Lent 2026 Day 6: Tue 24 Feb
Mark 4:13-20
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? 14 The farmer sows the word.
15 Some are like the seeds along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
16 Some are like the seeds sown on rocky ground. They hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But they themselves have no root, and they remain for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
18 Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns. They hear the word, 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 Still others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.”
You might think that Jesus could have made his parable a little more accessible if the disciples are struggling with it. Jesus tells them, and us, that the seed is the word. By this I imagine that Jesus was describing the message of the Good News that he was preaching to the crowds that came to him. The message is broadcast and people receive it in different ways, if at all.
Path, Rocks, Thorns, Good soil.
Jesus describes some of the different ways people respond to the Gospel message. The first group responds positively to hearing, but there is an enemy lurking, like a hyena, ready to pick off those who do not seek an environment or community where the truth can be confirmed and faith built up. It’s important to remember that the enemy steals the word, not the person. There are many who make an initial response but, because they remain or choose to remain in an inhospitable environment, will gradually lose what they’d received. The enemy’s tactics are to question the truth, to feed the person with “rationality” and to encourage rejection.
Rocky ground is not good for growth. This rough soil encourages fast turnover, a lack of sustainability and poor protection. As long as there’s no stress the seed will get along – this is the space many “good-time” Christians inhabit. But hard times, challenges and disappointments will come; they will weigh heavily and the seed will fail to thrive.
Thorns take away the light and crowd out the space for growth. The seed survives, but it is not fruitful. There are people whose experience of a life of faith is limited because of the lack of light or space for growth. It is a non-challenging place to stay.
It's only the seed that hits the good soil that flourishes. Growth assured, difficulties addressed and overcome or viewed now in the light of hope. Love, joy, peace.
We can assume that all the seed is good – it is the Gospel message. Where we are, that is, the ground on which the seed falls, is a matter of choice on our part. We cannot always claim that our environment is to blame for not receiving the message. We are the ground in this parable, and we can choose to be indifferent (like the path), frivolous (like the rocks), self-absorbed (like the thorny ground) or receptive.
However, God’s word does not return to him empty (Isaiah 55.11). Though it may seem unlikely, nothing is wasted in God’s economy. Even when seed falls on the pathway something is going on. While we might choose not to listen, God can plant trees in the deserts of our hearts and make streams in the barren places of our souls.
Are you aware of the ground that you are?
Has God made changes in your life?
Are you planted in good soil?
Father God, I may not always be good soil, and I know that it takes time to prepare a fertile environment for the seed of the Gospel message to grow in me. You are the gardener, and I offer myself to you for breaking, tilling and preparing under your constant care so that your seed may grow to abundance in me. Amen.
Paul