Week 36 Mark
One of the things the Lord was doing in the gospels was teaching people.
One of his story-telling methods was parables.
I think a pretty simple way to start understanding parables is to admit they’re not that simple to understand. Take the parable of the planter. He plants seed. Some of it’s lost, but some is productive and grows a crop. I read that parable today and my reaction is the same reaction almost anyone would have: what does it mean? What do I do with it?
The Lord knew people would ask that, and so he ended by saying: anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand.
When it comes to teaching and learning the basic idea is that the teacher teaches and the learner listens and learns. When the learner can’t dope out what the teacher is teaching then he can ask. And it looks like that’s what happened here because: later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him, “What do your stories mean?”
The Lord had started out with a large crowd in verse 1 but that big group is shaved down to a small group of learners asking the teacher: what do your stories mean?
Note: quotes from Mark 4:9 & 10 (NLT). The parable of the planter and its explanation is in Mark 4:1-20.