The Sower

Mark 4:1-20

What is a parable? Why did Jesus teach in parables? To know and understand why, we need to not just listen to Jesus's teaching.  We need to hear.  

Thirteen times in this section, from verse 1 on into verse 34, the key word is listen.  Jesus gives us incredible wisdom if we're willing to listen, to hear, to lean in and pay attention to him, and not just let the words pass over us but to be planted in our hearts. He's brought truth, a seed that when it grows it changes your life completely. It changes the world.

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 13:1–23, Luke 8:4–15 
 
1) WHAT ARE PARABLES? 

• Mark 4:33–34 — “He did not speak to them without a parable…” 
• Psalm 78:1–2 — “I will open my mouth in a parable…” (quoted in Matthew 13:35) 
• John 16:25 — Jesus explaining figurative speech becoming clear later 

 
2) WHY JESUS TAUGHT IN PARABLES 

• Isaiah 6:8–10 — Quoted by Jesus: “They may indeed listen, yet not understand…” 
• Psalm 115:4–8 — “Those who make idols are just like them…” 
• Romans 9 — God’s mercy and hardening in Israel’s story 
• John 10:9 — “I am the door; if anyone enters by me…” 
• John 14:26; 16:13 — The Holy Spirit guiding believers into truth 

 
3) THE LESSON OF JESUS’S PARABLES 

• Acts 5:40–41 — The apostles rejoicing to suffer for Jesus 
• James 1:2–4, 12 — Growth through trials 
• Mark 10:17–27 — The Rich Young Ruler 
• 1 Timothy 6:9–10, 17–19 — Warnings about wealth 
• Matt. 16:15–23 — “Peter confesses Christ, then rebukes Him” 
• Mark 14:27 — “All of you will fall away…” 
• John 4:1–26 — The woman at the well and “living water” 
• Romans 10:17 — “Faith comes from hearing…” 
• John 15:1–8 — Bearing fruit by abiding in Christ 
• Galatians 5:22–23 — The fruit of the Spirit 
• Philippians 3:7–8 — Counting all as loss for Christ 
• 1 Peter 1:23 – 2:3 — Born again through the living Word; “desire the pure milk…” 
• Isaiah 55:10–11 — God’s Word will not return empty 
• Colossians 1:5–6 — The gospel bearing fruit and growing