A farmer scatters seed without checking the soil first. A man plants a field and then simply goes to sleep, with no idea how the growing actually happens. A shrub smaller than almost any other seed becomes big enough for birds to nest in. And on the same evening all this quiet, patient talk of growth is finished, the sea nearly swallows the boat carrying the man who told it.
A study in Mark 4 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 26 min read
A Sower Went Out To Sow
The crowd on the shore is so large that Jesus teaches from a boat, His voice carrying back over the water to everyone standing on the beach.
“By the Sea of Galilee a company had gathered to see and hear Jesus—an eager, expectant throng. The sick were there, lying on their mats, waiting to present their cases before Him. It was Christ’s God-given right to heal the woes of a sinful race, and He now rebuked disease, and diffused around Him life and health and peace.”
Ellen G. White · Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 33
“And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
Mark 4:1-9
This site’s own study of Matthew 13 already walked through this same parable verse by verse, so this study only needs to add what Mark himself adds — a detail about what happens once the seed is stolen.
“And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.”
Mark 4:10-12
“And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.”
Mark 4:13-15
“While angels of heaven endeavor to impress hearts with the word of God, the enemy is on the alert to make the word of no effect. With an earnestness equaled only by his malice, he tries to thwart the work of the Spirit of God. While Christ is drawing the soul by His love, Satan tries to turn away the attention of the one who is moved to seek the Saviour.”
Ellen G. White · Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 44
The word stolen by Satan is stolen the fastest of all four soils — Mark’s own “immediately” shows up even here, in a warning about how quickly an unguarded heart loses what it was just given.
“And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.”
Mark 4:16-20
Is A Candle Brought To Be Put Under A Bushel
“And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.”
Mark 4:21-25
This site’s own study of Matthew 5 already spent time on the light-under-a-bushel image in its original Sermon-on-the-Mount setting. Mark gives the same saying a second, sharper setting here — not a command to let your own light shine, but a warning about what happens to truth once it’s been received. Nothing given in secret stays secret forever, and how carefully a person listens now determines how much more they’ll be trusted with later.
He Knoweth Not How
What follows is found nowhere else in the New Testament — not in Matthew, not in Luke, only here.
“The parable of the sower excited much questioning. Some of the hearers gathered from it that Christ was not to establish an earthly kingdom, and many were curious and perplexed. Seeing their perplexity, Christ used other illustrations, still seeking to turn their thoughts from the hope of a worldly kingdom to the work of God’s grace in the soul.”
Ellen G. White · Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 62
“And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.”
Mark 4:26-29
“The husbandman who ‘putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come,’ can be no other than Christ. It is He who at the last great day will reap the harvest of the earth. But the sower of the seed represents those who labor in Christ’s stead. The seed is said to ‘spring and grow up, he knoweth not how,’ and this is not true of the Son of God. Christ does not sleep over His charge, but watches it day and night. He is not ignorant of how the seed grows.”
Ellen G. White · Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 62
The not-knowing in this parable belongs entirely to the human sower, not to God. A farmer scatters seed and genuinely cannot explain what happens underground between planting and harvest — and neither, the parable says, can anyone who plants gospel truth in another person’s heart.
“The parable of the seed reveals that God is at work in nature. The seed has in itself a germinating principle, a principle that God Himself has implanted; yet if left to itself the seed would have no power to spring up. … There is life in the seed, there is power in the soil; but unless an infinite power is exercised day and night, the seed will yield no returns.”
Ellen G. White · Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 63
A preacher can sow a truth faithfully and then, like the sleeping farmer, genuinely have no idea what happens next in the hearer’s heart. That not-knowing isn’t a failure of the sower’s work. It’s the whole point of the parable.
Whereunto Shall We Liken The Kingdom Of God
“And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.”
Mark 4:30-32
This site’s own study of Matthew 13 already noted the mustard plant’s humble beginning; Mark’s own placement of the parable, right beside the seed that grows “he knoweth not how,” makes the same point from a second angle — not just that growth is mysterious, but that what looks negligible at the start is not a reliable guide to what it will become.
“As Jesus spoke this parable, the mustard plant could be seen far and near, lifting itself above the grass and grain, and waving its branches lightly in the air. Birds flitted from twig to twig, and sang amid the leafy foliage. Yet the seed from which sprang this giant plant was among the least of all seeds. At first it sent up a tender shoot, but it was of strong vitality, and grew and flourished until it reached its present great size.”
Ellen G. White · Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 77
“And in this last generation the parable of the mustard seed is to reach a signal and triumphant fulfillment. The little seed will become a tree. The last message of warning and mercy is to go to ‘every nation and kindred and tongue,’ … ‘to take out of them a people for His name.’ … And the earth shall be lightened with His glory.”
Ellen G. White · Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 79
Four parables, one after another, all making variations on the same claim: the kingdom of God does not announce itself with size or spectacle at the start. It only becomes undeniable at the harvest.
Peace, Be Still
“And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.”
Mark 4:33-34
“It had been an eventful day in the life of Jesus. Beside the Sea of Galilee He had spoken His first parables, by familiar illustrations again explaining to the people the nature of His kingdom and the manner in which it was to be established. He had likened His own work to that of the sower; the development of His kingdom to the growth of the mustard seed and the effect of leaven in the measure of meal.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 333
All of it — the parables, the crowd, the explanations given privately to the Twelve — happened on the very same day Mark now closes his chapter with.
“And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?”
Mark 4:35-38
“The Saviour was at last relieved from the pressure of the multitude, and, overcome with weariness and hunger, He lay down in the stern of the boat, and soon fell asleep. The evening had been calm and pleasant, and quiet rested upon the lake; but suddenly darkness overspread the sky, the wind swept wildly down the mountain gorges along the eastern shore, and a fierce tempest burst upon the lake. The sun had set, and the blackness of night settled down upon the stormy sea. The waves, lashed into fury by the howling winds, dashed fiercely over the disciples’ boat, and threatened to engulf it. Those hardy fishermen had spent their lives upon the lake, and had guided their craft safely through many a storm; but now their strength and skill availed nothing.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 334
Twelve men who fish for a living, several of them, and the storm is worse than anything their own experience can answer.
“Their cry arouses Jesus. As the lightning’s glare reveals Him, they see the peace of heaven in His face; they read in His glance self-forgetful, tender love, and, their hearts turning to Him, cry, ‘Lord, save us: we perish.’ Never did a soul utter that cry unheeded. As the disciples grasp their oars to make a last effort, Jesus rises.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 335
“And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Mark 4:39-41
“He stands in the midst of His disciples, while the tempest rages, the waves break over them, and the lightning illuminates His countenance. He lifts His hand, so often employed in deeds of mercy, and says to the angry sea, ‘Peace, be still.’ The storm ceases. The billows sink to rest. The clouds roll away, and the stars shine forth. The boat rests upon a quiet sea.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 335
Two words end the storm that twelve lifetimes of experience on that same water couldn’t survive. The chapter that opened with a farmer who cannot explain how his own seed grows closes with the one Sower who never once needed to ask — over seed, or storm, or anything else — how.
