Mark 4:6-10

Mark 4:6 (KJB)
But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

Then under the hot eastern sun, these plants were scorched or burned up. This would cause them to wither or dry up. The reason for this is that even though the plants had sprouted and gave temporary evidence that they were good plants, the fact is that their roots had no connection with any nourishment from the soil or to any underground water because of the rock plate they were planted on. Without a root for nourishment, the plant will die very quickly.

Mark 4:7 (KJB)
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

(Isa 32:13 KJV) Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city: No matter how one keeps the fields free of weeds, they will always return. One thing this field had was thorns and those thorns had choked the seed which was sown on it. Obviously, part of the field was not tilled correctly and there were some roots left of thorn and brier bushes which grew rapidly and caused the seeds of the good plants to be choked and the result of choking is death. The thorn plants would have robbed all the nutrition from the good seed, just as weeds take sustenance from flowers or vegetable plants. That is why gardens must be weeded on a regular basis. Since these thorns were allowed to grow, it had completely taken all the nutrition from the good plants and that resulted in a yield of no fruit. This would also happen to us in the Christian life. If we are careful not to remove all the thorns the moment we see them, they would grow and would hinder our growth, we too would yield no fruit.

Mark 4:8 (KJB)
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.

There was much wasted seed in the way this sower had sown, however, he planted some of the seeds on good soil and they grew properly. The results that there was a harvest in spite of the fact that much of the plants did not germinate on the bad soil. The seed goes into the ground a tiny item and then when the plant comes to fruition, the result is a great harvest from thirty fold to one hundred fold. A fold means something that is multiplied by. When I was in the foods business, we had raw materials which were two-fold, three-fold, etc. The higher the fold, the stronger the raw material. The good ground is the one which is weeded, and had the rocks removed, and where there was a good supply of water. (Psa 92:12-14 KJV) The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. {13} Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. {14} They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; The good ground is the believer who has been prepared or qualified by God to hear and understand the Gospel.

Mark 4:9 (KJB)
And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Jesus now tells those who have ears to hear to hear. This is not speaking of the physical hearing but is speaking of spiritually hearing the message which is behind the parables. Those who have spiritual ears are those whom God has qualified to hear spiritual things. Those who have spiritual ears are those who are the saved because only they would understand the true spiritual nature of seed sowing which is the propagation of the Word of God to the masses. One person hears and understands the Gospel, while another hears and has no idea what is being taught, because they have not been qualified to understand spiritual things. (1 Cor 2:14 KJV) But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Mark 4:10 (KJB)
And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.

Jesus had used parables as a unique way of teaching spiritual truths. The disciples had wondered as to why Jesus was using this method with this crowd since many times before He was speaking plainly to the crowds. Apparently Jesus had gone back to the house for a while and the disciples had followed Him and that is when they asked Him the question. Even though one parable is reported, it is not known how long He was already speaking. The parables, while teaching truths, were veiled pictures of a spiritual truth and it seemed that the crowd had some trouble understanding, and maybe some had approached the disciples and asked of this method and they in turn asked Jesus.

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