MAY 6

Mark 4:1-20
Memorise Matthew 13:34
“All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables…”

Our Lord loved to teach through parables! What is a parable? One definition is: “a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought.” In the parables, Jesus uses common earthly things (seeds, sower, coins, sheep etc) to illustrate heavenly truths. Some of these parables are easy to interpret, but some others can be more obscure and harder to understand.

One good example of a parable is the passage that we have for today. It’s probably the most well-known parable in the Bible – the Parable of the soils. It also comes with the interpretation from verse 14-20, whereby we know that Jesus was instructing His disciples on the different responses they will encounter when they go forth to preach the gospel. Of course the only good response is that of the good ground, whereby they receive the word with faith, and bring forth fruit.

Nestled within the parable and the interpretation, are two interesting verses, Mark 4:11-12, where Jesus explains the reason why He would actually utilize parables as part of His teaching. For those who have ears to hear and a desire to know more, they would put in the effort to ask the Lord, and actively seek the truth. For them, Parables are a deep and meaningful way to know more about God’s truth. It is a wonderful didactic tool, to use simple everyday occurrences to bring across deep divine principles. With this method, Jesus could reveal these hidden truths to them in a manner that is easily understood, and would leave a lasting impression. However, for those who have rejected Christ, the parable was a judgment to conceal the truth from them. These are those who are ‘without’ – outside the Kingdom of God. They have no interest in knowing Christ and the truth, and now Christ will judicially prevent them from understanding His teachings. Without Christ’s interpretation, they would not be able to grasp the spiritual significance of what Christ is trying to teach, and would also not be able to find fault with His teachings.

For us as we read these parables, we must, like the disciples, seek the Lord for the wisdom to be able to understand these wonderful truths!

Thought: “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
Prayer: Lord, grant me ears to hear, and the wisdom to understand.