Chapter 4 begins with the description of Jesus sitting in a boat in order to separate himself apart from the crowds in order that he can teach them. Then he begins to teach them by speaking in parables. I learned early, and often, that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. But they can also be explained as words that carry a meaning deeper than the story in which they are presented. In Mark 4:3-8 Jesus’ story is about a farmer, his grain field, and the crops. However, I know from all of the teaching that I have received that the meaning of the story is much greater than one man, one field, and that year’s harvest. The story carries an eternal message that explains not only how we respond to Jesus’ message to repent and submit to the God’s Kingdom but also the joy that will be ours as we allow God to harvest his work in us. If all of that makes sense then it is not a far-fetched idea that all of the history that God providentially recorded in the Hebrew and Greek text of our Bible tell much deeper stories then walls felled by trumpets, lepers cleanse by bathing, and God-man dying on a cross.
Stuart
No comments:
Post a Comment