Mark 4:10–20 (ESV)
The Purpose of the Parables
10 And when he
was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that
“they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.”
13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these
are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.
17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares
of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold
and a hundredfold.”
In yesterday’s reading, Jesus tells about the Sower and the seeds. The sower sows seeds in a very crazy way. He scatters seed all over the ground. I love
this parable, because Jesus explains it very clearly in today’s reading. I don’t have to explain it. One thing I will point out is that Jesus makes it clear that the theology of “Once saved, always saved” is bad theology.
Don’t “fall away”, but endure unto the end, and you will receive the crown of life.
I pray: O Lord, help me to endure unto the end. I pray for all people who have come to know
you to continue to live in your Word and to keep their focus on you. Amen.