COMMENTARY ON MARK
LESSON NUMBER 41
“ Mark 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.”
(Mark 4:20; Matthew 13:23; Luke 8:15)
SEED SOWN ON THE GOOD GROUND
INTRODUCTION
Jesus has delivered a parable to the multitudes – the parable of “the sower sowing the Word” (Mk 4:14), and “the twelve” have “asked of Him the parable” (Mk 4:10). They inquired concerning its meaning (Lk 8:9), and asked why He spoke to the multitudes in parables (Matt 13:10). Jesus is opening to them the very nature of the Kingdom of God. In Divine activity, there is a discovery of what is within men. Their inclinations are made known, their preferences, and their deeper longings. All of this is uncovered by the dissemination of the Word of God – in particular, the Gospel of Christ. As this marvelous word falls upon the hearts of men, it draws out of them things that cannot be discovered in any other way. It is ever true, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb 4:12). Let it be clear, where this Gospel is not preached, the hearts of men, together with their inner inclinations cannot be known. As it is written, “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?” (1 Cor 2:11). Men may attempt to discover these inner secrets through psychoanalysis, or some other form of human wisdom, but such efforts will not produce the truth of the matter. Only the Word of God can accomplish this work. Even then, it takes a skillful sower who can “correctly handle the Word of truth” NIV (2 Tim 2:15). You cannot uncover the nature of the heart by spouting proverbs, delivering human ordinances, and catering to the flesh. There is a God-ordained way to do this work, and it is made known in this parable. It is dispersing the Gospel of Christ.
THE GOOD GROUND
“ 4:20a And these are they which are sown on good ground . . . ”
There were three soils that looked the same on the surface – the rocky soil, the soil with thorns, and the good soil. The condition of the soil “by the wayside” was more outwardly apparent, being hardened with the traffic of men. Yet, its true nature could only be discovered by sowing the seed upon it.
Now Jesus describes a ground that was unique. It is called “good ground.” It is the only ground that yielded produce, proving to be profitable to the sower. The word “good” is pregnant with meaning. Technically, it means “sound, whole, excellent, precious, useful, and suitable, profitable, and well adapted to its ends, or purpose.” THAYER There is soil that is meant to be nothing more than a path. Other soils simply lie fallow and untended, and are only objects for scenery, and are wandering places for wild beasts. There is, however, only one kind of person who has Kingdom utility – a single type of individual in whom the Word of God will prove productive. Here, such are described as “good ground.”
You may recall that in its pure and pristine state, all of creation was described as “good” (Gen 1:4,10,12,18,21,25,31). Jesus spoke of “good works” (Matt 5:16), “good gifts” from God (Matt 7:11), “good fruit” (Matt 7:19), “good cheer” (Matt 9:2), and “good comfort” (Matt 9:22). The Epistles speak of “good report” (2 Cor 6:8), “good will” (Phil 1:15), “good tidings” (1 Thess 3:6), “good hope” (2 Thess 2:16), a “good conscience” (1 Tim 1:15), and “good behavior” (1 Tim 3:2). Those are all things men either receive or produce. Here, however, men themselves are said to be “good” – likened to “good ground.” That is, there are people in whom the Word of God is productive, and through whom God is glorified.
It ought to be noted that there is a sense in which all of Adam’s offspring are alike. Viewed from this perspective, “there is none good but one, that is, God” (Matt 19:17). Again it is written, “there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Rom 3:12). Here, “good” is viewed from the standpoint of achievement or accomplishment. The point is that apart from Christ Jesus and the new birth, men are not capable of doing good. That is, their works are not sufficient to make them acceptable to God. Their fallen state cannot be offset by anything they do of themselves.
This text, however, looks at humanity from a different point of view. Here, “good” has to do with potentiality, not accomplishment. The accomplishment comes after the receiving of the Word. Prior to conversion, there is a sense in which all men are not the same. For example, before Cornelius was in Christ, his prayers and alms were recognized in heaven (Acts 10:4). They were not sufficient to save him, but they did reveal his heart was ready to do something productive with the Gospel. Before many of the Corinthians were converted, the Lord said to Paul, “For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city” (Acts 18:10). These people differed from the people in the synagogue who “opposed themselves, and blasphemed” (Acts 18:6). Earlier, Paul and Silas had been called to Macedonia by means of a Divine summons through a vision, where some people were ready to receive the Gospel (Acts 16:9). Upon arriving there, they found some who could be called “good ground.”
Just as surely as there are people whose hearts are hard and incapable of receiving the Word, so there are people whose hearts are ready to receive the Word. Although there are those who have no depth, and are hard beneath the surface, so there are those who do have depth, in which the Word can take root. Truly, there are some whose hearts are so cluttered with the cares and riches of this world, that every Word of God received by them is finally stifled. However, just as truly, there are those who do not have such smothering influences in their hearts, who can receive the Word of God.
The “good ground” refers to the people who have a certain discontent with the world, are longing deep within, and are not being overcome with the cares of this world. A sort of preparatory work has already been done in them. Maybe it is an Ethiopian eunuch, riding through the desert and reading the Scripture (Acts 8:27-28). Perhaps it is Saul of Tarsus, trying to “kick against the pricks” (Acts 9:5). It could be some Gentiles, searching for the Lord in a Jewish synagogue (Acts 13:48). But rest assured, there are such people!
Only the sowing of the Gospel can discover such precious souls! Unlike psychological methodologies that seek to uncover the inner workings of a man, the past is not probed. Such fruitless analyses do not go back far enough. The reason for man’s debility goes back to Adam, not to one’s youth. In order to uncover “the thoughts and intents of the heart,” the individual must be exposed to the Gospel of Christ. That alone can discover whether or not the soil of the heart is “good” – whether or not the Word can grow within.
THE IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TO THE WORD
“ 20b . . . such as hear the word, and receive it . . .”
In the parable, Jesus said there was ground in which the seed “sprang up and increased” (Mark 4:8). Luke says the seed “sprang up” (Lk 8:8). Mark’s description of the response of the “good ground” is nearly the same as that of the rocky ground hearers, of whom it is said, “when they have heard the Word immediately receive it with gladness” (Mk 4:16). According to appearance, the immediate response looks much the same as the person who will not be able to endure the heat of trial.
An essential part of growing and bearing fruit is hearing the Word of God and receiving it. No spiritual progress will be made unless this takes place. The “seed,” or means by which spiritual life is initiated and sustained, is “the word of God.” Even “good ground” can produce nothing for God until His Word is sown in it. It therefore follows that those who choose to deliver stories, news events, social issues, and humorous anecdotes to the people have actually taken away the key of Divine knowledge, hindering people from entering into the kingdom of God (Luke 11:52). By choosing to disseminate the wisdom of men, they have caused the arm of the Lord to be withdrawn, and thus made it obscure to men. Prophesying of the Gospel, Isaiah said, “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?” (Isa 53:1). Paul refers to this in his sterling defense of the necessity of hearing and believing the Gospel (Rom 10:16-17). Those who diminish the Word in the hopes of appealing to “seekers” have done nothing more than obscure the truth, making real conversion and growth impossible. At the very best, they can only simulate conversion through some contrived process – a process God will not honor.
UNDERSTANDING. Matthew provides some further insight on this “good ground.” He states that such a person “ heareth the word and understandeth it” (Mat 13:23b). Unlike those “by the wayside,” the implications of the Word are discerned. Such a person comprehends that those whom Jesus came to save, appropriately describes the hearer himself. He sees himself as a sinner, and Jesus as primarily a Savior. The Gospel makes sense to such a person. It is not heard as something mysterious and incomprehensible, even though it is, in a sense, beyond merely human understanding.
Take, for example, the Ethiopian eunuch. When reading the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the coming Messiah, he understood the matter was relevant, yet did not understand its details. He perceived this was something to be desired, yet was puzzled in his intellect concerning its meaning. However, when a person came along who could handle the Word of God, he found no difficulty at all in receiving and obeying that word. Thus, he heard Isaiah with minimal understanding, because the word itself was introductory. He heard the Gospel with fuller understanding because it revealed more.
HONEST AND GOOD HEART. Luke says of the good ground hearers, “which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it (Luke 8:15b). The word “honest” refers to the aim of the individual – an intent, or objective, that is noble. This is the opposite of being overcome with the “cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things” (Mk 4:19). An “honest” person has seen the vanity of this world, and has a higher purpose for living than a mere self-fulfillment. A “good heart” is one that desires the right things, even if they have not yet been found. Having seen enough to engage in a quest for lasting realities, a person with an “honest and good heart” is not content with the paltry offerings of this world. Such a person is like Cornelius, or like the Bereans, who “were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). They are like the Thessalonians who “received the word of God . . . not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thess 2:13).
KEEP IT. The Wayside hearer had the Word removed from his heart by the devil. The rocky- ground hearers found the Word hindered by hardness within, so that they can only believe “for a while.” The thorny ground hearer experiences the smothering effects of worldly cares and lusts, and thus the Word cannot remain in him. However, those hearts that are properly prepared are able to keep, or maintain, the Word, letting it “dwell richly” in their hearts (Col 3:16). The Word of God cannot bless those who do not want it, have no appetite for it, or can easily dismiss it from their thinking. Just as you cannot have fruit without first having a seed, so there can be no spiritual fruitage where the Word of God is not received by an “honest and good heart,” and retrained. Much of the spiritual sterility that is prominent in American churches is nothing more than the result of little or no exposure to the Word of the kingdom – the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
THE CONSISTENT RESULT
“ 20c . . . and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.” Matthew lists the fruit in descending order: “which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matt 13:23c). Luke sites the optimum yield, as though forcing us to think more in terms of possibilities than probabilities: “and bare fruit an hundredfold” (Luke 8:8).
THE AIM IS FRUIT, NOT BIRTH! Here Jesus exposes us to the ultimate objective that drives the preaching of the Gospel, or the sowing of the Kingdom seed. The aim is not to, so to speak, merely have a plant, or a tree, or a vine. It is not to get people into the Kingdom – although that is the initiation of Divine purpose. The Word of the kingdom, or the Gospel, is calculated to do more than produce the new birth, even though the Word is the means by which we are born again. As it is written, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Pet 1:23). Birth is no more the ultimate objective in salvation than it is in nature!
God is not glorified by fruitless religion! Jesus said to His disciples, “Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples” (John 15:8). Paul reminded us that this is why we have been liberated from sin and the world, being made “dead to the Law,” in order “that we should bring forth fruit to God” (Rom 7:4). If someone is confused about the importance of “fruit,” Jesus said clarified heaven’s view of the matter. “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:2). It simply is not possible that this word will not be carried out to the finest detail.
The “newness of life” is productive life, yielding phenomenal increase. There is “the fruit of the Spirit” (Gal 5:22-23), “the fruit of righteousness” (Heb 12:11), “the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Heb 13:15), and being “filled with the fruits of righteousness” (Phil 1:11). Specific products include “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.” There is also involvement in the “good works,” which God “hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10). Fruit includes growth in “grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3:18). There is also the “fruit” that yields a holy life (Rom 6:22), and much, much more.
This is fruit that is “well pleasing to God” – whether it is children obeying their parents (Col 3:20), sharing what God has given to us with others (Heb 13:1), or not entangling ourselves in the “affairs of this life” (2 Tim 2:4). There is the “fruit” of growing up “into Him in all things” (Eph 4:15), and being changed more and more into the “image” of Christ (2 Cor 3:18). When “faith” and “love” grow “exceedingly,” that is “fruit unto God” (2 Thess 1:3). Fruitfulness has to do with the life of God expressing itself through the lives – the thoughts, words, and deeds – of those who have been joined to the Lord.
WITH PATIENCE. Luke adds that those being described “bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15b). Other versions read “with perseverance,” NASB “by persevering produce a crop,” NIV and “with patient endurance.” NRSV These withstood the heat of trial that caused the seed-produced plants in rocky-soil hearers to wither and die. They “denied” the “worldly lusts” that reduced the thorny-ground hearers to fruitlessness. When offences came “because of the Word,” they maintained their grasp on the Word, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord (2 Cor 7:1). They assumed a different posture in the world than the other three soils, living “as strangers and pilgrims,” and thus abstaining from “fleshly lusts that war against the soul” (1 Pet 2:11).
Those who bring forth abundant fruit are themselves likened to “good ground” – but they are working out their own salvation in a hostile environment. In the Spirit, they are in “heavenly places,” but in the body, they are presently found in a domain ruled by Satan (1 John 5:19). Their “inward man” is gaining more and more strength, but their “outward man” is perishing (2 Cor 4:16). This is precisely why fruit can only be brought forth “with patience.” The hot blast of persecution, and the frigid winds of rejection are blowing upon the child of God. Outwardly there is oppression, and inwardly we find “another law” that wars against “the law” of our minds (Rom 7:23). Perseverance is required!
In order to withstand these opposing influences, our roots must be deep, with the Word dwelling in us richly. Invasive lusts and desires must be quickly put to death, lest they smother the holy seed. With determination, we must distance ourselves from the broad road that leads to destruction, else our hearts will become hard, and the Word will be taken from us. All of this is involved in bringing forth “fruit with patience.” That is the objective of our Lord, and that is what the Word of God is calculated to do – produce fruit!