Mark 4:1-34: Kingdom Parables
SOME STORIES WEAR their points on their sleeves, as it were. Others, to borrow from P. G. Wodehouse's definition of a parable, keep something up their sleeves "which suddenly pops up and knocks you flat." Among Jesus' stories we find a variety—from those that are easy to understand to those that are so difficult they invite our thought and reflection again and again. The stories in this passage contain vital information about God's kingdom and its subjects—for those who have ears to hear!
Warming Up to God
What aspect in your life makes it difficult for you to hear the voice of Christ? Talk to Jesus about the barriers you face and ask him to show you how to remove them.
Read Mark 4:1-34. »
Discovering the Word
- Watch especially for words and phrases that are repeated in verses 1-25. What idea or ideas seem to dominate these verses?
- Jesus explains the parable of the sower, or the parable of the soils (vv. 3-8), in verses 14-20. Put this explanation in your own words, describing from your own experience examples of each kind of soil-seed combination.
- On what grounds are people included or excluded from the secret of the kingdom?
- How do verses 21-25 help explain verses 11-12?
- What insights into kingdom growth do the parables of the growing seed and the mustard seed give us (vv. 26-34)?
Applying the Word
- What kind of soil are you?
- What can you do to become the kind of soil Jesus is looking for?
- In this passage we see Jesus both spreading the message of the kingdom and teaching about how the kingdom grows. What lessons can we learn about evangelism both from his example and from his teaching?
Responding in Prayer
Ask Jesus to work in you to make you receptive soil.
For Further Study
Parables: The Greatest Stories Ever Told by John White