Sermonette: Parable themes in Mark's gospel

What is the definition of a parable? Well, if you google this question you get several thousand answers. For the purpose of this article, let’s define a parable this way: A parable is a story told by Jesus that draws us into it and communicates something important that connects to our own lives. Telling parables was Jesus’ favorite way to teach his disciples. Was it the most direct form of communication? Not really, but maybe that was the point. Parables invite us to wrestle and wonder and seek God’s wisdom as we enter the story. Jesus tells stories in each of the gospels. Today, we will take a look at four from the Gospel of Mark and try to notice the wisdom of God through the themes.

In the parable of the strong man in Mark chapter 3, Jesus is accused of using evil to cast out evil spirits. People were saying that Jesus was definitely possessed by an evil spirit named Beelzebul, and that it was the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that gave Jesus the power he needed to cast out other demons. In response to this accusation, Jesus has some strong words for his accusers. “If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come” (verse 26). Jesus is basically saying that their argument is without merit. He furthers his point with, “But no one can enter a strong man's house and property without first tying up the strong man, then indeed the house can be plundered” (verse 27). Jesus' words here echo Isaiah 49:25 which says, "Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save.” We learn from this important parable that God, through Jesus, will indeed contend with evil. God will restrain evil and plunder the house of Satan and the children of God will be saved. How’s that for a theme?

Here we also encounter the themes of breaking boundaries and liberating the oppressed. In the exorcisms of evil spirits throughout the Gospel of Mark, Jesus contends with Satan, restraining, plundering and casting out. There is a fierce “entering into” the realm of evil in order that it might be eliminated. Jesus crosses the barrier into what is not divine and breaks through on behalf of the possessed. Evil then is not only eliminated but replaced by the reign of God. Out of this struggle with evil comes new life, and people are liberated in the process. God is active here, breaking in and getting to work delivering the suffering and the lost from the grip of evil. Those who encounter this boundary-breaking, liberating Son of God are changed and healed. Evil has lost its stronghold.

The themes of secrecy, revelation and irony are present in the parable of the sower found in Mark 4:1-20. A sower goes out to sow seed and the seed lands on four different surfaces. On the first surface, nothing grows because the birds snatch the seeds before they have a chance to sprout. On the other three surfaces, something does grow. The life of the seeds varies from case to case, depending on the quality of the soil and atmospheric conditions, but in these three, life is revealed by the power of God to create it.

Jesus, in telling this parable of the sower, teaches us that when the seed falls on good soil it yields thirty, sixty, one hundred-fold. I’m told by people who know much more about farming than I (which is pretty much everyone), that to even imagine a seed producing one hundred-fold is silly. Even sixty-fold would be a stretch. Yet that is what Jesus says, and it seems a bit absurd, like something outside of reality. But perhaps that is the point, or at least one of them. Perhaps this parable invites us into a new reality, a reality that is not generated by us, but by God who works beyond belief, revealing what is beyond us, but not beyond God.

The parable of the sower is also about things that are hidden. In each seed there is life, like a wonderful secret waiting to be revealed and the quality of the soil is revealed only after the seed is sown as the seed grows. This suggests many interesting questions for us to consider. What are the secrets in us that God wishes to bring forth into the light? What sort of ground are we? Are we careful sowers? Do we believe in the power of God to bring life into being through us? Life overflowing with abundance? Even one hundred-fold? As we consider these questions, we are invited into the story with our senses, our memories, our wonderings, our imaginations and our hearts. In the telling of this parable Jesus seeks to reveal what may be hidden and to engage not just our minds, but our whole selves. Next, two more stories about seeds. Both the parable of the growing seed and the parable of the mustard seed are found in Mark chapter 4, shortly after the parable of the sower. In each, the seed is compared to the kingdom of God. In the first, we are drawn into the story by the way it begins: “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground ...” We are left wondering what “as if” means. We read that the seed sprouts and grows with no help from the sower. The earth somehow just makes it grow in stages until it is ready for harvest. And once it is ready, the sower immediately harvests it. This parable and the parable of the sower balance one another out when considering what they mean for us as disciples. The parable of the sower makes clear that some who hear the word of God will grow into disciples, and for many and varied reasons, some will not. The parable of the growing seed is a strong reminder that despite how much care we take in sowing the seed, growing the seed to its fullness is only the work of God. As disciples, we are part of the process, partners with God, but are not the creators. In the midst of our kingdom work, it is our job to trust the reign of God. This parable is an especially meaningful gift for those disciples among us who are worriers and doers, as we are reminded that we are not God. Jesus here invites us to simply follow him. In both of these seed parables from Mark 4, it seems as if Jesus is grasping at how to describe in earthly terms something that is actually not of earth. And so he chooses the most earthly things, soil and seed, as if to say, “Well, let me give this a shot!”

In the parable of the mustard seed we see a parable of extremes. How big it will grow is only revealed in the growing. There is no way to know this by looking at the seed, and what happens is so out of step with what is expected, so much bigger and stronger than one might think. We learn here that God’s kingdom will grow mighty and strong. It cannot be thwarted. Now, that’s a theme we can hold on to no matter what life brings.