There is a close connection between the various parts of Mark 4:1-25. The Parable of the Sower (4:3-9) is followed by a discussion with the disciples about speaking in parables (4:10-12). After that Mark gives the explanation of the parable of the sower (4:13-20), to which a recapitulation is added (4:21-25). Thus, both the parable as well as its explanation are followed by a more general section. Consequently the structure of the passage as a whole (A-B-a-b) displays a clear internal coherence.

That coherence also exists with respect to the topics that are being dealt with. At first blush, it looks like there are two heterogeneous themes that are intertwined (1. What happens with the seed? 2. Why parables?). But these two themes are closely related. The first describes a negative result (the seed perishes) and a positive (the seed sprouts). At the same time, speaking in parables seems to describe a situation that is partly negative (people don’t understand) and partly positive (people understand the mystery of the kingdom). We find that division both in the parable (4:4-7 and 4:8) and in the explanation (4:14-19 and 4:20) and also in the first recapitulation (4:11b-12 and 4:11a) and in the second (4:25b and 4:25a). We can observe the coherence also in another, less formal, point: Jesus begins to speak in parables because there is something missing in what the crowd sees and hears (4:11b-12; 4:24a), although the parable of the sower in particular is focused entirely on the importance of hearing correctly (4:3a, 9; 4:20). The cross connection becomes very clear when the recapitulation of the parable (“He who has ears to hear, let him hear) also forms the essence of the last general observation (4:23).

This close interconnection between speaking in parables and the parable of the sower (see also Matt. 13:1-23; Luke 8:4-18) is not only described by three evangelists, but can also be understood against the historical background. Jesus has already preached (sown) for a considerable time. He was met by two reactions: faith and unbelief. This now leads him to speak in a way that makes this division visible. And the parable that fits this discourse is that of the sower: if you do not want to hear the word (receive it as in good soil), you will lose it!

In newer commentaries the passage (4:1-25) is rarely read as a historical unit anymore. Commentators regard the explanation of the parable as bearing a later date, because it includes more points of comparison. For since Van Koetsveld and Jülicher in the 19th century, the almost general conviction has been that a parable is an elaborate comparison with only one point of comparison. Every explanation that looked for more points of comparison was rejected as allegorical exegesis. Thus, Mark 4:13-20 was regarded as a later interpretation that originated in the early years of the Christian church. So also, the exposition about speaking in parables (4:10-12) was regarded as having a later date. It is true that Jeremias¹ did support an older date and argued for the originality of Jesus’ words in 4:11-12, but he believed that they did not refer to the parables (only to all of Jesus’ preaching). Thus, the connection of 4:11-12 to the parable of the sower remains a matter of later editing. Kirkland ² wanted to go a step further than Jeremias (4:11-12 was not only original tradition, but also deals with parables). However, he also did not support the integrity of Mark 4, because in his opinion Mark conjoined two old strands of tradition (which did not interpret parable in the same way: A. Mark 4:3-9, 14-20, 26-34; and B. Mark 4:10-13, 21-25). These and other theories were based not only on an incorrect presupposition with respect to the hermeneutics of the parables (Van Bruggen³ ), but are also connected to the systematic underappreciation of the historical particulars in the gospels. Thus, Pesch⁴considers verses 1-2, 10, 33-34 as (later) frameworks through which a certain (quasi-historical) connection was made between a number of traditional pieces, each of which had its own background and history. However, it is precisely the historical situation indicated by Mark that allows us to understand the connection Jesus himself intends between the parable of the sower and his emphatic shift to speaking in parables to the crowd.

The location where this takes place is the Sea of Galilee (4:1). Jesus again begins to give instruction at the edge of the Sea. He had done this before (3:7); also then the instruction happened after certain events in Capernaum (3:1; 3:20). By his formulation, Mark reminds us emphatically of the earlier event. When Jesus acts like this now, it has the character of repetition.

A very large crowd gathers round him. These people didn’t come for instruction particularly. Their presence is obtrusive and does not display a listening attitude. The Lord is forced to get “into a boat.” This reference to the well-known boat places us again in the previous teaching event at the edge of the sea (3:7-10). There people flocked together from far and wide to find healing. They pushed and shoved to get their turn. For safety’s sake, Jesus told the disciples to have a boat ready for him, so that he could retreat into it in case the people should push him into the sea. Now it is necessary to make use of the boat. Jesus climbed on board and sat in it “on the sea” (assuming the posture of a sitting teacher), while all the people that are pushing and shoving remain on the shore. The distance between Jesus, who gives instruction from the sea, and the people who are pushing each other on shore is not just spatial. It typifies the situation. Jesus again begins to teach at the sea, but the people are even less interested in listening than before (3:9). They push the speaker aside to get to the healer! By getting into the boat, Jesus creates opportunity to carry out his own intentions. But now he instructs a crowd that stands at a distance and only continues out of necessity to listen to the sermons of the doctor. It is likely that this listening was an unavoidable delay for many before Jesus again comes back to the shore. Inwardly they were far removed from the Teacher and Jesus emphasizes that by his spatial distance and by creating a distance in his speaking (by using parables).

He was teaching them many things (Wohlenberg⁵: “with many words”) and now he does that in parables (4:2). So there is something new in this repeated instruction: it comes in images. Although in our parlance the term “parable” has become a special designation for the detailed expressive stories of the Saviour, it is not correct to read that specific meaning in 4:2. Mark uses the word parabolé for all speaking in images, for any indirect indication of what one means. Thus we read in 3:23 that Jesus speaks in images (“in parables”) to those who represent him as co-worker of Beelzebul. What then follows in 3:23-27, however, is not a complete story (a “parable”), but a series of connected images in which Jesus speaks indirectly about himself and about his opponents. The use of proverbs, comparisons, and images by Jesus is not something new (see, e.g., the images in 2:19-22 and those in the Sermon on the Mount in Matt. 5-7). What is new is that he now focuses on them and limits himself to them. The illustration becomes the main text. The comparisons and images will miss their subtitles. Images and comparisons do not, by nature, cause things to be hidden. In fact, they clarify what has been said. But when they become the only thing and develop into closed instruction in stories of images (“parables”), the communication between speaker and listeners acquires a peculiar character. It is as though the speaker adopts a certain distance from the listeners and goads or challenges them to bridge that distance themselves by thoughtful listening! The listener has to do much more himself to unveil the concealed meaning. Thus there is a certain parallelism between this moment and Jesus’ new style of speaking. People that are not prepared to listen, force Jesus to observe a spatial distance (in the boat). And Jesus himself introduces a spiritual distance by speaking more distantly (in images). People hear his voice and his instruction, but it comes from farther away. Now they have not only to cock their ears to catch the voice from the boat, but they have also to switch on their intellect and heart to understand the message from the withdrawn images.

The parable of the sower is suited to this situation: it forms an explanation packaged in images for Jesus’ style of speaking. For this series of images deals with listening: it begins with a summons (Listen! 4:3a), which also (in detailed form) concludes the parable (4:9). The crowd that lusts after healings is being told that listening is a priority for Jesus! His instruction from the boat is no delay for them. They themselves have to adjust and, having come here, must be ready to begin to listen. The fact that this summons is insistently repeated, proves that the crowd’s willingness was weak and their true hearing slight. The images of the sower, wedged between the summons to listen, make it clear that the summons is of vital importance. And the use of images is at the same time a good method to sharpen one’s hearing.

With respect to the actual series of images (4:3b-8) we must first ask the question whether there is anything special about the story as such. The idea that this concerns a strange and carefree or possibly abnormally generous sower cannot be based on the fact that seed falls on the path, among thorns, and on rocky ground. All of this reflects the circumstances of the small fields in Palestine. When the sower casts the seed with his hand there, it stands to reason that some seed will fall on the path (probably a path across and beside the field that is not bordered by a hedge or a wall). In almost every field there is an area where the earth barely covers the rock below. And the growth of weeds in parts of the field is tenacious, so that those parts are often ploughed under afterwards to combat the weeds. Thus it is quite normal that some kernels fail to produce grain because the soil won’t (permanently) accept them.

In following Dalman, Jeremias⁶ has suggested that the situation can be called “normal” because the parable is based on the Palestinian custom of sowing first in the fall and ploughing only thereafter (which is why the path has not yet been ploughed and the thorns are still there). After Jeremias⁷ reiterated his view, Payne⁸  correctly concluded that the parable does not intend to allude to whether or not the field is ploughed. Since any ploughing always takes place immediately after the sowing, that ploughing is certainly not meant in the parable, for it speaks of thorns that grew up after the sowing (4:7).

According to Jeremias⁹ the parable does portray a deviation from reality when it speaks of seed that yields a thirty-, sixty-, and hundredfold increase. Normally, a kernel never yields an ear with a hundred grains. Thus, according to him the parable points to an abnormal harvest of the kingdom of heaven. Just like White,¹⁰ but with more detailed argument, Lohfink¹¹ has shown, however, that the parable speaks of grains that are not sown together too closely, that they grow out so that various ears eventually come from one grain. In that case it is possible to call a hundredfold harvest of grains from one seed normal. Connected to this is the fact that 4:8 speaks not solely about the “growing up,” but also about the “increasing” of the seed.

If what happens with the seed is in every respect normal, it is also not justifiable to regard the parable as pointing to the fourth element (Jeremias¹²: the harvest of the kingdom of heaven). The images indicate that the seed that has been sown is threatened by birds, the sun’s heat, and weeds, and that it thrives only in good soil. That is not a different kind of soil, but it is soil that has depth and is receptive. In it the sown kernel does not remain on the surface, but by sprouting roots it can find moisture and nourishment. And then, by growing out, it can bear fruit. The seed is welcome here! And everything depends on that.

Framed by a summons to listen and to use one’s ears properly, this series of images means that Jesus’ instruction always thrives and bears fruit when the soil of the listening ear is receptive and the heart is willing to accept it. From out of this focal point Jesus is going to explain the parable further in 4:13-20 (see below).

What is exceptional about the parable is the image used, however common and ordinary it may be. This image is particularly foreign to the subject to which it is applied. In the Dutch Bible translations 4:3 reads, “The sower went out,” whereas the English translations read “a sower.” Nonetheless, it is difficult to read this in a general sense (“Sowers went out to sow”: Gould¹³). For Jesus himself addresses the crowd and begins with a summons (“Listen!”). Thus the reference to “a” or “the” sower must refer to Jesus himself. He presents himself in this image. In contrast, the crowd think of Jesus as “the harvester” or “the restorer.” Since they come mainly to see miracles and signs, they want to gather fruit from Jesus. But he turns their conceptual universe round. He is not the harvest that they gather; rather, they have to produce the harvest that he comes to seek and to work on. He went out to sow. They are the soil on which he sows. The image is at cross purposes with the attitude of the crowd. It calls them to the Master’s order and serves to awaken them out of their profiteering dream.

Lohfink¹⁴  posits that the parable is directed at the eschatological renewal of God’s people. He rejects the exegesis that applies everything to the events surrounding the preaching. According to him the images must be looked at against the background of the Old Testament, where God “sows” the people (Zech. 10:9; Hos. 2:1-3, 22; Jer. 31:27) and where the people are a “planting of God” (passim, see Jer. 31:27-28). To the extent that people are being regenerated through the seed of the word and by careful listening, you could indeed draw a connection with the figurative language of the Old Testament. However, this remains a side issue in the parable. The main point is how people do or do not listen. It is not the promise of a new people that is the focus, but the warning attached to the manner in which God forms that new people. Thus, in explaining the parable we do not face two unconnected ideas (the Greek idea of “the word that has been heard” and the Old Testament idea of “the sown people”). While the preaching of the word and its explanation are central also in the exegesis (4:14), we can at the same time speak about people that are being sown among thorns or in good soil (4:15-16, 18, 20), for the sown word in this case is the unique life-giving seed of regeneration.

For 4:9 see the discussion of 4:3a.

It is not immediately clear whether 4:10 refers to a later point in time when the crowd has left and Jesus is left alone with the twelve (Gould¹⁵), or whether this verse portrays a moment of rest, during which Jesus sailed some distance farther on the sea during a break in his instruction. The latter interpretation is supported by the fact that they immediately crossed over the sea after the day of the parables, so that there was then not a tranquil occasion for a further discussion (see 4:35-41). It is also supported by the fact that Jesus explains only the parable of the sower. The parables that he utters thereafter are addressed again to the crowd (4:33-34) and he explains them separately to his disciples at a later point (4:34). Thus, it is likely that 4:10 portrays a break during the time that Jesus speaks in parables.

The phrases “those around him” and “the twelve” raise questions. The circle of those who are in Jesus’ boat and in the boats accompanying him is greater than the twelve. However, they consist entirely of followers, who must be distinguished from the group called “those outside” in 4:11.

These followers ask him about “the parable” (most manuscripts). According to a small number of manuscripts, they asked about “the parables” (plural). In that case, the question is directed more clearly to the manner of instruction (in comparisons or images; the “parable” of the sower consists in fact of a “number of comparisons or parables”); see 4:2. Even when you follow the reference in the singular, the question about “the parable” is largely about Jesus’ manner of instruction. For the particular parable summons the hearers to “listen,” while at the same time Jesus makes listening more difficult by restricting himself to parables. The answer that the Lord is going to give therefore has to do on the one hand with his manner of speaking as such and on the other with the theme of the parable of the sower. The command, “listen,” (4:3, 9) returns (4:12) and so does losing what people heard (4:4-7, 12b).

Jesus’ statement in 4:11 is more than once applied directly to his speaking in parables. The first clause reads, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God.” This would then mean, “You know (or I shall now tell you) what the parable means.” But this explanation does not fit the text. Jesus does not say that the secret shall be given to his disciples, but that it is given to them. Moreover, he does not speak of the secret of the parable, but of the secret of the kingdom of heaven. The meaning must therefore be that God had already given Jesus’ disciples the knowledge of the mystery of his kingdom. They believe in Jesus and acknowledge him as having been sent by the Father. They do the will of God by listening to Jesus (3:35). They know that the promised kingdom comes through Jesus, who brings forgiveness of sins (3:28-30). They know what the miracles mean: they reveal the mystery of God’s Son. Demons know that too (3:11-12), but the twelve are allowed to proclaim it (3:13-15).

They stand in contrast to the crowds. They are characterized as “those outside.” They don’t choose for Jesus and do not believe in him, although they do come to take advantage of his miraculous deeds. In that way they become heathens, who are outside the kingdom. Only those who belong to Jesus, belong to God! All others are excluded. That is why Jesus says in the second part of verse 11, “But for those outside everything is in parables.” This clause is also often applied directly to speaking in parables, as though Jesus were saying, “The outsiders will receive only parables from me.” But this does not work. Until his death, Jesus constantly spoke directly and not in images to the people and its leaders. Besides, verse 11b does not deal with what is said, but about what is happening (ginetai). For outsiders everything happens in parables. This makes us think of everything that happens in Jesus’ time: great miracles and signs, many are healed, teaching with authority. All of this portrays the mystery of God to the world: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” But the mystery is understood only by the disciples, to whom it is given. It remains a mere statement to others. They cannot understand it. For many it remains figurative language. They don’t perceive its tenor, even though they observe all that happens. Although they see and hear Jesus’ work, it seems like riddles to them. Jesus adapts his speaking to that reality. Even his words now become figurative. Now people can discover that to understand Jesus it is necessary to penetrate to the deeper and intended meaning, not only of the words (parables), but of all that takes place. Now when Jesus speaks to the crowds in parables, it is not merely a small part of his action that becomes figurative. On the contrary, everything has now become figurative and denotes something different.

From 4:12 it is apparent that 4:11 was not only about speaking, but about all of Jesus’ revelation. This verse is often explained as a quotation from Isaiah 6. But it is more correct to say that it is a direct statement by Jesus in which he applies a passage from Isaiah 6. There is no formula indicating a quotation. Rather, two passages out of a larger whole in Isaiah are applied, and the sequence of hearing and seeing is reversed. The clause, “They may indeed see but not perceive,” now comes first (as distinct from Isaiah 6): the crowd has first had to see many things. But they did not perceive the revelation of the mystery of God’s kingdom that was contained therein. For to them it all remained a “parable” (heard, but not understood and perceived). The same applies to Jesus’ speech; that too they failed to understand and it made no sense to them. That is why he now packages it in remote images and parables. The emphasis in these sentences lies on “indeed see” and “indeed hear.” The failure to understand does not occur because there is no revelation, but because people look beyond it and don’t listen or look attentively. Their punishment follows automatically. For the mystery of the kingdom, which was handed to them visibly and audibly, is “repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” John already pointed in that direction (1:4) and Jesus continued to do so (1:15; 2:5-11; 3:28-30). When people fail to look to Jesus and disregard his message, they refuse to repent and forgiveness passes them by. They are not interested in it. The people do hear words about forgiveness, but it doesn’t occur to them to repent and turn to Jesus as God’s Son. By failing to fall on their knees for the Nazarene, they have to continue to disregard what he does and to pay no attention to what he says. They leave the “parables” closed, so that they are not forced to be healed of their sins by Jesus. They leave Jesus’ entire appearance unopened, although they take advantage of it, and so everything remains a “parable” for them. They do not penetrate to the hidden mystery, because they want to maintain their position over against the humbled Mediator. The disciples do not have to boast that they do know the mystery of the kingdom, for it was given them by the Father. Nonetheless, unbelieving outsiders cannot hide behind the fact that they did not receive the mystery. They have seen and heard, but do not want to accept. If they then remain blind, they are punished for their unwillingness to receive Jesus’ grace and forgiveness.

Verse 12b (“lest they should turn and be forgiven”) looks hard. It looks as though Jesus wants to prevent some people from receiving grace. However, this clause is dependent on verse 12a. Why did the people not want to see and understand? Because they reject the required conversion and the proffered grace. To avoid them, they must look at and listen to Jesus’ work only superficially. And since that is indeed what they do, for his part Jesus also creates a distance in his speaking: they receive what they want (images that leave them free to choose). When Jesus uses the form of instruction of the parables, he responds to the distance that the outsiders very intentionally want to observe. And he hands them over to the distance they themselves chose. Those who want to remain outside are now being treated as outsiders. They receive what they want and the forgiveness of sins through Jesus is withheld from them and leaves them alone.

It is less correct to characterize the parables as “concealment.” Every parable has an open door through which those who want to understand can enter. It is true that the door must be sought and you must enter it. With a parable you have to enter and collect that which is offered openly in direct instruction. Speaking in parables therefore has nothing to do with a possible concealment of the mystery of the Messiah. It has everything to do with a people that shuns the sunlight of Jesus’ grace. Although this light continues to shine, it is dimmed as if by a cloud in the parable.

For a further explanation of Isaiah 6, see the commentary on Matthew 13:11-17.

That people let the mystery of God’s kingdom lie because they do not comprehend it and therefore lose it has everything to do with the series of images of the sower. For it is the parable of “seeing but not seeing,” of “receiving but not processing.” The seed is indeed sown everywhere, but it is not received (hard ground, shallow soil, terrain full of weeds), or is taken away (birds, heat of the sun, thorns). Only when it is received and does not remain lying on the surface as a “parable,” does it become active and bears fruit of knowledge and faith.

In 4:13 Jesus expresses amazement that the disciples do not understand the parable of the sower. How then will they be able to understand all (remaining) parables? This does not suggest that the other parables are more difficult, but rather that one needs particularly the receptive and processing attitude (that the parable of the sower deals with) for all the other parables. In a certain sense, this parable contains the hermeneutical key for the others (Listen! If you have ears to hear, listen! Receive and process Jesus’ words just as the good soil received the seed!).

In 4:14 we read that, as a sower, Jesus as the sower sows “the word” like seed. Wenham¹⁶ as demonstrated that not only Mark, but also Matthew, equate “seed” and “word.” It seems that it was Jesus himself who already treated “the word” as an abbreviation for the proclamation of the gospel. His coming is directed to disseminating the word of God among people in order to save them by it.

In 4:15-19 Jesus provides the meaning of the first three places where the seed fell (without bearing fruit). If the word does not penetrate the soul, Satan’s birds of prey quickly come to snatch away the word from the life and memory of people. A superficial and temporary reception of the word of Jesus has the further result that little or nothing remains of the initial interest when tribulation and persecution occurs. And finally, those who accept the word as well as other things that interest them, such as avarice and all kinds of desires, will discover that their attention to the gospel is displaced by other matters and is not effective.

4:20 makes clear that the seed sown on the good soil owes its growth and fruit to the fact that the word was heard and processed in life. There are not four kinds of seed, but only one kind and it is sown liberally on the earth. The “good soil” is also certainly not protected soil where the heat of the sun would not scorch growth (there was a threat of persecution). It is precisely because of these and other threats that good growth demands receptive soil. Many in Israel lack it. That means that they will lose the Word. Jesus warns them about it and gives them a premonition of it by speaking in these images. For now the little boat of the Teacher still lies off their coast, but if they continue to shut out his instruction it will sail away. The distance in the communication that came about through the chosen form of the images makes the threat palpable. Either the seed takes root, or it will be lost!

The same warning also forms the basis for the summing-up of the recapitulation of the parable: “For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken” (4:25). At first glance, it seems as though 4:21-25 contains merely a loose collection of unconnected proverbs. The overriding opinion in modern commentaries therefore is that Mark here inserts a number of traditions about words of Jesus in an episode about the parables.¹⁷  And each element within 21-25 is then said to have its own background. For example, Schneider¹⁸ works this out for the passage about the lamp (4:21). Supposedly Mark gives this an interpretation that is somewhat later than the interpretation in Q (in which the word is applied to Jesus himself and not to the gospel). However, in the introduction to the exegesis of 4:1-25 I have pointed out the inner coherence that exists between verses 21-25 and the preceding passage. Swete¹⁹  also prefers this inner coherence. This is important for the exegesis. Brief statements that use very little specific figurative language (lamp, measure), can easily be explained in divergent directions. However, the exegesis of 4:21-25 has to be guided and directed by its coherence with 4:1-20.

The persons Jesus addresses (“he said to them,” 4:21, 24) are thus the same persons mentioned in 4:13, namely, the twelve and the other followers (4:10). Only in verse 26 does Jesus cease addressing just the small group that is close to him. The introduction to 4:26 (“And he said,” rather than “he said to them”) indicates that it is only in verse 26 that Mark resumes the report of Jesus’ speaking to the crowds (4:1-9).

In 4:21 Jesus says to his followers, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not (meti) on a stand?” The opposite is true: it is intended to be put on a lampstand! The images derive from the small living accommodations in which the ordinary disciples were raised. The basket can be used to snuff out a candle quickly. The notion that one might place an oil lamp under a bed is comical and absurd, for then it does not help you at all when you recline at table or in the night. By these laborious references, Jesus strongly emphasizes the self-evident truth that a lamp is placed on a stand. From this place the light shines higher and farther, and that is the purpose of a lamp. It looks like a naïve observation, and it makes the listeners ashamed. It seems that things that are so foolish in the image really happen! In what reality? The verb gives an indication: “a lamp came.” In various manuscripts this verb is replaced (“a lamp lit”), which is understandable because it is somewhat remarkable that Jesus speaks about the “coming” of a lamp. He personifies the lamp and thereby suggests that the image alludes to a historical event. The connection to the preceding passage about the sower who comes out to sow, suggests that it is Jesus who is being referred to. He has come. He is the Lamp that came. As the sower does not come so that the field remains barren, so also the Lamp does not come so that the darkness will reign. Why this shift in images? Because at this point Jesus raises the problem of the obstinacy and the blindness of the crowds. Seeing they do not see. They themselves will therefore remain unfruitful. But that does not mean that Jesus’ work was for nought. Just as the sower gained a harvest from the good soil, so Jesus will become known and will function in the world as the Light of God. Israel uses Jesus like consumers (they seek miracles of healing, but do not acknowledge him as God’s Son). They catch the light and darken it. But this is not the last phase. The Light came to assume its rightful place and that will certainly happen.

This last point is confirmed in 4:22: “For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret [apokruphon] except to come to light.” In verse 22a the emphasis falls on the actual knowledge of a matter: the contrast is between “remaining hidden” and “becoming manifest.” So long as something is not seen and acknowledged, it is not noticed or announced. Then it remains “hidden,” not because it is hidden, but because it remains unnoticed. That is the situation dealt with in verses 11-12: the crowds remained “outsiders” and although they certainly had opportunity to see, they did not see. For the small circle of Jesus’ followers, the question arises whether this is the end. Will the truth of Jesus pass by the world unnoticed and does the light vanish under the basket of unbelief? The question is answered in the negative. The Light will ensure that it becomes known and what is not recognized now (in Israel), will (after Jesus’ resurrection) be acknowledged among all nations. This is certain, because, as verse 22b says, Jesus is preaching openly and nowhere does he rely on mysterious doctrine or camouflage. What remains unnoticed by the people in those days, is in fact not at all “concealed” (in the sense of “hidden away”). That is not how Jesus uttered his word. It was directed to the people. If they do not hear it, that amounts to not understanding although they truly did hear it.

That brings Jesus to the focal point of the parable. Also in 4:23 we now read: “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” The broadcast of the word is clear and undisturbed. Therefore, let people apply themselves and tune in for a perfect reception!

This is explained further in 4:24: “Pay attention to what you hear.” Jesus does not mean that they must be bent on listening, but that, as they listen, they must be aware of what they hear and what they don’t hear. The Israelite public does not come up to the mark by any stretch. It remains stuck in enthusiasm for a miracle worker on behalf of God. But when you listen to Jesus and weigh what he says, you discover that he is nothing other than “my Lord and my God.” The higher you think of Jesus’ word, the higher you will be honoured by God: “with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.” Only when Jesus’ gospel becomes the sole treasure in our life, because we realize that only in him all the riches of God are to be found, are we enlightened and receive the grace to bear a hundredfold fruit. Then we see what we hear.

The lesson of the parable of the sower is repeated again in 4:25: “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.” The word “has” is used here with a twofold meaning. When you listen to Jesus’ word, in a certain sense you “have” the word, the seed, the light. But when you don’t acknowledge and adopt it in your life, and honour it in your house, you don’t really “have” it. And then you will later also lose the external preaching. But when you adopt, hold fast to, and honour Jesus’ word, you “have” it and God will give you has grace and fruitfulness in his kingdom. If you don’t want to listen, you’re on your own. But when you understand what you hear, you get to see even more!