Read Mark 4:1-20
Here’s How It Works

Mark was so busy recording what Jesus did, that he didn’t record much of what He said. Mark’s gospel includes only eight of Jesus’ parables, less than half the number Matthew and Luke record.

One of these few is the familiar Parable of the Sower, the story of the farmer who went out to sow seed. Jesus turned it into a kind of Rosetta stone by explaining it to His puzzled disciples.

Once we get the hang of seeing the symbolism in Jesus’ deceptively simple little stories, we can readily make the application to our own circumstance. By applying Jesus’ clarification of the Parable of the Sower, we understand that preaching the gospel in any form, whether to a vast congregation or one on one to a friend, is like scattering seed. Some will take root, some won’t. Some will start strong, and then fail. But, like the farmer, we’ve got to sow that seed or there will be no chance of a crop.

If you’re trying to witness faithfully for your Lord, and the going seems slow, vv. 8 and 20 should be of special comfort. In spite of all the discouraging things that can happen, some seed does fall on good soil. People do get saved. Babes in Christ do mature into sturdy soldiers of the cross. Hang in there!

Read Mark 3:20-35
Your Mother Is Calling You

If you don’t think Jesus faced practical problems, just read what Mark records for us.

First, Jesus and the disciples were so busy they had no time to eat. Anybody identify?

Then His family came to get Him and take Him home because they thought He had gone crazy (v. 21).

Why do you think Mary and Jesus’ half brothers thought He had become mentally ill (v. 21)? Do you think Mary and the boys intended their action as a kindness for Jesus’ own good, an attempt to protect Him from Himself, when they attempted to take Him home and silence Him? Here is her eldest son, the one Mary thought would run the carpenter shop, out trailing around the countryside preaching. He heals the sick, feeds the hungry, and makes the religious leaders angry with His blunt teachings. If He doesn’t stop, He’ll get Himself killed.

What do you do when your family says, “Stay home!” but you think God is calling you somewhere else?

Jesus was not unkind to His mother, but He did not interrupt His work either. Instead He skillfully turns their action into an opportunity to pay His relatives a compliment. He says His true followers—those who obey His will—can be as close to Him as family, sharing the intimate, loving ties a good family enjoys.

Read Mark 2:23 - 3:1-12
What Are You Doing This Sunday?

If you want to follow Jesus’ example, what will you do on Sunday?

Evidently it was Jesus’ habit to attend Sabbath worship services.

When Jesus arrived at the synagogue one Sabbath day, two kinds of persons greeted Him, a man with a crippled hand and some Pharisees, religious leaders who were delighted to see Jesus put into a bind. If He healed the cripple, they could accuse Him of breaking the Sabbath by working on the day of rest. If He refused to heal the man, they could say He was lacking in compassion.

Jesus killed both birds with one stone. First, He did an act of compassionate healing. In healing the man, He taught us forever what Sabbath priorities really are. Labor must be avoided if possible; it is a day of rest ordained by God. However, failing to do works of mercy not only does not violate the Sabbath principle of rest; it is wrong.

Jesus’ second point outdid the religious leaders no end. He did not touch the crippled man. He only spoke to him, “Stretch out your hand.” Even the strictest keeper of the Hebrew Law could not consider it work when Jesus just spoke to someone. Neither was it “work” to stretch out your hand. Jesus, two; Pharisees, zero.

Read Mark 2:13-17
He Called Whom?

The Romans were pretty smart about managing their colonies.

They recruited natives of the country to collect the taxes. In fact, they didn’t have to hire someone; men lined up around the block to get the job. Fraud and extortion were expected. Tax collectors got rich.

That was enough to make Levi a social outcast. When Jesus called Levi to follow Him, He might as well have tapped a member of the Mafia. It gave the Pharisees a second reason to dislike Jesus. First, He claimed authority to forgive sins (2:5). Now He was inviting this disreputable traitor of a tax collector to join His band of believers.

Jesus added insult to injury by accepting Levi’s dinner invitation. Naturally, Levi’s friends were other rich pariahs and tax gatherers. Here was this great new teacher eating with such trash.

Why do you think Levi gave the dinner? Was it Levi’s first act of personal evangelism? Come and meet the One who has freed me from my sins, he is saying. Levi did not wait for his unsaved friends to look for Jesus. He made the first move to bring them to the Savior.

Levi is also known as Matthew. Maybe you have read his book, the one he wrote to help his fellow Jews. It’s called The Gospel according to St. Matthew.