Mark 4:1-9 meaning

The parallel Gospel accounts for Mark 4:1-9 are Matthew 13:1-9 and Luke 8:4-8.

Earlier in Mark, we learned that during disputes with the Pharisees, Jesus "began speaking to them in parables" (Mark 3:23). Similarly, in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus "spoke many things to them in parables" (13:3).

A parable is a brief story that conveys a significant truth, often with a moral or spiritual focus. Parables are both thought-provoking and enigmatic, requiring careful listening and interpretive skill to uncover their meaning. Jesus often used parables in His teaching because they offered two distinct benefits: they were easy to remember and obscured their central truth from those with hardened hearts (Mark 4:10-12).

Jesus used many parables throughout His teaching. He likely told the same parables many different times and with slight variations to suit His purposes.

Mark, following Matthew’s example, organizes a sampling of Jesus’s parables in a group rather than telling each parable separately or repeatedly in his narrative, as Jesus taught them. Luke does the same thing, but perhaps to a lesser extent.

Jesus began to teach again by the sea (v 1), likely near the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, close to Capernaum. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land (v 1).

This arrangement with Jesus in the boat and His audience ashore likely utilized the sloped beach as a natural amphitheater, allowing the whole audience to hear Him more easily.

Mark notes that He was teaching them many things in parables (v 2a).

The first parable recorded by Mark in this chapter is often called the “Parable of the Sower.” It is also found in Matthew 13:1-9 and Luke 8:5-8. In this section of the commentary, we will focus solely on the literal actions and events of the story, as Jesus later provides its symbolic interpretation (Mark 4:14-20).

Mark introduces the Parable of the Sower with the expression: And (He) was saying to them in His teaching…(v 2b).

Jesus draws His audience’s attention by saying: “Listen to this!” (v 3a).

Here is the parable:

Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. (vv 3b-8).

A sower is someone who plants seeds with the goal of growing a harvest. In this parable, the sower sows the same kind of seeds, but they fall on four different types of ground, resulting in four distinct outcomes.

The four different types of ground are:

1. beside the road (v 4)
2. the rocky ground where it did not have much soil (v 5)
3. among the thorns (v 7)
4. the good soil (v 8)

The first three types of ground are not good for seeds to germinate and grow. In contrast, the fourth type is good soil, where seeds can successfully germinate and thrive.

The corresponding results are:

1. and the birds came and ate it up (the ground beside the road) (v 4)
2. and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. (in the rocky ground with thin soil) (v 5)
3. and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop (in ground among the thorns) (v 7)
4. and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold (in the good soil) (v 8)

The first three outcomes are not good, while the fourth and final outcome is exceptionally good.

In the agricultural society of Judea, Jesus's audience would have easily understood the actions and outcomes described in the parable.

Jesus concludes the telling of the Parable of the Sower with this admonition:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (v 9)

This proverb-like exhortation is an invitation for us to discern the moral lesson and deeper meaning of the parable.

Mark records Jesus’ interpretation of His parable, which He shares with His disciples, in Mark 4:14-20.