Jesus goes again (see Mark 3:7–9) to the lake (the Sea of Galilee). He begins to teach by the sea or "on the shore",[1] and then sits in a boat, and speaks to "a great multitude" (Mark 4:1). The Pulpit Commentary notes that "the Greekadjective, according to the most approved reading, is πλεῖστος, pleistos, the superlative of πολὺς, polus, and should be rendered 'a very great' multitude. The room and the little courtyard no longer sufficed for the multitudes that came to him."[2] From there the text suggests that "he spoke many things in parables"; from the many, Heinrich Meyer argues that Mark presents "a selection".[3]
The first parable Mark relates is the parable of the sower, with Jesus perhaps speaking of himself as a sower or farmer,[4] and the seed as his word. Johann Bengel refers to Christ as the sower, along with others who proclaim the gospel,[5] but the Jamieson, Fausset and Brown commentary notes that the question, "who is the sower?" is not answered here, "because if 'the word of God' be the seed, every scatterer of that precious seed must be regarded as a sower".[6]
Much of the seed comes to no account but "[some] seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." (4:8) His disciples do not understand why he is teaching in parables or even what the meaning of the parables are. Later, after the crowds have left and Jesus tells them "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'" (4:11-12), with Jesus quoting Isaiah6:9-10. Early Christians used this passage from Isaiah "...to explain the lack of a positive response to Jesus and his followers from their fellow Jews" (Miller 21). He rebukes the twelve and "those around him", in many translations,[7] based on the Greek and Syriac texts,[8] but "the twelve who were with him" in the Vulgate,[9] for not understanding him, and explains his meaning, and that those who accept his word, i.e. his teaching, are the ones who will produce the large "crop".
Jesus then speaks of a lamp on a stand, that one does not hide it, but allows it to shine (Mark 4:21). He says, "For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear," (4:22-23) the last sentence being, judging from all available texts, a favorite saying of Jesus. This is also in Luke 11:33 and perhaps in Matthew 10:26-27. "'Consider carefully what you hear,' he continued. 'With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.'" (4:24-25) The Scholars Version translates these verses like such: "...The standard you apply will be the standard applied to you, and then some. In fact, to those who have, more will be given, and from those who don't have, even what they do have will be taken away!" Mark 4:25 also occurs in the Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:29, Luke 19:26) and Matt 13:12, Luke 8:18, Thomas 41. Mark 4:24 also occurs in Matt 7:2 and Luke 6:38.
The parable of the Growing Seed (verses 26–29) and the parable of the Mustard Seed (verses 30–32) follow, each showing analogies with nature and small beginnings yielding much more in the end. They are both illustrations of the growth of the kingdom of God. In the Seed Growing Secretly Jesus used the metaphor of a man planting a seed and then paying it no attention until "As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." (29) This is partially replicated in Thomas 21 The mustard seed, says Jesus, is like the kingdom of God because it starts out as the smallest seed and yet "...becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade." (32) This is in Matthew 13:31-32 and Luke 13:18-19. It is also saying 20 of Thomas.
From Mark 4:35 to the end of chapter 5, "four striking works follow each other without a break".[10] These accounts of miracles raise the stakes over miracles which have been reported before. Mark probably intends to demonstrate the greatness of Jesus' authority (ἐξουσíα, exousia). Chapter 4 ends with an account of Jesus calming the storm at sea. He is sleeping while crossing the lake in a boat with his disciples. Mark notes that they left a large crowd, that they took Him "just as He was", and that other boats were with Him.[11] A storm comes up and they frantically wake him:
"He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, `Peace! Be still!`. Then the wind ceased and there was a dead calm...And they were filled with great awe and said to one another `Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" (Mark 4:39-41, NRSV)
^Complete Gospels, Robert J. Miller editor, 1992, translation note to Mark 4:35-41: "...Mark calls this lake the sea, using a word (thalassa) that most Greek writers reserve for the much larger Mediterranean (Luke uses the more proper term for a lake, limne, in Luke 5:1; 8:22-23, 33. ...)"
Further reading
France, R. T., The Gospel of Mark: a Commentary on the Greek Text; The New International Greek Testament Commentary, Eerdmans (c) 2002, ISBN0-8028-2446-3; pages 220, 226, 241
Miller, Robert J., Editor, The Complete Gospels, Polebridge Press, 1994 ISBN0-06-065587-9
