The Text
Mark 4:13–20 (CSB)
13 Then he said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables?
14 The sower sows the word.
15 Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.
16 And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.
17 But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.
18 Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word,
19 but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20 And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”
The Devotion
When we come to know and love and believe and trust in God, it doesn’t happen in an instance. It might feel like it because before you knew and love God, you and I were dead in our trespasses and sins. When you come to life, it might feel all of sudden.
But what we see here is that the Son of God is scattering the seeds. Those seeds are the gospel of God. This gospel of Christ and him crucified.
And it is God who gives the growth. And when the Spirit saves a person, we now know that he has been working all of life–and believe this, way before you were even born–to bring you to the Father as you precious, chosen, loved child.
The Discussion
Can we grow to be like Jesus? (Rom 8:28-30)
Romans 8:28-30 (CSB) We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.
How do we grow to be like Jesus?
Luke 4:1 (CSB) Then Jesus left the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
John 3:33-36 (CSB) The one who has accepted his testimony has affirmed that God is true. 34 For the one whom God sent speaks God’s words, since he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hands. 36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
Galatians 5:22-26 (CSB) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
According to the passage, how can we do what he does?
Mark 16:15 (CSB) Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
2 Timothy 2:15 (CSB) Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.
When you tell everybody about Jesus, will everybody believe automatically? In other words, When you plant a seed into the ground, does it grow automatically or slowly?
John 3:3-8 (CSB) Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. 8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Even if everyone does not believe automatically, does that mean we have to stop telling people about Jesus?
1 Corinthians 3:6-9 (CSB) I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
Pray
Give us growth.
You increase in us. Let us decrease in ourselves.
Magnify yourself in us.
Make us more like you, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Resources
Calvin’s Commentaries.
by John Calvin.
Baker. 2009.
Olive Tree
Mark: An Expositional Commentary
by R.C. Sproul.
Reformation Trust Publisher. 2011.
Goodreads
New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Mark
by William Hendriksen.
Baker. 1981.
Goodreads
The Gospel according to Mark: The English Text With Introduction, Exposition, and Notes (The New International Commentary on the New Testament)
by William L. Lane.
Eerdman’s. 1974.
Goodreads
Mark (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, NT Volume 2)
Edited by Thomas C. Odin & Christopher A. Hall
IVP Academic. 2005.
Goodreads
Mark (The Story of God Bible Commentary Series)
by Timothy G. Gombis.
Zondervan Academic. March 9th 2021.
Goodreads