Today, I would like to conclude our summer review of the parables of Jesus, as presented in the Gospel of Mark.  Throughout the summer, we have seen that Jesus had a very simple message: “The time is now.  The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15). Jesus preached this message repeatedly across Galilee, Judea, and in Jerusalem.  After the Jewish religious leaders said Jesus was Satan, Jesus began teaching in parables. The parables were short stories that were intended for the faithful to understand the good news and, at the same time, riddles that would confound the wicked and adulterous listeners.

Jesus strongly suggested that the parable of the sower was key to understanding all parables.  Jesus said, “If you don’t understand this parable, how then will you understand any parable?” (Mark 4:13).  The parable of the sower was about casting seed, which Jesus later said was the Word of God.  Jesus cast the Word of God far and wide.  Some, hearing the word, were like hard soil and immediately rejected God’s Word, the spoken word, and the word that had become flesh, Jesus.  Satan consumed those who rejected Jesus.  Some, hearing the word, were like shallow soil.  They reacted with joy but remained shallow in their acceptance, withering away like a plant without water under the scorching sun. Others, hearing God’s Word, were distracted by worry and the cares of this world.  The thorny things of this world choked them.  Still others heard God’s Word and received it, producing fruit God desired, 30-fold, 60-fold, and as much as 100-fold.  God desires that we would bear the fruit that evidences God’s love for us and our love for God.  If we understand this parable, we can gain a deeper comprehension of the other parables.  Jesus' parables teach us that God desires only good for us, and part of that good is that we would listen to Him and follow His word.

We saw Jesus teach the message that the time was right for the harvest God desires, as conveyed through the balance of the parables Mark recorded.  The parables of the seed growing, the mustard seed, the vineyard and the tenants, and the lesson of the fig tree all point the same way. “Now is the time.  The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15).

But. There is always a but.  But someday, either in our individual lives or in the life of the world, time will be no more.  There will not be a time to bear fruit.  Our posture toward God will be in that moment either good soil that produces many fold, or Satan will have devoured us, withered because we withdrew from God, or choked by the thorny things of this world, like worry and wealth. There is an end time for each of us and for the world.

Jesus told his apostles, “32 But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32). Jesus was talking about the end of all time, but his words apply just as well to the time we have on earth.  About that day or hour, no one knows.  The timing for that moment is reserved for God the Father alone.  Jesus said, therefore, “33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come” (Mark 13:33).  Jesus wanted his apostles to be ready, alert, and on guard for opportunities to share the good news and for the movement of God.

Then, according to Mark’s gospel, Jesus offered this final parable.  “34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.  35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” (Mark 13:34-37).

What do we make of this parable, which begins with the words, “It’s like a man going away” (Mark 13:34)? This parable has similar tones to that of the tenants and the vineyard.  In that parable, Jesus spoke about a vineyard owner who “moved to another place” (Mark 12:1b).  The idea in both parables is that the owner of the house or vineyard was setting expectations for others whom he was placing in positions of responsibility for his possessions.  As we came to understand the parable of the vineyard, the owner represented God. Therefore, in this parable, the owner of the house likewise represents God.

With that explanation, we go back to the parable.  “34 It’s like a man (God) going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch” (Mark 13:34).  The parable has a second character, the man’s servants.  It is important to note that the man put his servants in charge.  The servant is someone who has already agreed to follow the man’s instructions.  The servants know the man and are doing their best to carry out the wishes of the man.  The man did not hire someone he did not know.  He did not ask the neighbor to look after things for him.  The man chose people who were already bonded to him.  We also note that each servant was given a task that they knew was theirs to perform.  There was accountability for specific tasks for specific people. 

One of those people was the one at the door whom the man told to keep watch. The man at the door was the doorkeeper. A doorkeeper in ancient Israel, as represented in the Old Testament, was both a trusted and humble servant.  In Psalm 84, we would read, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than dwell in the tents of the wicked” (Psalm 84:10).  It was better to be outside the door of God’s house exposed to the elements than to ever spend a moment in the physical comfort of the wicked. 

To this humble and trusted servant, the man said, “Keep watch.”  It is this servant, above all others, that Jesus expounded about the importance of their role and the need for vigilance.  We might ask, “What was the purpose of the doorkeeper?  Was the doorkeeper there to open the door for the owner when he returned and to allow no one else into the owner’s home until the owner returned?”  The answer to those questions seems clear.  Had the owner wanted no one admitted to his home in his absence, the owner could have locked the door upon his departure.  The presence of a doorkeeper suggests that the owner intended for others to enter his home in the owner's absence.  Hence, the doorkeeper must be alert and discerning to ensure the owner’s wishes are carried out.

In this simple story, the doorkeeper was there to receive and allow into the owner’s home those whom the owner sent to him.  Those arriving could come at any time of day or night.  We know this because Jesus said the doorkeeper must be alert to the return of the owner himself at any time of the day or night.

We might now ask, “If in the parable, the man represents God, who then does the doorkeeper represent?”  It seems clear that the doorkeeper in the parable represents Jesus’ apostles.  Jesus was telling these servants of God that they must remain alert and watchful to do what God is calling them to do.  God was inviting people to come to his house, and apostles must be at the door, ready to receive those who accepted God’s invitation and welcome them into their master’s home.  And that, at a time when they never could know, the owner would return, and they would not want to be found asleep at the door.  When the owner returned, the time for issuing invitations had passed.

When Jesus finished the parable, he said to his disciples, “37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”  All of Jesus’ followers must be alert and responsive to the movement of God, to receive those He has invited.

Of course, we would later see that the apostles struggled with remaining alert even for a few minutes.  Mark, who often writes from the perspective of things occurring in three, recorded that in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said to Peter, James, and John, 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch” (Mark 14:34).  Jesus then went a little further to pray.  But three times Jesus came back to the apostles only to find them asleep. The apostles had not kept watch.

What then do we do with this final parable of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark? Let’s follow Mark’s pattern and consider three things.

First, Jesus told his apostles that a day would come when He would return. Jesus said people would see, “The Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens” (Mark 13:26-27). Jesus’ return will be unmistakable. If we are living at the time of Jesus’ return, we will know it.  The evidence will be visible in the skies and in the activities on Earth.

Some groups believe Jesus has already returned.  Most notably, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus Christ’s “invisible return” or his spiritual presence began in 1914, marking the start of the “last days” of the current world system. This belief stems from their interpretation of biblical prophecies, particularly Daniel 4:10-17 and Revelation 12:12, combined with a chronological calculation based on the “seven times” prophecy.  I think Jesus was clear, his return will not be invisible.  It will be one of great power and glory.  When will Jesus return?   Jesus was clear about that as well.  “32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32).

Jesus' point to his apostles is the exact point we should take away today. He will return.  When?  When the time is right.  Therefore, please do not waste time and energy speculating and arguing over the day or the hour of his return.  Instead, be ready.  Focus on what can be done in the present.  Keep watch.

Second, in the parable, Jesus said the owner of the house called his servants together and assigned each their task.  The orderly running of the owner’s house required that each person do their assigned task.  The same is true for each person here.  God has given you talents and spiritual gifts that are to be used to His glory.  He has assigned you a task and equipped you to complete it.

The Apostle Paul likened the assignments we have received to the parts of a body. “12 There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. 13 We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. 14 So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts…18 God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be…27 You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:12-14,18,27). Collectively, we are part of the body of Christ, or we are servants in the house of God, and each one of us has an active part or role to play.  For each of us, we must ask, “What is my role in the body of Christ right now? Am I doing what I am supposed to be doing?  Am I using my time, talent, treasure, or tears to accomplish for God’s glory what He has equipped me to do?”  If your answer is “Yes, I am doing what God has tasked me and equipped me to do,” then “do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).  If your answer is “No, I do not think I am doing what God has tasked me and equipped me to do,” then start today.  Don’t wait for tomorrow.  Start today because “you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn” (Mark 13:35b).   Be ready.  Do not lament the past, but focus on what can be done in the present.  Keep watch.

Finally, our third point.  Jesus said to all that we must keep watch.  Keep watch for those God has invited to enter his house and will use you to welcome them.  Keep watch on each other, not as a tattletale would do.  But keep watch over each other, helping to protect each other from the temptations of this world, or the tiredness of life’s challenges.  In using his analogy of a body, the Apostle Paul put it this way, “But God has put together all the parts of the body. And he has given more honor to the parts that didn’t have any. 25 In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part shares in its joy” (1 Corinthians 12:24b-26).  Keep watch. 

Keep watch for those God sends.  Keep watch over those God has already sent and incorporated into the body of Christ. Pay attention to what God is doing in the present moment.  Moments are just that.  They occur, and then they are gone.  Keep watch and act.

Let us then be found ready.  Actively and eagerly awaiting Jesus’ return or our going to him.  But let us not wait idly.  Let us do what God has equipped us to do in this present moment.  Do it to His glory.  Let’s all keep watch.  Amen and Amen. 

I want to begin today with a little video clip. After the clip, we can talk about it. [Video Clip from Five Man Electric Band – 1971].  The words to the video were: “And the sign said, 'Long-haired freaky people need not apply.’  So I tucked my hair up under my hat, and I went in to ask him why. He said, ‘You look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you'll do.’  So I took off my hat, I said, ‘Imagine that. Huh! Me workin' for you!’  Whoa-oh-oh. Sign, sign, everywhere a sign, Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind, do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?”  This clip was from the Five Man Electric Band with their hit single, “Signs,” from 1971. The song’s inspiration came from the ugly signs the lyricist saw on a road trip on Route 66 in California that obscured the beautiful scenery.

Our scripture reading today also speaks about signs and the significance of those signs to Jesus’ disciples and us.  Signs, in the broad context, are described throughout the Bible.  We still know some of them.  For example, God set the rainbow as a sign of His covenant with Noah, promising never again to destroy the earth with a flood.  We might recall that Jesus turning water into wine was the first sign in the Gospel of John of Jesus’ power and divine status.  The religious leaders came to Jesus and asked that he do a special sign for them to prove his claims of standing with God.  Jesus told the religious leaders that this “wicked and adulterous generation” would receive only the “sign of Jonah” (His resurrection) as the ultimate sign of Jesus’ testimony (Matthew 16).  Even though we might complain about signs, as the opening video clip spoke about, people still want signs.

            The desire for signs became the topic of conversation between Jesus and the inner circle of apostles just before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion.  Mark wrote, 1 “As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!’  2 ‘Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus. ‘Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’ 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4 ‘Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?’” (Mark 13:1-4).  The destruction of the Temple that Jesus described represented a disaster that the apostles could not comprehend.  The Temple of Jerusalem was seen as the symbol of God’s presence and the means of atoning for the sins of the people of Israel through the sacrifices.  The loss of the Temple would be seen as the end of time.

            Jesus then described for these four apostles the events that would precede the destruction of the Temple.  Jesus said there would be false prophets claiming to be the Messiah.  There will be wars in the land of Israel.  There will be persecution against the righteous people seeking to follow Jesus.  There would be “an abomination that causes desolation standing where it does not belong” (Mark 13:14).  At that, the people should flee the city of Jerusalem.  These were Jesus’ words given to the apostles in the year 30 AD. 

Mark published Jesus' words around 58 AD.  By the time of Mark’s gospel, the persecution of Christians, especially the apostles, was well underway, first by the Jewish authorities and then by the Romans.  The apostles James and Philip had been murdered.

            Eight years after Mark’s gospel, the nation of Israel erupted in rebellion against the Romans.  Nero, the emperor of Rome, ordered legions of his soldiers to attack the rebels.  The final Roman conquest of Israel happened in 70 AD when the Roman general, Titus, took the city of Jerusalem and then entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple.  Titus, a Roman conquering general, was an abomination that caused desolation, and now he was found where he should not be, in the Holy of Holies. Shortly thereafter, the city of Jerusalem was burned, and the stones of the Temple were knocked down.  Christian historians note that Christians in the city of Jerusalem fled the city before its destruction.  All the signs Jesus told his disciples to observe had happened.

            In revealing the signs to his apostles, Jesus ended with a parable, a short story.  Jesus said, “28 Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Mark 13:28-30).  What was the lesson of the fig tree?

            The fig tree was the most important tree of ancient Israel.  The fig tree is prominent in the Old Testament, first appearing in Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve’s nakedness was covered with leaves of the fig tree.  In the Old Testament prophecies, healthy fig trees were seen as a sign of God’s blessing, anticipating God's peace, prosperity, and happiness.  On the other hand, withered trees were a sign of God’s judgment.

            In the New Testament Gospel of Mark, the health or lack of health of a fig tree, or fruitfulness in general, is to be viewed symbolically or as a sign.  We saw that symbolism in the parables from Chapter 4 in which seeds, symbolizing God’s Word, were cast upon different types of soil.  Some produced in abundance, while birds devoured others, withered in the sun, or choked by weeds and thorns.

            Just before Jesus’ conversation with the apostles, Jesus gave a sign of things to come through his encounter with a fig tree.  Mark wrote, “12 The next day as they [Jesus and the Twelve] were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’  And his disciples heard him say it.  15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers’” (Mark 11:12-17).   The imagery of Jesus cursing the fruitless fig tree and then chastising the religious leaders speaks to the unfruitfulness of being separated from Christ.

            And so to all that Jesus had said, he added, “28 Now learn this lesson from the fig tree” (Mark 13:28a).  Jesus said, “As soon as its [the fig tree's] twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near” (Mark 13:28b).  The apostles understood that the second batch of figs from a tree came about when the leaves of the tree began to sprout.  It was summer.  But summer here does not necessarily refer just to a period on the calendar.  Summer refers to the time of coming fruitfulness and harvest.  The presence of the tender twigs and leaves of the fig tree meant everything was ready and the time was right for the fruitfulness of the fig tree, a symbol, a sign, of God’s presence.  While the apostles were concerned with the calamities coming to Jerusalem, Jesus did not want them to forget the lesson of the fig tree.  Jesus did not want the apostles to lose sight of the fact that the time had come for them to bear fruit for the kingdom of God.

            We saw Jesus share this message in other parables.  The parable of the sower was about casting seed, God’s Word.  But for what purpose?  That the seed would fall upon good soil and produce 30, 60, or 100 fold.  The parable of the farmer who planted seed that grew in secret.  What was the purpose of that growth? “ 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come” (Mark 4:29).  The point was that the time had come for the harvest.  And there was the parable of the mustard seed planted in the garden, being like the kingdom of God.  Why? “ 32 it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade” (Mark 4:32).  It was time for the kingdom of God to explode from a small, seemingly insignificant thing, to something that would dominate the earth.  Finally, we saw last week in the parable of the tenants that, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 2 At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard” (Mark 12:1-2).  The purpose of planting the vineyard was to come to the time of the harvest.

            Jesus' point was that there would indeed be all these signs of calamity coming and being fulfilled in the apostles’ lifetime, including the destruction of the Temple.  But Jesus did not want them to forget the lesson of the fig tree, “As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near” (Mark 13:28).  Regardless of the chaos that surrounds, Jesus wanted them to remember that the time for harvesting had come.  This again was Jesus’ opening sermon, “The time has come.  The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15).  And so what was the lesson of the fig tree for the apostles as they faced the reality of dangerous and chaotic times among the nations, within their families, and for them?  Jesus told his apostles two things.

            First, while Jesus revealed to them that the days of chaos were coming and that even people from this generation would experience those days, the apostles should avoid concluding that this chaos meant that it was the end of all time. Jesus described these events not as the dying of the world but rather as “These are the beginning of birth pains” (Mark 13:8b), not the end of all time.  As to the end of all time, Jesus said, “32 But about that day or hour [of the end of time] no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32).  We will have more to say about this point next week.

            Secondly, Jesus told his apostles this, “You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me, you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:9b-11).  The chaos and upheaval of war and persecution would give the apostles an extraordinary opportunity to be witnesses for Christ.  Rather than only speaking to ordinary people like themselves, the coming of destructive forces would provide the apostles with a chance to share their testimony with governors and kings.  The apostles were to understand the coming pain as not the coming of death but the coming of life, birth pains.  The life that comes would be called the church, comprising followers of Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  In this moment of history, the apostles would have great concern about what to say.  Jesus said, “Fear not, for the Holy Spirit will give them the right thing to say at the right time and place” (Mark 13:11). This was the season, the time for harvest, as though the twigs on the fig tree were tender, and its leaves were coming out (Mark 13:28b).  And, as we would see in the Book called the Acts of the Apostles, and the letters from Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and John, the apostles understood the lessons of the fig tree.

            What then are the lessons of the fig tree for us today?  There are two lessons I would like us to explore today.

            The first lesson of the fig tree for us can be summed up in a single word: opportunity.  The chaos, destruction, and persecution Jesus described to the apostles were very specific to the end of Jerusalem and the Temple.  But rather than seeing it as the end of times, Jesus said it was the birth of a new beginning.  We might say it was the beginning of the end.  The true end would be when Jesus returned.  Jesus described the true end as, “26 “At that time, people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens” (Mark 13:26-27).  When will that end occur?  We don’t know and should not spend time speculating. 

In general, though, we see today other chaos, destruction, and persecution all around.  There are today real wars with real bullets and people dying.  There are culture wars with real people being disrespected and persecuted.  Divisiveness abounds.  All these events are of the nature that parallel those Jesus spoke about to His apostles.  We should not be discouraged by what we see, but should see it as a time when the twigs of the fig tree are tender and the leaves are coming out.  It is the time, the season, the opportunity for Christians, you and I, to be noticed as different from the world.  Like the song, Make Me a Channel of Your Peace, we are to be different from the world of chaos, destruction, and persecution. 

Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord
And where there's doubt, true faith in you.

Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there's sadness, ever joy.

We should not retreat from the chaos we see today but should seize the opportunity to shine for Christ.

            The second lesson of the fig tree for us can be summed up in one word: mission. Jesus told his apostles and us the most essential thing they and we could do would be to hold fast to this truth: “10 The gospel must be preached to all nations” (Mark 13:10).

            Today, not tomorrow, but today, is the day that you and I must preach the gospel. What is the gospel?  Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, lived a perfect life, died for our sins, and rose again, offering forgiveness and eternal life to all who believed in Him.

            It is the very existence of today’s chaos that makes the gospel more attractive, more stark in contrast to the world, more of a place of peace.  Your mission, my mission, then, is to preach the gospel to someone every day.  Why? Because it is the time for fruit to be collected for harvest for the kingdom of God.

            “28 Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near” (Mark 13:28).  The opportunity and the mission to present the gospel of peace, hope, love, and light to a world of chaos, war, and destruction is before us.  The time is right.  The fruit is ready.  Are you? Am I?  Let us pray that the answer is yes and yes.  Amen and Amen.

          In my life, I have been a renter of two apartments.  I want to think I was a good tenant.  I never had the desire to purchase property to rent to others, primarily because I did not want to deal with problems some tenants can cause.  We have all heard stories of apartments and houses left by tenants in disrepair or full of trash.  Tenants who would do such things would be called bad tenants.

          Our parable today from the Gospel of Mark brings the idea of bad tenants to another level.  The tenants in this parable were so bad that they were called wicked tenants. The dictionary says that to be “wicked” is to be “evil or morally wrong.”  It is one thing to be called a bad tenant, but it is altogether something else to be called a wicked tenant.  What happened in the parable that these tenants were called wicked for an eternity?  What can we learn from their mistake to avoid being thought of as evil?

          This parable comes to us shortly before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion.  Jesus had crisscrossed through Galilee and Judea, including visits to the city of Jerusalem, sharing a simple message, “15 ‘The time has come.  The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’” (Mark 1:15).  What was the good news?  Mark said it simply at the very beginning of his gospel, “Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1b).  The presence of these simple statements is one reason I like reading the Gospel of Mark. Mark is precise and easy to understand. The long-awaited Messiah of Israel was present among the people.  And what’s more, the Messiah was no ordinary person; He was God’s Son, talking, preaching, teaching, and healing the people.  And the Messiah had a name, Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus’ message was plain: the kingdom of God is among you; repent, that is, turn toward it now, believe, and live.

          Some people did turn toward Jesus and held close to him.  Some followed Jesus for a time and then faded away.  Others who were torn between living in the worldly kingdom and wanting to live in God’s kingdom flinched and stayed in the earthly kingdom.  Finally, there was one group that had been called to be the caretakers of Israel for the very moment of the Messiah’s coming. They were the religious leaders of Israel: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the scribes.  All were very knowledgeable of God’s Word and very strict in following the rules of worshipping God.  But these men of religion collectively shared one big problem. They had a peculiar spiritual blindness. They could read God’s Word without a problem and could recite much of it flawlessly.  They could lead worship and sacrifices in the temple without hesitation or error.  They could pray excellently for the coming of God’s Messiah.  But when they turned their eyes towards Jesus, they saw only an uneducated man from a backward province of ancient Israel.  As a group, they rejected the idea that God, who created the universe, would appear as a man, humbled by having to eat food, drink water, sleep, and relieve himself.  God would never submit Himself this way.  Moreover, this man did not applaud their religious efforts.  Instead, He said, “Repent, turn from your ways, and ‘Follow me.’” How dare he say the way to right standing with God was not through the sacrifice of animals in a temple, but would be found in humble living, serving others in love?  Even pagans understood that sacrifices to the gods in temples were the only way to please the gods.  But there was one thing about Jesus that the religious leaders of Israel could not deny.  Jesus could make supernatural things happen.  Jesus could and did heal people of disease.  He could drive out demons from people.  Jesus could multiply bread and fish to feed thousands.  There must be an explanation for this power that does not rely upon Jesus being God.  The religious leaders thought and thought and then settled on the idea that Jesus’ power was supernatural, but instead of coming from God, that power came from Satan. There.  They had their story.  After about the first year of Jesus’ ministry, the idea was put forth that Jesus was of Satan, and he must not only be personally rejected, but he must be opposed and stopped using the full weight of the religious and political system of Israel.

          After the religious leaders denied that Jesus was from God but rather was of Satan, Jesus changed his approach and began teaching in parables.  Jesus’ parables were short stories told in a manner that permitted the faithful the opportunity to understand what the kingdom of God was like and, at the same time, remain a riddle to the nonbelievers, especially the religious leaders. Jesus taught in this manner because he knew the last thing the religious leaders wanted to do was to repent and be saved by Jesus.  Mark said Jesus used this style of public teaching until shortly before his arrest, when he told a parable about the religious leaders in such a way that the religious leaders would understand it.

          The parable that Jesus told is called a juridical parable.  Such parables are intended to bring about self-condemnation and repentance.  A most eloquent example of a juridical parable is found in the Old Testament involving a story told by a prophet named Nathan to a king named David.  David had taken Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of David’s generals.  David then had Uriah killed on the field of battle. Nathan said this to David, “‘There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.  4 Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.’  5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.’  7 Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own…13 Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord’” (2 Samuel 12:1b-9, 13a). The parable, the story told by Nathan to David, caused self-condemnation and repentance in David.  This is a juridical parable.

          Jesus began a juridical parable with the religious leaders this way, “1 A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place” (Mark 12:1). The religious leaders listening to this story would have immediately recognized Jesus’ opening words two ways. First, they would have recognized the elements of a vineyard that were visible throughout Israel, and that many of those vineyards were cared for by tenant farmers under contract to the owner. Second, and more importantly, the religious leaders would have recognized that Jesus began this parable using the imagery from the Hebrew scriptures, specifically, Chapter 5 of Isaiah, which states, “I will sing for the one I love, a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard, on a fertile hillside.  2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines.  He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well” (Isaiah 5:1-2). The religious leaders recognized that Isaiah was conveying that the vineyard was Israel, created by God with the watchtower as the temple and the winepress as the sacred altar.  As Jesus spoke, the leaders’ ears would have perked up a bit that, finally, Jesus was telling a story they could understand. And that story recognized God’s expectation in His creation, Israel.

          Jesus continued, “2 At harvest time, he [the owner] sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they [the tenants] seized him [the owner’s servant], beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he [owner] sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed” (Mark 12:2-5). The behavior of the tenants in the parable parallels the story of Isaiah.  God had chosen Israel to be his own.  We saw that in the first couple of verses of Isaiah Chapter 5.  Isaiah wrote of God’s disappointment in the religious leaders of Israel, “Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.  3 ‘Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.  4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?’” (Isaiah 5:2b-4).  The religious leaders saw the bad and wickedness in the tenants of the story Jesus was telling, but likely did not see themselves reflected in the parallel narrative from Isaiah upon which Jesus based the parable.  And like David before them, the religious leaders would have been incensed at the behavior of the tenants, believing the harm the tenants did to the owner’s messengers warranted the tenants’ death.

          Perhaps thought Jesus was done with the story, but he was not. Jesus went further and said, “6 He [The vineyard owner] had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’  7 But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him [the owner’s son] and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard” (Mark 12:6-8).  The tenants were evil and morally wrong, appropriately earning them the title “Wicked Tenants”.

          Jesus asked, “9 ‘What then will the owner of the vineyard do?’”  It seems most likely the religious leaders responded, “He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others” (Mark 12:9).  The parallel story from Isaiah 5 provided God’s judgment, “5 ‘Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.  6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there.  I will command the clouds not to rain on it.’  7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in.  And he [the owner of the vineyard, God] looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress” (Isaiah 5:5-7).

          The Word of God from Chapter 5 of Isaiah was about expectation, disappointment, and judgment against the rulers of Israel for their refusal to seek justice and righteousness.  The Word of God from the lips of Jesus, given to us in the Gospel of Mark, was about expectation, disappointment, and judgment against the rulers of Israel for their refusal to seek and accept the justness and righteousness of Christ.  While the religious leaders believed harsh judgment was in order, they did not yet see themselves in the story told by Jesus.  They only saw the tenants of the story as wicked people, unlike them.

          So, Jesus went one step further and said to the religious leaders, “10 ‘Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”  (Mark 12:10-11, cf. Psalm 118:22).  Here, Jesus referred the religious leaders to a Psalm of David, Psalm 118.  Jewish interpretations of this passage of Psalm 118 at the time of Jesus equated the “builders” to the religious leaders and the “stone” to the “son,” David.  When Samuel came to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the new king of Israel, David, the youngest, was rejected by his father and left watching the sheep while David’s brothers were presented to Samuel. Therefore, the religious leaders would have understood Jesus as saying, “The son that you, the religious leaders of Israel, rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes!”  At this, the religious leaders understood Jesus' parable, drawn from Isaiah, was making them out to be the wicked tenants who rejected the prophets and the Son of God, and that God’s judgment of destruction would be upon them.  Thus ends the juridical parable of Jesus.  Rather than see the opportunity for self-condemnation and repentance as David had done when confronted by Nathan, the religious leaders seethed with rage, looking for the opportunity to arrest Jesus safely and put an end to his accusations of them.

          What then can we learn from this juridical parable? Let's examine the lessons derived from the three parts of the story and the Old Testament prophecy upon which the parable is based.  The three parts of the story are expectation, disappointment, and judgment.

          When we consider expectations, we need to think about God’s expectations.  God cleared the land, provided the vineyard, the vines, the watchtower, and the winepress. God then sent His Son, Jesus, to show all who would listen how to care for what God had provided so that they could give to God the good fruit.  Paul described the good fruit of God’s desire as the fruit of the spirit, which is “23b love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23a gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22b-23a). This parable teaches us that God has expectations for our lives.  He desires something of us and for us.  He desires the good fruit of justice and righteousness from us.  How then do you and I become partakers of God’s expectations? Jesus gave us the answer most simply, “Repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15b).

          But.  There is always a but.  But there remains for each of us an opportunity to disappoint God.  How do we disappoint God?  We disappoint God when we reject His Son.  God sent His Son to do the work we could not do ourselves, to have the ability to produce the good fruit.  God even said in Isaiah, “4a What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?” (Isaiah 5:4a).  The hard work to meet God’s expectations has been done by Jesus upon the cross.  God did it all and cannot do any more.  All we need to do is accept the work of Christ.

Why then do people still reject Jesus and disappoint God?  They do so because they do not want to yield anything from their life or any part of their life to God.  Most people accept Jesus as someone who lived and walked on this earth.   But the non-believers today, like the ancient religious leaders, do reject that Jesus was God’s Son, having authority over their lives.  For those who repent and accept the good news, we must accept the simplest of statements, “Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).  If we accept and believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and make him the chief cornerstone of our life, then rather than disappointment we will fulfill God’s expectations and desires for us.

          So, we have talked about expectations and disappointments, leaving us to talk about judgment.  For those who refuse to acknowledge God or His expectations and bring disappointment to him, they will stand judged and condemned.  There will be destruction for them.  But in Christ, rather than judgment, condemnation, and destruction, there is forgiveness and salvation.  Rather than destruction, there is equipping.  Rather than death, there is life.  The parable reveals to us that we shall either be judged by Jesus or saved by Jesus.

          The parable teaches us that before God, we will face His expectations, disappointments, and judgment, or we will face His expectations, fulfillment, and salvation.  God has done everything for us to meet His expectations, be fulfilled, and be saved.  All we need to do is to receive the grace of Christ and make Him our chief cornerstone. Today, you and I stand at the intersection of destruction and life, between being wicked tenants or good tenants. Let us choose life.  Amen and Amen.

Why do we tell a story?  How many times has someone told you a story like this one?  Hey, listen to this.  Yesterday, I went to the grocery store.  I bought some produce, a pound of hamburger, a few canned goods, and then I came home.  You may never have heard someone tell such a story, but if they did, you might ask them, “What was the point of the story?”  Generally, we do not tell stories unless something unusual happens or because we are trying to illustrate a point.  There must be a purpose to the story.

Today, we find in the Gospel of Mark the culmination of three stories, three parables told by Jesus.  Each story is related to the other.  All of them involve the use of seeds.  These stories have a purpose.  That purpose is to help us to understand and to enter the kingdom of God.

Three stories.  I mentioned last week that Mark, in his presentation of the ministry, life, and death of Jesus, often arranges things in threes.  Last week, in the parable of the Sower, Mark recounted Jesus speaking about three seeds that failed to produce a crop.  As you may recall, the seeds along the hardened path were devoured by birds.  The seed in the shallow soil sprouted but withered under the sun.  The seed among the thorns grew but was choked out by those thorns.  Jesus also spoke about three seeds that did produce grain.  Then Mark told us about Jesus speaking about three other seeds.  One seed produced 30 times itself, another 60 times itself, and a third produced 100 times itself.  The first parable of Chapter 4 spoke about three seeds that failed to produce and died, and three seeds that produced life and life in abundance.

Mark also discusses other patterns of three in the Gospel.  Three times Jesus predicts his suffering, death, and resurrection (Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34).  Peter denies Jesus three times before the rooster crows, fulfilling Jesus’ earlier prediction (Mark 14:30). In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays three times, each time returning to find the disciples sleeping (Mark 14:32-41). Three-hour intervals mark the crucifixion—Jesus is crucified at the third hour (9 a.m.), darkness covers the land from the sixth to the ninth hour (12 p.m. to 3 p.m.), and Jesus dies at the ninth hour (Mark 15:25-34).  Mark highlights three women—Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome—who witnessed the crucifixion (Mark 15:40) and visited the empty tomb (Mark 16:1). These patterns of three reflect Mark’s concise, deliberate storytelling, emphasizing Jesus’ identity, mission, and the disciples’ journey. The number three, often symbolic of completeness in Jewish tradition, underscores the theological weight of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  Today, as I mentioned earlier, we have three parables that deal with the growth of seeds.

The first parable, the Parable of the Sower, we discussed last week.  That parable is key to understanding all other parables.  It is a parable that deals with judgment against those who only hear the word of God but do not repent, the three seeds that die, and a parable of salvation for those who listen to the word of God, repent, and receive the good news of Christ. These three seeds live and produce a life of abundance.

After that first parable, Jesus introduced two more parables with these words: “24 Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have, will be taken from them” (Mark 4:24-25).  As we discussed last week, Jesus used the Greek word akouō 14 times, which is translated into English as either “Listen” or “Hear.”   We don’t see the repetition in the English translations of the Bible, causing us to miss the significance of the repetition.  Jesus began the introduction to the following two parables using the word akouō, “Consider carefully what you hear [akouō],” or “Consider carefully what you listen to” (Mark 4:24a). Jesus made an important point then, which remains equally essential now.  We must pay careful attention to what we read and listen to.  Not everything is beneficial for us, and we need to be mindful of what and who we listen to.

The second point is that Mark outlined a three-part process for spiritual growth that addresses the measures we use.  For these verses, I would like to switch to the New King James Version, as it highlights an important distinction that is missing from the NIV.  “Take heed what you hear [akouō – listen to]. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear [akouō – listen to], more will be given. 25 For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him” (Mark 4:24-25).  Mark draws out three things here:

First, with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  Jesus was speaking here about our openness to the word of God.  The more open you are to receiving the word of God, the more accessible it will be to you.  If your measure is small, then what you receive will be small.

Christian author Wilbur Rees wrote satirically, “I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please.  Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine.  I don't want enough of God to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant worker. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal, just put it in a paper sack. I want to buy $3.00 worth of God, please."  If you only want $3.00 worth of God, that is all you will ever get.  So, the first point is that whatever measure you use in seeking God, it will be used to measure what you will receive from God.

Secondly, Jesus said, “and to you who hear [akouō – listen to], more will be given” (Mark 4:24b).  To you who listen to God and follow through in what God asks of you, more will be given.  The more you seek God and follow God, the more you will want to seek and follow God more, and the more you will receive.  This is not a prosperity gospel message suggesting that if you have money and want more, ask God for it.  This is a message that says the more you want to know God intimately, the more God will be accessible to you.

Thirdly, Jesus said, “25 For whoever has, to him more will be given” (Mark 4:25a).  If you have received Christ and are following Him, then you are guaranteed to be given ever greater spiritual food than you have received thus far. Jesus' apostles saw Jesus’ words come to life in their own lives as they were transformed from a timid, confused band of fishermen into fearless, focused ambassadors of Christ, willing and capable of sharing God’s Word with servants and kings.

Jesus encouraged people to open themselves up to God’s Word so that they could receive the fullest measure of God’s grace, insights, and wisdom possible.  From this vantage point, Jesus then shared two more parables.

Jesus began this way: “26  This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he [the man] sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he [the man] does not know how. 28 All by itself, the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he [the man] puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come” (Mark 4:26-29). 

We learn two things here.  First, Jesus was describing the process by which the kingdom of God grows.  Jesus was moving from the activities of man in the Parable of the Sower, to the activity of the seed in this parable and the one that follows.  Jesus’ point was that the kingdom of God begins with someone, here a man, scattering the seed, taken to mean scattering the word of God. Mark had shared with his readers in Chapter 2 how Jesus came to share the word.  Mark wrote, “2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he [Jesus] preached the word to them” (Mark 2:2).  We must share the word of God.  That is our part in the growth of the kingdom of God.  If we neglect sharing the word, we have neglected our responsibility to God.

The second thing we learn from this parable is that the growth of the kingdom after sharing the word is done secretly without our involvement.  We cannot coax people into faith, or manipulate them into faith, or argue them into faith, any more than a farmer can coax, manipulate, or argue their crops into growing.  Share the word and let God do the work to bring the seeds to their fullness.

Jesus then shared another parable, the third on growing from seed.  Jesus said, “30 What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade” (Mark 4:30-32). Jesus was again giving insight into the nature of the kingdom of God.  Here, Jesus explained that the kingdom of God will grow from a tiny beginning, comparable in size to a mustard seed.  The kingdom would grow rapidly such that it would be as though shortly after the seed is planted, a maturing plant dominates the entire garden. Again, the farmer or gardener who planted the small seed had no part in the plant's growth.  Likewise, the kingdom of God would not grow because of the efforts of women and men but would grow by God’s will.  The parables affirmed that God oversees human history.  Humans are not in charge of God’s destiny.  God is sovereign.

Then what do we take away from these three parables, all dealing in one form or another with seeds?  In recognition of Mark’s approach to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, let’s consider three things.

First, we need to ask ourselves, “What measure am I using to receive from God?  Am I holding out a teaspoon as the measure of what I want from God, or am I holding out a bowl?  What am I listening to?  Do I come to church every week to get another installment of God’s Word?  Am I engaging God’s Word with Bible study? What measure am I using to receive from God?”

If you were wondering about the measure people are using these days, here are some statistics.  Americans spend, on average:

• 9 minutes per day on pet care – Like a tablespoon
• 420 minutes (7 hours) online – Like a bucket
• 2 minutes on personal worship and religious development – Like a thimble

Whatever measure you use, it will be measured to you.  Be careful about what you listen to.  I encourage each one of us to change the measure we are using. We should assume that it is too small.

           Second, Jesus came with a primary message, “The time has come.  The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and receive the good news” (Mark 1:15).  This was the primary seed scattered by Jesus.  The three parables all speak to scattering and planting the seed, the word of God.  When Jesus first sent out his Twelve apostles, “12 They [The Twelve] went out and preached that people should repent” (Mark 6:12). The apostles did not engage in fruitless conversations about fine points of theology that most people did not understand.  The Twelve followed Jesus’ lead and told people now was the time to repent, to turn toward God and receive what God has for them.  Jesus told the Twelve, “11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them” (Mark 6:11).  If the people refused to listen, Jesus did not want the Twelve to obsess over the lack of response because some people will choose to be spiritually devoured, wither, or be choked by their unbelief.  The Twelve were not to be concerned, but were expected to move on to the next opportunity to share the word of God.

           We must ask ourselves, “Am I sharing the word of God simply and making clear that people need to repent?”  If you don’t like the word “repent,” then change it to sharing the word of God that now is the time for people to seek God that He may draw near to them.  Our job is to plant the seed for the kingdom and then watch God work in that person. You and I need to speak and plant that seed for the kingdom.

           Third, we must accept the sovereignty of God. What does sovereignty mean?  The word sovereignty means “supreme authority.” We must accept that God is the supreme authority.  God is the king of the kingdom of God.  In the parables, we saw that the seed, the word of God, once cast or planted in good soil, grew without the farmer doing anything.  The seed sprouted and grew to maturity.  The shape and size of the kingdom were at the discretion of God, not the sower of the seed or the farmer.  God was in charge.

           I think sometimes we struggle with our faith journey because we do not accept the sovereignty of God.  We believe that there are better ways and better outcomes available and possible if we, and not God, were in charge.  And in some cases, what we want appears good to us, healing for someone, comfort for another, or wisdom for a third.  How could God think otherwise?  However, sometimes it seems as though God has other plans for what will happen.  When those good things don’t happen the way we think they ought to go, then we doubt the goodness of God because we feel He is not acting as well as we see ourselves acting.  We are, in such moments, whether we intend to do so or not, questioning the sovereignty, the supreme authority, of God.  Jesus came to say to the people, “The kingdom of God is like…” and then invited us to enter that kingdom, not to change it or remake it in our image.  When we cannot accept the sovereignty of God, we have necessarily altered the measure with which we approach God.  I encourage you this week to reflect on and take the sovereignty of God.  This is not a simple exercise, but it will expand the measure by which you receive from God. 

The time has come.  The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and receive the good news” (Mark 1:15).  Increase the measure you are using to receive God.  Accept God’s sovereignty.  Share the word of God.  This is the point of the stories.  Amen and Amen.

            Sir Isaac Newton's third law of motion states simply that, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”  When you walk, your foot pushes backward on the ground (action), and the ground pushes forward on your foot (reaction), moving you forward.  In our exploration of Jesus’ parable in the fourth chapter of Mark, we will find that, like Newton’s law of motion, everyone reacted to Jesus.  And everyone still reacts to Jesus today.  But Jesus’ parable teaches us that every reaction to Him is not the same. Understanding the differences in reactions is key to our faith journey.  Many New Testament scholars consider this parable of Jesus to be the parable that unlocks the understanding of all other parables and teachings of Jesus. If the scholars are correct, and I believe they are, how then have you and I reacted to Jesus, and how do we understand this key among all the parables?  Let’s listen to Jesus today as though it were our first time hearing His words.

            Mark set the scene for Jesus’ teaching in this way.  “1 Again, Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he [Jesus] got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He [Jesus] taught them many things by parables” (Mark 4:1-2b).  Mark’s gospel is primarily about Jesus’ actions.  Today was different.  Today was about Jesus’ teaching.  Today, Mark focused on what Jesus said, not what Jesus did.  Jesus was in Galilee, along the Sea of Galilee, which Mark referred to as a lake.  Jesus had been ministering to the public with miracles and preaching for about a year. Jesus’ primary message never changed, even if his delivery at times differed.  The message was “15 The time has come.  The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15).  On this occasion, the crowd of people along the lake’s shore swelled so much that Jesus was forced to get into a boat, move offshore a little, so that he could be heard and seen by all.  Who was in this crowd?  There were the Twelve apostles of Jesus and disciples of Jesus, as well as religious leaders, and people who were fascinated by the miracles Jesus performed. Those comprising the crowd were very different in terms of their family histories, occupations, ambitions, talents, and reasons for being along the lake shore that day.  And yet they were all the same in one regard.  Everyone there had reacted in some way to Jesus. Everyone reacts to Jesus.  They did then, and they do so today.  Mark said Jesus taught this crowd with parables. From those parables, Mark was inspired by the Holy Spirit to share in detail one concerning a man sowing seeds.

            Jesus began his teaching with a single word, “Listen!”  In Greek, the word is akouō, ἀκούω, ak-oo'-o. As we move through this Chapter, we find that Jesus used the word akouō fourteen times.  We miss that repetition in the English translations because akouō was not always translated into English as “Listen!”  But fourteen times in this chapter, Jesus challenged the crowd to “Listen!”  There was an urgency in Jesus’ words because Jesus’ message never wavered: “The time has come!  Listen! Don’t miss it!”

            Jesus said, 3 “Listen! [akouō] A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”  9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”  That last sentence is most important because in the Greek, it would be “καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς Ὃ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκούειν (kai legō autos ho echō ous akouō akouō).  We might say it this way, “Whoever has ears, listen, listen!”  This is a type of literary sandwich we discussed last month, found in the Bible, in which words, phrases, or sentences are repeated as a top and bottom layer to something essential in the middle.  Jesus considered this parable essential, beginning with "listen" (akouō) and ending with "listen" (akouō).

            What did the crowd learn here through this parable?  Most learned nothing from the parable because they only heard the parable as a story about sowing seeds in Israel.  The crowd would have understood already that a seed cast upon the hardened pathway would not sprout and be eaten by birds.  They would have understood that a seed cast on the thin layer of soil covering bedrock would sprout but wither from lack of moisture. They would have understood that a seed cast among thorns would sprout but be choked out by the weedy plants. They would have understood that a seed was expected to produce 30 times its kind.  A seed that produces sixty times itself would have caught their attention as unusual.  A seed producing 100 times itself would have puzzled them and would be nothing other than miraculous.  However, most of the crowd, despite hearing Jesus' words, did not understand them. Why?  Because they were unwilling to listen.

            But. There is always a but.  But, Mark wrote, “10 When he [Jesus] was alone, the Twelve and the others around him [Jesus] asked him [Jesus] about the parables. 11 He [Jesus] told them [the Twelve and the other disciples], ‘The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside [the rest of the crowd] everything is said in parables (meaning here, riddles) 12 so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” (Mark 4:10-12; Isaiah 6:9-10).  To those who listened, Jesus taught in parables, but to those who only wanted to hear those same parables would be unsolvable riddles. Why?  Because, as Jesus quoted Isaiah, “They might turn and be forgiven!” Does this mean Jesus did not want the crowd to be saved?  No, not at all.  Jesus, quoting from Isaiah, was using irony by saying the last thing on the minds of the people hearing these words of God is the idea that they would want to turn and be forgiven.  Heaven forbid that should happen.  What does it mean to turn and be forgiven?  We sum that action up into a single word: repentance.  To repent is to turn from your ways and follow God’s ways. The last thing the crowd wanted to do was to give up their ways and follow God.  Yet, the central message of Jesus was, “The time has come.  Repent (turn and be forgiven) and receive the good news” (Mark 1:15).  The difference then between the crowd and those in Jesus’ company now was the spirit of repentance.  When someone repents, they move from a hearer of God’s Word who finds it a riddle to one who listens and enters into the kingdom of God.  This is why atheists reject the Word of God.  They can only hear it but cannot understand it because they refuse to listen.  They refuse to listen because they refuse to repent.  If you know someone who rejects God’s word, ask them if they feel a need to repent.  They will tell you, they don’t.

            How then did the Twelve and the other disciples come to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God?  They did so by listening to Jesus’ reply to the question about the parable of the man sowing seed.  In response, Jesus said, “13  ‘Don’t you understand this parable? [If you do not understand this parable,] How then will you understand any parable?’” (Mark 4:13). Jesus’ words strongly suggest that this parable and Jesus’ explanation of it are key to understanding all the parables.  Here is what Jesus had to say.

            “14 The farmer sows the word” (Mark 4:14).  The farmer is anyone who spreads the word, the word of God. In this immediate setting, the farmer represents Jesus, who came to share the good news.  “14 The farmer sows the word.  15 Some people are like seed 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” (Mark 4:14-15). Jesus said, 'Some receive the word of God, some I have spoken to have received the word of God, but they react to it by rejecting it, just like hardened soil rejects the seed.'  Satan is at the heart of the rejection and has, in his way, corrupted their thinking and stolen the word from them.  We might recall that when we spoke from Chapter 3 of Mark a few weeks ago, the religious leaders accused Jesus of being Satan, Beelzebub.  Jesus warned the religious leaders that “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:29). In the parable, Jesus was making the point that the religious leaders and their followers of the crowd were being devoured by Satan, like birds would do to seed cast upon the hardened path.

            Jesus continued, “16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away” (Mark 4:16-17).  Among the crowd were those who followed Jesus because of the excitement of the healing miracles and the multiplying of loaves and fish.  These were thrilling events that generated enormous interest, yes, even joy, but when they heard what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus, these people withered, like seed scattered in the thin soil over bedrock, and went home.  Some in the crowd along the shore that day were there just for the excitement and free stuff.

            Jesus addressed yet another group for whom the parable was but a riddle. Jesus said, “18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:18-19). We see this group exemplified by the rich young ruler who approached Jesus.  “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17b).  The rich man had kept the commandments.  Jesus said to him, “‘One thing you lack,’ he [Jesus] said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’  22 At this, the man’s face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth” (Mark 10:21-22).  Some who heard the parable of the Sower that day had other gods before the Lord, namely wealth and worry, and those gods were choking their spiritual life.

            Let’s pause here for just a moment.  One of the things we will discuss in more detail in the weeks ahead is that Mark tends to present his gospel in patterns of three.  Here we have seen the pattern of three displayed with three seeds that failed.  Three types of people from the crowd with whom Jesus spoke, whose reaction to his words, the Word of God, produced nothing.  The response of these people ended with them being either devoured, withered, or choked to death.  Why did they react the way they did to Jesus?  Because they failed to recognize that the time had come to repent and turn to God. Thus, they would be devoured, withered, or choked.  In short, they would experience spiritual and eternal death.  This was Jesus speaking about the judgment that awaits the unbeliever.

            Mark wrote that Jesus then turned his attention to the other three seeds of the parable.  Jesus said, “Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown” (Mark 4:20).  Jesus was speaking here about disciples of Jesus in general.  He said that some of those who hear the word and accept it will produce thirty times over.  They will become good and pleasing to the Lord, producing what God would ask of them. A second group of disciples, a second seed, will produce an astounding doubling of what God would ask of them, a sixty-fold yield, if you will.  The third group, a third seed, will overwhelmingly be productive for the kingdom, producing, if you will, a hundred-fold yield.  In short, those who repent and receive the good news will experience life to the fullest and produce life for and within the kingdom to varying degrees, from the expected to the overwhelming.  This parable illustrates that repentance and acceptance of God's word, as well as rejection of God’s word, are about making life-or-death decisions.

            Jesus then added these words to the Twelve and other disciples, “21 ‘Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear’” (Mark 4:21-23). The last line again in Greek being, “εἴ τις αὐτοῖς ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκούειν (ei tis echō ous akouō akouō). “If anyone has ears, listen! Listen!” Again, drawing emphasis to the importance of what he said.

            What, then, do we take from Jesus’ parable and teaching?  There are three things for us to consider today.

            First, Jesus came with an open invitation, “The time has come!  Repent and receive the good news!” (Mark 1:15). This is the Word of God.  This is the Word of God that Jesus cast far and wide as he began his public ministry, as a Sower would do with seed.  All were invited to listen to the word, but some heard and some listened.  Jesus’ invitation still stands today.  We can now be Sowers of that seed, the Word of God.

            Second, everyone reacts to Jesus’ invitation.  Some will hear the invitation and reject the Word; they will refuse to repent.  Why? Because Satan has a hold over them. They will never listen to the word of God and will be devoured.  Others will appear to receive the Word of God and bloom for a short time.  But when difficulties come, they will claim God failed them or that God is a myth.  These people will die spiritually, not by being devoured but by withering.  A third group will appear interested in the Word of God but will not genuinely give their lives to Him because they have already pledged their lives to money or self-absorption, consumed by personal worries. Those concerns, the false gods of money and worry, will choke them to death.  The reality is that some people will only hear the word of God and not be saved.

            Finally, the good news of great joy is that those who do listen to the Word of God, who repent, who turn to Christ, will be saved.  Those who are saved will receive life, and their lives will produce fruit for the kingdom of God.  All of this will not be the result of personal effort but through the grace of God, a gift already prepared and awaiting those who believe and follow Jesus. If we understand all of this, we will understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and the parables will be joyful teachings because we will understand them.

            This all leaves us with some questions each of us must answer.  We should ask ourselves, “What is my reaction to God’s Word?  Have I listened, repented, and received what God has for me, or have I only heard God’s word?  Have I rejected God’s word and understand that in doing so, I will be spiritually devoured, withered, or choked?”

The time has come for each of us to repent and receive the good news of God's grace.  As Jesus said, “εἴ τις αὐτοῖς ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκούειν (ei tis echō ous akouō akouō).  “If anyone has ears, listen! Listen!”  Amen and Amen.

            As I did last week, I want to start this week in an unusual spot.  I'd like us to consider the wonderful food item known as the sandwich.  Many credit John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, for creating the modern-day sandwich.  The legend is that in 1762, the Earl requested that meat be placed between two slices of bread to eat while he was gambling.  Other origins of the humble sandwich go back to the times of Jesus. Historians speak of the Hillel sandwich. It was a symbolic dish eaten during the Passover Seder, combining matzah (unleavened bread), maror (bitter herbs), and charoset (a sweet paste of fruit and nuts). It commemorates the way Hillel the Elder, a prominent Jewish leader, combined these elements during the time of the Second Temple. The sandwich represents the duality of Jewish history – the bitterness of slavery and the sweetness of freedom.  Whatever the sandwich's origin, what is notable about a sandwich is that the top and bottom layers hold the main ingredients together.  The principal focus of the sandwich is not the top or bottom layer, but the filling between them.

            I wanted to speak about the humble sandwich because, in the Bible, we find many references to sandwiches.  We see a top and bottom layer to a story, bringing focus to the substance in between.  And today, in our look at our reading from the Gospel of Mark, we find a sandwich with a parable nestled between the top and bottom layers.  Let’s look at what Mark wanted his readers to pay particular attention to.

            We begin with Mark, Chapter 3.  Here, we find that Jesus had taken his disciples away from the crowds and to a mountainside.  There, Jesus called twelve disciples to be his apostles.  “16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him” (Mark 3:16-19).  The mountainside gathering was an intimate moment for Jesus and the Twelve.

            We next find that Jesus and the Twelve were no longer on the mountainside but were in someone’s house.  “20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat” (Mark 3:20).  Mark shifts between scenes quickly.  Mark moved us from seeing Jesus and his apostles in an intimate reflective scene on a mountainside to them being in a house crowded with people.  The house was so crowded and lacking intimacy that no food was offered.  The abrupt changes signaled that Mark wanted to catch people’s attention to an upcoming significant moment.

            The moment Mark was building toward gathered momentum with the introduction of the top layer of the literary sandwich.  Mark wrote, “21 When his [Jesus’] family heard about this, they went to take charge of him [Jesus], for they said, ‘He [Jesus] is out of his mind’” (Mark 3:21).  Mark interrupted the story of Jesus inside this crowded home to tell his readers that Jesus’ family was on their way to take charge of him believing that Jesus was no longer sane.  The Greek for “take charge” means “to lay hands on someone to get him under your power.”  It means to physically subdue a person.  It seemed that Jesus’ family thought that Jesus was insane, going around the countryside shouting, “Repent and believe in the good news,” healing people on the Sabbath, challenging the religious authorities, and now appointing apostles. Only a madman or the Son of God would do that.  The family chose to believe Jesus was mad.  We will see later that the family discussion will reappear at the end of the story as the second layer to the literary sandwich.

            Immediately after interrupting the story of Jesus inside the house to tell his readers about Jesus’ family, believing Jesus was mad, Mark interrupted the story a second time with news about religious leaders who descended upon the house.  Mark wrote, “22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He [Jesus] is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he [Jesus] is driving out demons’” (Mark 3:22).  The religious group viewed the cause of Jesus’ behavior differently than did Jesus’ family.  The religious group did not believe Jesus was insane; they thought Jesus was possessed, even being the devil himself.  The religious leaders understood Jesus was no ordinary person. Jesus had power.  They saw Jesus cast out demons and realized that doing so required supernatural authority.  However, the religious leaders thought only the devil or the Son of God would do and say what Jesus did.  The religious leaders chose to believe Jesus was the devil.

            At this point, Mark’s interruptions of the story about Jesus in the house were over.  With the stage set, Mark wrote, “23 So Jesus called them [the religious leaders] over to him and began to speak to them in parables” (Mark 3:23).  Again, a parable is a story, much like a joke, that plays on at least two levels with the surprise ending adding the key teaching about God, much like a punchline brings laughter to the joke.

            Jesus said, “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come” (Mark 3:23b-26).  Mark added later that Jesus spoke this way to the religious leaders in the presence of his apostles because, “30 Because they [the religious leaders] were saying, “He [Jesus] has an impure spirit” (Mark 3:30). Jesus began the parable with the things of mankind that everyone could understand.  A house divided against itself is doomed.  As such, if Jesus were Satan, the one thing Jesus, if Satan, would not do would be to attack demons, as doing so would be an act of self-destruction.  People could understand Jesus’ example.  Jesus' point to the religious leaders was that their beliefs about Jesus lacked common sense.  Therefore, logically, Jesus cannot be Satan or otherwise possessed by an impure spirit going about doing things against his interests, essentially destroying himself. They should be looking for another source for Jesus’ authority.

            Jesus then offered an alternative perspective of what the religious leaders had witnessed.  Jesus said, “27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house” (Mark 3:27).  This part of the parable plays on two levels.  First, people could understand that if you wanted to control a man’s house, you needed to physically bind the owner.  This language was much like that describing what Jesus’ family intended to do to him, bind him, or take physical control of him, so that they could do with him whatever they wanted.  People had no difficulty understanding Jesus’ words that binding a strong man was a necessary first step to taking over what that man controlled.

            The religious leaders likely missed the spiritual dimension of this part of the parable. The spiritual dimension was that Jesus, in performing exorcisms, was binding Satan. Jesus was, in fact, a stronger man than Satan.  Such strength could only come from one source: God.

Mark had previously recorded that John the Baptist foresaw Jesus' strength and power. John had said, “7 After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 3:7).  Jesus, the stronger, the one with the Holy Spirit, came into Satan's domain and rolled back Satan’s influence, making it clear that Satan’s end would happen. This view was the one Jesus desired his followers to see unfolding before them.  Jesus wanted his followers to know that he was the Son of God, the Messiah, and that he was neither insane nor Satan. Instead, Jesus was a conqueror from the kingdom of God who had the power to bring an end to the kingdom of Satan.  It was doubtful the religious leaders understood this part of Jesus’ parable.

            Speaking further about accepting Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah, Jesus taught those with ears to hear must know two critical things about God.  First was the good news message.  Jesus said, “28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins” (Mark 3:28). Let’s hear that again, “28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins.”  The Son of God was teaching that God will forgive and wipe out of existence any sin ever committed, no matter how bad or ugly the behavior.  Jesus’ words were another way of showing God’s power over the kingdom of Satan, the accuser.  With the forgiveness of all sin, Satan would be made powerless.  Jesus’ revelation here also made Jesus’ initial message more powerful.  Jesus said, “Repent and believe in the good news.”  Knowing that your sins can be forgiven gives rise to a sense of joy and hope. But Jesus added a second teaching about God with these words.  “People can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:28b-29). God will forgive every sin and slander, but God will not forgive those who claim that the Holy Spirit of God is unclean or is of Satan.  Jesus’ words were a direct warning to the religious leaders that to say He was doing the work of Satan would be a total perversion of the truth, a rejection of God, and would be unforgivable.  The religious leaders had placed themselves outside of God’s grace, and there they would remain for eternity.  As we make our way through the gospels, we find that the stance of the religious leaders against Jesus never changed and would eventually cause the religious leaders to bring about Jesus’ crucifixion.

To slander God as the religious leaders had done and give credit to Satan for the things of God resulted in their eternal death.  Jesus’ words were most sobering.

            Mark then interrupted the story of Jesus within the house with these words, “31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside [the house], they [Jesus’ family] sent someone in to call him [Jesus]” (Mark 3:31).  This is the bottom layer of the sandwich.  To remember, the top layer of the sandwich was in verse 21, “21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, 'He is out of his mind’” (Mark 3:21).  The coming of Jesus’ family and the arrival of Jesus’ family creates a literary sandwich bringing great emphasis unto the spiritual teaching bound between the two layers.

            What should we take away from Mark's sandwich-style parable of Jesus? I think there are three things for us to contemplate today.

            First, denying Jesus is the first step to eternal death.  Mark stated the simple truth of Jesus in Chapter 1, verse 1, “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). When people begin to deny Jesus as the Messiah or deny Jesus as the Son of God, they are starting their walk down the unforgiveable path.  It is just that simple.

Moreover, any church that calls itself a progressive Christian church is in danger. That church has left the path of Christ and is on the unforgivable path that leads to eternal death.  I say this because progressive Christian churches deny the supernatural presence of Christ and/or Jesus’ standing as the Son of God. There is a paper-thin line between denying Christ or altering Scripture to make Christ who you want Him to be, and blaspheming the Holy Spirit.  It should come as no surprise that the progressive church scholars believe Jesus never said, “Whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit is never forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin” (The Five Gospels).  Of course, they would have to say that to feel comfortable in their other alterations of the gospels and the New Testament.  We must exercise care in choosing only to belong to churches and Bible studies that accept the authority of Scripture.  Jesus taught the truth so that we would have life.  Jesus said, “Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15).  “Don’t be afraid; just believe” (Mark 5:36).  “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23).

            Second, we should be grateful to God for forgiving all our sins and slanders when we believe in Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. All means all.  It is hard to imagine a more profound difference between belief in Jesus, who forgives all sin and leads to eternal life, and the denial of Jesus, which leads to the unforgivable sin and eternal death.  That is the essence of the Biblical sandwich Mark created for us in Chapter 3.  God said to the people long ago, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life” (Deuteronomy 30:19b-20a).  If you have not publicly accepted Jesus and chosen life, do not delay.  If you have accepted Jesus but were not baptized as a public profession of your faith, do not delay.  Express your joy at being saved from sin.  Express your gratitude to God for extending forgiveness to you through Christ.  Choose life.

            Third and finally, Jesus revealed to his listeners, who now include us, that Satan’s doom is sure.  The parable made clear that the actions people witnessed as Jesus cast out demons were not those of a kingdom in conflict, a kingdom divided. Jesus’ casting out demons was evidence of a conflict between two kingdoms, in which the kingdom of God would ultimately prevail.  Satan, though powerful, was and remains no match for the power of Christ.  Satan loses every time in the battle between kingdoms, and it is not even close.  As the lyrics to “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” say: “And though this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us: The Prince of Darkness grim, We tremble not for him; His rage we can endure, For lo! his doom is sure, One little word shall fell him.”  Satan’s doom is sure.

            Jesus brought the prophecies of Isaiah to life before the people.  Jesus said He had fulfilled the words of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (Isaiah 61:1). In Christ, we are freed from Satan. Praise God indeed.

            Therefore, let us choose the path of life, be freed from sin, and praise God for our salvation from darkness.  Amen and Amen. 

            Let’s start today with an unusual question. What is it that makes a joke a joke? What must a comedian keep in mind when putting together a good joke?  A joke is a pair of two stories or ideas. The joke makes the audience think it's about thing A, and the punchline reveals it's about thing B. It's the surprise ending of a joke that makes us laugh.  Now, it may come as a surprise that the composition of a comedian’s joke is like that of a well-known literary technique in the Bible called a parable. The parable makes the audience think it's about thing A, and the punchline, the surprise ending, reveals that the parable is about thing B. It's that surprise ending of the parable that teaches us about God.  Jesus taught his disciples in parables found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. There are no parables in the Gospel of John, and none of the New Testament letters ever refer to a parable taught by Jesus.  The parables of Jesus are only found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

            The Gospel of Mark contains nine parables, and it is generally considered the first gospel circulated among the early church. Matthew’s gospel includes 21 parables, and Luke’s gospel contains 20 parables. It might sound like there are 50 parables of Jesus, but when you account for a parable appearing in more than one gospel, we find about 27 unique parables of Jesus provided across Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  I thought it might be profitable for us this summer to explore Jesus’ parables in Mark and understand what Jesus taught his disciples then and is teaching us now.

            As we open the Gospel of Mark, we find that Mark wanted his readers to immediately understand the entire point of the gospel in the first verse.  Mark wrote, “1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).  In English, that verse is 14 words.  In the original Greek, Mark made his point using just seven words: 1 Ἀρχὴ (The beginning) τοῦ (of the) εὐαγγελίου (good news) Ἰησοῦ (of Jesus) Χριστοῦ (Christ) [υἱοῦ θεοῦ]” (the Son of God). Before Mark described anything for his readers, he declared that the entire story was about the person of Jesus, the Messiah, who was the Son of God.  Mark would not make a good mystery writer.  However, Mark would tell the story of Jesus revealing his identity to some, namely his disciples, and concealing his identity to some, namely the Jewish religious leaders.  Jesus revealed himself through the parables he told, the miracles he performed, and the various figures of speech he used.  The methods Jesus used created confusion, misunderstandings, anger, and rejection among different groups of people.  These conflicting experiences gave rise to teaching because we only learn something when we are conflicted.  In these conflicted situations, Jesus took the things of men known to his audience and used them to teach those with ears to hear about the things of God.  Parables are always expressed in the context of at least two stories, one involving the things of men and the second involving and revealing the things of God.

            As we move from the first verse of Mark’s gospel, we find that Mark moved rapidly through some critical events.  First, John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the River Jordan.  John the Baptist preached, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him” (Mark 1:3).  John knew it was time for God’s chosen Messiah to come.  The people widely accepted John’s message, but not so by the religious leaders, namely the Pharisees.  Second, Jesus fasted and was tempted in the wilderness.  Third, John the Baptist was imprisoned.  Fourth, Jesus declares, “15 The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15).  Fifth, Jesus called four apostles: Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Sixth, Jesus drives a demon out of a possessed man.  Seventh, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law.  Eighth, Jesus healed a man of leprosy.  These things all happened before the end of the first chapter.  Mark told a fast-paced action story about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.  There was minimal direct teaching by Jesus in Chapter 1.  Mark’s fast-paced storytelling continued at the beginning of Chapter 2 until Jesus came to a gathering of three groups of people. There were the Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders, the disciples of the imprisoned John the Baptist, and Jesus’ disciples.  When the three groups came together, a question arose about fasting, a voluntary decision not to eat for a while.  Unlike today, fasting was not part of a weight loss strategy.  Fasting was only done for religious purposes; fasting was about setting aside physical desires to prioritize one’s spiritual connection with God.  Fasting is an example of how the things of men, such as eating, give way to the things of God, namely, prayer and reflection.

            Mark brought us into that gathering this way.  “18 Now John’s [John the Baptist’s] disciples and the Pharisees [Jewish religious leaders] were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, ‘How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?’  19 Jesus answered, ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them’” (Mark 2:18-19).  Three groups were present—the Pharisees, John the Baptist’s disciples, and Jesus’ disciples. Two groups were observing a fast: the Pharisees and John the Baptist’s disciples.  That these two groups would be seen as acting together is a surprise. Given their differing views about God, one would have expected the Pharisees and John’s disciples to be seen as independent of one another.  The third group, Jesus' disciples, were happily eating.  Observing the scene, someone asked Jesus, “How is it that your disciples do not fast like the Pharisees, for even John’s disciples are fasting with them?”  Fasting is a thing of God.  So Jesus answered the question using something from the things of men to explain the things of God.  Jesus said, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them” (Mark 2:19).  Jesus would be here referring to himself as the bridegroom. If we brought these words into our modern understanding, they might sound like, “Tell me honestly, do the groom's friends go to his wedding and not eat at the reception?”  We can understand Jesus’ answer because everyone eats at a wedding.  But Jesus referring to himself as a bridegroom brought the story to a level deeper than a simple wedding.  Jesus was invoking an image about himself through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. Much of what Jesus said that Mark used in his gospel related to the prophecies of Isaiah.  What was that Isaiah prophecy related to a wedding?

            Isaiah wrote in Chapter 61, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair…10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.  For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.  11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations” (Isaiah 61:1-3, 10-11). Jesus, in declaring himself the bridegroom, was bringing into the discussion that salvation and righteousness were before them, and that should be cause for celebration, not fasting.  Jesus, revealing himself as the bridegroom, made clear it was a time for good news for the poor, binding the brokenhearted, freedom for the captives, release of those held in the darkness, comfort for those who grieve, punctuated with beauty, joy, and praise.  It was not the time for mournful fasting.  The Pharisees and John the Baptist’s disciples did not understand who stood before them.  Those two groups were wedded instead to ashes, spirit of mourning, and despair.  Jesus' earliest message made even more sense: “15 “The time has come.  The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15).  Jesus’ disciples were moving toward something new, the good news, while the Pharisees, and even John the Baptist’s disciples, could not see the good news before them.

            Having gotten people’s attention with his revelation about being the bridegroom, Jesus offered the first two parables in Mark: the first involved cloth and the second involved wineskins.  Jesus said, “21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear [in the old garment] worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins” (Mark 2:21-22). Both parables convey a similar message about the things of God, starting with the things of men.

            In the first parable, Jesus pointed out something about the things of men, such as repairing a hole in a garment.  “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment” (Mark 2:21a). People understood that old garments were not repaired using cloth straight from the loom.  Cutting a patch out of the new piece of cloth would spoil the new cloth, and sewing the new cloth onto the old cloth would cause the patch to tear away, making the hole in the old garment even worse than it already had been.  The old cloth still had value, but it could not be corrected by sewing new cloth on top of the tear in the old cloth.  This is the story from the perspective of the things of men.

            What then is the story of God's things? That story has two levels. First, the story of God has value even if we fail to live it out properly, as though we have put a tear in a garment. The Pharisees held fast to the story of God but did not live it out properly.   The disciples of John the Baptist, the one who foretold the message of something new coming, were aligning themselves with the Pharisees.  It was like a new cloth was sewn onto an old garment with a tear. That combination would not last. Adding a new layer to the practices of the Pharisees would only result in the patch of new cloth tearing away from the old, making the old garment worse.  The second level is implied.  New cloth should be fashioned into a new garment using the knowledge first used in making the old garment.  The new garment here refers to the coming of the Messiah was, as Isaiah proclaimed, coming with “a robe of his righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10b).  The disciples seated in the presence of the Messiah were on the pathway to experiencing the robe of righteousness found in the person of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God.

            In the second parable, Jesus pointed out something about the things of men, such as fermenting and storing wine.  Jesus said, “22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins” (Mark 2:22).  People understood that new wine, that was just formed, could not be put in old wine skins that were brittle and dry.  If that were done, as the new wine fermented, it would generate gas, and the wineskin would have to expand.  Old wineskins were too brittle to expand and would crack and break, spilling the new wine. This is the story from the perspective of the things of men.

            What then is the story of God's things? That story has two levels. First, the story of God has value, like an old wine skin. But that story had a new addition before the people now.  One that would expand favor upon the Jewish nation for salvation being offered through Jesus to all who would place their faith in Jesus.  That new expansion could not be accommodated within the understanding of God’s existing story alone.   That is one level.  The second level was new in that such salvation would require a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  The only ones pursuing that relationship were Jesus’ disciples, not the Pharisees or John’ disciples.

            Jesus revealed himself as the bridegroom of prophecy, the Messiah, bringing the new wine of salvation and the new garment of righteousness.  Jesus did not come to replace the story of God found in the Old Testament but to fulfil it with newness.

            What do these parables mean for us?  I think there are two things we should have in mind. First, the backdrop of these first two parables is Mark 1:1, “1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).  If you do not accept that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, then the parables are meaningless to you.  Life is meaningless to you, even if you do not realize it now.  I recently counseled an individual who rejected God and then said, “When I die, I will have a conversation with God, and I am sure I will be allowed into heaven.”  I told him, “You need not worry about a conversation with God.  You won’t be speaking with him.  Instead, upon your death, you will be going to hell.  If you reject God in this life as you have done, God will reject you for the next.”  If you do not accept Jesus, the parables are meaningless, as is life itself.

            The second thing we gain from these parables is that belief in Jesus requires imitating him and not repeating endless past rituals.  We should not expect to use the new cloth of God’s living word, Jesus, to cover over tears in the fabric of our garment.  The salvation of Christ is not a box of band aids that we use to cover tears in our spiritual life.  Christ's salvation is a new garment of righteousness, the image of Christ given to us through faith alone in Christ.  In that new garment, made from that new cloth, our soiled record of sin is exchanged for the sinless record of Jesus.  We live our lives now and forever as new beings developed by the Holy Spirit to be more and more like Christ.  Like a well-written joke with its surprise punchline, Jesus’ parables on new cloth and new wine had a surprise ending.  You must approach God as a fresh, new being redeemed by Christ.  You cannot hold onto the past and believe you can redeem yourself with a few corrections, as though you were putting a patch on an old garment or just a little new wine in an old wineskin. 

            Letting go of our past, our old ways, our old thoughts, and the old things of men is part of the redemption story and is how we have space to receive the things of God.  The Old Testament prophet Isaiah said, 18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  19 See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”  (Isaiah 43:18-19a).  Paul said, “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  “20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).  Jesus said, “3 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

            If we want to live the life God intended for us to live, we must accept the “good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1) and be redeemed into a new creation covered with the robe of righteousness and blessed with new wine of salvation.  Amen and Amen.