On Line Bible Study - for the week February 9 - 15, 2009

Lesson 374

Mark 4: 1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."

9 Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

The larger the crowds, the more difficult it was for them to be near Jesus. That Jesus sits in the boat would not be lost on the ancient reader - to sit is to put one's self in the position of the teacher, a position of authority.

If you were to read a bit further - in the next verse - you would learn that people wee uncertain as to the meaning of the parables. On the one hand, their inability to "hear" is lamented; on the other hand, to assume too quickly that one comprehends the meaning of the parable is to assume too much. Can God be "heard"? Are you able to discern the "word", the "will" of God in the parables that are playing themselves out all around you? In a sense, is there anything in life that is not a parable? Is Jesus himself the preeminent parable - the greatest truth, the most mysterious reality, the simplest and most complex expression of love - both at the same time?

As said above, even the disciples would have to come to Jesus for an explanation of the story. What do you mean, Jesus? Am I in the story? Is it about me? About you? The phrase: He who has ears to hear, let him hear - is one that we find in the prophets.

Jeremiah 5:21 Hear this, you foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes but do not see,
who have ears but do not hear:

This is but one example of many in which people have hearts so stubborn as to be unable to discern the word of God, no matter how present it is, or how pervasive. The Word of God is mysterious. True. It is also what sustains our lives. (See Matthew 4:4.) How can it be that we do not comprehend the very reality upon which our lives are absolutely dependent?

How much do you know about Jesus? Do you have the ears to hear what he is telling you about yourself? And what kind of "soil" are you? Thorny? Rocky? Shallow? Fertile?

May you feel the seeds of God's grace being scattered all over your life. And may you respond with faith, with joy, with open and willing hearts! Listen to what Jesus has to say.