Week 37 Mark
One of the Lord’s public teaching methods was to tell parables. He would tell a story about something that was pretty familiar and unmistakable. In chapter four he talks about a farmer planting seed and some of that seed grew and some didn’t. A simple story on the surface but also a two-level story. Mark says that: later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples…they asked him, “What do your stories mean?” They knew that the simple farmer and his simple seed was a cover for a more complex farmer with his more complex bag of seed. They knew enough to know they didn’t really know.
Anyway the Lord goes on to spell out what the different elements of the parable meant (reading the explanation I know I wouldn’t be able to dope out the correct meaning in a hundred years).
Trying to understand what the Lord was teaching is a big job. Which means that reading-through is both a) simple, and b) difficult. Simple because anybody can read the words; difficult because not everyone will discover meanings.
Mark ends the paragraph with this tip from the Lord: anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand! And be sure to pay attention to what you hear. The more you do this, the more you will understand…To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given.
Willingness. Attentiveness. Openness. They’re all part of the understanding mix.
Note: quotes from Mark 4:10, 23-25 (NLT)