Lent Gospel is a campaign for people to read through the whole of Mark’s Gospel during Lent, in 40 short readings. Helpful notes on each day's reading are available from www.usefulbible.com/lent-gospel; and you can download the whole series in PDF or Kindle format (it's free - just right-click on the links then select ‘save as...’ to download). Of course, it doesn’t have to be for Lent... why not begin now?
Last part: Parables Day 8 Mark 4:1-20
· Read: Mark 4:21-34
As Mark explains, Jesus was telling such stories constantly. But Mark only gives a handful of examples for our perusal. The explanation, of course, is that Mark like his master chose his parables carefully.
Marks purpose is to explain to the reader about those vast crowds and the message that Jesus taught them. Having already explained, through the parable of the Sower, that few of the people remained loyal to God, he must now talk about the message itself. Surely Gods message cannot fail, can it?
Mark showed that the message was like a lamp. It could never be secret. It was bound to have an effect on a vast number of people. But it would not have that effect in an obvious way, because it was God who brought about the results. So it was like a seed people did not understand the mechanism that caused it to grow and produce a harvest.
But you can be sure that it would grow! Like a little mustard seed which so quickly becomes a large plant, the message would flourish. And soon, it would not just be for the people in Israel. People from across the world would come and share in its benefits.
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Next part: Storms Day 10 Mark 4:35-41 |
© 2012, Keith Simons.