Reasoning Through the Bible
Taking a cue from Paul, Reasoning Through the Bible is an expository style walk through the Scriptures that tells you what the Bible says. Reviewing both Old and New Testament books, as well as topical subjects, the hosts methodically show how Scripture is one cohesive story. Critical Thinking with a little bit of theology and apologetics and you have what this podcast is about. Just like Paul on Mars Hill, Christianity today must address woke, deconstruction, and progressive Christianity, all topics that are addressed if we go purposefully through the Bible. Join Glenn and Steve weekly on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as they reason with you through the Bible.
Reasoning Through the Bible
S13 || Lessons in Faith and Trust || Mark 4:30-41 || Session 13 || Verse by Verse Bible Study
Tune in to Reasoning Through the Bible as we explore the fascinating parable of the mustard seed from Mark chapter 4. We promise a fresh perspective on how this tiny seed symbolizes a surprising characteristic of The Kingdom of God. Next, we shift our focus to the awe-inspiring narrative of Jesus calming the storm, an event that vividly illustrates His divine authority. Through this story, we draw parallels to our own lives, where storms often leave us feeling abandoned and overwhelmed. Yet, in the midst of despair, the disciples' decision to seek Jesus offers a powerful reminder of the peace and reassurance that comes from trusting in God's presence. Join us as we uncover the depths of faith, exploring how turning to God during life's tumultuous moments can transform fear into reverence and strength.
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Hello and welcome to Reasoning Through the Bible. We do verse-by-verse Bible studies through the Word of God. We trust that you have your copy of the Bible. If so, open to Mark, chapter 4. We're going to be starting in verse 30. This chapter of Mark. He has gone through some parables and we're still in some here, so let's go ahead and dive in. We now have the parable of the mustard seed. Steve, can you read those verses here in Mark chapter 4?
Speaker 2:And he said how shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger. With many such parables, he was speaking the word to them so far as they were able to hear it, and he did not speak to them without a parable, but he was explaining everything privately to his own disciples.
Speaker 1:This is the parable of the mustard seed, Steve. What's the main point of this parable?
Speaker 2:I think the main point here is that he's describing this kingdom and trying to have them understand. I think part of it is this messianic kingdom that's coming, but the mustard seed is small, but it's something that will grow into something big. But even though it's going to grow into something big, he says that it's so big that these birds of the air nest in it. Well, the birds traditionally have been something that talk about sin or something of evil influence. I think that he's kind of saying here that the kingdom is going to have some sort of an evil influence in it, even though it becomes kind of large.
Speaker 1:But of course he's using an agricultural application to a people that were familiar with agricultural things. So if you're a farmer or an orchardist, then birds are your enemy. Birds are the ones that come and eat your crops. So you're always trying to keep the birds out of your garden or out of your fields because they would destroy the crops.
Speaker 1:When he says here that the mustard seed is small but it grows into something very big, big enough that the birds are in it, it's very obviously the listeners would understand clearly that something small is going to grow to be big. He says it's the kingdom and it's going to have evil in it. It's going to have sin in it. It's going to have nonbelievers in it. It's going to have something to do with sin.
Speaker 1:When he says the kingdom is like this, this is a great mystery. He had a very similar one when he told about the woman who took the leaven and hid it in a lump of dough and the leaven would grow to fill the whole lump. Leaven was also a symbol of sin, just like the birds are. So he's saying the kingdom here is going to have some evil influence in it. Now, this is surprising and I think one of the reasons he's telling this parable is because, like then or like today, people back then would think, oh, when the kingdom's here, it must be perfect. Well, he's giving some very strange teachings in the sense that, no, the kingdom's going to have some evil in it, steve, how could that be?
Speaker 2:Well, that is a conundrum, that the thought is that when the Messiah comes and the kingdom is established, that it's going to be great and all the nations are going to come and worship in Jerusalem. That's what we're told from the Old Testament prophets in other areas. He's trying to relay to them and kind of set them straight on what the kingdom is, that it's not going to be perfect, like you said, that there's going to have some evilness in it. To prepare for them. He's telling this to his disciples, as was our previous session. He's been rejected officially by the leadership and now he's teaching in parables to the crowd in general, but to his disciples. He's letting them know what these parables mean and giving them the actual things that he's trying to teach. When he went through the Sermon on the Mount and he expanded on the law such as you say don't murder, but I say, if you harbor hatred for someone in your heart, you have already murdered.
Speaker 2:I think he's doing the same thing with the kingdom. He's trying to make them understand what the aspects of the kingdom are going to be, that it is going to have some evilness in it, number one. Number two is I think it's a reflection of these Pharisees that, even though they're in this Judaism, they're not teaching them and leading the people the right way. So there is even evilness that is in the Judaism. That's there. The kingdom is going to be the same way. I think he's just trying to prepare them and let them know of what's going to happen in the future with this kingdom. I think there's two applications here, at least two know of what's going to happen in the future with this kingdom.
Speaker 1:I think there's two applications here, at least two of these parables, and my mind first goes to what we just talked about, which was the kingdom. The church provides a place for the birds to come. So we don't really want evil in the church, we don't want sin in our lives, but nevertheless, that's what he's saying. But there's also just the opposite application as well. Look at what he's saying here. He says the birds of the air will come and nest in its shade. Well, if you think of a bird nesting in a tree, the tree provides protection for the bird and it provides a place for it to rest in the shade. Yes, there's the one side, the righteous side that we would say is there's this evil that's going to come into the church. But there's also another application here. The tree provides cover for the birds in the sense that the church is going to provide a positive influence for the world.
Speaker 1:What does the church do in the world? Positive influence for the world. What does the church do in the world? The church is a positive influence in the world in the sense that we are a message of morality, we are a message for how to keep families together, we are a message to lead people to God for a lost world. One of the applications is just that it's saying that the church, the kingdom, is going to provide a positive influence in a very evil world. I think that's one of the applications here, steve. Next, in our day, is this true? Do we have a church today that acts as a positive influence on the world and also a church that provides a place for sinful people to?
Speaker 2:come.
Speaker 2:It is Actually that's.
Speaker 2:One of the unique things about the local church is that it does invite sinful people, meaning people that are non-believers, to come in so that they can hear the good news and the truth of the Word of God and hear about salvation, how they can have eternal life by becoming a believer in Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:It's unique that way. So I think it's a cautionary tale that we're going to have some evil influence possibly in our local congregations, that as we invite those people in, then we need to understand that we might have some false teachers that come in that could be a negative influence on the local body of churches. Then, of course, within the body of Christ ourselves, while we have salvation and stuff, we still are connected to this world. We still have sin in our lives. So I think it's possibly a depiction of that type of situation, Again, cautionary. We should pay attention to it as to understanding it, and then be wary of it and then do something about it once we become aware of it and not let it get out of hand, not let the influence be too much.
Speaker 1:I remember one of the other parables that Jesus told. Remember? He told the parable of the man who sowed seed in his field and the enemy came and sowed weeds, sowed tares. The question in the parable was do we go and pull up the weeds? Do we pull out the tares? He says no, because if you pull out the tares then you might pull up the good plants with it, so let's just leave it until harvest. His application was okay. There's nonbelievers inside the church. Do we try to weed them all out? He said well, no, if you try to weed those out, you'll uproot some of the people that need to be in the church.
Speaker 1:I apply that here in the sense that one do we have some evil influence either in our lives and in the churches and we're constantly being told to try to be pure and stay away from sin. We should indeed try to force out all sin, realizing that we're fallible humans and we won't necessarily achieve that this side of glory, but in our local churches. I think we need to take this parable to heart, in the sense that I think our churches oftentimes have a problem in two directions. One is we try to say we don't want any of those people coming and attending our Sunday morning services because they're sinners. That's exactly what Jesus was speaking against. We should want those sinners in our churches on Sunday morning. Now. Church leadership we need to restrict to people that are in good standing with the Lord, but, nevertheless, people that are attending our churches. We should invite people that we are uncomfortable around, simply because they are the ones that need to hear the message. And likewise, I think oftentimes our churches are so focused on holiness that they're no influence in the world at all. They turn into a holy huddle that have no influence on the world.
Speaker 1:Likewise, what is he saying? The tree provides a good influence for the evil birds. The church should indeed be a good influence in the world. Too many churches say, oh, we don't want to be involved in social issues, we don't want to be involved in politics. My friend, if the church isn't out into the world being a positive influence for the world, then who will? Well, the birds will be left to run the show. The clowns will be running the circus. Which happens too much in our nations, in our countries, is that the Christians have stayed inside the churches and not gone out and been a positive influence for the world. When he says here that the church is going to grow up and be shade for the birds. The church is going to be the kingdom, is going to be a positive influence on the world, but there's going to be some evil mixed in.
Speaker 1:Now one side issue here, steve, that this parable has been criticized at points. There's a phrase here where it says the mustard seed is the smallest seed in the soil, or some of the translations say smallest seed on the earth. There's been some critics that have said well, there are seeds in the planet that are smaller than a mustard seed. Well, he's really not teaching a biology lesson or a botany lesson here. That wasn't the point. He was two answers to it. One is very possibly the smallest seed in their soil, the smallest seed that that audience was dealing with. The other answer is the word smaller, also in the Greek, means lesser, of lesser importance. So it's entirely possible that what he's saying to them is of all the seeds that you plant in your garden or in your fields, this is the least important one. It's the lesser of them, compared to growing food crops like wheat or vegetables, things like this. Then the mustard seed, that's a spice and it's of lesser importance. So that's really what he's saying. He's not giving a botany lesson here.
Speaker 2:The skeptics and critics that come to that point, that want to point something such as that out, that oh, there's smaller seeds than a mustard seed, and this was totally wrong. They're really grasping at straws to come up with something, because that is not the purpose of the parable. The purpose of the parable is that it grows and there's birds that are resting in it everything that we've been talking about. If that's the best that the skeptics and critics can come up with to try and disprove the scripture as being inspired, well, I have a little bit of pity on them.
Speaker 1:This concluded three parables that we just looked at in Mark, chapter 4. The first one was the parable of the sower. The sower goes out, it's really the parable of soils, but the sower sows in the different kinds of soils. Then there was the parable of the growing seed, where the man would sow seed and then he would go to bed and it would grow by itself. Then the one we just read, which was the parable of the mustard seed. He told all these right in a row, and these three parables were all about the kingdom. So if we ask the question, what do these parables, if we look at them as a whole, what are they telling us about the kingdom of God? Well, there's an aspect of the kingdom that is in place now, because all these were things that the audience could apply now against sowing seed into the soils. It's our job to spread the word of God, because the seeds are always the word of God, the positive things. The growing is up to God. That's another conclusion that when things grow, then the growth is up to God. We're just to try to spread as many seeds as we can In the right soil. It's going to grow without our trying to help it or without trying to force it. We just okay, it'd be great to look for a good soil, but we're going to keep sowing.
Speaker 1:It's also true here in these parables that some people will never be Christians. It is not the case that we will have a sinless, perfect world where every human is a follower of Jesus Christ. These three parables keep saying that over and over. Add these parables up. It is not the case that the world's going to end up being all purposely righteous, complete Christians with no sin in their lives anywhere in the world's going to end up being all purposely righteous, complete Christians with no sin in their lives anywhere in the world. That's just not what these are saying. In fact, they're saying exactly the opposite, and that there's non-believers that just hang around the church. I think that's kind of the main thrust of what he's saying in these three parables, wouldn't you think?
Speaker 2:Steve, I would. I would agree with you. As I mentioned before, he's trying to get across to them and expand to them what the kingdom actually is, in contrast to this Pharisaical Judaism that has come in and upset the main purpose of what God would gave in the Mosaic law itself. The kingdom is something different. The kingdom is the next step, so to speak, and I agree with everything that you just got through saying.
Speaker 1:Next we move on to the next event in Mark, which is starting in 435, where he calms the storm. Let's read that story. On that day, when evening came, he said to them let us go over to the other side, leaving the crowd. They took him along with them in the boat, just as he was, and other boats were with him, and there arose a fierce gale of wind and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him and said to him Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And he got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea Hush, be still. And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And he said to them why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith? They became very much afraid and said to one another who, then, is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? Steve, I ask you, who is this that the wind and the sea would obey him?
Speaker 2:It is Jesus, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Son of God, who is God himself, because only God has the ability to be able to calm the weather and the sea at the one mirror of a command of what he did. He didn't call on God to command the sea to be calm. He calmed it himself with his words.
Speaker 1:Now keep in mind that these were fishermen at least some of them were fishermen that were very accustomed to being on the sea and in the water. This must have been quite a severe storm. In verse 35, when we first started that, he says let's cross over. Jesus is leading them into this. In verse 37, the storm was so bad that the boat was filling up, so they were legitimately concerned of their lives. It's very, very severe, a serious, non-trivial storm. When we think of that, of course, the applications that come to mind are storms of life, and there's been many a sermon preached on Jesus calming the storms in your life. What else do we think of when we hear this story?
Speaker 2:I think of just that. They're trying to bail the boat out and it's filling up faster. Once they come to a realization that they're in danger of sinking because some of them were fishermen, then it becomes a reality to them that we could perish in this. There's something that's going on that we could perish and that something needs to be done.
Speaker 1:It seems to me here that all of us have been in a situation where we're in a storm of life. The boat's getting swamped, we're taking on water, it's very dark, we're out in the middle of the sea and the storm's so bad that I'm just sinking here and it seems like God's asleep. Have you ever been with that Notice? Jesus is asleep and these guys are perishing. You ever seem like I'm in a storm so bad and God must be just asleep.
Speaker 2:It does seem like that, but what do they do? They go directly to Jesus to wake him up, because they realize that he is somebody that can take care of the situation. It's what we should do when we get in these feelings of what you're talking about, where we think God is asleep and not paying attention to us. We should know to go directly to him because he is the one that can help us weather those particular storms that come about in our life.
Speaker 1:Notice what he said when that passage first started. He said let's cross over. He had already said, hey, we're going to cross, and they got out into the middle and he falls asleep in the huge storm. So they should have at least known by now that nothing is going to happen to them, that God doesn't want to happen to them, because they had seen all these miracles, they had seen Jesus act, they had seen healings. Now they're seeing that he is in control of the wind and the waves.
Speaker 1:It seems like we would want to go to God. Sometimes, like he says in verse 38, they go to Jesus and say don't you care about this problem? I'm having God, I'm getting swamped here, don't you care? It seems like Steve in our world, that what's called the problem of evil is always present simply because there is so much pain in the world. I think one of the reasons it's not a parable, it's a real instance where he does calm the storm is because we get into life storms and we get into these situations where there's so much pain. It seems like our prayers are just bouncing off the ceiling or just going up into an empty sky. We want to go to God and say God, don't you care? I've had this problem that's been here for so long. Don't you care? Don't? We all seem to find ourselves in a situation like that?
Speaker 2:As we went through one of our book studies, glenn, you had a phrase you said that God had a solution to the problem before the problem ever came up, and I've always remembered that from that study that we had. This is a depiction of that Before the problem even came up, jesus has a solution and he shows and demonstrates what that solution is going to be. So if we take that to heart, when we come up against these difficult times in our lives, we should know that God does care, jesus does care and that there is a solution to it. We go to him find out what that solution is, so that the solution can be implemented and that our storm that we're in can be calmed, and that that's what we should take to heart.
Speaker 2:It is a question sometimes that we might come up with God, don't you care as to what it is that I'm going through, but we do know that he does care. What's Jesus' question to him? Where's your faith and I think that's a question we have to have when is our faith that Jesus is going to be able to take care of the situation, just like he's asking them? Where is your faith that the situation is going to be, that you're not going to perish. I'm here with you. Why would you think that you're going to perish?
Speaker 1:If we ask the question from this story, from this account, what can we be sure of? What are they teaching us? Well, one of the things that we can be sure of is God's not asleep, he's very much awake. God will see us through to the other side. We may be in a storm, but he will see us through. He always has in the past, he will in the future. He will get us through this. God is more powerful than the storm. If you don't get anything else out of this, god is more powerful than whatever storm of life is battering you right now.
Speaker 1:Others have gone through storms as well. These men did. We're not the only ones to ever go through a storm. We're not alone. God is in the boat with us. He may seem like he's asleep, but he's not. He's very much in control. He already told us that we're going to go to the other side and he's in control. If we just rest in him, then, even though it seems like, well, we're taking on water here, nothing I could do I fought the storm long as I can God's in control. We can take comfort in that.
Speaker 1:Jesus is showing that he has control, even over creation. Remember he healed the lepers. It means he has control over the physical world and the sense of sickness and death. Now he is in control of nature, the wind and the waves. Again their question. They ask at the end who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? Well, the answer is he is the Lord, god Almighty, because only the Lord, god Almighty, can control the wind and the waves. There was no prophets in the Old Testament that had the ability to do that, like Elijah would pray and God would stop the rain, and Elijah would pray and the rain would start again. But it was God doing it here. Jesus commands the wind and the waves. This is yet one more of the proofs of the deity of Jesus Christ. Only God can command creation at will. Jesus has now shown authority over the spirit world and creation.
Speaker 1:Steve, here's still one more question. Jesus led these disciples into the storm. If we ask, did Jesus know the storm was coming? Yeah, he knew. He said let's cross over. He led them into the storm. Is it ever the case that, wow, this is a really bad storm and God brought me here intentionally? Would God ever lead us into a storm?
Speaker 2:intentionally. Yeah, he does know that it's a curious thing to think about. As the story progresses, we see that he's not concerned about it. He knows that he was going to take care of it. In the last two verses there, when he reprimands them, he says why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith? And then the very last verse in the chapter 41, it says they became very much afraid.
Speaker 2:Chapter 41, it says they became very much afraid. The two afraids there the first one is when he asked them why are you cowardly? What's going on? Where's your faith? And then the second one was that they became very much afraid meaning of respectful, and afraid from the standpoint of awe and reverence.
Speaker 2:Because they asked the question who is this that can calm the storms and the seas? So, as he led them into this storm, he's teaching them a lesson. He's teaching them to build their faith as we go through each of the storms of our life. Every time that Jesus shows up, that God shows up and shows us that he can calm the storm, he can bring us through those storms of our lives, that builds our faith to the point that we say, oh, what an awesome, great and glorious God that we serve that can take me through these storms and make me the ability to have calm and peace in my life. So I think the answer to your question, glenn, is he led them into the storm in order to ultimately build their faith in who he is Jesus Christ, son of God. God himself.
Speaker 1:I find it interesting in this passage that it says during the storm they were afraid, they were cowardly, they were intimidated by the storm. After he calmed it, it says they were very much afraid. It seems interesting that they were much more emotionally impacted by the calming of the storm than they were the storm. They saw Jesus' power and they were close to it. That's when they really got emotional, was when they were so close to the action of the Lord God. That's interesting to me simply because when we see God move, that's when we really understand. You used the word awe, steve. That's truly what I think is going on here is they were so awed by God's power that they felt very afraid of it. I think that's the sense that's going on here.
Speaker 1:Jesus will indeed sometimes lead us into a storm, but he has a purpose, he has a plan, he's in control. No matter how bad the storm, we can always take comfort that he is in the boat with us. And it may seem like he's asleep, but he has a purpose. He's teaching. And it may seem like he's asleep, but he has a purpose. He's teaching us something. Just like he taught these people something, he can teach us things as well in the storms today and I just find this to be so applicable, even after all these years.
Speaker 2:You know, Glenn, these two uses of the word afraid and these two verses are something that you might miss if you're just quickly reading through Scripture. But whenever you go verse by verse and read with a purpose and break it down like we do here, that's really when you get some really, really rich gold nuggets out of the Word of God and when you reason through it, like we will be doing next time as we continue into chapter 5, when we get to the demoniac and how Jesus deals with him.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for watching and listening, as always. May God bless you.
