Although Mark focuses more on the actions of Jesus rather than His teachings, we are about to enter a section of teachings where the word “parable” shows up for the second time. These parables have become the way in which Jesus responds in light of the opposition arising against Him.
Mark 4:1 And again he began to teach by the seaside. And a large crowd was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea, and sat down. And the whole crowd was on the land by the sea. 2 And then he taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching, 3″Listen. Look, the sower who went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 And others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun came up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 8 And others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing; and brought forth thirty times, and sixty times, and one hundred times.” 9 And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.” NHEB
There are fields around the Sea of Galilee. One of the traditions that has arisen is that there is a farmer in a nearby field and Jesus starts the story by pointing at that farmer. His first word is “listen” which is reminiscent of Deuteronomy 6:4 that begins “Hear, O Israel”. We also see the same exhortation (to hear) in the 7 letters in Revelation. In the parable, Jesus describes the four soils and ends with the thought that He hopes they were listening (and also that their hearts are good soil). The idea is that we have a choice when the Gospel is presented.
Typically Jesus will provide a parable without explanation. Here we get an explanation but not before He offers a rather complicated teaching.
Mark 4:10 When he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11He said to them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those outside, everything is in parables, 12 so that although they look they may look but not see, and although they hear they may hear but not understand, so they may not repent and be forgiven.”NET
Not everyone in Jesus’ group is a believer in Him. Here it is the twelve apostles along with a small inner circle that are with Him who have been given the secret. The funny thing is, despite being with Him every day, they have no idea what Jesus is talking about! In many respects, this is understandable since this occurs before the Resurrection and before Pentecost.
On the surface, it appears that Christ is trying to make the Gospel inaccessible but remember that Mark’s writing is short and to the point. There is greater detail in Matthew’s account of the same parable.
Matthew 13:1 On that day after Jesus went out of the house, he sat by the lake. 2 And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat to sit while the whole crowd stood on the shore. 3 He told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. 6 But when the sun came up, they were scorched, and because they did not have sufficient root, they withered. 7Other seeds fell among the thorns, and they grew up and choked them. 8 But other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 The one who has ears had better listen!” 10 Then the disciples came to him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11He replied, “You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but they have not. 12 For whoever has will be given more, and will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13 For this reason I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand. 14 And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:‘You will listen carefully yet will never understand, you will look closely yet will never comprehend. 15 For the heart of this people has become dull; they are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16 “But your eyes are blessed because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. NET
Earlier in Mark 3:5 we saw a Jesus who is angry that people, who should know better, are willfully blind as to what is happening around them and who He is. Even worse, they inexplicably equate acts of God with the devil and have positioned themselves as enemies. They looked at the Scriptures and instead of seeing the Messiah, they see the devil. This rejection by those who should have recognized Him remains a mystery.
Mark’s account can be read as a classic Calvinist text. That is, it is God’s intention that some people remain ignorant while others have been selected to be saved. The Matthew version has a more complete version of the Isaiah text (in bold above) that suggests the lack of understanding and access to the kingdom is a consequence of people’s own actions. Either way, it sheds some light as to why some people accept Christ and others reject Him.