Thursday after Epiphany, 10 January

I. Reading: 1John 4:19-5:4: Anyone who loves God must also love his brother.

Gospel: Mark 4:14-22: This text is being fulfilled today.

The Parable of the Sower or Farmer:

How Men Receive the Word of God, Mk 6:1-20

There are two great lessons in this parable.

First, there is the lesson of sowing the seed, the lesson to the messenger of God. The messenger of God or the genuine believer is to sow the seed, the Word of God, wherever he/she is no matter the difficulty, the opposition, or the discouragement. When Jesus stood before people, He knew the kind of people who sat before Him.

Second, there is the great lesson on receiving the seed, the lesson to the hearers of the Word of God. The soils, that is, human hearts, varying among people. The condition of his/her heart determined how he/she will love God and his/her neighbour, whether he/she will be responsive or close minded.

The point is that God holds a person responsible for the condition of his heart and for how he responds to the gospel.

In this parable Jesus paints the picture of various soils (hearts) and how they receive the seed, the Word of God. (Mt 13:1-9; Lk 8:4-15)

1. Jesus began a new method of teaching-the parable (v.1-2)

2. The parable: a sower or farmer sows (v.3-9)

3. The response to the parable (v.10-12)

4. The meaning of the parable (13-20)

Thought: There are many who are outside…who are hard-hearted and close minds against spiritual things.

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