Sermon Tone Analysis

*“Sow What?”*

*Mark 4.1-20*

Many have had some experience with the understanding of our passage this morning in Mark.

In our sharing the gospel with people, we have likely witnessed a variety of responses to its truth.

In fact, if we have heard the gospel, we too have responded in one of these ways.

There have been times where you have shared your testimony about the gospel and you have seen some people outright reject the message.

Some may have responded favorably only to have them “disappear” from the faith for one of several possible reasons – suffering and trials or the pursuit of worldly pleasures.

However, you may have also had the privilege and joy of leading someone to Jesus Christ whose life has been changed dramatically for all of eternity.

And if you have trusted in Jesus and continue to grow in your knowledge and love for him, you are one of those who too have responded favorably to the Gospel.

Today in our text we will see that the declaration of Jesus Christ begins with Jesus himself.

And he does so in a parable.

Please turn to Mark 4 in your Bibles.

We begin by looking at parables.

And we will see that they have different implications depending on whether you are on the “inside” or “outside.”

And that is the first point – *Insiders and Outsiders.*

We see first that Jesus once again begins to teach beside the sea.

And again, a very large crowd gathered.

Remember that they already had a boat ready from the previous chapter because they were already threatening to crush him.

Largely, they were there for the healing show.

Their curiosity had overtaken them.

Jesus now gets into the boat out on the sea and he taught from there.

It has been documented by Israeli scientists that a human voice can transmit effortlessly to several thousand people on shore because of the acoustics in this area.

This spot serves him well for teaching the crowds.

So in thinking of terms of insiders and outsiders, it’s probably safe to say that the crowd consisted of both.

As a collective unit, they were often an obstacle to the mission of God.

But it is likely that at least some of them believed in Jesus.

So Jesus begins to teach in parables.

Basically, a parable is a way of speaking of a spiritual truth using the language and communication of everyday life.

They require no special knowledge or vocabulary to understand.

In the case of Jesus’ parables, they do require divine revelation.

They are not simple or easy to understand.

In fact, the parables of Jesus have “shock value” and force listeners to see things in a new light.

They are a bit different than allegories in that allegories can be understood from the “outside” whereas parables only from within.

The one who would understand a parable allows himself to be taken into the story and hear who God is and what humans may become.

One commentator likens parables to stained glass windows in a cathedral.

They are dull and lifeless from the outside but brilliant and radiant from within.

The parable draws the listener into the story, elicits an evaluation, and demands a response.

And so it is with the parable in Mark 4 this morning.

Jesus will frequently teach in parables.

But this one is unique.

Let’s jump down to verses 9-13 because this sheds some more light on the purpose of parables and deals further with the concept of insiders and outsiders.

Concluding the telling of the parable, Jesus adds a command.

He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The force of the last section could better be rendered, “had better listen.”

But this is our first clue.

Because the fact that there is a command to hear suggests that some do *not *hear nor understand parables.

In fact, the text continues with a more intimate group that has gathered around Jesus – when he was alone.

It seems as though the crowd has either disbanded or he has again retreated from them in order to teach the select few gathered around.

These are those who appear to be the insiders.

And what has qualified them to be present here?

Here’s the way I see it.

These are the ones who pursued Jesus.

They just heard this parable that, on the surface, was pretty simple to follow.

It is the underlying spiritual truth that needs to be discerned.

And I think that they pursued Jesus to know more.

It was “those around him with the twelve” who asked him about the parable.

They had to know more.

These were the ones who had “ears to hear.”

Jesus responds with a very interesting statement.

He says “to you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God.”

The “secret” is the same word as the word “mystery” used elsewhere in the Bible.

The Greek word “musterion” does not refer to something that cannot be known.

Rather, it refers to something that was once hidden that is now revealed.

It is the same word used in Romans 16.25-27 which reads, “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to *the revelation of the mystery* that was kept secret for long ages *26* *but has now been disclosed* *and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations*, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— *27* to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ!”

In our context, I believe the secret, or the “revealed truth,” is that the kingdom of God has drawn near in Jesus Christ.

Remember Mark 1.14-15?

“Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, *15* and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

In addition, it also pertains to the understanding of the parable which is an explanation of the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ.

And we will see this in just a bit.

Notice that all of this is insider information.

It does not say that they achieved or interpreted the secret of the kingdom of God.

It was given to them!

They are passive recipients of this divine revelation.

And somehow it is relates to their pursuit of Jesus.

I think that this strikes at the heart of the biblical tension we often feel between a divine calling and human responsibility.

There is an overwhelming amount of Scripture passages that describe salvation as a work of God alone based on his divine election and foreknowledge before the foundation of the world.

And yet somehow we have a responsibility to trust in Jesus.

I don’t think that they are opposed to one another.

And I am not here to provide the solution that will clearly harmonize them and will set all your minds at ease on this subject.

Theologians have tried to systematize this for thousands of years.

And so I can’t hope to solve it in the moments we have this morning.

2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

We do not shine the light in order to see his glory.

God shines the light so we can see.

In Colossians 1, Paul indicates that the mystery hidden for ages and generations is now revealed to the saints.

He adds, *To them God chose to make known *how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of the mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Paul also elaborates on the nature of spiritual truth and how only those who are given revelation can understand.

We find this in 1 Corinthians 2:6–15 “Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.

*7* But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.

*8* None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

*9* But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things *God has revealed to us through the Spirit*.

For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

*11* For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him?

So *also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God*.

*12* Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God*, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.* *13* And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

*14* The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and *he is not able to understand them* because they are spiritually discerned.”

So Paul makes a distinction between the spiritual and natural man.

And Jesus makes a distinction between insiders and outsiders.

He goes on to say in verse 11 that for those outside everything is in parables.

Well, *all hear* the parables, but only those on the inside understand them.