How to Hear God the Markan Way: The Parable of the Sower

Historic controversy over the interpretation of the Parable of the Sower remains a contentious topic. [1] This topic is contentious over how we interpret the parable and who interprets the parable correctly. Mark’s Gospel is an invitation to examine his writing style as a window to open our hearts to the Word of Jesus Christ. Mark’s Parable of the Sower uplifts Old Testament wisdom with quotes from the Book of Isaiah and stresses the necessity of OT knowledge for full clarity of the Gospel. The act of teaching how we receive God’s word is also up for theological debate. Acting on belief or non-belief, the Parable of the Sower discussion testifies the most transformative way to receive the Word of God is through the art of listening.

What is the “secret” [2] and “mystery” [3] of the Parable of the Sower? What is a parable? According to a collection of commentaries by Thomas Aquinas in the book, Catena Aurea-Gospel of Mark, “a parable [4] is a comparison made between things discordant by nature, under some similitude.” [5] The messianic secret revealed by “Markan Christology,” [6] i.e., the Gospel of Mark, is a demonstration of writing style coined as “Markan parable theory.” [7] However, in the book, Mark: A Commentary, the author Eugene Boring does warn the reader that the word “theory” “should not be taken to mean a coherent logical explanation, which Mark does not intend.” [8] To further understand the Parable of the Sower and the signature writing style of Mark, we look to Klyne Snodgrass’ article, “A Hermeneutics of Hearing Informed by the Parables with Special Reference to Mark 4.” Snodgrass outlines the structure of the Parable of the Sower as follows:

A 4:1-2 Narrative Introduction

Β 4:3-9 Seed Parable

C 4:10-13 General Statement on Parabolic Method

D 4:14-20 Explanation of the Parable of the Sower

C 4:21-25 General Statements on Parabolic Method

B' 4:26-32 Seed Parables

A' 4:33-34 Narrative Conclusion. [9]

 

Snodgrass exemplifies the literary relevance of the Parable of the Sower as “the key parable, a parable about parables, and the guide to understanding the others.” [10] The explanation section of the Parable of the Sower is the fulfillment of Scripture inspired by the Book of Isaiah. [11] By adding the Old Testament reference in the middle of the parable, Mark is effectively communicating and provoking the listener to read and reference Scripture to fully receive the Word of God.

The prophetic language of the prophets is a formula to transform the listener to action. The words we hear and how we hear words formulate our vision of the world and our actions within the world. Snodgrass presented four points advocating for Mark’s intentional incorporation of Isaiah: 

(1) the harsh language of Isa 6:9-10 is a prophetic instrument for warning and challenge; (2) it expresses the certainty of God's coming judgment for a people who are past hearing; (3) the words of Isa 6:9 became the classic expression to speak of the people's hardness of heart; and (4) the proclamation still expects some (a remnant) to hear and follow. [12]

Craig Evans supported the merger of the New Testament parable with OT prophecy in his article, "On the Isaianic Background of the Sower Parable." Evans explained that the “parable-question-explanation is attested in rabbinic literature” and, therefore, the link of Isaiah 6 eliminates all opposition against the synthesis of the verses. [13] Other scholars explore the efficacy of hearing the parable in its entirety (including Isaiah) as an engine for constructive or deconstructive engagement. In the article "Encountering the Sower: Mark 4:1-20," Donald H. Juel analyzed the power of the parable to pause readers into pondering and identifying any aversions to faith and a faithful walk with Christ. [14] The tension within the Parable of the Sower is wrestling whether the listener is inside or outside the Kingdom of Heaven. As it is said, the mystery of revelation is revealed to insiders and hidden from outsiders. Juel offers clarification in defining an “outsider.” Juel wrote, that “outsiders” are “those who have placed themselves outside through unbelief.” [15]

Belief, however, may be attained though the process of audible learning. Learning is inherent when listening to rhetorical examinations of self. In Terence Keegan’s article, "The Parable of the Sower and Mark's Jewish Leaders," he affirms how Mark’s use of rhetoric is successful in persuading the listener to repetitively revisit discerning the meaning of the text. [16] According to Soren Kierkegaard, a theologian whose arguments are included within Snodgrass’ article, indirect communication affects discernment. [17] Kierkegaard claimed that parables are a form of indirect communication that “deceives you into the truth.” [18] Both Snodgrass and Kierkegaard conclude that “indirect communication is necessary” to move hearts to an epiphany that leads to real transformation. [19] The matter of the heart is at the center of the Parable of the Sower. The purpose of a parable serves as a sword to enter even the most hardened of hearts. [20] Parables carry the element of surprise by simply expressing a complex mystery and meeting people where they are intellectually. [21] God intends to reveal Himself. God is not hiding from His creation.

As theologians and the laity have analyzed and criticized the Parable of the Sower in the Gospel of Mark through the centuries, a lot of misinterpretations have occurred. Such misinterpretations of Scripture have bread so much confusion that has resulted in abuse and betrayal of truth conveyed through the Gospels. A betrayal that has led to further discourse between denominations as clarity must be achieved in comparing doctrine (law) with the Word of God. More so, the delineation identifies the true character of Christianity (followers of Christ as proclaimed by the Gospels). In the article, “Symbiosis, partnership, and restoration in Mark’s parable of the Sower,” George W. Fisher [22] expresses a perspective of “conventional” versus unconventional interpretations of the Gospel of Mark. [23] As a scientist, Fisher matches his knowledge of the Galilean ecosystem in correlation with each description of the four listeners described in the Parable of the Sower. [24] Fisher insinuates that the first three attempts of listening to the Sower are not examples of failure to receive to the Word of God. He presents a counterargument that the parable is illustrating a story about perseverance leading to the successful causation of the fourth and final attempt to fully receive the Word of God. [25] Fisher believes, “ecology and scripture both show that God is most powerfully active in healing the brokenness of desolated landscapes.” [26] Every individual seeking the pursuit of Truth must be cautious about interpreting Scripture outside of Scripture. Snodgrass warned all Truth seekers, “Yet, nowhere has a hermeneutics of hearing been so violated as with Jesus' parables.” [27]

The Parable of the Sower is just as relevant today as it was first proclaimed by Jesus Christ in centuries past. In the book, Encountering the Living God in Scripture: Theological and Philosophical Principles for Interpretation, authors William Wright and Francis Martin share that, “Scripture not only mediates realities and communicates truths from the inspired authors of the past but also mediates an encounter with God in the present, who speaks and acts through the inspired texts.” [28] To understand Scripture, people need the gift of the Holy Spirit. [29] Being open to the Holy Spirit will open our hearts to the Word of the Father and belief in the Son. When we trust and obey the teaching of Christ, the Good News becomes a way of life and God reveals our purpose.

The Parable of the Sower spoken in the Gospel of Mark is a lesson in listening. The destiny of our lives is sealed in our belief or unbelief in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and our willingness to receive the Word of God. All Christians have a shared responsibility to read scripture with an open-heart to trust, obey, and faithfully serve Jesus Christ. Our responsibility expands even further to evangelization as we are all called to “hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold” (Mark 4:20).

Footnotes

[1] NABRE is used in this paper unless otherwise noted.
[2] Secret: “in a Semitic context refers to what is unknown apart from revelation from God.” 

Klyne Snodgrass. "Between Text and Sermon: Mark 4:1-20." Interpretation 67, no. 3 (2013): 285, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLA0001955193&site=eds-live&scope=site.
[3] Mystery: “in the Semitic world does not refer to what is mysterious and unknown but to revelation, to what would be unknown if God had not revealed it.”

Klyne Snodgrass."A Hermeneutic of Hearing Informed by the Parables with Special Reference to Mark 4." Bulletin for Biblical Research 14, no. 1 (2004): 74, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLA0001500188&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
[4] Parable: “Greek for a similitude.”

Thomas Aquinas. Catena Aurea - Gospel of Mark. (Fitzwilliam: Loreto Publications, 2022), 56, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/[SITE_ID]/detail.action?docID=30414767.
[5] Aquinas, Catena Aurea, 56.
[6] Eugene Boring. “4:1-34 Central Discourse of Part 1: Parables and Mystery of the Kingdom of God,” in Mark: A Commentary. (Louisville: Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2006), 112, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/gcu/detail.action?docID=3416770.
[7] Boring, Mark: A Commentary, 113.
[8] Boring, 113-114.
[9] Snodgrass, “Hermeneutic of Hearing,” 67.
[10] Snodgrass, “Hermeneutic of Hearing,” 67.
[11] Snodgrass, “Hermeneutic of Hearing,” 67.
[12] Snodgrass, “Hermeneutic of Hearing,” 71.
[13] Craig Evans. "On the Isaianic Background of the Sower Parable." The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 47, no. 3 (1985): 465, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLA0000948591&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
[14] Donald Juel, "Encountering the Sower: Mark 4:1-20." Interpretation 56, no. 3 (2002): 278, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLA0001290447&site=eds-live&scope=site.
[15] Juel, “Encountering the Sower,” 280.
[16] Terence Keegan, "The Parable of the Sower and Mark's Jewish Leaders." The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 56, no. 3 (1994): 508, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLA0000888243&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
[17] Snodgrass, “Hermeneutic of Hearing,” 60.
[18] Snodgrass, “Hermeneutic of Hearing,” 60.
[19] Snodgrass, “Hermeneutic of Hearing,” 60.
[20]Snodgrass, “Between Text and Sermon,” 284.
[21] Snodgrass, “Hermeneutic of Hearing,” 75.
[22] “Professor of geology in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.”

George Fisher, "Symbiosis, Partnership, and Restoration in Mark's Parable of the Sower." Theology Today 73, no. 4 (2017): 387, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLAiG0V170206002055&site=eds-live&scope=site.
[23] Fisher, “Symbiosis, Partnership, and Restoration,” 379.
[24] Fisher, “Symbiosis, Partnership, and Restoration,” 379.
[25] Fisher, “Symbiosis, Partnership, and Restoration,” 379-387.
[26] Fisher, “Symbiosis, Partnership, and Restoration,” 380.
[27] Snodgrass, “Hermeneutic of Hearing,” 61.
[28] William Wright and Francis Martin. Encountering the Living God in Scripture: Theological and Philosophical Principles for Interpretation. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2019), 4, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/gcu/detail.action?docID=5626642.
[29] William Wright and Francis Martin, Encountering the Living God in Scripture, 4.