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Mark | 1-6 | 7:1-13 | 7:14-23 | 7:24-37 |  8:1-21 | 8:22-33 | 8:34-9:9 | 9:9-32 | 10:1-10 | 10:11-27 | 10:28-45 | 11:1-11 | 11:12-26 | 11:27-12:12 | 12:13-27 | 12:28-44 | 13-16 |

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Outline: Kingdom of God Parables

I. The lamp (21-25)
II. Growing seed (26-29)
III. Mustard Seed (30-34)
IV. Jesus commands the storm (35-41)

I. The lamp (21-25)

Discussion Questions

• What point is Jesus making about the lamp?
• In this parable, what or who does the lamp represent?
• How can we put our “lamp on the lampstand?”
• What is the opposite of doing this?
• What kind of actions are like a light in the dark?
• Is there anything you need to do or anyone you need to tell your faith because of this teaching?
• What does verse 22 mean? How does the context help us understand it?
• What do verses 24-25 mean?
• What does it mean to “pay attention to what you hear?”
• Who is the one who has? Why will more be given to the one who has?

Cross-References

Matthew 5:14-16 – “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Luke 6:37-38 – “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. The parable of the lamp – The main idea of this parable is that a believer in Christ should not hide his faith. It doesn’t make any sense to light a lamp and then cover it. No one would do that. If they didn’t want the light, they wouldn’t light the lamp to begin with.

You don’t light a lamp and then hide it. A light is not only “not hidden” but is put on a stand so that the light it gives is even more prominent.

In the same way, a believer is to let the light of Christ shine through him (1 Peter 2:9, Ephesians 5:8) so that people around can see this and glorify God in heaven.

Philippians 2:15 – That you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

Application – We are light-bearers who reflect the light of Christ (Matthew 5:14-16, John 8:12, Revelation 21:23). We should not be ashamed of our faith or keep it a secret. If we do, we are wasting the opportunity to influence others for Christ and instead allowing them to influence us. Not only should we not keep it a secret, but we should live our lives in a way that is like a light to the world. This is our responsibility. We are called to be different. If we are the same as the people around us, we are not being a light.

Reflect – What are some practical ways you can shine the light to those around you?

For many years, I worked at a training center in China. I would often eat lunch with the other teachers. None of them prayed. In the beginning, I felt a little nervous about closing my eyes and praying before a meal. All of their eyes were on me. I don’t really like to stand out from the crowd. But I kept this habit. It turned out to be a good witnessing opportunity. They asked what I was doing. I told them that I was a Christian and thanked God for the food. This sparked several spiritual conversations. Eventually, one of my colleagues became a believer.

I wasn’t doing this to perform. It was a natural part of my life. By not covering it up, it allowed the light to shine.

2. Verse 22 –

Mark 4:22 – For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.

If you read only verse 22 out of context, you would likely think that it encourages people not to hide bad things because one day they would be found out. This principle is certainly true and is taught throughout the Bible.

Hebrews 4:13 – And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

However, it doesn’t fit this context. Jesus is not telling us not to hide bad things. Rather, He is telling us that we should hide our faith in Him.

The idea is that you should not hide your faith because, at some point, you will be found out anyway. If you don’t tell your friends or family about your faith of your own accord, they will probably find out anyway. When they do find out, it will seem as if they are uncovering a secret that you are doing something bad.

This truth is especially relevant in countries where most people are not Christian.

Imagine that a young lady is pregnant. She doesn’t tell anyone. Naturally, her stomach keeps expanding. One day, her parents may ask, “Are you pregnant?” Her guilt and shame may have kept her from telling them. But on the other hand, if she is married and the couple has been hoping to have a child, it would seem ridiculous to not tell anyone and wait until others notice. If that couple had waited that long to announce it, people might have wondered what they were hiding. The point is simple. Good things don’t need to be hidden.

John 8:31-32 – So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

It was the disciples’ mission as people who had heard the teachings of Christ in secret to reveal those to the world.

Application – Do you publicly identify as a believer in your family, school, and workplace? If not, what is keeping you from doing so?

3. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear – This is a frequent refrain given by Jesus after a parable calling the spiritually sensitive people to pay attention and understand.

4. Pay attention to what you hear – This goes back to verse 23. Jesus encouraged the spiritually sensitive to listen to Him and pay attention. There were other forces vying for the crowds’ attention, most prominently the Pharisees, who said that Jesus did miracles by the power of Satan. Jesus often said, “Truly, truly I say to you.” This is a reminder to “Listen up,” and “Pay attention!”

The same idea is seen in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear!”

Application – Like the disciples, we are to listen to Jesus. There will be many people giving you advice on how to live and what to do, including friends, family, teachers, bosses, and the government. I have had random people on the metro come up and tell me, “Your baby is hungry. Have you tried feeding him.” People like sharing their advice about everything. Their voices are even louder in regard to cultural hot-button issues.

Do not allow worldly forces to shape your convictions and actions. Instead, form your convictions and beliefs from the Word and allow that to shape your reaction to other people’s suggestions. Listen to Jesus, not to the world.

5. With the measure you use it will be measured to you –

Mark 4:24-25 – With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

You reap what you sow. More knowledge means more responsibility. Do not become proud of what you know. Instead, humbly share what you have learned with others. Pass it on.

“If they measure the words of Jesus genuinely and sincerely, receiving them, understanding them, and fully responding to them; God will respond equally genuinely and sincerely.

Indeed, they will receive more than full measure. God will respond abundantly. To him who has will more be given. But if they do not receive and understand and fully respond, they will lose even what they have, for it will be taken away from them. God is not satisfied with half measures and half response.

The principle behind this parable is this: “The truth you fail to use, you lose.” – Source http://www.bereanbiblechurch.org/transcripts/mark/4_21-25.htm

When a person responds to God’s Word faithfully, He blesses them. He entrusts more knowledge to them because they faithfully use it well.

A similar principle is seen in the parable of the talents. The servants who wisely used the resources they were to steward were rewarded with more, while the servant who wasted them had them taken away.

If you are reading this, you are likely blessed by God. You probably live in a country where there is abundant and cheap or free access to the Bible and Bible studies. There are likely many churches near you. You have every opportunity to learn about God. This verse challenges you to take advantage of these opportunities!

Application – Consider how you can be a better listener of the Word. Could you take notes at church? Could you start a journal?

II. Growing seed (26-29)

Discussion Questions

• What is the main point of this parable?
• What does it teach us about salvation?
• What does it teach us about a growing Christian?
• Does the farmer cause the seed to grow? Who does?
• Can we cause a person to believe in Christ?
• How is a person’s heart converted to the Lord?
• Share your salvation testimony with the group.

Cross-References

1 Corinthians 3:6-7 – I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. The kingdom of God is like a seed scattered on the ground – This parable is like an extension of the parable of the four soils in the first part of this chapter. Mark is the only gospel that records it. This parable gives additional insight into the how and why of a seed’s growth.

2. A seed’s growth is mysterious –

Mark 4:27 – He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.

A farmer plants a seed. But he does not cause it to grow. The mechanisms of a seed’s growth are a mystery.

In a similar way, the work of salvation is mysterious. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. How does a person who is hostile to Christ become a believer? How does an agnostic begin to care? How does a person who has been taught evolution all of his life realize it is false? How do murderers, adulterers, and addicts change? How have your life, plans, goals, and dreams been changed? It is all by the power of the Holy Spirit. He changes us. We cannot convert ourselves. We cannot just “turn over a new leaf.” What we need is a complete heart transplant.

Ezekiel 36:26 – And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Application – Our job is merely to sow the seed. We tell people the truth and give them an opportunity to hear and understand. But we cannot change them. Neither can we predict who will change, when they will change, or if they will change. The job of a farmer is to sow the seed. Our job is to keep preaching the gospel.

One missionary to Africa spent years preaching the gospel without any visible fruit. Eventually, he left. Others came to that area and found believers and churches. It turned out that many people came to Christ after he left.

While some seeds germinate in days, others take far longer. The Guinness World Record for the longest germinating seed goes to a two-thousand-year-old date seed from Masada.

This principle is very practical. Perhaps you have shared the gospel with a family member for years and seen no visible evidence of change. Don’t give up or grow discouraged. My uncle believed after decades of saying he had no interest in the Lord.

George Muehler prayed for five friends daily. One believed after a few months. He thanked God and kept praying for the other five. Two more believed over the years. He thanked God and kept praying for the other two. Near the end of Muehler’s life, the fourth believed. This was after Muehler had prayed for him for fifty-plus years. He thanked God and kept praying for the last one. Finally, the fifth one believed a few weeks after George Muehler’s death.

Keep sowing the seed and don’t give up.

3. Verse 28 – Growth is a process. It doesn’t happen all in one day. It may be slow, but it is steady. You cannot expect a new believer to act like a mature one from day one. Yet we can and should expect continued growth. We ourselves should also continue growing.

It is unnatural for an adult human to act like a child. There are records of people doing this and there are always serious mental issues that cause it. Likewise, God desires believers to grow and mature.

Hebrews 5:11-14 – About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Application – Compare your walk with the Lord now to one year ago. How have you grown? Where do you hope it will be one year from now? You won’t get there all at once. It is a daily process.

If you have children, you have seen this process play out. You cannot notice your children grow in height on a day-to-day basis. It happens gradually and imperceptibly. Spiritual growth is like that. Your kids eat and drink. They would not grow without nutrition. You also need spiritual nutrition coming in daily to grow.

1 Peter 2:2-3 – Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4. Verse 29 – This could be a reference to the second coming when the complete crop will be “harvested.” Until then, God is still waiting for individuals to believe and grow.

III. Mustard Seed (30-34)

Discussion Questions

• How is the kingdom of God like a mustard seed?
• How big is a mustard seed?
• How about the mustard “tree” that grows from it?
• What does this illustrate to us about the kingdom of God?
• How does God’s kingdom grow so fast and large?
• Who causes this growth?
• What is our role in this?

Verse by Verse Commentary

Background: A mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds in the world at just 1/20th of an inch in diameter. The “tree” that grows from this seed is technically a bush. This bush can grow to be up to 20 feet (6.5 meters) high. Oftentimes, it towers over the other crops or smaller plants growing around it in fields. The mustard “tree” has a lot of branches and it is a popular place for birds to make their nests even today. Jesus was giving a parable that would have been easily understood by His audience.

1. The kingdom of God has a massive potential for exponential growth – Jesus founded Christianity. This movement started from a core of twelve disciples. How could these few men fulfill the Great Commission to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20)?

Jesus said that the gospel would be proclaimed throughout the whole world before His second coming.

Matthew 24:14 – And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

In Revelation, a countless multitude of believers from every tribe, nation, and tongue are standing before the throne of the Lamb, worshipping Him (Revelation 7:9-12).

The movement which started with Jesus and His disciples would change the world.

Acts 19:10 – This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

In a period of only two years all the people in ancient Asia (modern-day Turkey) heard the gospel.

Now there are around 2.38 billion professing Christians in the world.

The kingdom of God has experienced massive growth just as Jesus predicted.

2. Those outside the kingdom of God are blessed by it – Because God extends grace to believers even those around them can taste of or share in some aspects of this grace.

Christians have been influential in stopping the slave trade, ending abuse of women, raising the status of women, building hospitals, helping the sick, taking care of the poor, looking after orphans, building schools, instituting one-man, one-woman marriage, disaster relief, and more.

The worldwide church stands on the foundation of Christ. Their constitution is the Bible. This is a holy, moral, and righteous document. Believers stand for absolute truth. While the church is far from perfect and every believer is a sinner, to some extent, it still acts as a conscience for the world, restraining sin. This is done not by our power but by the power of the Holy Spirit in us.

2 Thessalonians 2:6 – And you know what is restraining[the man of lawless] now so that he may be revealed in his time.

In simple terms, the kingdom of God is a blessing to the whole world, even to unbelievers.

Application – What should you do because of this parable?

A. Live in awe of the power of God.

B. Keep spreading the seed, even little ones, knowing that God can cause them to grow. Even a little seed can bring about exponential growth.

IV. Jesus commands the storm (35-41)

Discussion Questions

• How could Jesus sleep during this? Why was He so tired?
• What does this passage teach us about Jesus?
• What does this passage teach us about the disciples?
• If you were a disciple, what might you have done in that situation?
• What should they have done?
• What should you do when you face similar “scary” situations?
• What can you learn from this passage that can comfort you in times of distress?
• How did the disciples respond to Jesus’ miracle?

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. God is sovereign over the weather – This storm did not come up by chance. It was an opportunity for Jesus to demonstrate His power and teach an important object lesson. Nonetheless, the geography of that area does cause sudden and violent storms on the Sea of Galilee.

2. Jesus was tired – Here we see the human side of Jesus. Jesus kept very busy. It was difficult for Him to find times of rest because the crowds were always searching for Him to ask questions or request healing.

The disciples did not own a yacht. Sleeping on a boat like that would have been uncomfortable. He could do it because He was likely exhausted from His long hours of teaching and healing. In addition, it shows that Jesus was not a worrier.

3. Jesus demonstrated power over nature – Calming the storm was not possible through a magic trick. It was no illusion. Jesus said the words and the storm ceased immediately. Wow! That is an exciting thought. It is exciting to realize that Jesus can do the same thing today. Jesus is no less in control now than He was then.

Application – How does Jesus’ power effect us now? How does it influence our daily lives?

One application is that we should not complain about anything, including the weather. He is sovereign over the weather. If He allowed it to be hot, there is a reason. If our outdoor event is rained out, God allows it. Therefore, complaining is ultimately against God.

Philippians 2:14 – Do all things without grumbling or disputing.

4. The disciples’ lack of faith – At this point, the disciples had already seen a number of miracles. They should have had faith and experienced peace resting in Him when they saw the storm because Jesus was with them. Yet they still feared. Why?

It is human nature. Fear and worry seem to be in our blood. But that is our old nature. We don’t have to live as slaves of that fear anymore.

1 John 4:18 – There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

Worry and fear are the opposite of faith. Do not accept them as a normal part of human nature. Our human natures are fallen and corrupted. There are many things that are natural for us to do that we should not do.

1 Peter 5:7 – Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Philippians 4:6 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

We are commanded not to worry. That means that worrying is sinful.

Still, our fleshly response is often to worry. What David said is very beneficial.

Psalms 56:3-4 – When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

His natural response to certain situations was fear. But He immediately decided to take that fear to God and place his trust in Him. Likewise, we can decide to take our feelings to Him and not allow them to rule over or paralyze us.

Reflect – What should you do when you feel worried?