It is evident from what follows that Jesus was physically exhausted. He was fully God, but He was in a fully human body that required nourishment and rest. It had been a long day of teaching, probably much of the time sitting or standing in the sun, and it was evening now. If Jesus returned to the shore, the people would have been all up on Him, pressing in insisting on healing and deliverance from demons. So, Jesus wisely said, “Let’s take a little boat ride to the other side.”
A farmer who scatters seeds gets a good night of sleep because he knows there is power in the seed and he trusts the process to produce. If we aren’t planting any seed then we should be concerned, but if we are planting seed by sharing the gospel then we can be sure that our corner of the kingdom will be advancing and taking the territory from the enemy.
After the Parable of the Soils, the Gospel of Mark records the Parable of the Lamp. On the surface, what Jesus says here is self-evident: “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand?” (v. 21). This simply means that no one lights a lamp and then shoves it under his bed or puts it under a basket because that would defeat the purpose of having a lamp. Instead, a lamp is lit to shine a light, and to be most effective it is elevated on a stand it so that the light can fill the room.
This parable is often referred to as “The Parable of the Sower,” but perhaps a better title would be, “The Parable of the Soils,” because the sower and the seed are constant, but the variable in the parable is the various types of soil. Perhaps the most important point of the parable is to understand the soils and how the soil affects the productivity of the seed. The seed has the power to reproduce if it falls on good soil.
The ministry of Jesus in saving, healing, and delivering people is a powerful attraction when it is the real deal. Too many churches have more hype than hope, more music than ministry, and more preaching than power. However, when Jesus is in the house, when He is lifted up, when the authority of His Word breaks the yoke and sets the captives free, people will show up, business will pick up, and prayers will go up.
If I walk into the ring and knock out the champ, what does that make me? Well Jesus was pounding Satan into the mat with every miracle, every deliverance, every healing, and every word. If Satan was the strong man, then Jesus is Messiah, Son of God, God incarnate. Why weren’t the Pharisees, the priests, or the scribes defeating Satan? They couldn’t because they were more committed to their religion than they were to the truth.
JESUS PLANS FOR KINGDOM GROWTH By Mark E. Hardgrove, PhD Mark 3:7-21, NKJV 7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things...
We all want to be liked, and it is especially hurtful when we are doing our very best but people still find fault with and criticize us. Consider how Jesus must have felt: Everywhere He went He was doing good, yet the scribes, Sadducees, Pharisees, Priests, Herodians, and even His own brothers and sisters criticized Him. However, despite His critics, Jesus remained focused on His mission and He would not let the reproach or the rebuff of the haters distract Him from doing what His Father sent Him to do.
Jesus answered the critical question of the scribes and Pharisees with three parables: the parable of the bridegroom, the parable of the patch on the cloth, and the parable of the wine and the wineskins. The first parable introduces the concept of Jesus as the bridegroom, and the second two parables illustrate the idea of something old and something new.
The holy Rabbi of Nazareth invited the unholy and ungodly tax collector to be His disciple. The disciples who were already with Jesus must have gasped, and the people in the crowd probably began to whisper in disbelief, but the most surprised person at that moment would have been Levi.
