“Reaping God’s Superabundant Harvest”
Mark 4:1-12


Historical Setting
Though many variations exist on the historical setting of Mark, many believe it was written in Rome sometime within the period AD 60 to 70 either during or right after the Jewish War with Rome and the destruction of the Jewish temple.  

Its original readership was most likely primarily Gentile Christians who though familiar with some Jewish customs, still needed to have many of these customs explained in the gospel.  It is generally agreed, that while the exact nature of the persecution or suffering cannot be known definitively, that Mark did indeed write his gospel to a faith community in duress, in persecution.  

Mark is writing to a discouraged, even fearful, group of Christians who were beginning to question the goodness and power of God in the face of horrific trials.  They were deeply discouraged as they looked around and so many fellow Christians who they thought were strong in the faith and role models of discipleship were falling away, denying Christ in the face of persecution.  They were despairing and questioning whether it was worth al the hard work of sowing seeds of the gospel when it didn’t appear that it was producing any fruit.  Any one here ever feel these kind of feelings, ask these kind of questions?

Hence, one primary purpose of this gospel is that Mark wrote to comfort and encourage the Markan community to persevere in suffering by identifying with the person, sufferings, and kingdom mission of Christ.

The specific historical setting of when Christ first spoke this parable is set on the banks of the Sea of Galilee.  Though the original hearers of Christ were not under persecution, they where still under unwanted Roman rule, and held a misunderstanding of the messiah and kingdom of God.  

Hence, all who have heard this parable through the ages have needed its message, from Christ’s original audience who first heard this parable, from the Markan community who received this parable via this written gospel some 60 years later, to the Christians who have heard this parable through the centuries of Christianity, and to us sitting here this morning studying this parable, we all have needed the encouragement of a guaranteed abundant harvest, the exhortation to persevere in ministry and faithful living even in the face of trials, and the corrective understanding of the kingdom of God that this parable provides.  

A.  Literary Context
This parable in chapter four is the first of only two main teaching sections in the gospel of Mark.  Up until this section, Mark presents Christ as the anointed teacher who proclaims and demonstrates the kingdom of God.  The person of Christ and this gospel of the kingdom confront all who hear and demand a response.  

As we look through the responses to Christ and His gospel we see a wide spectrum.  Simon Peter and Andrew respond immediately to Christ’s call all leave all to follow Christ leaving their nets still wet from fishing.  The demons respond to the uncontestable power of Christ’s commands and leave their previously unchallenged human habitats, and do not even dare reveal Christ’s identity.  Diseases shrivel and leave at the healing word of Christ.  Even the paralysis of sin is healed and forgiven.  

But not all respond so favorably.  The Pharisees are threatened by this controversial and authoritative teacher and teaching.  They accuse Christ of deriving His power from Beelzebul and the ruler of the demons.  Jesus’ own immediate family thinks that He has gone out of His mind, not to mention the disgrace He was bringing upon the family name.

The question then that naturally arises is how can we account for such conflicting responses to Christ and the gospel of the kingdom?  The parable of Mark 4:1-12 begins to address this puzzle of why people respond so differently to the gospel.  

Now a very common way to interpret this parable, is to see this teaching as a categorizing of people according to how they respond to the gospel: some have hearts controlled by the devil, some have shallow faith, some fall away due to sin,-- and then of course we hope and pray that our hearts, the hearts of our loved ones, and the hearts of those we share the gospel with all fall into the last category of a good heart that bears much fruit.  This is one valid interpretation of this parable with some truth to it, but I would suggest to you that it was never meant to be the main message of this parable.  

One major problem with this interpretation is that it places the emphasis on the human response. It ignores a key statements found in verses 4:11-12 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the Kingdom of God, but to those outside, everything comes in parables.  4:12 In order that, ‘While seeing they may see and not perceive, and while hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they should turn and it should be forgiven.’ ”   

These verses place the emphasis on God’s choice of who will be empowered to understand the gospel and who will not.  In our Reformed heritage we call this the predestination of the elect.

But I suggest again, that while this parable does indeed set up the tension we find throughout Scripture between human choice ad driven election, these themes too are not the main point of this parable.


B.  Train of Thought
Now I don’t usually go into much detail on the grammatical aspects of a passage, but in this case these details are key to understanding the emphasis of this parable.  So bear with me through this.

The parable presents a progression of success here in the sowing.  The first seed has no chance at all.  The second and third each experience a progressively greater degree of growth.  However, none of these first three produces a harvest of grain.  

In 4:8, the parable climaxes with a surprising twist.  The last batch of seeds not only yields harvest, but a superabundant harvest.  The extreme, even miraculous yield of these three seeds far outweighs the loss of the first three seeds.   

It is fascinating that the word “seed” is not actually used in this parable.  It is clearly implied.  In the first three sowings, this “seed” is singular, there is a single seed sown.  But in the last sowing, there is a plurality of seeds, an abundance of seeds our sown.  

Additionally, the failure of the first three seeds is in what is called the aorist tense.  This simply means that the writer does not want you the reader to focus on the duration of the sowing or even its completing, but just to be aware that it happened.  

Contrarily, the extraordinary success of the last seeds is described in the active voice with imperfect verbs and present participles—this simply means that the writer wants to strongly emphasize that this reckless generous sowing of seeds that bear a superabundant harvest is an ongoing event.  

So what is the importance of all this?  The emphasis of this parable is not on the failed seed, the human response, or even on God’s mysterious hardening of some hearts.  The main point of this parable is to emphasize the superabundant harvest of those that are empowered to respond favorably and receive the gospel compared with the small number who do not.  The net effect of all this is to strongly emphasize the superabundant, miraculous harvest in contrast to the failed sowings.  It also provides a dramatic contrast between the one time nature of the failed seed and soil versus the ongoing process of growth and harvest that occurs in the good seed and soil.  

It is also worth mentioning briefly a note about the historical setting in reference to farming practices.  Reading the parable in light of modern farming practices where it has become a science as to methodology, the method of sowing in the parable is seemingly indiscriminate and wasteful.  

However, most scholars seem to agree that at the time this parable was spoken and read, the farmer would sow seed and then plow afterward.  This both explains the strange practice portrayed in the parable, and adds to the meaning of the parable that calls for generous and indiscriminate sowing of the gospel message trusting that the Spirit will bring forth a harvest wherever God sees fit to do so.

C. Summary Concerning the Passage’s “Original” Meaning
Listened now to the struggles of the community that Mark originally addressed this parable to, and no doubt you will relate with many of their struggles?  And may the Holy Spirit grant you the same empowering encouragement from this parable that they would have received.

The original readers of Mark would have received the parable of the sower as a message of hope and admonishment.  The parable accomplishes this twofold purpose by revealing a view of the kingdom that was corrective, confronting, and confident.

The parable was corrective because the nature of the kingdom is so beyond all preconceived ideas that Christ must continually broaden and deepen our understanding of it.  In clinging to inadequate or erroneous conceptions of the kingdom, the Markan community set itself up for discouragement when such expectations were not realized.  

Hence, a corrective understanding of the kingdom was required so that the Markan community could begin to see their trials of faith from God’s perspective.

The parable was confrontational because the demands of the kingdom are so radical that they require nothing less than a complete reshaping of ones worldview, life, and relationships, and eventually of all society.  

The incursion of the kingdom in Christ and through His Church was out to overthrow the kingdom of Satan, dethrone the idol of self in human hearts, and ultimately replace all human authority structures with the eternal and uncontested reign of God.  It should therefore come as no surprise that not all would receive the proclamation of the kingdom by the Markan community as good news.  
Moreover, God in unfathomable mystery had already decided that not everyone would respond to the invitation to enter this kingdom—tragically, some hearts would be hardened.  Mark needed to remind his community of this radical nature of their calling so they could continually reprioritize their lives, and interpret the trials and seeming failures of ministry in light of this confrontational nature of Christ and His kingdom.

The parable presented the kingdom as confident in its ultimate success.  Paradoxically contrasted with this success was the exclusive nature of the kingdom.  Perhaps the Markan community would have too often identified with the failed seed of the parable in either their personal life or their kingdom ministry.  

In the trials of the day, in being all too aware of their own gross shortcomings of obedience, in the seeming absence of any fruitful ministry, they go to the parable once again.  Christ again calls them to hear!  Once again, the ending surprises them.  “Oh yes” they remember, “This kingdom life is not about our inherent ability to understand or obey, it is all about divine illumination, the gift of faith, and the sustaining power of grace.”  

They remember who it is that the Father through the gospel author is inviting them to identify with.  Not the dense disciples, not the failed seed, not even the successful seeds, but with the true Sower—Christ.  They were the insiders who had been given the mysteries of the kingdom.  And along with this privileged status came the responsibility to sow the seed of the gospel message.

The Markan community looked around at the distressed and dispersed church in Jerusalem, and at the suffering of their community, strained relationships with family members, even some of their fellow Christians falling away in times of persecution.  

No doubt questions arose about the purpose of discipleship, just who could be trusted as leaders and role models, the continued success of the Christian faith, even the ultimate victory of the kingdom of God.  

In was to such anguished and weary believers that Mark wrote.  He exhorts them to keep their eyes upon Christ the only trustworthy model of discipleship, the only steadfast faithful role model, and the One who knows what it is like to suffer.  

Mark admonishes them to open their spiritual eyes to discern the glimpses of God’s hand in the seeming natural events around them. They are encouraged in remembering that ongoing faithfulness to kingdom ministry, to the sowing of the gospel seed, no matter how overwhelming the data that seems to indicate present failure, will ultimately yield an extraordinary, superabundant kingdom harvest.


The Passage in its Modern Context
The revelation of the subversive, exclusive, and ultimately victorious nature of the kingdom of God this parable reveals addresses, although not completely answers, many questions.  The question of suffering is addressed in revealing a glimpse of why God delays the Second Coming of Christ in order to allow for the full harvest of the elect.  

The question of why not all respond positively to the gospel is addressed in revealing the exclusiveness of the kingdom message that brings both grace and judgment, the aroma of life and death.  

Lastly, the question of why evil appears to dominate over good is addressed in the revelation that the kingdom of God is advancing one heart at a time, and while the ultimate victory is assured, meanwhile the spiritual battle rages where devils like birds upon seed devour human lives.

A.    Theological Tradition
Our Reformed theological tradition does rightly embrace the doctrine of predestination.  But it is a violation of the intent of this passage to use it in a manner that encourages an “us versus them” mentality toward non-Christians, to formulate a view of God as vindictive and arbitrary, or to foster complacency in our assured salvation.

Instead, this passage reveals the lavish grace of God who copiously pours out the seed of the gospel with extravagant love in eager anticipation of an abundant harvest of God’s wandering and wounded children that will far outweigh all the loss and suffering of human history.  

In addition, election is to a special purpose not a privileged status.  We are entrusted with the secrets of the kingdom so that we may be “a lamp on a lampstand,” and take what was secret and bring it into the light (Mk 4:21-22).” Moreover, we are to do so with the same generous spirit with which God sows the gospel seed (Mk 4:24-25).

Throughout the history of Christianity, those in the Reformed heritage have included some of the greatest evangelist.  There is a gross misunderstanding of election and predestination that many embrace as an excuse not to evangelize declaring that since God as already decided who is in and who is out, what does it mater if I share the gospel.

Contrarily, these great evangelists understood that God’s appointed means of saving the elect is through the preaching of the gospel, and because they were absolutely confident in God’s promise of a superabundant harvest of the elect such as this parable reveals, they boldly and lavishly proclaimed the gospel knowing full well it would produce a harvest.  

Brothers and sisters, we too must reclaim this motivating conviction and unshakable trust in God’s promised harvest to compel us to generously, boldly plant seeds of the gospel every chance we get, knowing that God will reap of superabundant harvest in His time and in His way!

B.    Listening For God’s Word
So what about you?  How have you understood the fruit on your life or the nature of the kingdom as to jus though many are elect versus those that are not?   I pray that in this short study of this parable, the Spirit is causing you to see afresh the largeness of God’s heart and breadth of God’s grace.  

Perhaps you have focused more on the failed seed.  Perhaps you even have placed yourself into one of the fruitless categories.  Let our Lord now affirm to you that your life in Christ and through grace will not be wasted seed, but fruitful for God’s pleasure and glory.  

Likewise, may you be assured by God’s Word that the consummated kingdom of God will “far exceed anything you could ever imagine or hope for” in terms of the final harvest that will be “thirty, sixty, and hundredfold” abundant relative to the failed seeds.

To the young men and women, this passage admonishes them to live large lives of lavish grace and reckless love sowing as God sows in extravagant generosity.  

To the older women and men looking back over their lives wondering if it had any value, this passage assures them that God is faithful and will cause the seed they have sown to be superabundantly fruitful when the final harvest is weighed.

Like the Markan community, we too often find ourselves identifying with the dense disciples, the dismissed family, and the failed seed.  To us comes the confident, comforting message of this passage and parable to get our attention off ourselves and other bad examples of discipleship, to remember that kingdom living is all about God’s gift of faith, Christ’s sustaining grace, and the Spirit’s illumination and empowerment.  

We come again to this parable to refocus our eyes and heart upon Jesus as our only trustworthy “pioneer and perfector of our faith.”