Mark Chapter 4 is full of parables.

Jesus teaches beside the sea, and a large crowd gathers. He gets into a boat and teaches from the water while the crowd listens from the shore.

The chapter begins with the Word being sown.

It ends with Jesus calming the sea.

Both parts belong together.

Jesus speaks the Word.
The kingdom grows by God’s power.
And even the wind and sea obey Him.

This connects naturally with what Mark has already shown. In Mark Chapter 1: The Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Jesus comes preaching the kingdom, calling disciples, casting out demons, healing the sick, and cleansing the unclean. In Mark Chapter 2: The Son of Man Has Authority, we saw that Jesus has authority to forgive sins, call sinners, and rule over the Sabbath. In Mark Chapter 3: Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit and the Mercy of Christ, we saw some people resisting Him even when His mercy and power were plain.

Now in Mark 4, Jesus teaches us how people respond to the Word.

Some hear and receive.

Some hear and reject.

Some appear to receive for a time, but the Word does not bear lasting fruit.

The Parable of the Sower

Jesus begins with the parable of the sower.

A sower goes out to sow seed. Some seed falls along the path, and birds devour it. Some falls on rocky ground, springs up quickly, but withers because it has no root. Some falls among thorns, and the thorns choke it. Other seed falls on good soil and produces fruit.

Then Jesus says:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

This does not mean that Jesus’ message had already been loudly presented to every individual person on earth. It means that those who hear His Word are responsible to truly listen.

There is hearing, and then there is hearing.

Some people hear sound only.

Others receive the Word with faith.

Jesus is calling for spiritual attention, not merely physical hearing.

This connects with the theme of the new birth in John Chapter 3: Born Again by the Spirit and Loved by God. We need more than outward contact with religious truth. We need the Spirit to give life, open the heart, and make the Word fruitful.

Seeing but Not Perceiving

Later, Jesus says that some may see but not perceive, and hear but not understand.

This can sound strange.

Jesus is using language from Isaiah. It has to do with judgment and hardness of heart. Some people are so hardened that even when truth is placed before them, they do not receive it.

The parables both reveal and conceal.

To those who receive Jesus, the parables reveal the mystery of the kingdom.

To those who remain hardened, the parables expose their blindness.

This does not mean Jesus is unfair. It means the human heart is deeply resistant to God. Apart from grace, people can see, hear, and still not truly perceive.

This fits with what we saw in Mark 3. Some of the scribes saw Jesus doing works of mercy, yet accused Him of working by demonic power. Their problem was not lack of evidence. Their problem was hardness of heart.

From a Christian Reformed lens, this reminds us that we need more than information. We need the Spirit to open our hearts to the Word.

The Four Soils

Jesus explains that the seed is the Word.

The path represents those who hear, but Satan immediately takes away the Word.

The rocky ground represents those who receive the Word with joy for a time, but they have no root. When trouble or persecution comes, they fall away.

The thorns represent those who hear the Word, but the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and desires for other things choke it.

The good soil represents those who hear the Word, receive it, and bear fruit.

The seed is the same.

The soils are different.

That should make us examine ourselves.

Are we merely hearing?
Are we shallow?
Are we distracted by the world?
Or is the Word bearing fruit in us?

The issue is not whether the Word has power. The Word does have power. The issue is whether we receive it by faith, or whether sin, Satan, shallow enthusiasm, or worldly cares keep it from bearing fruit.

The Lamp on the Lampstand

Jesus then says that a lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed.

A lamp is put on a lampstand.

Jesus is speaking of a lamp, a small oil light, not a lamb.

The image is simple. You do not light a lamp and then hide it. You put it where the light can be seen.

In the context of Mark 4, Jesus is talking about the Word and the mystery of the kingdom. Some things may seem hidden for a time. Some people hear but do not understand. But God’s truth is not meant to stay buried forever.

What is hidden will be revealed.

What is secret will come to light.

The light of Christ’s kingdom will be made known according to God’s purpose.

This connects with the theme of light in Matthew Chapter 4: The Temptation of Christ and the Light in Galilee. Christ comes as light into dark places. His kingdom may begin in a way that looks small or hidden, but God does not intend His light to remain concealed.

The question is whether we will truly hear and receive that light.

The Measure You Use

Jesus says:

“With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.”

This means we should pay careful attention to what we hear.

The way we respond to God’s Word matters.

If someone receives Jesus and His Word by faith, more spiritual understanding will be given. That does not mean salvation is earned by intelligence, effort, or human achievement. It means that faith receives what God gives. When God opens the heart, His Word begins to grow in understanding and fruitfulness.

But if someone rejects Jesus and refuses His Word, even what he seems to have can be taken away.

Then Jesus says:

“To the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

So yes, in context, the one who “has” is the one who truly receives the Word. The one who receives Christ receives more light, more understanding, and more fruit by God’s grace.

The one who “has not” is the one who hears but does not truly receive. That person may have outward privilege. He may hear sermons. He may see signs. He may be near religious truth. But if he rejects the light, even that outward privilege becomes judgment against him.

That “taken away” is a warning. It does not mean taken away in order to help him. It means that rejecting the light is dangerous.

Hearing the Word is a gift.

Rejecting the Word is serious.

The Seed Growing by Itself

Jesus then tells another parable.

A man scatters seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.

This is a beautiful picture of the kingdom of God.

The farmer sows, but he does not make the life happen.

The seed grows by a power hidden from him.

That is how the kingdom works. We speak the Word. We pray. We teach. We serve. But we do not control the growth.

God gives the growth.

This should humble us and comfort us.

It humbles us because we are not the power behind the kingdom.

It comforts us because the kingdom does not depend on our ability to understand every hidden process of God.

The seed grows.

The harvest comes.

God works, even when we do not know how.

This also connects with John Chapter 4: Living Water and the Savior of the World, where Jesus speaks of sowing, reaping, and entering into work that God was already doing. Ministry is not ours to control. Some sow, some reap, but God gives the harvest.

The Mustard Seed

Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed.

It begins very small, but it grows into a large plant with branches where birds can nest.

The main point is not simply that personal faith will multiply exponentially, though faith can grow. In Mark 4, Jesus is talking about the kingdom.

The kingdom begins in a way that looks small and unimpressive.

A teacher in a boat.

A few disciples.

Parables by the sea.

But God’s kingdom grows beyond what people expect.

The mustard seed reminds us not to despise small beginnings.

God often begins with what looks weak, small, and hidden.

Then He brings growth.

This is the pattern of Christ’s ministry. Jesus does not arrive with the kind of worldly power people might expect. As we saw in Matthew 4, He refuses Satan’s offer of the kingdoms of the world apart from obedience and the cross. The kingdom comes through the King’s faithfulness, suffering, death, resurrection, and Spirit-given growth.

Jesus Calms the Sea

At the end of the chapter, Jesus and His disciples cross the sea.

A great windstorm arises. The waves break into the boat, so that the boat is filling.

Jesus is asleep on the cushion.

The disciples wake Him and say:

“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

Jesus wakes, rebukes the wind, and says to the sea:

“Peace! Be still!”

The wind ceases, and there is a great calm.

This is more than a nature miracle.

In the Old Testament, the sea often represents danger, chaos, and forces beyond human control. Only God rules the waters.

So when Jesus speaks and the sea obeys, Mark is showing us something huge.

Jesus has divine authority.

The disciples ask:

“Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

That is the right question.

Mark wants us to ask it too.

The same Jesus who speaks the Word to human hearts also speaks to the wind and sea. The Word of Christ is not weak. It rules creation. It commands demons. It forgives sins. It calls disciples. It grows the kingdom.

The Message of Mark Chapter 4

Mark Chapter 4 is about hearing and trusting.

Jesus teaches the Word.

Some reject it.

Some receive it shallowly.

Some are choked by the world.

Some receive it and bear fruit.

The lamp will not stay hidden.

The measure we use matters.

The one who receives Christ and His Word will be given more understanding by grace.

The one who rejects Christ will lose even what he seems to have.

The seed grows by God’s hidden power.

The kingdom begins small but grows.

And the Lord who teaches from the boat also commands the storm from the boat.

From a Christian Reformed lens, this chapter shows both human responsibility and God’s sovereignty.

We are responsible to hear.

We are responsible to receive the Word.

We are responsible not to let the cares of the world choke it.

But God gives the growth.

God opens hearts.

God brings the harvest.

And Christ rules not only over parables and preaching, but over wind and sea.

The disciples feared the storm.

But the greater question was not the storm.

The greater question was:

Who is in the boat?

The answer is the Son of God.

The Word speaks.

The seed grows.

The kingdom comes.

And even the sea obeys Him.