Mark 4:33-34

So why does Jesus speak to people in parables? It's to help them understand His teaching. He spoke in agrarian terms to an agrarian society in order that they may hear and obey.

And He gave as much as people could understand.

That phrase bothers me a little, not because I question Jesus' teaching or judgment, but because I wonder how similar I am to the crowds. How much do I not receive from G-D because I do not understand or take the time to listen and obey. Do I "limit" G-D by my lack of faith, knowledge, or passion?

"Whoever has will be given more. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him" 4:25.

I want to be the former - one who has and wants MORE!!!

That does not mean life will be smooth sailing, however. We see what happens to the disciples right after this while they are on the sea....

Mark 4:30-32

The mustard seed - certainly not the smallest seed on earth, but one that resonates with the agrarian crowd. Powerful words, right? The Kingdom is like a grain of sand. Is that what you expect Jesus to say? It seems more appropriate to use much larger imagery: the Kingdom of G-D is like the kingdom of Solomon, the Roman Empire, or the United States of America. G-D's Kingdom is liken to that of world empires. Soldiers of Christ arise and put your armor on. Vote for the right people in office, speak out against political opponents, conquer the world through terror and warfare.

But G-D's Kingdom is much more organic in nature. It starts off as a tiny seed, and then grows into a plant than can provide much needed shade for birds. (It's interesting that in several of the prophets (Ezekiel and Daniel in particular) we see birds symbolize other nations.) And notice who gets the glory and who does the work; it's G-D. Just as we learned in the previous parable, G-D spreads His rule on His own terms, not ours. We can line up for battle at the ballot box, but it is G-D who grows His Kingdom.

So, are you growing your own kingdom or G-D's?

For an interesting parallel to this parable, look at Ezekiel 17:22-24.

Mark 4:26-29

Jesus moves from admonition to the Kingdom. The people who hear/do now receive from Jesus parables concerning the Kingdom. What is the Kingdom like? It is like wheat that grows and no one knows how. It's a mystery. The farmer waters it, but somehow G-D makes it grow.

The irony/twist in the parable is that Jesus has just expressed the need for His disciples to hear/do, and the parable He then tells relates to the fact that G-D alone makes the seed grow. G-D provides the action/growth, not the person.

So as you continue to prepare your soil (hear/obey), remember that G-D ultimately produces the crop and spreads His Kingdom. It's HIS Kingdom, and the forces of evil will not prevail against it.

Mark 4:21-25

Jesus continues to speak to His disciples in these verses, pushing the theme already elaborated upon - that of hearing/seeing is liken to one who takes Jesus' words and puts them into practice. He speaks of concealment and disclosure - what He has said by way of theology is expounded and better explained through parables. Verses 21-23 help explain why Jesus was so upset with His disciples; they heard His theology, but they couldn't make the connection with the parables, and furthermore had difficulty putting some flesh and blood to those parables (living them out).

In verse 24, we have an interesting sentence structure in the Greek. In English, "Consider carefully what you hear." A more literal translation, "See what you hear." Maybe a good English rendering would be, "Are you getting the picture?" And He continues that the person who gets what He is speaking of will continue to get more and more. The person who does not "get it" (or put it into practice), even what he/she gets will be taken away (or forgotten). Hence, hearing is doing. The person who hears but does not do does not truly hear. It's a call to action, similar to the Sh'ma in Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear [Do!], O Israel...."

But Jesus is soon to give a twist to this action in the next parable.

Older Blog from My Time in Israel

Dear readers,

In case you are new to my blogs, you may have no idea about the blog I kept in Israel:

http://ge-offnisrael.blogspot.com

Upon visiting that blog, you will notice that I switched to blog-city because of the emailing benefits. Blog-city, however, began charging for their services, so I created the one you are reading now. I saved all of my posts from blog-city, so I will begin to re-publish blogs from my time in Israel on that blog.

I hope you enjoy it!

Mark 4:13-20

I have asked you what you think about Jesus' parables; now I will give my opinion (based on Brad Young and others).

Jesus intention with His parables was NEVER to confuse His audience. His intention with parables was to make His teaching easier to understand. Again, parables were meant to aid in understanding for His audience, not hide something from them.

"Then Geoff," you may ask, "why does Jesus say those who see don't see and those that hear don't hear?"

Jesus' statement is a matter of action on those who are in the audience. Will they be like people who hear His words and then do nothing with them, or will they hear His words and practice them in real life. Actually, Jesus is simply expounding on the parable of the soils He just told. What will people do when they hear the His words? Will they put them into practice (and produce a crop yielding 30, 60, or even a 100 times), or will they hear His words and do nothing with them (like seed on the path, or on rocky places, or among thorns)?

In the case of the disciples, they know Jesus' theology, and so when He speaks to the people in parables, they are expected to understand (because they have the "secret"). However, when they hear the parables (especially in Mark, by the way), they can't put the two together - His theology and His teaching.

And Jesus doesn't appreciate that. One can feel the tension when He explains the parable to His disciples.

The reason I brought up Mark 4:33-34 is that the audience shifts from His disciples to the crowd. Notice that Jesus used parables to help the people understand His theology. Unfortunately with the disciples, Jesus has to draw the connecting lines for them.

So the question still remains: what kind of soil are you? Or put another way, what are you DOING with what you KNOW? Are you connecting your theology with your actions?

Mark 4:9-12

I find it interesting that this "secret" of the kingdom was given to the disciples, yet Mark makes it very clear that Jesus was quite frustrated with them. And why does Jesus teach in parables? So that those on the outside will be ever seeing but never perceiving, ever hearing but never understanding, or they would turn and be forgiven.

Jesus quotes Isaiah 6 here - when Isaiah is asked who will go for Him. Isaiah responds, "Here I am. Send me!" And then the words get difficult because G-D informs Isaiah that he will be preaching to a dense crowd who will be ever hearing but never understanding, and ever seeing, but never perceiving (Jesus reverses them in Mark 4).

Just the kind of message and welcome you want to have, right? And Isaiah asks for how long, and G-D says - until everything is completely destroyed except for stumps.

Great. So Isaiah gets to preach a message that people don't want/can't hear until they are completely destroyed. Every young preacher's dream job.

So what does this have to do with Jesus? Perhaps Jesus is sarcastically speaking of His less-than-brilliant disciples at the moment? Is He comparing Himself and His message to that of Isaiah, drawing on that prophetic image? Or is He speaking against "the outsiders" - the very people He was sent to call? Or perhaps to the hypocrites in the audience?

What do you think? (Also pay attention to 4:33-34.)