Monthly Archives: June 2020

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – LIKE A MUSTARD SEED

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LIKE A MUSTARD SEED

30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. Mark 4:30-34

There are two ways of viewing the kingdom, quantitatively or qualitatively. On the whole, people tend to view the kingdom quantitatively, interpreting growth as numerical rather than relating to character and maturity. How did Jesus intend His stories to be understood? He made it clear to the Pharisees (Luke 17:21) that God’s government happens within people. It is about submission to God, appropriating the resources He gives to come under His authority and reproduce His character, living in the light of His standards of righteousness, holiness and truth in a world system which is temporarily under the authority of a usurper.

How does this happen? It begins in the soul by planting a tiny seed. Jesus used a mustard seed as an example. When it is planted in the ground, it is so small that it is almost unnoticeable. Given time and the right conditions, it begins to grow. What started out small, increases out of all proportion to its beginning. It outgrows all the other garden plants. This illustrates the ability of God’s word to influence and change a life so much that the whole person is transformed.

This is truly good news. It is God’s Word in peoples’ lives that transforms them by renewing their minds. The more we soak in the Word, the more truth replaces our thoughts spawned by our upbringing and environment. The more aware we become of God’s closeness to us, His intentions for us, His love, grace and power at work in us, the bigger His kingdom becomes in us and the greater its influence over those around us.

Satan has some very subtle lies he wants to sow in our minds – that he has power over us (a victim mentality) and that we need someone to rescue us. This breeds fear and helplessness and weakens our faith in Jesus. We have only one course of action – to flood our minds with the truth. Truth is light and light dispels darkness.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – ALL BY ITSELF

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ALL BY ITSELF

26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
Mark 4:26-29

This parable is vital to remember because it takes the labour out of ministry in the kingdom of God. Everything in life begins in seed form. Every believer has been entrusted with the seed of the kingdom which is God’s word. It is constantly being scattered by speaking it, reading it, or living it. The important thing to remember is that it has the power within itself to germinate and grow.

The measure of its fruitfulness does not lie within the seed but with the soil into which it falls. The farmer’s task is to prepare the soil, sow the seed, care for the soil and wait for the harvest. There is nothing he can do to the seed to make it grow because its power to reproduce lies within itself.

So what does this mean to us? If we want a harvest, we have two responsibilities: to prepare the soil through prayer and teaching and to sow the seed in our own lives and in the lives of others by teaching, preaching and speaking the word.

It is not our opinion or interpretation that counts. It is God’s word that is the seed. It is the “sperm” that fuses with our lives and produces new life. It is the nutrient that nourishes our new lives and causes our understanding of truth to grow and mature. It is the truth about God, ourselves and the world we live in that gradually replaces all our wrong notions and mistaken ideas, transforming the way we think until God’s thoughts and desires become our own.

We become what we think; we think what we believe and we become what we believe. Hence it is vital that we keep feeding our minds with the truth so that we leave no room for lies and deception to breed in us. The more we read, meditate, inwardly digest and obey the Word of God, the greater will be the harvest of righteousness in our lives and the power to transform other lives by sowing the Word.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – WHAT MEASURE DO YOU USE?

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WHAT MEASURE DO YOU USE?

21 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”

24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” Mark 4:21-25

Reality and truth are not interchangeable but they are aspects of the same thing. Jesus declared Himself to be the truth – He represented the Father and revealed the Father in every facet of His life – His words, His ways, His character, His attitudes, and His interaction with people. He was the true God in a body and living a human life on earth.

He also declared Himself to be light – the Light that came from God into the world to reveal what the Father and the domain of the Father is really like. Light exposes and reveals; light dispels darkness. Where there is no light, darkness is the atmosphere in which everything that is afraid of exposure flourishes.

Therefore, Jesus said that light is meant to be on display, not covered up because if it is hidden, it serves no purpose. To conceal truth is counter-productive. Truth automatically exposes lies and deception. It is not meant to be kept secret but brought out into the open so that everyone can see.

What is the truth that Jesus is constantly revealing? Darkness is about selfishness, greed and wickedness. Light is about righteousness, generosity and unselfish service to others. These are the two opposing forces in the world and they underlie the ongoing power struggle that is tearing the world apart.

Light is the enriching and unifying power of righteousness, doing the right thing in every situation and for every person, no matter what it costs. “Generosity begets generosity”. It’s like ripples in a pond. Generosity is the “pay it forward” principle that has the power to change society. It’s the “creating a current” policy that gets resources moving into areas of need and suffering.

This is reality – living the kingdom way that dispels darkness and exposes God’s character to those who have been deceived by the lies that put us in the centre of our universe and insist that we must be number one.

The truth is that we determine the measure of light or darkness we live in and display to the world. We also determine the outcome of the way we chose to live. Yes, stuff does happen but we alone choose what we do with it. Jesus’ principle is “Walk in the light and let your light shine…”

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – IT’S YOUR CHOICE!

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IT’S YOUR CHOICE!

1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that,

“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”

13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” Mark 4:1-20

It was never God’s intention to prevent people from receiving and believing the Word. Any resistance to the truth comes from the individual’s own choice to continue believing what prevents the Word from taking root in their minds and changing their lives. Jesus stated clearly that there are some people who hear and see with natural senses but never perceive the truth in the words they have heard. They have closed minds and hearts and truth simply bounces off and is lost to them.

Parables are a means to an end. Stories with a message achieve their objective in a roundabout way. The direct approach will only arouse more resistance whereas a story will arouse interest and provoke thought and even possibly a response.

Jesus’ stories were simple and direct, matter-of-fact and intriguing. He hardly ever applied the story to the listener, relying on their own imagination and spiritual perception to make the connection. When the disciples couldn’t figure out the meaning, they asked Him. Sometimes the meaning was glaringly clear as in e.g., the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.

Jesus’ stories were woven from the everyday experiences of His hearers; stories from the land, farming, animals, family life, scenes familiar to everyone, experiences the ordinary people could understand and identify with. He used whatever was appropriate to unlock truth and enlighten understanding. This was God in action, coming down to the people’s level, entering their common experience with truth that helped them understand the unseen dimensions of God.

The unseen realm of God’s rule began to take shape and bring meaning to the minds of people who practised religious rituals which did not seem to have a heart. Jesus was a genius, sweeping away unnecessary trappings to get to the core of life with God.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – FOUR SOILS… FOUR DESTINIES

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CHAPTER 4

FOUR SOILS… FOUR DESTINIES

​1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3

“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that,

“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”

13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” Mark 4:1-20

Although this is a long passage, this parable and its interpretation need to be read and understood together as one. This is a familiar story, but its significance can easily be missed. In the Hebrew mind, stories were read for identification. According to Jesus, the Word of God is the seed. The soil is the attitude with which the seed is received.

Hard ground implies that beliefs and attitudes are so fixed that new ideas and new understanding have no place in the mind of that person. He refuses to entertain the idea that he may be wrong and needs to be transformed by the renewing of his mind. He is not open to truth and continues to live by the lies that shape his thinking and behaviour. The Word of God has no impact on his thinking and he just keeps living the old way with his unsolved hang-ups and issues.

Shallow soil represents hearts that readily receive the Word which begins to germinate and grow. However, the tender young roots soon meet the resistance of a hard layer under the shallow topsoil. There is an expectation based on a belief system that this new life does not meet – and the heart begins to resist the tests that are part of the character-building God is busy with. The new life eventually withers and dies.

The third soil already has stuff growing in it. The new plants of Christian character germinate among the weeds but, since there is no room for both, and since troubles and trinkets have a powerful hold, the delicate plants of character lose their foothold and die.

The fourth ground is fertile and free of other encroachments. The heart is open and willing to receive the truth and patiently applies it, learning to submit to discipline and receive the grace that transforms the life through a mind that is being renewed day after day. The fruit of the Spirit is being formed in the life; the character of Jesus slowly becomes a reality and there is eventually a full harvest of righteousness that imitates God’s character.