A Blossom Bible Podcast
A Blossom Bible Podcast
Mark 4:21-35 Unraveling Jesus' Parables: Spiritual Insights for Modern Believers
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What if understanding Jesus' parables could change the way you see your own spiritual journey? Join us as we unravel the profound teachings of Jesus from Mark 4:21-33, delving into the transformative power of his parables. We'll contrast the eager yet shallow crowds with the unyielding hearts of the religious leaders, and explore how these stories reveal deeper spiritual truths to his disciples. From the assured victory of God's Kingdom in Revelation 11:15 and Daniel 2, we remind ourselves of the ultimate triumph that awaits, even in the face of today's darkness and challenges.
We'll also discuss how to live as beacons of light in a seemingly crooked generation, inspired by the writings in Philippians and Mark. Reflecting on Paul's call for believers to be blameless and harmless, we emphasize the importance of being discerning in what we hear and ensuring our hearts are open to God's word. Through the parable of the mustard seed, we'll illustrate how even the smallest acts of faith can contribute to the exponential growth of God's Kingdom. Join us in this episode as we encourage you to remain faithful, let your light shine, and trust God with the outcomes, no matter how small your efforts might seem.
Mark, chapter 4, verse 21. Alright, so just a few chapters into this account of the life of Jesus. We see that Jesus has seen the current situation ministering to a crowd that was very excited to see the miracles, very excited to see the miracles, very excited to see him work, but had very little root in their hearts, no depth, kind of like that soil we talked about, no depth of earth, and they sprouted up in excitement. But Jesus knows their hearts are just there for what they can get right. There's also that side of people, the religious leaders we would say, who are skeptical, who have gotten into the habit of saying well, he casts out demons, but it's by the prince of demons, everything he does is by the devil, and their hearts are getting harder and harder and harder. So Jesus, for a time here, turns to his disciples to teach them and instruct them. He begins to speak in this form of teaching called parables. They're earthly illustrations of a heavenly truth and this is how he teaches his disciples for a time. We'll start in verse 21, but skip over to verse 33. And we see this With many such parables, jesus spoke the word to them, his disciples, as they were able to hear it Without a parable, he did not speak to them. So here Jesus is kind of zeroing in on parables when they're alone. Jesus explains them in detail. Now he did that with the parable of the sower. We studied it for almost a month.
Speaker 1:The parable of the sower, a very well-explained parable by Jesus. The soil a picture of our heart. The seed a picture of God's word. So we find in that parable, the first part of chapter four, that our heart determines what God's word will do in our lives. If our heart is good, soft ground, uncluttered by the cares of this world and those kinds of weeds, god's word will spring up and produce fruit in our life. If we're overcome by the cares of this world and things like that, it can hurt what God wants to do. So Jesus has just got done explaining that and we studied it for quite a while. But Jesus is going to go on to speak to his disciples there in verse 21, of a couple things I have a couple things the truth of the kingdom He'll compare it to light, he'll compare it again to seeds, and then the kingdom of God itself. That's really what these next couple parables are about the kingdom of God and the truth of the kingdom of God. So what is the kingdom of God and the truth of the kingdom of God. So what is the kingdom of God? Something we don't always think about. The kingdom of God is at hand, john would say. Jesus would say what is the kingdom of God? Well, we'll start at the end of the story.
Speaker 1:In the book of Revelation we're told that in the end of the story the kingdom of God prevails there. In Revelation, chapter 11, we'll get to Mark, chapter 4, but Revelation, chapter 11, if you want to hold your place here, you can and turn to Revelation 11, verse 15. John sees heaven, he gets transported in the spirit. It seems to heaven, and in Revelation, chapter 11, verse 15 says this then the seventh angel sounded a trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. An encouraging line here about the kingdom of God. Handel, all you classical music people, right, I'm sure there's one in here somewhere Handel and his Messiah uses this word for word the kingdoms of this world have become a kingdom, hallelujah. It's all there in that song, right, and he shall reign forever and ever. There's a spot and I sang it in high school, by the way and this is the end of the story for us that God's kingdom is established on earth, that God reigns forever and ever, and that's the end of the story.
Speaker 1:Well, daniel, chapter two. We see it a little differently. Daniel has this dream. Nebuchadnezzar the king, has a dream, and Daniel interprets it right. It's a dream of these statues. This one statue with gold and silver and bronze and iron, represents the empires of the world and that, as time goes on, different empires come and rule and reign. God tells Nebuchadnezzar this Now check it out.
Speaker 1:The punchline of that dream is the most amazing part, and you can picture it. Here's this statue the empires of this world, glittering and gold and all these things. And then this rock comes, this boulder comes flying through the sky and hits this statue World Empires on its feet. The statue crumbles and this rock begins to grow. Picture it the rock Grows, that's the sound it makes and it grows and it begins to cover the whole earth. A mountain that never stops, that never goes away. That's God's kingdom. Jesus will come as king. That rock hit the empires of this world on the feet and they'll crumble and God's kingdom will engulf the whole world.
Speaker 1:That's the end of the story for us. The kingdom of God becomes the world's kingdom and it lasts forever. Now this is how the story will end. There's no doubt about it. This is from eternity. It's already accomplished in one way God's kingdom will prevail. But we don't about it. This is from eternity. It's already accomplished in one way God's kingdom will prevail. But we don't see it yet. As we look at this idea of God's kingdom, we don't see it yet. We look around our world and we see darkness, we see evil and it feels like darkness gets stronger and stronger. Crimes get more and more demented and more and more common. Evil fills this world, hurts and all sorts of stuff. And we look at this world and the kingdom of darkness seems like it's getting stronger. But that's not the end of the story and that's what we see here. It's not darkness that prevails, but light.
Speaker 1:Now we look at Mark, chapter 4, verse 21. Verse 21. That it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. Then he said to them take heed, what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you, and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has to him, more will be given. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. So picture a dark room. It's dark and then you turn on the light. We get it right. That's what Jesus is talking about here A light, a lamp, brought into a dark room, and we understand it. It does its job.
Speaker 1:In this first parable, darkness can be a problem, right, traveling this last couple weeks traveling, there's always that first night isn't there. Does anyone else have this problem the first night? You know you're used to your room, you're used to where things are, the door, you see maybe the light of the nightlight under the door. You know you see the light from the window on one side of the bed. And you wake up that first night and it's always just so confusing. You know you have that conversation with yourself when am I? How did I get here? You know, and you know how do I get around and the darkness is pretty confusing, right, you walk around with your phone out or whatever it is and you try to find your way. There's confusion. You might face plant on your way to the bathroom there in the middle of the night. It happens. Light does a lot of good for us in beating the confusion of darkness, finding our ways around. That's obvious. It's an obvious story here.
Speaker 1:So light in the ancient world, light in the middle of the night, was a luxury. And we got this from a souvenir shop in Israel. This is what Jesus is talking about. I don't know if you can see it. It's a lamp, right, it's a little, you know, clay lamp. Actually there's a wick inside of it and you know, you fill it with oil and you have the wick and it lights up the room. But check it out, it was a luxury.
Speaker 1:What did you do in those days when it got dark? You went to sleep. That's pretty much what you did, unless you sat by the fire. You didn't burn oil every single night, you didn't stay up and, you know, push the darkness out. You would just kind of live with it. But a light was a luxury.
Speaker 1:Light costs money, and so Jesus here says if you had a lamp, you wouldn't hide it under a basket or a bowl. Right, that's not what you do. It wouldn't be safe to hide a light under a basket anyways, or under your bed. But Jesus says if you had that luxury of a lamp, you'd put it on a lamp stand, something made to actually bring the light up. It's like when the lights go out, the power goes out, right, you get your little mag light flashlight and, if you're like me, you hang it from the chandelier or something. You bring it up, you put it in a room with a mirror to kind of get the most out of light that you can and you huddle around that flashlight and you enjoy life, you know, but you make the best of it. A lamp stand was meant to bring it up, to make the best of the lamp. You want to use every bit of that oil for good.
Speaker 1:And so Jesus, here, speaking of this kingdom of darkness, says you don't take a light in the darkness and hide it. You put it where it can be seen and where it can be used. So what is the light here? A picture of? Well, check it out. Light is the truth of the kingdom. That would be an easy one to get out of this. Because, right, the psalmist there, david, in Psalm 119, 105, says your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. God's word shows us where to go. Psalm 43.3 says oh, send out your light and your truth and let them lead me, let them bring me to your holy hill and to your tabernacle. So God's word, god's truth, is light to us. It shows us where to go in life. That's good, that's a strong picture of God's word, the truth of the kingdom, and we have it in front of us, useful for life, every bit of our life. Now interesting, come back for some Greek here. I know you're excited.
Speaker 1:Notice, in verse 21 it says Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is a lamp brought? Now, this is actually kind of unfortunate because that's not really what it says. Is a light a lamp brought? In the Greek it would actually be the light comes. Does a light come to be put under a basket or under a bed? And we have trouble with that because light doesn't bring itself into any room. You know, unless you're the Pixar, you know lamp that bounces in and you know that's kind of the picture we're getting here. It is a light come into a room just to be hit. And so in this we see a great picture of Jesus, the light, who wasn't brought into the world but came into the world.
Speaker 1:John talks about this a lot in his books John 1, verse 6,. Listen to this. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness to the light that all through him might believe. Now, john was not that light, but he was sent to bear witness to the light. That was a true light which gives light to every man coming into the world. The light was Jesus.
Speaker 1:In fact, in John, chapter eight, jesus says it very clearly I am the light of the world. So Jesus is the light we could see here that comes into the room, into the darkness, into our dark world. But Jesus also said in Matthew, chapter five for the light of the world, disciples, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. So God's word is like a light. We understand that, a lamp into our feet and a light into our past. Jesus is the only light who comes into this world, this dark world to save us. But Jesus then sends us out and says you are the light of the world, and so the picture is kind of threefold. We could look at this in a lot of different ways, but it's also our responsibility to be light.
Speaker 1:Let's turn to Philippians, chapter 2. Get those fingers going. Philippians, chapter 2, verse 14. Philippians 2, 14. Paul says this Do all things without complaining and disputing, and that would be enough for us to take for today. Right, you know, if you want some application for your life, do all things without complaining or disputing. Man, I worked my whole life on that. Can I do it without complaining? Paul says that's the way it ought to be.
Speaker 1:Why Verse 15,? That you may become blameless and harmless children of God, without fault, in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world. So Paul here lets us know it's a crooked and perverse generation. That sounds right, doesn't it? And we, by the things that we do and the attitudes, that we have become like lights in this crooked and perverse generation that we want to shine. As Jesus said, you're the light of the world. Shine as light in this world. So we're called to be like this lamp in a dark room. Representatives of Jesus pointing to him were light bearers in this dark world.
Speaker 1:Now let's go back to Mark, chapter 4. That light isn't meant to be hid, it's meant to be used. Look at verse 24. He said to them take heed what you hear. But the same measure you use will be measured to you, and to you who hear, more will be given. So first thing Jesus says here is take heed to what you hear. This is important for us because there's lots of things that we can hear in this world. Right, you just look at the world in general and the attitudes and the things that people live for. Just commercialism, right, we got to be careful what we hear.
Speaker 1:But even in the church I'll say it about myself just be careful what you hear, be critical of what you hear and what you take in, because even in the church, some attitudes are encouraged. Greed is actually encouraged. Self-esteem right, esteeming ourselves is actually encouraged. Pride could be encouraged. You know that the whole reason I'm here is to get, get, get you know. Prosperity, health and wealth, all these things. There's a lot of lies that just kind of float out, even in our churches.
Speaker 1:Compare it to God's word, even the things I say. Please compare it to God's word. Be careful of what you hear. But in Matthew and Luke the word is be careful how you hear is what Jesus also says here Be careful how you hear. And that takes us back to the parable of the sower right. Be careful of how you receive God's word, because what your heart is like will determine how God's word will grow in your life. So watch out for your heart in your life. So watch out for your heart. Why he says here the measure you use it will be measured to you. So this is interesting how you use God's word will determine what you get from God's word. God's word is meant to be used. Believe it, but don't just take it in and believe it. Let your life be based on what God has to say. Now come back for a second and don't miss that. We're actually called to use and live what God tells us. God says he wants truth from us In our inward heart. He wants truth.
Speaker 1:Lying is not something that should be part of a believer's life. I bring that one up specifically because in our world we're okay with, we expect people to lie In this political season, we expect to have fact checking. But we're not that upset when people lie to us because everybody lies. But that's not what God has made you for. God has made you for truth. Please take that to heart in your world. God has made you for truth, not for lies. Live it out Now, check it out.
Speaker 1:As you live out God's word and you put it in practice in your life, god will bring more truth into your heart. And it's that kind of thing in my life. It's like I can tell you know, there are things, attitudes, that God works on for years and is still working on in my heart constantly. But you know it's like he works on that and then a little later in our life he's working on some other part of our character and our attitudes. So the more you use it, the more you'll get. Use God's word, share God's word. That's the other thing. We're actually here to share God's truth with others. I have a hard time with that one. It's super easy for me to talk to you about these things. It's a little harder for me just to talk to somebody I meet, you know, down at auto. You know at the auto dealer, you know, get my car fixed or something. It's a little harder for me to share truth there.
Speaker 1:But when you look at this picture, jesus says you're a light, don't let your light be under a basket. You're not just, you know, anonymously, a Christian, you know a secret Christian. You know we're meant to be light in this dark world, and who knows how God wants to use it? But he does want to use it. So Jesus gives them this kingdom truth. It's a dark world, it's a kingdom of darkness, but you're a light. Shine as a light in this world. Look at verse 26, though we're moving on, and he said the kingdom of God. That kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. So we're back to seed and sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow. He himself does not know how, for the earth yields crops by itself First the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.
Speaker 1:So we're talking about seeds, again, plants, and Jesus brings up an interesting thing here the process of a seed growing. It's kind of mysterious, I mean, it is kind of amazing when you really look at it. You know you take a seed and you know you put it in the ground and you water it and it just begins to grow. It shoots out a little stem as Jesus gives us the whole process here, you know and that starts to grow and just come out of the ground and you know, before you know it. You just come out of the ground and you know, before you know it, you have a tree with fruit and all these kinds of things. But you think about how amazing that is.
Speaker 1:I mean science, yeah, sure, we use photosynthesis and all these kinds of words to explain what goes on, but it's this little factory, you know this little fruit producing factory in a seed, and it grows and you can water it and you can put it in good ground, you can make sure it has lots of sunlight, but you really can't make it grow. Even today, we can't make it grow. You know, this mystery of a plant growing is something that only God can do, and that's a good word for us here. It's a good word for us to trust God with the results. This is a picture of evangelism you could say right, if the seed is God's word, then we're out there scattering God's word. That's what you're made for, that's what your life is for Just giving out God's truth. You can give out God's truth, but you can't make it grow.
Speaker 1:Right Now, check this out. Study it up. Know what you believe. Know why Maybe you want to get some apologetics. You know a reason for why you believe what you believe. Be able to defend it. Have some facts behind it. Now check it out. You can do all of that. You can know the word. You can have a reason for what you believe. That's good, but you absolutely can't make it grow in someone's heart. We take a lot of responsibility on ourselves concerning our family and our friends. Oh, if only I could just say the right word, then they'll believe. Probably not, because it's deeper than that. Only God can make it grow.
Speaker 1:Let's turn really quickly here to 1 Corinthians, chapter 3. To 1 Corinthians, chapter 3. 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 5. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 5. So Paul was having some problems there in Corinth. People were taking sides. People were big fans of Paul and other people were big fans of a guy named Apollos who was very classy in the way he put the word out. He was a great teacher and there was teams. You know people had their t-shirts on. You know, I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos, and they were choosing their favorites for real Verse 5.
Speaker 1:But then Paul says this who then? Well, look at Paul, says in verse 4. For when one says I'm of Paul and another I'm of Apollos, you got your t-shirt, are you not carnal? You guys are so fleshly? Verse 5. Who then is Paul and who is Apollos? But ministers through whom you have believed, as the Lord gave each one.
Speaker 1:Now check it out. He gives us a picture. In verse six I planted there's the seed, right. I planted. Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. That's really important for us to have in our heads.
Speaker 1:When we share the word, we can plant God's word. That's what we're supposed to do Give out words about God's love. God so loved the world. Just take that simple verse. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. God loves you. Whosoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life. That can be you. Now check it out. Let's check it out.
Speaker 1:You throw the seed of God's word out there, but you have to let the growth up to God. You may water it like Apollos did. You may come back and throw that verse that you know, the water of the word, back on there. Maybe some love you show and some service you show to them as that water to water it, but you can't make it grow. That's God's job. You will never save anyone, I promise you. We say things like that oh, I got somebody saved, you did not save anyone. God makes it grow. It requires God to do it. But that's a good thing to keep in mind, because the pressure isn't on us. We can't do it, but God can, and that's what God wants to do.
Speaker 1:And so Jesus throws that out to his disciples, this thing of the kingdom, back in Mark, chapter 4, that you throw the seed and God makes it grow. Trust in that Now, verse 30. And then he said to what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? Of God, or with what parable shall we picture it? It's like a mustard seed which, when it is sown in the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth, but when it is sown it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs and shoots out large branches so that the birds of the air may rest in its shade. So here Jesus says the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, and we see in this very simply, the result of God's kingdom is bigger than what's planted. Right. A seed grows into what we see here, a big old tree, right, but the mustard seed Jesus says here is the smallest of all.
Speaker 1:Now, jesus isn't giving a science lesson, and many have gotten stuck on this because the mustard seed is not the smallest seed that there is. That's it. Throw it all away. Jesus is a liar. Really. You're going to like base the whole thing off the fact that Jesus said it's the smallest of the seeds and we get it here. He's not trying to teach us a science lesson, he's just saying that is one small seed. And here's my guess. I think I don't know, but I think Jesus probably had a mustard seed in his hand. There was probably mustard growing all around him and he said look, this is a tiny little seed, this is like the tiniest of seeds, and yet it grows.
Speaker 1:So mustard in that part of the world, more than a condiment is an invasive plant. It's invasive. I think we had it in California, right, it's just on the hillsides, it's like the mustard kind of stuff, I think. But here maybe not as valuable, but maybe you would look at it like I look at ragweed or what they call it here milkweed. Some of you guys call it, I think, in the front field. Right, you'll see it, it's there.
Speaker 1:When spring comes, I look out on my field and go looks pretty good, that's going to be some good grass there. But it doesn't take long and the ragweed starts to spring up and it doesn't grow as big as a tree but it grows prolifically right. And then it's like everything is ragweed and you're just like I didn't have to work hard for that, it didn't need rain. Why did it need rain? You know, and I think the mustard seed is a little bit like that, it's invasive. You don't really have to plant it, it just happens. It happens everywhere. And you look around and you go mustard seed, right.
Speaker 1:And Jesus here says well, the mustard seed of the kingdom, it's little but it spreads. It becomes like the tallest of the trees. Now it's not the tallest of the trees either. So this is some supernatural growth, but it does get big. And Jesus says picture it, the birds rest in it, whole colonies of birds. Now you could look at this in light of the parable of the sower. The birds could be the evil that camps out in the kingdom of God. Be careful, there's birds. Maybe he's just saying the stuff can grow everywhere.
Speaker 1:The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed it starts off small. Check it out. It starts off small. You ever stop and think about it. That every single one of our faith. In one sense, maybe we'll do this with our time in heaven. But in one sense we could track our spiritual heritage back to one of these dudes that was talking to Jesus, twelve minus one, right. We could track our spiritual heritage back to one guy who shared the truth of what Jesus had done and then through the ages, you know, it's like this family tree of salvation.
Speaker 1:It started in this very small group, like a mustard seed, but here we are, 2,000 years later, a part of the kingdom sitting in this house. God multiplies it and he takes a little thing like his word, the truth of the kingdom, and it consumes the world and it will consume the world. So a little thing God uses for amazing things. Now, who knows what your week is all about? Who knows who's going to be there tomorrow when you go to work? You know when you go to school? Who knows if that little bit of light that you put out there doesn't change somebody's world, that little bit of hope in what God has done for this world, you know, spark something in someone's life where, a hundred years from now, you know they're the ones. God took the good news to another country. Who knows? You don't know.
Speaker 1:Little things turn into big things in the kingdom of God. It's all worth it, right? It's not just the grind of life, it's the kingdom of God. And so here we're, given some great encouragement. The kingdom of God is going to spread like Daniel, chapter two, a rock. Jesus. That rock will consume the whole world. That's a great comfort. Jesus, that rock will consume the whole world. That's a great comfort.
Speaker 1:God brings the growth in our lives and the lives of people that we love. We just hand out the truth. We let our light shine that people will see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven, and that's the week that we have in front of us. It's the little things that make big returns right. So be encouraged by that as Jesus' disciples, as we go out.
Speaker 1:God again, certainly isn't a pep rally that we need, but, god, we consider the people that you've put around us, the people in our own family that you've put there for a purpose. God, help us to be faithful, to share your word. Help us to be faithful to let our light shine and when they don't shine, god, help us to be honest and confess that we messed up. God, help us this week, god. We know there are eternal things at stake here, maybe multitudes coming to know who you are just by what you have in front of us. This week, god, we want to do our best and we want to trust you to the results. So, god, take these things and make them real in our hearts this week. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen.