Mark 4:1-12

Mark 4:1-12 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.” Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”

This passage reveals the supernatural nature of the scriptures. Obviously, everyone listening to Jesus had ears, but only some would hear with their faith-ears. All those who wanted Jesus to explain explicitly the kingdom of God were not going to hear clearly. Jesus was not going to allow them to hear as they would want to hear. Even today, people say, if only God would show himself plainly to us, if only He would explain logically the rationale of what he is doing in the physical and spiritual domains of life, then we would believe. God, if only you would push this faith thing off the table and deal with us in an intellectual, empirical manner, then we would follow you. But God is immensely quiet when we make such requests. Even though many of us see God in nature or in the vastness of space, He is not truly discovered there. The Bible indicates that which is, is not, and that which is not, is. Otherwise, God is a spirit. I believe Jesus is saying in the above passage, I don't want you to, and I will never allow you to, circumvent faith; you will never be allowed to enter the kingdom of God exclusively through your rational, intellectual mind. If you did so, then you would take credit for your salvation. Then God would not be the good God of mercy and grace; He would be the Lord who benefits people according to their abilities to understand the intricacies of the Spirit world. They would enter the kingdom of God on their own merit. Salvation would not be a gift of God--it would be the product of WORKS, man's efforts to know and find him. No, everyone must come by faith. No man will be forgiven because he found God through his own special insight and wisdom. God will not share his glory with any man, and if a man can say I found God because I am just a little smarter than the rest of mankind, God has to share his glory with that man. In today's passage we hear Jesus saying He wants the arrogant person to be ever seeing, and ever hearing, but NOT UNDERSTANDING THE THINGS OF GOD. He does not want to forgive man on man's terms.

People often struggle with the irrationality of life. Why do good people sometimes die early? Why is there suffering in the world, especially with the young and innocent? Why are there wars? Why do bad people often become rich and successful, whereas the righteous may live in poverty and ignominy? Why don't peace and health reign in the kingdoms of the world, rather than sin and sickness? Even Christians sit and ponder these unanswerable questions. We know there is a God, for we have experienced him in our hearts; we know He is good. However, his authority sometimes seems ineffectual here on earth, his presence so far from the daily happenings of life. Some of us do get discouraged: we just can't figure out the justice of the system. We feel righteousness and goodness should be rewarded: our loved ones should not be getting sick, our friend should not be ill unto death, our lives and the lives of our children should be prosperous, and definitely our own health should be great. Aren't we followers of the Creator, the Lover of our souls, He who can do anything? But God is never going to short circuit the avenue of faith. “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:17) If our Christian lives paid off big, if we were the richest people on earth, the healthiest people on the earth, if we lived the longest, who would not follow Jesus? Then, any reasonable thinking person would follow him. But Jesus said, I am going to talk to them in parables. They are going to have to follow me by faith. Their faith-ears will need to be functioning. If they have ears to hear, they will understand my words. Then these parables will be food to their spiritual lives. But to those on the outside, those with natural ears, my words will confuse them. My words will be sawdust in their mouths, lacking nourishment to sustain their lives. They will be lost in the darkness of their own thinking--for their wisdom and intellect has betrayed them. May we choose light, walk in light, and share the light while it is yet day.