Notes: August 31, 2009

Parables

Start here. “Don’t you know this parable? How then will you know all parables?” (Jesus, Mark 4:11). Either this parable is easy to understand or it is key to understanding other parables? Or both.

Mark 4:1-25; Matthew 13:1-23; Luke 8:4-18

  • This parable of the sower carries with it Jesus’ infallible interpretation. How can one go wrong?
  • This parable is about the kingdom of God (Mark 4:11), or the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:11).
  • The parable speaks of people who easily forget the word of God and never believe (the wayside hearers), people who get all excited for a while after they have heard the word of God (the stony ground hearers), people who make some changes to their lives for a longer but not eternal period of time (the thorny ground hearers), and people who hear the word of God and understand it and become fruitfully obedient (the good ground hearers).
  • Will we find these four types in heaven or on earth? Well, on earth, of course. Therefore the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, exists on earth and in time.
  • Jesus adds the thought that spiritual truth and light cannot be hidden, by design.

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