that this is to some extent allegorical and that the individual parts of the parable have a deeper meaning, but it is only necessary to notice the emphasis of the story to recognise that that suggestion is too restrictive. There can really be no doubt that one emphasis is specifically on reasons why the seed is not fruitful, as with the prophets before Him. This must therefore be a main lesson of the parable. And another equally important emphasis is on the final fruitful harvest.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Parable of the Four Kinds of Ground (4:3-9).

Jesus now tells a story which contains within it a number of lessons, and is thus a kind of allegory. It is based on a scene well known to His hearers, that of a sower sowing seed. Those who knew their Scriptures well would remember that in Hos 12:10 and Jer 4:3 the sowing of seed was connected with the idea of a true response to God resulting from their becoming ‘good ground’. In Hos 12:10 His people were called on to break up their fallow ground, sowing in it in righteousness and reaping in mercy. In Jer 4:3 they were to break up their fallow ground so that the words of their teachers might not be sown among thorns. The same idea of needing to be fruitful ground is found in the parable.

Analysis.

a “Listen” (Mar 4:3 a).

b “Behold a sower went out to sow” (Mar 4:3 b).

c “And it happened that, as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside and the birds came and devoured it” (Mar 4:4).

d “And other fell on rocky ground where it did not have much earth, and it sprang up immediately because it had no depth of earth. And when the sun was risen it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered” (Mar 4:5-6).

c “And other fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it yielded no fruit” (Mar 4:7).

b “And others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. And it produced thirtyfold, sixtyfold and a hundredfold” (Mar 4:8).

a And he said, “whoever has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mar 4:9).

Note that in ‘a’ they are called on to listen, and in the parallel they are to be those who have ears to hear. In ‘b’ The sower sows, and in the parallel it results in a harvest. In ‘c’ the seed is devoured and in the parallel it is choked. Centrally in ‘d’ the seed is scorched in the sun because it has no depth of earth.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The parable of the fourfold soil:

v. 3. Hearken! Behold, there went out a sower to sow;

v. 4. and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

v. 5. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth;

v. 6. but when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

v. 7. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

v. 8. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.

v. 9. And He said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Jesus calls attention to His words, He wants all hearers to listen, very closely, in order not to miss one word of His discourse. For His are not the words of a mere man that often uses words without meaning and connection, but every word is here fraught with heavenly wisdom. This is true of the entire Gospel. Men are inclined to discard the verbal inspiration of the Bible, saying that it is not necessary for a proper understanding of the spiritual truths, and especially of social Christianity. But Christ’s ideas in this case, as often, do not agree with the wisdom of this world. Upon a single word, yea, upon a single letter, as Luther says, more depends than on all creation. The parable itself Jesus now introduces with “Behold!” He places, paints a picture before their eyes, one with which they all were familiar. But He wants them to note every detail, for there is a lesson for them there. A farmer at seed-time goes out to sow his seed, broadcast. The farm-land of the Jews was not divided into sections, but lay for the most part in irregular parcels, and the paths to the various villages and cities, which had been made ages ago, were left just as the present owners had found them. The soil was prepared up to the path on either side, but the path itself remained. And so it could very easily happen that some of the seed fell on the path, all along the way where the people went to and fro. No harrow covered it, nor could it sink into soft soil. And so the birds used it as food. In another part of the field there was a mere veneer of soil over the rock beneath. The seed which fell there could not sink in very deeply before sprouting. The warmth retained in the rock and the moisture of the night all combined in causing it to germinate very rapidly. In a very short time the young plants showed above the ground. But their tiny rootlets which enabled them to rise above the ground were not large and strong enough to supply a more mature plant, and there was no room for them to spread out and grow into deeper soil. The little moisture was soon used up, and when the sun began to beat down upon the unsheltered plot, they drooped, and presently their lack of a sufficient root system had its effect: they died. In still another part of the field the ground had either not been worked well enough to grub out all the thorns and weeds, or some weed-seed had remained from the previous year and welcomed the working of the soil as an opportunity for rank growth. The seed which fell here sprouted, and the plant started to grow, but the weeds had greater vitality, they grew up rank and strong and soon caused the grain to suffocate, so that it could produce no fruit. But still other seed fell on soil that repaid the farmer’s work most handsomely: The stems grew up high and strong, the ears of grain were formed long and full, the grain filled the ears in the proper manner, and the harvest proved to be all that the husbandman could desire, for the yield was thirty-, sixty-, and a hundredfold. Again, the Lord emphasized the importance of the lesson which He wished to convey to His hearers by calling out: Whosoever has ears to hear, let him hear. The mere possession of physical ears and the mere outward hearing of the words of Christ’s discourse are not sufficient. There are thousands of people that hear the Word in that way and have no benefit from it whatsoever. Christ here calls for a hearing and understanding of the heart, that the real meaning of His words be comprehended and the proper application made by every individual.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:

Ver. 3. Hearken, behold ] Christ well knew the fickleness of men’s spirits, and how every small matter calls them off, when most earnestly set to hear. See Trapp on “ Mat 13:3 “

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

3. ] This solemn prefatory word is peculiar to Mark.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mar 4:3 . : bear! listen! a summons to attention natural for one addressing a great crowd from a boat, quite compatible with , which introduces the parable (against Weiss in Meyer). The parable is given here essentially as in Mt., with only slight variations: (Mar 4:3 ) for ; (Mar 4:4 ) for , (Mar 4:5 ; Mar 4:7 ) for . To the statement that the thorns choked the grain ( ), Mk. adds (Mar 4:7 ) , an addition not superfluous in this case, as it would have been in the two previous, because the grain in this case reaches the green ear . To be noted further is the expansion in Mar 4:8 , in reference to the seed sown on good soil. Mt. says it yielded fruit ( ), Mk. adds , , all three phrases referring to at the beginning of the verse. The participles taken along with distinguish the result in the fourth case from those in the three preceding. The first did not spring up, being picked up by the birds, the second sprang up but did not grow, withered by the heat, the third sprouted and grew up but yielded no (ripe) fruit, choked by thorns (Grotius). introduces a statement as to the quantity of fruit, the degrees being arranged in a climax, 30, 60, 100, instead of in an anti-climax, as in Mt., 100, 60, 30.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos (App-6), for emphasis. Greek. idou. App-133.

there went out. This parable is repeated in Luk 8:4 under different circumstances from those in Mat 13:3, which accounts for the variation of wording. The an tecedents in Matthew and Mark are the visit or His kinsfolk, Mar 3:31-34 (which is a consequent in Luk 8:4). The consequent in Matthew and Mark is the question of the Twelve concerning others who asked the meaning. In Luke the consequent is the question of the Twelve as to its meaning (thus hearing it for the first time), followed by the visit of His kinsfolk. Why should not a parable be repeated several times? Why need they be identical? and why should not two accounts of the same be supplementary?

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

3. ] This solemn prefatory word is peculiar to Mark.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mar 4:3. , Hearken) A word pronounced in a loud voice, in order to still the noise among the people, lest the beginning itself of His discourse should be lost [Mark especially commends the hearing of the word, Mar 4:24-25; Mar 4:33.-V. g.]

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Hearken: Mar 4:9, Mar 4:23, Mar 7:14, Mar 7:16, Deu 4:1, Psa 34:11, Psa 45:10, Pro 7:24, Pro 8:32, Isa 46:3, Isa 46:12, Isa 55:1, Isa 55:2, Act 2:14, Heb 2:1-3, Jam 2:5, Rev 2:7, Rev 2:11, Rev 2:29

there: Mar 4:14, Mar 4:26-29, Ecc 11:6, Isa 28:23-26, Mat 13:3, Mat 13:24, Mat 13:26, Luk 8:5-8, Joh 4:35-38, 1Co 3:6-9

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

WASTED SEED

Behold, there went out a sower to sow: and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

Mar 4:3-4

The precious seed which fell to the right hand and to the left was wasted, because it fell on ground unprepared to receive it.

I. Waste a great fault and sin.Wasted food, wasted money, wasted health, wasted time, wasted opportunities of doing and receiving goodthese in their several ways are all sins against God and our own souls.

II. Yet constant waste going on.There is in nature, in Providence, in the spiritual world, a constant waste going on, suggesting much of anxious and painful wonder.

(a) In nature. Might we not almost say that for one thing used ten are wasted? For every seed brought to maturity in plant or tree ten perish and are defeated? For every human body preserved through the accidents and risks of life to complete its term of earthly existence ten fall prematurely into disease and decay, and are abruptly cut off from that amount of enjoyment and of usefulness which might seem, theoretically at least, to be the birthright and inheritance of all into whose nostrils has once been breathed the creative breath of life?

(b) In Providence. Would we could stop here! Would that we could ascribe only to that part of Gods operations which we call nature, or at the utmost to that part of Gods operations which we call Providence, the manifestation of that principle of which we are speaking!

(c) In the spiritual world. Heresaddest sight of allwe seem to see it in its fullest development. How much of truthprecious life-giving truthhave we trifled away in our short lifetime! Let us awake to a better appreciation of the gift of the Word of Life, that we may at last hear unto profiting, and believe to the saving of our souls.

Dean Vaughan.

Illustration

According to Jewish authorities there was twofold sowing, as the seed was either cast by the hand or by means of cattle. In the latter case, a sack with holes was filled with corn and laid on the back of the animal, so that, as it moved onwards, the seed was thickly scattered. Thus it might well be that it would fall indiscriminately on beaten roadway, or on stony places but thinly covered with soil, or where the thorns had not been cleared away, or undergrowth from this thorn hedge crept into the field, as well as on good ground.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

Chapter 25.

The Sower

“Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And He said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And when He was alone, they that were about Him with the twelve asked of Him the parable. And He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. And He said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended, And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word. And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.”-Mar 4:3-20.

Turning to the first of the parables, we find it commonly spoken of as The Parable of the Sower. When we look closely at the parable, we shall probably think it might more properly have been called the Parable of the Soils; but the Sower shall claim all my attention now, the Soils being left over for the present.

Christ as the Sower.

The Sower who went forth to sow His Seed is none other than our blessed Lord Himself. Yes, no doubt he stands also for every Christian minister, and every Christian teacher, and every Christian missionary, and, indeed, every one who in any way seeks to scatter the blessed seed of the Gospel. We are all of us, you may say, this Sower. But primarily and originally the Sower who went forth to sow was none other than Jesus Christ Himself.

Our Lord Describes His own Ministry.

Thus our Lord in this parable is describing the results of His own ministry. He was just at this time the object of much enthusiasm. The people were seriously inclined to believe that He was the Son of David. More than once they were tempted to take Him by force and make Him King. But all this excitement and enthusiasm did not deceive our Lord. He never for one moment imagined that all the people in the crowds that hung upon His lips were His real and sincere followers. He knew theirs was but a surface enthusiasm. He looked forward, and He could see that in the near future these very people would go back, and follow no more after Him. He looked forward a little further, and He saw Himself a lonely and friendless prisoner, with the people-these people-clamouring, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” No, our Lord was not deceived. He knew that out of the thousands that listened to Him there was only a tiny handful whose hearts were really touched. And the sight of a sower scattering his seed in the full sight of Him as He sat in the boat, dropping some of the seed on the wayside, and some on to the rocky ground, and some among the thorns, and some on the good ground, suggests to Him this parable. “Behold,” He said, “A Sower went forth to sow.”

A Work of Faith.

The work of the Sower is to plant, to sow the seed, to be in at the beginning of things. You and I, my brethren, can see some of the rich and glorious results of our Lord’s sowing. It is partial harvest-time with us. He laboured, and we have entered into His labours. But it was the day of beginnings with Him; it was a work of faith with Him. He was the sower who went forth to sow; we have reaped where He sowed.

A Lonely Work.

A Sower! As a rule the Sower works alone. The field at harvest-time is a very different place from the field at seed-time. At harvest-time there is company and gaiety. But there is neither company nor gaiety in seed-time. The sower goes on his way alone. And Christ knew Himself to be such a lonely Sower. I have referred already more than once to the loneliness of Christ. It was almost His sorest burden. It is true that He had the Twelve to be with Him; but even they did not understand Him, their aims were so very different from His. And thus it was that our Lord was solitary in His work. “I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was no man with Me” (Isa 63:3, R.V.).

A Cheerless Work.

A Sower! Nature is almost at its dreariest when the sower is at his work. It is very different in harvest-time! Skies are blue then; suns are warm then; and all Nature seems to laugh and sing in the enjoyment of the brightness and the warmth. But Nature is sombre, stern, cheerless at seed-time. There is no foliage on the trees, there is no verdure in the field. Skies are grey and cloudy; and if the sun appears at all, it is only in fitful and watery gleams. There is nothing to make the heart cheerful at seed-time. And was it not like that with Jesus Christ? There was very little to cheer Him in His work. He lived His life beneath stormy skies. Even, His kinsfolk, as we have seen, when they heard of His work, went out to lay hold on Him, for they said, “He is beside Himself.” There were no encouraging conditions even in His own home. And the Scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth He out the devils.” He did His work in face of unceasing and bitter hostility on the part of the rulers. Our Lord was just a Sower, and it was cheerless winter weather for Him from the Baptism to the cross.

A Painful Work.

A Sower! The very work of the sower is in a way painful work. I mean this, sowing is imparting, giving, flinging away. It is very different from harvesting. Harvesting is gathering, getting, receiving. No wonder there is joy at harvest; for the harvest means increase and enrichment. But sowing at the moment is sacrifice and impoverishment. The sower goes forth weeping, bearing his precious seed. He parts with a present good in the hope of a future reward. And Jesus was just a Sower. His whole life was a giving and an imparting, and it culminated in the sacrifice of the cross. Ah, my brethren, it was hard work, it was sorrowful work, it was painful work. He went forth weeping, bearing His precious seed, but He looked for some far off interest for His tears. “Except a corn of wheat,” He said-as much to Himself as to the crowd-“fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (Joh 12:24).

A Work with its Disappointments.

A Sower! What disappointments the sower has to face! It is not every seed that issues in a harvest. “Out of a thousand seeds,” says Tennyson, “Nature brings but one to bear.” This particular sower dropped some seed by the wayside, and some on rocky ground, and some among the thorns, and from these there was no fruit. So the Lord Jesus was a sower, and similar disappointments attended Him. The wayside hearer and the rocky-ground hearer and the thorn-patch hearer-they were all in His congregation. From the vast majority in the crowds that hung upon His words Jesus gathered no fruit.

Some of those who read this may at times feel almost broken-hearted by failure in Christian work. Men and women for whom we have worked much, and from whom we hoped much, turn out such disappointments! I know how hard it is. I know something of the heart-break of the sower who sows and reaps no harvest. But-Jesus knew it too. What a sower He was! But for all His abundant sowing, what scanty fruit He reaped! Yet He never murmured nor complained. Let us go on with our sowing. It is sufficient for the disciple to be as his Lord, and, if need be, we must be willing to be baptized into the baptism of disappointment into which He was baptized.

-And with its Joys.

“But some on good ground”-that is the saving clause. That is the ray of glorious light in what might otherwise have been a gloomy picture. “Some on good ground”-there was a Peter and a John, and a Matthew and a Thomas among His hearers, and it was worth while sowing the Word, if only for their sakes, for in them it brought forth thirty, sixty, a hundred-fold. “Some on good ground”; it is not all disappointment. “Some on good ground,” preachers of the Gospel, for one and another comes and asks the way of Salvation. “Some on good ground,” teachers, for this child and that learns to love and obey Jesus. “Some on good ground,” Christian worker, for the faithful word, often seemingly spoken in vain, sometimes finds a receptive soul. “Some on good ground”-therein is the promise of the harvest. Let us not be weary in well-doing. “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him” (Psa 126:6).

Fuente: The Gospel According to St. Mark: A Devotional Commentary

3

Hearken means a special call to attention.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mar 4:3. Hearken. This, inserted by Mark only, seems to introduce the whole discourse, as deserving great attention.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

1. Several things are to be observable; as,

1. How Christ begins and ends the parable with an admonition to diligent and serious attention. Hearken, says Christ, verse 3. and he that hath ears to hear, let him hear, verse 9. This shows us at once the people’s backwardness and negligence in applying their minds to hear and receive the word of God, and also shows the minister’s duty to excite and stir up their people’s diligence and attention in hearing God’s word.

Observe, 2. What is the general scope and design of this parable; namely, to show that there are four several sorts of hearers of God’s word, and but one good one, but one sort only who hear to saving advantage.

Now as to the matter of the parable.

Note, 1. The sower is Christ and his apostles; he the principal sower, they the subordinate seedsmen. Christ sows his own field, his ministers sow his field. He sows his own seed, they his seed. Woe unto us if we sow our own seed, not Christ’s.

Note, 2. The seed sown, the word of God: fabulous legends and unwritten traditions, which the seedsmen of the church of Rome sow, these are not seed, but chaff, or their own seed, and not Christ’s. Our Lord’s field must be all sown with his own seed, with no mixt grain.

Learn, 1. That the word preached is like seed sown in the furrows of the field. As seed has a fructifying virtue in it, by which it increases and brings forth more of its own kind, so has the word of God a quickening power to regenerate and make alive dead souls.

Learn, 2. From this parable, that the seed of the word, where it is most plentifully sown, is not alike fruitful. Seed doth not thrive in all ground alike, neither doth the word fructify alike in the souls of men. There is a difference both from the nature of the soil and from the influence of the Spirit. For though no ground be naturally good, yet some is worse than other.

Learn, 3. That the cause of the word’s unfruitfulness is very different; not the same in all. In some it is an hard heart to unbelief, in others the distracting cares of the world choke the word: like thorns which hinder the corn’s growth, by overshadowing it, by drawing away the moisture and heart of the earth from it, and by hindering the influence of the sun from cherishing it. Unto which may be added the policy of Satan, that bird of prey, which follows God’s plough, and steals away the precious seed of the word out of the furrows of their souls.

Learn, 4. That the best ground doth not bring forth increase alike. Some good ground brings forth more, others less; some thirty, some sixty, some an hundred-fold. In like manner, a person may be a profitable hearer of the word, although he doth not bring forth so great a proportion of fruit as others, provided he brings forth as much as he can.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: 4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. 5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: 6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. 9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

HEY, LISTEN UP, might be the thought of “Hearken; Behold,” for both are in the imperative or they are a command and the words draw special attention to what is being said.

We do not know who the sower is because we are not told in the text. Some assume it and treatit as fact, while a wise interpreter might suggest that Christ is the sower but not assume and declare it.

The sower is one that is sowing seed. Anyone in my neighborhood knows what a sower looks like, they know that on the capital dome there is a large statue of a pioneer sower. They also have most likely seen old man Derickson out sowing in his yard. My lawn is so terrible I sow grass seed twice yearly at the very least. Now I am not gold plated but I resemble that statue. We both have a bag of seed and we are both casting seed in a sweeping motion to spread the seed as it falls from our hands. Well, his hand is not really swinging, but you get the point of the story I am using do you not? You should look to the point of the story, not the detail, remember.

Now, like the sower in the Lord’s parable there are different types of ground. There was ground that was stony, some weedy and some good. Well this is where my story falls apart. My yard is stony and weedy but there is little good ground so I will stick to Christ’s parable from this point on.

I wish I could quote to you some of the long expositions that I have heard on these few verses but I have none to quote. On the other hand those illustrations would probably detract from the Lord’s own exposition of the parable that follows. He explains all of it quite clearly in the immediately following context so let us go on (not that all expositors leave it at the Lord’s interpretation).

The Net Bible translates verse nine as follows: “Whoever has ears to hear had better listen!” This indicates the imperative that the “listen” is a much better translation than the “let him hear” of the King James. The listening isn’t an option, it is a necessity to the spiritual life to know.

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

4:3 {1} Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:

(1) The same doctrine of the Gospel is sown everywhere, but it it does not have the same success indeed because of the fault of man, but yet by the just judgment of God.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The parable of the soils 4:3-9 (cf. Matthew 13:3b-9; Luke 8:5-8)

Jesus introduced and concluded this parable with instructions that His hearers should give it careful consideration (Mar 4:3; Mar 4:9, cf. Mar 4:23). Mark’s account of this parable is almost identical to Matthew’s. It is the only parable that Jesus spoke this day that all three synoptic evangelists recorded. Probably Jesus taught this parable many times during His ministry as an itinerant preacher, and the disciples were familiar with it. It is also a key parable because it introduced elements that recur in the other parables Jesus taught that day, such as the seed.

Rhoads and Michie suggested that "the interpretation of the seed falling on ’rocky’ ground suggests an opposite and ironic meaning of that name [i.e., Peter, "Rock"], unmistakably depicting Peter and the other disciples." [Note: Rhoads and Michie, p. 128.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

CHAPTER 4:3-9, 14-20 (Mar 4:3-9; Mar 4:14-20)

THE SOWER

“Hearken: Behold the sower went forth to sow: and it came to pass, as he sowed, some seed fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured it. And other fell on the rocky ground, where it had not much earth; and straightway it sprang up, because it had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And other fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing; and brought forth, thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. And He said, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear…

“The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; and when they have heard, straightway cometh Satan, and taketh away the word which hath been sown in them. And these in like manner are they that are sown upon the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, straightway receive it with joy; and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway they stumble. And others are they that are sown among the thorns; these are they that have heard the word, and the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And those are they that were sown upon the good ground; such as hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit, thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.” Mar 4:3-9; Mar 4:14-20 (R.V.)

“HEARKEN,” Jesus said; willing to caution men against the danger of slighting His simple story, and to impress on them that it conveyed more than met their ears. In so doing He protested in advance against fatalistic abuses of the parable, as if we were already doomed to be hard, or shallow, or thorny, or fruitful soil. And at the close He brought out still more clearly His protest against such doctrine, by impressing upon all, that if the vitalizing seed were the imparted word, it was their part to receive and treasure it. Indolence and shallowness must fail to bear fruit: that is the essential doctrine of the parable; but it is not necessary that we should remain indolent or shallow: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

And when the Epistle to the Hebrews reproduces the image of land which bringeth forth thorns and thistles, our Revised Version rightly brings out the fact, on which indeed the whole exhortation depends, that the same piece of land might have borne herbs meet for those for whose sake it is tilled (Heb 1:7).

Having said “Hearken,” Jesus added, “Behold.” It has been rightly inferred that the scene was before their eyes. Very possibly some such process was within sight of the shore on which they were gathered; but in any case, a process was visible, if they would but see, of which the tilling of the ground was only a type. A nobler seed was being scattered for a vaster harvest, and it was no common laborer, but the true sower, who went forth to sow. “The sower soweth the word.” But who was he? St. Matthew tells us “the sower is the Son of man,” and whether the words were expressly uttered, or only implied, as the silence of St. Mark and St. Luke might possibly suggest, it is clear that none of His disciples could mistake His meaning. Ages have passed and He is the sower still, by whatever instrument He works, for we are God’s husbandry as well as God’s building. And the seed is the Word of God, so strangely able to work below the surface of human life, invisible at first, yet vital, and grasping from within and without, from secret thoughts and from circumstances, as from the chemical ingredients of the soil and from the sunshine and the shower, all that will contribute to its growth, until the field itself is assimilated, spread from end to end with waving ears, a corn-field now. This is why Jesus in His second parable did not any longer say “the seed is the word,” but “the good seed are the sons of the kingdom” (Mat 13:38). The word planted was able to identify itself with the heart.

And this seed, the Word of God, is sown broadcast as all our opportunities are given. A talent was not refused to him who buried it. Judas was an apostle. Men may receive the grace of God in vain, and this in more ways than one. On some it produces no vital impression whatever; it lies on the surface of a mind which the feet of earthly interests have trodden hard. There is no chance for it to expand, to begin its operation by sending out the smallest tendrils to grasp, to appropriate anything, to take root. And it may well be doubted whether any soul, wholly indifferent to religious truth, ever retained even its theoretic knowledge long. The foolish heart is darkened. The fowls of the air catch away for ever the priceless seed of eternity. Now it is of great importance to observe how Jesus explained this calamity. We should probably have spoken of forgetfulness, the fading away of neglected impressions, or at most of some judicial act of providence hiding the truth from the careless. But Jesus said, “straightway cometh Satan and taketh away the word which hath been sown in them.” No person can fairly explain this text away, as men have striven to explain Christ’s language to the demoniacs, by any theory of the use of popular language, or the toleration of harmless notions. The introduction of Satan into this parable is unexpected and uncalled for by any demand save one, the necessity of telling all the truth. It is true therefore that an active and deadly enemy of souls is at work to quicken the mischief which neglect and indifference would themselves produce, that evil processes are helped from beneath as truly as good ones from above; that the seed which is left today upon the surface may be maliciously taken thence long before it would have perished by natural decay; that men cannot reckon upon stopping short in their contempt of grace, since what they neglect the devil snatches quite away from them. And as seed is only safe from fowls when buried in the soil, so is the word of life only safe against the rapacity of hell when it has sunk down into our hearts.

In the story of the early Church, St. Paul sowed upon such ground as this in Athens. Men who spent their time in the pursuit of artistic and cultivated novelties, in hearing and telling some new thing, mocked the gospel, or at best proposed to hear its preacher yet again. How long did such a purpose last?

But there are other dangers to dread, besides absolute indifference to truth. And the first of these is a too shallow and easy acquiescence. The message of salvation is designed to affect the whole of human life profoundly. It comes to bind a strong man armed, it summons easy and indifferent hearts to wrestle against spiritual foes, to crucify the flesh, to die daily. On these conditions it offers the noblest blessings. But the conditions are grave and sobering. If one hears them without solemn and earnest searching of heart, he has only, at the best, apprehended half the message. Christ has warned us that we cannot build a tower without sitting down to count our means, nor fight a hostile king without reckoning the prospects of invasion. And it is very striking to compare the gushing and impulsive sensationalism of some modern schools, with the deliberate and circumspect action of St. Paul, even after God had been pleased miraculously to reveal His Son in him. He went into seclusion. He returned to Damascus to his first instructor. Fourteen years afterwards he deliberately laid his gospel before the Apostles, lest by any means he should be running or had run in vain. Such is the action of one penetrated with a sense of reality and responsibility in his decision; it is not the action likely to result from teaching men that it suffices to “say you believe” and to be “made happy.” And in this parable, our Savior has given striking expression to His judgment of the school which relies upon mere happiness. Next to those who leave the seed for Satan to snatch away, He places them “who, when they have heard the word, straightway receive it with joy.” They have taken the promises without the precepts, they have hoped for the crown without the cross. Their type is the thin layer of earth spread over a shelf of rock. The water, which cannot sink down, and the heat reflected up from the stone, make it for a time almost a hot bed. Straightway the seed sprang up, because it had no deepness of earth. But the moisture thus detained upon the surface vanished utterly in time of drought; the young roots, unable to penetrate to any deeper supplies, were scorched; and it withered away. That superficial heat and moisture was impulsive emotion, glad to hear of heaven, and love, and privilege, but forgetful to mortify the flesh, and to be partaker with Christ in His death. The roots of a real Christian life must strike deeper down. Consciousness of sin and its penalty and of the awful price by which that penalty has been paid, consciousness of what life should have been and how we have degraded it, consciousness of what it must yet be made by grace–these do not lead to joy so immediate, so impulsive, as the growth of this shallow vegetation. A mature and settled joy is among “the fruits of the spirit:” it is not the first blade that shoots up.

Now because the sense of sin and duty and atonement have not done their sobering work, the feelings, so easily quickened, are also easily perverted: “When tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway they stumble.” These were not counted upon. Neither trouble of mind nor opposition of wicked men was included in the holiday scheme of the life Divine. And their pressure is not counter-weighted by that of any deep convictions. The roots have never penetrated farther than temporal calamities and trials can reach. In the time of drought they have not enough. They endure, but only for a while.

St. Paul sowed upon just such soil in Galatia. There his hearers spoke of such blessedness that they would have plucked out their eyes for him. But he became their enemy because he told them all the truth, when only a part was welcome. And as Christ said, Straightway they stumble, so St. Paul had to marvel that they were so soon subverted.

If indifference be the first danger, and shallowness the second, mixed motive is the third. Men there are who are very earnest, and far indeed from slight views of truth, who are nevertheless in sore danger, because they are equally earnest about other things; because they cannot resign this world, whatever be their concern about the next; because the soil of their life would fain grow two inconsistent harvests. Like seed sown among thorns, “choked” by their entangling roots and light-excluding growths, the word in such hearts, though neither left upon a hard surface nor forbidden by rock to strike deep into the earth, is overmastered by an unworthy rivalry. A kind of vegetation it does produce, but not such as the tiller seeks: the word becometh unfruitful. It is the same lesson as when Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Perhaps it is the one most needed in our time of feverish religious controversy and heated party spirit, when every one hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation, but scarcely any have denied the world and taken in exchange a cross.

St. Paul found a thorny soil in Corinth which came behind in no gift, if only gifts had been graces, but was indulgent, factious and selfish, puffed up amid flagrant vices, one hungry and another drunken, while wrangling about the doctrine of the resurrection.

The various evils of this parable are all of them worldliness, differently manifested. The deadening effect of habitual forgetfulness of God, treading the soil so hard that no seed can enter it; the treacherous effect of secret love of earth, a buried obstruction refusing to admit the gospel into the recesses of the life, however it may reach the feelings; and the fierce and stubborn competition of worldly interests, wherever they are not resolutely weeded out, against these Jesus spoke His earliest parable. And it is instructive to review the foes by which He represented His Gospel as warred upon. The personal activity of Satan; “tribulation or persecution” from without, and within the heart “cares” rather for self than for the dependent and the poor, “deceitfulness of riches” for those who possess enough to trust in, or to replace with a fictitious importance the only genuine value, which is that of character (although men are still esteemed for being “worth” a round sum, a strange estimate, to be made by Christians, of a being with a soul burning in him); and alike for rich and poor, “the lusts of other things,” since none is too poor to covet, and none so rich that his desires shall not increase, like some diseases, by being fed.

Lastly, we have those on the good ground, who are not described by their sensibilities or their enjoyments, but by their loyalty. They “hear the word and accept it and bear fruit.” To accept is what distinguishes them alike from the wayside hearers into whose attention the word never sinks, from the rocky hearers who only receive it with a superficial welcome, and from the thorny hearers who only give it a divided welcome. It is not said, as if the word were merely the precepts, that they obey it. The sower of this seed is not he who bade the soldier not to do violence, and the publican not to extort: it is He who said, Repent, and believe the gospel. He implanted new hopes, convictions, and affections, as the germ which should unfold in a new life. And the good fruit is borne by those who honestly “accept” His word.

Fruitfulness is never in the gospel the condition by which life is earned, but it is always the test by which it proves it. In all the accounts of the final judgment, we catch the principle of the bold challenge of St. James, “Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.” The talent must produce more talents, and the pound (dollar) more pounds (dollars); the servant must have his loins girt and a light in his hand; the blessed are they who did unto Jesus the kindness they did unto the least of His brethren, and the accursed are they who did it not to Jesus in His people.

We are not wrong in preaching that honest faith in Christ is the only condition of acceptance, and the way to obtain strength for good works. But perhaps we fail to add, with sufficient emphasis, that good works are the only sufficient evidence of real faith, of genuine conversion. Lydia, whose heart the lord opened and who constrained the Apostle to abide in her house, was converted as truly as the gaoler who passed through all the vicissitudes of despair, trembling and astonishment, and belief.

“They bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and an hundredfold.” And all are alike accepted. But the parable of the pounds shows that all are not alike rewarded, and in equal circumstances superior efficiency wins a superior prize. One star differeth from another star in glory, and they who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the sun for ever.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary