Mark 4:1-20
Again He began to teach beside the sea.
And a very large crowd gathered about Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them:
3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
9 And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 And when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parables. 11 And He said to them,
“To you has been given the secret of the Kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that
“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”
13 And He said to them,
“Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the Word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the Word that is sown in them.
16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the Word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the Word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the Word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
John 21:24-25
24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.
25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
And we find out one of the reasons the Scripture points one way to us and another to another. Yet always the Way of Jesus Christ.
God is not a God of Chaos.
Yet, so many aspects of Jesus are in the heart, we seem to catch hold of the aspect of the moment. Which is very necessary. And proper. But can lead to the repetition of the Scripture and we do not glean something Alive and Willing and Loving.
Jesus begins His Word explaining He teaches us by the Sea of Galilee.
To see an Ocean is to feel how Vast God is. Jesus is not just putting forth a reliable story about seeds we can repeat and repeat. JESUS IS GOING FAR WITH THIS LIVING GOSPEL.
The path
Jesus Christ uses so many days on the Sea of Galilee. His Ministry accomplishing the Will of God, His Father and our Father. And some of the Disciples writing His Gospel call the Sea of Galilee the Sea of Tiberias. And this is largely an aspect of size and location. Large or small?
More. Eternity. Larger than we can really imagine.
We can realize the scope of gardening in His Parable.
In our path, we do like Einstein said we should Not, we repeat the paths given to us in this life. And Jesus speaks of Seeds. We have a different aspect of seed planting in our decades of life. And yet, Sarah and Abraham were moved beyond what they did and did not expect. As were Zechariah and Elizabeth.
God our Father does not intend for us to be stuck in the muck.
Listening to the same life story we know and the years vanish.
He intends us to look up. Rise up.
Rise Up?
See something new in a Parable we know quite well. Alive.
Oh good.
How?
Jesus would smile.
His audience are His Own Chosen People.
Given the Secret of the Kingdom of God. And they are stuck at corn. Ears to hear. Seeds.
Given that Jesus is God and He blends Oceans, Sea and Lake to seeds and Life, sitting in a little boat, changing the very world, we can believe from John 21.
There is more Planning inside God's Word than we will fathom.
The Secret of the Kingdom of God.
This is the Gospel of Mark, his Fourth Chapter. Mark writes the Gospel Peter has told him to put forth. The History of the Romans asking about Jesus in the first century on the streets and then in the catacombs. Under the dirt. Seeds. These are the pressing concerns of the oral history of Jesus as becomes what Jesus says,
"It is Written."
So the Disciples know the Secret of the Kingdom of God.
?!?
Not yet, Mark reveals the divinity of Jesus in Chapters 6,8. 9, 14 and 15. And Chapter 1. Jesus accepts with faith, the Disciples are not fully flush with wisdom and faith, but He feels certain as God, they will.
The Disciples, us, we have not a seen fact, but in faith the approval of these bewildered Children of God.
The whole Parable has the Love and Joy and Appreciation of Jesus explaining the Parable. The expectation of this completion of Faith.
Jesus is not only saying in this routine pattern of life,
He is explaining in Mark 4, going forth until the end of the age. And is explaining Billy Graham explaining Jesus as a candle seen in a Football Stadium.
The Seeds of Eternity.
The meek inherit the earth. Grandparents explaining to their families about Love.
Boldly and with life changing Love. And in turn, the generations like Chronicles and Kings, explain God in our lives, hearts, ways, and choices.
Not always with a homerun, but creating a life where the echo is heard again to resound
for God
in Jesus Christ
Savior of the world
His Hope is our Glory.
The Parable is not a plod along dog paths of familiarity. The Parable flies well past millenniums yet to unfold. And in Jesus Christ, this is OUR STORY because HE has Given Us His Plan and Planned for us to Partake.
Abba, Father God,
We pray the Blessing
of Love and Peace
Romans 8:31
"If God is for us, who can be against us"
Profoundly we live to Rise knowing
Your
Promise of divine support,
meaning our God is on our side,
no ultimate opposition
or adversary
will prevail.
God’s power and love are greater than any challenge,
fear, or worldly threat.
God in
Jesus Christ
is
our
Hope for Glory!
Thank You
for
our first grandbaby
Arriving this summer
All Your Love
Blessings upon
this little one.
And in Jesus - This Hope.
Faith and Love - we will rise up Believing Jesus.
Amen
♔ Lord Jesus Saves †
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