What do I know with Isaac Carroll
What do I know with Isaac Carroll
Mark chapter 5, What Soil Are You? Lessons from Jesus's Agricultural Metaphors
The mysterious power of three runs throughout Scripture—God's divine emphasis when He really wants our attention. From Peter's rooftop vision to Jesus' threefold questioning on the shore, this pattern emerges repeatedly as a divine exclamation point. And no coincidence, in Mark 4, Jesus delivers three connected parables about the Kingdom of God.
Taking us on a journey through the fertile ground of Mark's gospel, this episode unpacks the layered meanings behind Jesus' agricultural metaphors. The Parable of the Sower isn't just about farming—it's a profound revelation about the human heart and its varying receptivity to God's truth. Some hearts are hardened paths where truth never penetrates, others rocky soil where faith withers under pressure, some choked by worldly thorns, while others produce a spectacular harvest.
What makes these parables especially valuable is that Jesus himself provides the interpretation. We don't have to wonder what the seeds represent or what the soils symbolize—he tells us plainly. The seed is God's Word, and the soils are human hearts. But perhaps most encouraging is the realization that soil conditions can change. A heart unreceptive today might become fertile ground tomorrow.
The episode culminates with the disciples encountering a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee. Despite witnessing Jesus calm the tempest with mere words, they still struggled to comprehend his true identity. This reminds us that spiritual understanding often comes gradually, not in an instant. God reveals himself progressively according to our readiness to receive deeper truths.
Whether you're questioning where you are in your faith journey or seeking to better understand Jesus' teaching methods, this exploration of Mark 4 offers both challenge and comfort. Listen now and discover what kind of soil your heart might be, and how God can transform any ground into fertile territory for spiritual growth.
May God bless you and lead you always.
Welcome to the podcast. I'm Isaac Carroll, and this is what Do I Know? Alright, in today's Bible study we are going to be in Mark, the fourth chapter. Before I begin reading, I'd like to point out something that I've come to learn is truth, now, especially truth for me, but I believe it can be proved in Scripture, and what I mean by this is the number three.
Speaker 1:I think when God really wants to get your attention, when he wants you to know something or pay attention to something, he'll say it three times. And I believe this is proven in scripture on several accounts. One remember Peter being on the roof of the Tanner's house and God lowers a sheep in a vision. Three times. He lowers a sheep full of animals. He says Peter go kill, eat, don't call anything that I call clean, unclean. So he said he does it three times. Jesus on the shore telling Peter do you love me? Three times, because Peter denied Christ three times. Angels, when they cry out, they cry out holy, holy, holy. They say it three times. Angels, when they cry out, they cry out holy, holy, holy. They say it three times. In the book of Daniel, the angel Gabriel gave the message three times to Daniel. Samuel, in the book of Samuel I think it's 1 Samuel 3, god calls Samuel three times. So I think in Scripture it proves that when God wants to give you a message, wants you to truly understand or get your attention or draw your attention to something, he says it three times. And I believe this is also true in a lot of parables that Jesus gives. He gives them a lot of times in a rotation of three. I just want to draw your attention to this as we go through these three parables in Mark 4. All right, let's begin at verse 1.
Speaker 1:Again, he began to teach beside the sea and a very large crowd gathered about him so that he had gotten into a boat and he sat in it on the sea and the whole crowd was beside the sea, on the land, and he was teaching them many things in parables. And in his teaching he said to them listen, behold, a sower went out to sow and as he sowed, some seed fell along the path and the birds came and devoured it. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and it produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold, sixtyfold and a hundredfold. And he said to them he who has an ear to hear, let him hear. When he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables and he said to them To you it has been given the Let him hear.
Speaker 1:All right, let's stop here at verse 12 and discuss a couple of things before we move on. I believe the parable of the sower has a lot to say, but most people just can't hear the message. And I believe Jesus points this out when he gives, when he quotes Isaiah, isaiah 6, I think it's verses 9 through 10. And he says they are forever seeing but never perceiving. And they are ever hearing but never understanding the word. Ever seeing means that they're constantly looking and they're constantly listening for the word, but they never understand it. Why is that? Because of the parable itself points out that it's a heart thing. The seed that gets thrown on the path never actually penetrates the soil and the devil comes along and he steals away the words that were given to him, and it never does any good. And that's why he says they're ever seen but never perceiving, and they're ever hearing but never understanding.
Speaker 1:All right, let's continue at verse 13. And he said to them do you not understand this parable? And how then will you understand all? All right, let's continue at verse 13. Them, and these are the ones sown on rocky ground, the one who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy, and they have no root in themselves but endure for just a little while. Then, when tribulation or persecution arise on the account of the word, immediately they fall away. Others are the ones sown among the thorns, those who the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires of other things enter and they choke the word and it proves unfruitful. But those who were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word, they accept it, they bear fruit 30 fold, 60 fold and a hundred fold. And he said to them Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to make manifest, nor is anything secret, except to come to the light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. And he said to them Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will measure to you and still more will be added to you. For the one you use, it will measure to you and still more will be added to you. For the one who has more will be given, and for the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. All right, let's stop here at verse 23.
Speaker 1:Okay, the beautiful thing about this is we don't have to understand or give meaning to these parables, because Jesus himself gives us the answer. You don't have to question, it's right there. He explains it. The sower that could be Jesus Christ or it could be one of his followers, it could be you or me. The sower sows the word of God, it's the gospel, and then Jesus uses the different soils to give you an understanding of the hearts that receive the word that's sown in them. Now, jesus may be referring to different people in this context, but we also know that just because a person who receives the word the first time may have a hard heart, that doesn't mean that they're always going to have the same soil their entire life, because God gives people multiple chances. We don't know. That's up to God. That's why we always continue to give the word, so that other people may be changed by it. And that's why he says next is a lamp. Is it brought in and put under a bed or under a basket? We are the lamp. We're not the light, but we carry the light. And when you get the light, you don't hide the light away. You put it on a lampstand so that it casts light for everyone to see. And that's the whole purpose of the gospel is to bring people into the light.
Speaker 1:Jesus says I will make you fishers of men. When he cast the net, the fish are in darkness. Men are fish. I will make you fishers of men. The fish are in darkness. Men are fish. I will make you fishers of men. The men are in darkness. He casts the net, which is the gospel, and it raises them into the light.
Speaker 1:All right, let's pick up in verse 26. I said 23, but actually we stopped at verse 25. So we're going to pick up at verse 26. And he said the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day and the seed sprouts and grows. He knows not how the earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear, but when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come. And he said what can we compare? The kingdom of God. What parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which, sown on the ground, is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when it's sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches so that even the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. With many such parables, he spoke words to them and they were able to hear. All right, let's stop here at verse 34.
Speaker 1:We get the next two parables in concession. The second parable explains what happens to the seed If any one of us sows the seed of God, which is the word of God. That's as far as our power and our knowledge go, says a farmer who plants seed. He spreads seed in the field, he goes to bed and he gets up day by day, but it's the soil that makes the leaf, the sprout, the stalk and the fruit or the grain in this case. But the farmer doesn't know how that happens. And it's the same way with us we. We sow the seed, but, and we may even water it, but we have no power to make it grow. Only god can make it grow and we have to trust god. He has the ability to make it grow. Which comes to our third and final parable, which is the mustard seed. All right, jesus says the mustard seed. So what can we equate the kingdom of God to be like he said. He gives an example of a mustard seed. It's the smallest of all seeds we plant, the smallest of all seeds. Who are we to say the seed we sow? If it's the word of God, if it's truth, and we sow that seed, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem, god can turn that into a great tree. So, no matter how insignificant you think your efforts are, god can do all things. All right, let's continue at verse 35.
Speaker 1:On that day, when evening had come, he said to them let us go across to the other side and, leaving the crowd, they took him with them into the boat, just as he was. The other boats were with him and a great windstorm arose and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling. But he was in a stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him and they said to him Teacher, do you not even care that we are perishing? And he awoke and rebuked the wind. And he said to the sea Peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. And he said to them why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? And they were all filled with great fear and they said to one another who then, is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? They still hadn't got it Alright. That draws to the conclusion of Mark 4.
Speaker 1:It's easy for us, as modern day believers, it's easy for us to say we know who God is. We know who Christ is because we've read the gospel message from front to back. We know that Jesus is the creator. He's the one that spoke things into existence. The very voice that made the wind and the waves has the power and the authority to control and to command everything that has been made. But we know this because we've read the book. We've come to believe.
Speaker 1:These men were given a firsthand experience of it. I mean, could you imagine being in that boat at that time? And they still didn't get it, not until the end, until he rose from the dead, do they truly understand? And I can only think that God keeps us at a certain state for a certain amount of time, until we're ready. He knows the time when we'll be ready and I believe that God, he, holds us out to that time when we are mature enough, far enough along, that we can handle certain things at just the right time. I'm going to end this one here. I love you guys. We'll be in Mark 5 in our next Bible study. Until then, god bless you. Goodbye.