‘LORD, THAT I MAY SEE.’
A SHORT COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF THE
DAY.
Gospel
Mark 4:1-20
The parable of the
sower
1.
Jesus began to
teach by the lakeside,
2.
but such a huge
crowd gathered round him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there. The
people were all along the shore, at the water’s edge.
3.
He taught them
many things in parables, and in the course of his teaching he said to them,
4.
‘Listen!
5.
Imagine a sower
going out to sow.
6.
Now it happened
that, as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds
came and ate it up.
7.
Some seed fell on
rocky ground where it found little soil and sprang up straightaway, because
there was no depth of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not
having any roots, it withered away.
8.
Some seed fell
into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop.
9.
And some seeds
fell into rich soil and, growing tall and strong, produced crop; and yielded
thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.’
10. And he said, ‘Listen, anyone who has
ears to hear!’
11.
When he was alone,
the Twelve, together with the others who formed his company, asked what the
parables meant.
12.
He told them, ‘The
secret of the kingdom of God is given to you, but to those who are outside
everything comes in parables, so that they may see and see again, but not
perceive; may hear and hear again, but not understand; otherwise, they might be
converted and be forgiven.’
He said to them,
‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the
parables? What the sower is sowing is the word.
1.
Those on the edge
of the path where the word is sown are people who have no sooner heard it than
Satan comes and carries away the word that was sown in them.
2.
Similarly, those
who receive the seed on patches of rock are people who, when first they hear
the word, welcome it at once with joy. But they have no root in them, they do
not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word,
they fall away at once.
3.
3. Then there are
others who receive the seed in thorns. These have heard the word, but the
worries of this world, the lure of riches, and all the other passions come in to
choke the word, and so it produces nothing.
4.
And there are
those who have received the seed in rich soil: they hear the word and accept it
and yield a harvest, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’
This is the key parable which is the foundation
for all the parables. ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you
understand any of the parables?’
There are the scribes and Pharisees and the
priests and Herodians. They plan to kill him. They have rejected his Word
completely. The crowds follow Jesus, but how many really believe? Then, there are
those like the rich young man, who desire to follow Jesus but cannot give up
their love for money and the things of this world. However, there are those
like his own Mother, the apostles and the holy women. They produce a harvest by
their faith.
Which category do you fall in?
We respond to Jesus according to the condition
of our hearts. Blessed are those who respond to his Word with all their hearts. Their
lives only bear abundant fruit for God, for themselves, and for others. The seed
is in your heart. What are you doing with it?
To have a heart that will yield a harvest we
must pray earnestly each day. Earnest and constant prayer in the hidden
presence of Jesus will give us a new heart (Ezekiel 34). Some such produce thirtyfold,
some sixty and some even a hundredfold. It depends on our earnestness in humble
prayer in which we rely on Jesus to work His miracles of grace in our hearts. Do
you want to yield a hundredfold for God your Creator?
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