The Year of our Lord, Jesus Christ
Mark 4:13
And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
Ok, Preacher…this is the tenth devotion in a row about the parable of the Seed and Sower. Why torture us? It seems as though you are dissecting this parable with surgical precision.
Ok, full disclaimer, no one has actually said this, but probably some have felt that way. So, why spend so much time and effort on one parable? Because to this preacher if a person can understand this one parable they will have a better chance of understanding them all. In today’s verse the Lord seemed to indicate this. I believe this is why He goes into painstaking effort to explain all about it.
He explains that the seed is the Word of God. That the soil typifies a person’s heart. He explains the hard packed ground, the stony ground, the thorny ground, and the good ground. It seems that He spent more time explaining this parable than any other. Why? To teach us how to interpret all other parables.
So, why is it so important to be able to properly interpret His parables. Because of that which He said in Mark 4:11-12. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
The Lord makes a difference between the “you” and the “them” in verse 11. “You” are God’s children, His people. “Them” are “that are without.” They are outside the family of faith; they are none of His. They hear the stories, they understand the illustration, see the word picture, and they discern the words, but they can’t grasp the spiritual truth being taught. The reason for that is a lack of faith. When a person rejects faith as given by the Holy Spirit, they lack the necessary requirement to see beyond the veil the “here and now” into eternity. They see with the natural eye but cannot see with the spiritual eye.
Hence the need for God’s people to fully grasp as much as can be obtained from this tremendous parable; the Parable of the Seed and the Sower! For by understanding it, all others may be properly interpreted.
Until Next Time,
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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