Sermon Tone Analysis

We now move along in our tour through Mark’s Gospel, and we are now introduced to something new, for we are moving from the works of the Master to the words of the master.

For now Jesus begins to teach in parables and the first parable we come to is the Parable of the Sower.

The Parable of the is probable one of the best known parables, and you may well be familiar with it.

In all honesty it really isn't about the sower, but is really focussed in upon the soil itself, and we will see that as we go through.

Nobody could tell a parable like Jesus.

He was not only the master-carpenter … He was the master-story teller.

He could illustrate a timeless truth by telling a story that everybody could relate to.

So, what is a parable?

Somebody once defined a parable as ''a earthly story with a heavenly meaning.''

Actually the Greek word (parabola) means ''something placed along side, a comparison.

In a parable truth is cast alongside life and life interprets the truth.

In other words, a parable takes the common, everyday events of life and uses them to illustrate the deep things of God.

Now, we have a fair bit to get through so we need to march on this morning, so lets get straight int the text.

Firstly notice with me...

1.

The Location of Parabolic Teaching

The Lord moved from land to sea, having dealt with his confused family, presumably still in the house mentioned in Mark 3:19, Jesus now moves outside, and such is the crowd that he borrows a boat and in effect makes it his pulpit.

Now, you may think how is this a good idea, how will they hear him, for they didnt have pa systems in those days, no electrical amplification, surely this method would be inneffective!

So picture the scene Jesus in the small boat with his face towards the shore and the multitudes spread out over the hillside, how will they hear?

By now we should have released that nothing Jesus did was by chance, he knew exactly what he was doing.

John Philips in his Gospel of Mark commentry tells of a time when he was a brithish soldier in Palestine and he was on a tour of Gallilee.

I remember the padre telling us all to sit down on the slopes above the lake.

There was a busload of us, and we were seated at least fifty yards from the lake itself.

The chaplain took out a pocket Testament and opened it to this chapter.

He handed it to me and told me to go down to the lake, turn around at the water’s edge, face the sitting soldiers, and read aloud the first nine verses.

He told me to read in a conversational tone of voice and not to raise my voice at all.

I did as I was instructed.

The still waters of the lake behind me acted as a sounding board.

Every syllable was caught up and amplified and heard clearly by the men sitting on the hillside.

The whole area turned out to be a natural amphitheater, and the acoustics were remarkable.

A microphone was unnecessary.

The lake was its own amplifier.

Evidently, the Lord had been in someone’s house when His mother and brothers arrived.

Now, having put them in their place, He came out of the house and went down to the shore of the lake.

He borrowed a boat and made it His pulpit.

We can picture His sitting in that little vessel with His face toward the shore.

Before Him stretched the multitudes, spread out over the hillside and eager to listen to His words.

Many years ago, when I was a soldier in the British army in Palestine, I went on a chaplain-conducted tour of Galilee.

I remember the padre telling us all to sit down on the slopes above the lake.

There was a busload of us, and we were seated at least fifty yards from the lake itself.

The chaplain took out a pocket Testament and opened it to this chapter.

He handed it to me and told me to go down to the lake, turn around at the water’s edge, face the sitting soldiers, and read aloud the first nine verses.

He told me to read in a conversational tone of voice and not to raise my voice at all.

I did as I was instructed.

The still waters of the lake behind me acted as a sounding board.

Every syllable was caught up and amplified and heard clearly by the men sitting on the hillside.

The whole area turned out to be a natural amphitheater, and the acoustics were remarkable.

A microphone was unnecessary.

The lake was its own amplifier.

The Lord knew all about the acoustical qualities of the area and took advantage of them to address vast crowds with ease.

The Lord knew all about the acoustical qualities of the area and took advantage of them to address vast crowds with ease.

So are sound system is in place, next Jesus begins to speak, and we have

2. The Revelation of the Parabolic Teaching

Hearken - Be listening, it carries an authoritative snap with it, he had to quieten them to hear, the crowds remember were looking for physical healing but Jesus mission was to bring spiritual healing.

So he begins by saying -listen - shush your mouths and open your ears, this is important!

“there went a sower to sow”

now the crowd would be familiar with this, a lot of the crowd were farmers, again they could relate to the illustration

The “wayside” is the common path across a field, it is ground that is so frequently trodden under food that it has become hard and virtually impenetrable.

It is ground so hard, that the seed lies on the surface making a ready meal for birds who snatch it away.

This is our first type of soil

Here the seed falls on shallow soil, there is insufficient depth to allow it to germinate, and soon the sun scorches it.

It has no root system, and dries up and withers away.

this is our second type of soil

Here the thorns and weeds left unchecked grow up and choked it, literally strangled it so it could not grow and bear fruit

this is our third type of soil

In this case the seed fell on to “good ground” and grew.

So now we have our fourth type of soil.

Now to see the truth contained in the parable, the knowledge of the explanation is needed, so the question is why teach in parables, because if the explanation is not known then it is just a riddle is it not?

Again, Jesus wasn’t being awkward here he knew exactly what he was doing, which leads us to

3. The Intention of the Parabolic Teaching

So the 12 disciples and the wider group of followers get alone with Christ, and remember this is their first exposure to Christs Parabolic teaching, and they ask the question not wanting to embarrass themselves in front of the multitudes maybe, they get the Lord alone, and say what was all that about?

Christ then responds

He had deliberately adopted a method of teaching, He told them, designed to reveal and conceal at the same time.

It was part of the genius of the Lord’s teaching that He could use such simple, everyday things to accomplish so profound and complex a goal.

Matthew gives us the fullest account of the “mystery” parables (chap.

13).

All of them record failure and a mixture of good and bad.

All of them were designed to deal with the now evident Jewish rejection of Christ.

The nation had failed.

Now what would happen to God’s eternal plan to establish a kingdom on this planet?

Well, that purpose was now to be postponed for an unspecified period of time.

Israel would be set aside temporarily, and God would introduce on this planet something entirely new—the church.

The church would carry forward God’s wider purposes until those purposes were complete and God could resume His dealings with the nation of Israel

Meanwhile, God’s kingdom purposes underwent a change.

A new phase was introduced—the “mystery” phase, heralded by the “mystery” parables (Matt.

13).

All of this was about to be revealed by the Lord.

His own would come to understand all of this; the unsaved never would.

The present age of grace (the church age) fills the period between the postponement of the kingdom and the inauguration of the kingdom.

The church looks forward to the kingdom and prays, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

then Jesus goes on to quote

Israels rejection and the apostasy of their leaders was bringing this judgement!

For those closest to him, however the Lord would continue the teaching and our final point as we look at

4. The Explanation of the Teaching

The sower - is the one who sows the word

pretty easy, now what about the soils, remember we had three poor soils and one productive soil

The soils in this parable represent different groups of hearers, as there are four types of soil, so too there are four types of hearer.

The First Soil -

The “wayside” is the common path across a field, it is ground that is so frequently trodden under food that it has become hard and virtually impenetrable.

It is ground so hard, that the seed lies on the surface making a ready meal for birds who snatch it away.

This soil represents The indifferent heart.

The indifferent heart is a hardened heart.

According to the words of Jesus such a heart is easy prey for Satan,