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| Chapter 4 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And He began again to teach by the seaside. And there was gathered unto Him a great multitude, so that He entered into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. 2 And He taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in His doctrine: 3 "Hearken! Behold, there went out a sower to sow. 4 And it came to pass as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. 5 And some fell on stony ground where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 8 And other fell on good ground; and it yielded fruit that sprang up and increased and brought forth: some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundredfold." 9 And He said unto them, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." 10 And when He was alone, those who were about Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 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, 12 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’." 13 And He said unto them, "Know you not this parable? And how then will ye know all parables? 14 The sower soweth the Word. 15 And these are they by the wayside, where the Word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the Word that was sown in their hearts. 16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground who, when they have heard the Word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 but they have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the Word’s sake, immediately they are offended. 18 And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the Word, 19 but the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful. 20 And these are they which are sown on good ground, such as hear the Word and receive it and bring forth fruit: some thirty fold, some sixty, and some a hundred." 21 ¶ And He said unto them, "Is a candle brought to be put under a basket or under a bed, and not to be set on a candlestick? 22 For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was anything kept secret, but that it should be revealed. 23 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear." 24 And He said unto them, "Take heed what ye hear. With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you; and unto you that hear shall more be given. 25 For he that hath, to him shall be given; and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." 26 And He said, "So is the Kingdom of God as if a man should cast seed into the ground, 27 and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he knoweth not how. 28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself: first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." 30 And He said, "To what shall we liken the Kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall we compare it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that are in the earth. 32 But when it is sown, it groweth up and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it." 33 And with many such parables He spoke the Word unto them, as they were able to hear it; 34 but without a parable spoke He not unto them. And when they were alone, He expounded all things to His disciples. 35 ¶ And that same day, when the evening had come, He said unto them, "Let us pass over unto the other side." 36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the boat; and there were also with Him other little boats. 37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was now full. 38 But He was in the hind part of the boat, asleep on a pillow; and they awoke Him and said unto Him, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" 39 And He arose, and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, "Peace, be still." And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 And He said unto them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?" 41 And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, "What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" |
v1-12 The Sower Parable. Matt 13:1-23; Luke 8:4-15. This parable shows the different type of people and what happens when they hear the Word’s of God. The seeds are the Word of God, the soil represents the heart of the person. For a seed to grow the soil needs some preparation before the seed is planted. The persons heart also needs some preparation to receive the Word of God. The story shows four kinds of soil for the seed to fall onto. v4 The "wayside" or hard soil. This soil had become hard packed due to many people walking on it, the seeds lay on the top of the soil and can easily be eaten by the birds. This represents the hard heart, it resists the Word of God and is open to Satan (the birds). Hard soil needs much digging before it will accept seeds, so an hard heart needs much preparation before they will accept the Word of God, this may be a painful experience. v5 The "stony" or shallow soils. This is soil which is a thin layer on top of rock or soil which is mainly stones. The seed falls into the soil, start to grow but there is very little food or water and soon die. This heart is from a person who hears the Word, responds to the message, joyfully accepts the message, but soon finds that the price is too much and turns away, the "counterfeit religious feeling." v7 The Thorny, soil full of weeds. The seeds grow, but there are so many weeds that when the seeds grow they cannot compete against the weeds for food and water and produce no seeds, possibly dying. The persons heart finds the things and pleasures offered by the world stops the Word growing in their heart. They may continue being religious but cannot produce any fruit. v8,20 The Fruitful soil. The perfect soil, food and water and nothing which stops the plant growing and producing fruit. This shows the true believer, the changed life will produce fruit. Not all believers will produce the same amount of fruit, just like plants do not have the same amount of fruit. Every real believer will produce some fruit for their Lord and it is a sign of a genuine Christian life. The first three types of heart behaviour shows what we were like before and what are the enemies of the heart. See Eph 2:1-3, controlled by Satan, counterfeit religious attitude, the world is more attractive, replaced the Word. v21-25 The parable of the light Compare Matt 5:15,16; Luke 8:16; Luke 11:33. Jesus now introduced a familiar object from the house, an oil lamp. The lamp Jesus is talking about is a clay dish with a wick placed in the oil. The wick soaked up the oil and it could then be lit. To produce light the lamp has to use up the oil, to continue to be a light that oil needs to be replaced, without it the lamp was no good. For a believer to be of use they must feed on the Word. The lamp must be placed in the open, not covered by a basket or under a bed, because the light it gives off will be of no use. Also there is no sense in covering up any part of your life as God will reveal it all. v23-25 This verse warns us to be careful of how we hear the Words of God. Anyone who takes in the truth and uses it to the glory of God will receive more of the truth, anyone who refuses the truth will lose what knowledge of the truth they had. v26-34 The Growing Seed. This parable tells us that we are unable to make a seed grow, we can give it the perfect food, water and soil but the seeds decides when,if ever, to grow. A farmer has great faith and patience's in his seeds when he sows them. Jesus spoke of some seeds falling on poor soil and this might put off His workers if they do not get an immediate result, Jesus gives them encouragement. Jesus now goes on to explain how a small seed can grow into a large tree, a small beginning in the work of the Lord will grow to affect the surroundings. Jesus started with twelve apostles, then 120 believers, Acts 1:15 then following the preaching of Peter at Pentecost, there were added 3000 in one day Acts 2:41. See Acts 4;4 ; Acts 5:14 ; Acts 6:1,7; Rev 5:9. v32 May be a warning to the believers, if the birds of v4 and 15 are of Satan then the birds which live in the tree must mean that Satan can use the church of God for his benefit, consider Judas Iscariot, Ananias and Saphira Acts 5:1-11 as possible examples. v35-41 At the end of a day of teaching, using parables to help people understand Jesus tells the disciples that they are to go across the Sea of Galilee to the other side. Jesus is physically tired and is soon in peaceful sleep. The Sea of Galilee is known to go from calm to a storm in minutes due to the way the hills surround the area and a severe storm hits the boat, so severe that the fishermen disciples were scared. Jesus is at peace, the motion of the boat has not waken Him, why? because He knows His Father is looking after Him. Jesus had said we will go to the other side and He knew His Father would take Him there safely. The disciples had seen Him heal people, forgive sins and still doubted His power. They wake Him up and He immediately calms the sea and wind. "Why do you not believe in who I am?" He ask’s. Jesus planned to go to the other side of the sea, He knew that there would be a storm, the disciples now realized that the power of the world was under His control. Jesus has promised His believers to trust Him to reach the other side of life, but He does not say we will not have ‘storms,’ but trust in His promise, He has power over everything. |
Easy English Translation
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