Mark 4:1-20
Parable of the Sower
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, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that,
“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
Luke 10:1-24
Jesus Sends Out the Seventy Two
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
22 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Mark 4:35-41
Jesus Calms the Storm
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
In the parable of the Sower, Jesus tells us that we sometimes see things but we do not perceive them...And that we sometimes hear things but fail to understand what we hear...And this happens many times throughout our lives...Our minds wander off and we lose attention of what we are currently doing...We may read the paper, and be preoccupied with something else, and fail to take in what we have just read...Someone maybe speaking to us, and if our mind is on something else, we fail to take in all that they have said...So we have seen examples in our lives and can relate to Jesus saying we can see without seeing, and we can hear without hearing...
Jesus sent out seventy two of His apostles and they taught others what He had taught them...He told those He had sent out, “All things have been committed to Me by My Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”...He told His Disciples and privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see...For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”...
Many others in the Old Testament wanted to see Jesus...The wanted to know who the Messiah was...Others were given covenants or promises from God about different things that would come to fruition after their deaths...Abraham's covenant of his ancestors growing in number in Israel comes to mind...But the Twelve Disciples were different...They personally got to see Him and be with Him for three years...What a gift...What a joy...To be with the Master Teacher and be an eyewitness to His Majesty, and all the things He said and did...
I wonder in all this, if the Disciples and His other followers were seeing who He was...Were they hearing these great words, He was teaching?...Did they understand what was going on around them, with Him right there beside them?...Jesus was communicating the greatest words ever to be spoken and taught, and the Twelve got to hear almost everything He said...And they had, it seems, complete access to Him to ask Him anything...The One who knows all things was with them...But did they realize this?...Could they see who He was as He walked with them?...Could they hear the divine words, as He was speaking?...Could they say, He was and is Divine...They must have been amazed with His different miracles...And over a period of three years or thirty six months, some count His miracles to be thirty seven...So He did thirty seven miracles over a thirty six month period...How could one get used to seeing a miracle, especially a different one?...
One miracle He did was the calming of a raging storm...He was in a boat with His Disciples and a bad storm came up...Storm and all, Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion...The disciples woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, don’t You care if we drown?”...He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet!...Be still!”...Then the wind died down and it was completely calm...He said to His disciples, “Why are you so afraid?...Do you still have no faith?”...They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this?...Even the wind and the waves obey Him!”...
The Disciples feared the storm on the sea, as He slept soundly...Our faith and our fears can bounce around...Faithful one day, fearful the next...Jesus has divine authority over the weather and climate...The Disciples had to wake Him up (He was sleeping apparently very soundly), while the storm raged...Then after He talked to wind and waves, the waves and wind calmed down...The storm immediately passed and was gone...Gone by His words...His Disciples ask each other, "Who is this?"...The Disciples still after being around Him much of the time, could not see who He was...The fear of the storm overpowered the Disciple's faith...At this time in their boat, they had more fear, than they had faith...And Jesus ask them about their faith, because of this storm...Afterwards, the Disciples seemed more concerned with how can a Man talk to the sea and wind and it actually listen...Jesus was more concerned about their lack of faith, and how this fear had taken their faith from them, so quickly...Let us learn from our fears, about our faith...Let our faith see and know who He is...