REACTIONS TO HEARING THE WORD

This parable mentions four types of reactions to the Word of God being presented to a person's heart.

• He speaks of the heart because it is the sole part of a person with which the WORD can work.
• If your heart is not into this, then you will get nothing out of it and God cannot do anything for you.
• The whole point is the receptivity of God's Word by the heart.

And several varying events occurred that revolve around this parable, and actually ACT OUT this parable for us.

• They give us examples as to how these four different reactions to the Word occur in people's lives.

To ensure we recognize which events and people fit the four different descriptions of people's reactions to the Word, let us list those reactions.

1) The wayside category involves birds of the air who swoop down and steal the seed.

Mar 4:15 KJV  And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

2) Stony ground without much earth, springs up immediately because it had little earth, and scorched by the sun to wither away.

Mar 4:16-17 KJV  And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;  (17)  And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.

Be careful for souls who receive something immediately with gladness, for their lack of root and depth cause them to not count the cost and think things through.

• As fast as they accept it, they throw it away due to the same reason.
• People who have depth do not quickly accept something and do not quickly reject something.
• Their depth makes them strongly think and feel their way through everything.

3) thorny ground where thorns grew and though the new plant remained, no fruit was produced.

Mar 4:18-19 KJV  And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,  (19)  And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

4) And of course good ground that produced 30 times, 60 times and 100 times more crop than the single seed planted.

Mar 4:20 KJV  And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.


The first reaction seems to be found in Mark 3 where two groups of people reacted the worst when it came to Jesus' ministry.

Mar 3:19-21 KJV  And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.  (20)  And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  (21)  And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.


FRIENDS here in Greek refer to NEAR ones or those CLOSE BESIDE Jesus.

• For this reason many scholars say this is actually speaking of his kinfolk.
• The nearest to you are your family.
• They say that his friends were actually the disciples.
• And His disciples were the ones with him when his NEAR ones said he was beside Himself in proceeding to go into a house and eat, and forgetting about mealtime when the people continued to come to him for help.

They thought he was acting completely unnecessarily in dealing with people so much that He could not get time to eat a meal.

If a Christian fasts or neglects the things of the flesh for the sake of God, they are immediately considered fanatics or extremists, but let the same person satisfy the flesh and go without what the soul needs and what the spirit requires, and pursue greedy gain, then they are normal and sensible!

These people did not get one bit of the Word of God in their hearts from His ministry, for them to react like that.

• Whatever word was presented to their hearts, never rooted in their hearts to even GERMINATE at all, before the devil came and stole it out of their hearts and replaced it with some wicked thought of unbelief.

When you read of these FRIENDS as actually being his family members, then the following passage in verse 31 seems to make a lot more sense and come alive even more.

Mar 3:31-35 KJV  There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.  (32)  And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.  (33)  And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?  (34)  And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!  (35)  For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

If these kinfolk were the ones mentioned in verse 21, then you could see why Jesus would prefer to call his family members the people who sat about Him receiving His word and wanting to hear what he had to teach.


And another group pf people seem to fit this category too.

Mar 3:22 KJV  And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.

Mar 3:30 KJV  Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

For people to say that all Jesus did was of the devil was not only results of the word never getting germinated into their hearts, but they never even considered the issue logically in common sense, because Jesus said satan cannot cast out satan.

• The devil would be defeating his own cause if that were the case.

Closed minded people are simply people who do not let the word get into their hearts.

• When it comes into your heart and germinates, you care about it enough to fertilize it with your serious consideration and desire to know all about it.

The next sequence of events and reactions that reflect the second sort of soil that had stones and was shallow, causing the soul to easily be offended is as follows:

Mar 4:36-41 KJV  And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.  (37)  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.  (38)  And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?  (39)  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  (40)  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?  (41)  And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

The disciples obviously did not have wayside hearts that never allow the seed to germinate and allow it to be stolen by devils.
They had faith.

• But look what Jesus said to them.

 (40)  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 

No faith?

• They had faith to be sure, because Jesus told them the word was given to them to know it.

Mar 4:11 KJV  And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:

So what happened?

• Well, what did the parable say happened to a plant that germinated and actually grew?
• Due to it's shallowness, when something drastic occurred, IT WAS OFFENDED.
• The storm was like an attack of the devil, and succeeded inasmuch as the disciples were indeed offended and totally lost their faith.
• And when Jesus calmed the storm by the word, the same disciples feared greatly again, and seemingly were offended that a man could actually speak to the wind and see it obey him.
• Things that offend people are things that SHOCK them.
• Things that cause them to stop believing and trusting in God.
• Such things seem to have the devil behind them.
• These things shake up the person so much that they forget about faith and forget about God and forget about being a Christian in that situation.
• Their Christianity is put on hold and all the things they normally did as good Christians stops and are not done any more.

Church, when the word germinates and sinks its roots down deep into the soil, because there are no rocks there, then storms are not going to wither up the plant.

• The roots are present and that means the plant is held in place.
• Christianity is held in place in folks who have root and depth when something shocking and catastrophic occurs.
• They do not stop praying, worshiping and assembling together.
• Their roots are in too deeply for that.

The third type of people are thorny souls who care too much for the world and life and riches or worldly careers.

• I said TOO MUCH.
• We all know we need SOME concern for life and affairs in the world and an income.
• But when it is too much, it is more important than the things of God.

We read of the demoniac full of thousands of devils, who was delivered by Jesus.

Mar 5:2-5 KJV  And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,  (3)  Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:  (4)  Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.  (5)  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

Mar 5:12-17 KJV  And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.  (13)  And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.  (14)  And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.  (15)  And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.  (16)  And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.  (17)  And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.

These people saw what happened.

• It was explained to them all how Jesus cast the devils out.
• But they had a source of income.
• Swine.
• And if this was jewish land, then swine was raised for food and the Old Testament forbade Israel from eating pork.
• They could neither eat pork nor raise it for others to eat.
• So their destruction was justice from God!
• At any rate, these folks simply had more concern for their income than God and miracles.
• So they sent Jesus away in the face of an outright miracle that helped a person.

I know a woman with so little regard for  God's Word that without truly seeking help when she thought no one could live up to it, she cast it all away and concerned herself with a career in which she now makes more than $100,000   a year.

• She was thorny ground.

Mark 4 (19)  And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

It is basically when things are in the heart that are more important than the things of God and pleasing Him, that one is thorny ground.

• I think there are more of these people around churches than anyone else.
• The wayside come once and are gone.
• The shallow come in and as fast as they get excited for God, they are gone when something the flesh does not like occurs.
• But it is these thorny ones that may continue in church for years, but never really produce something that would cause God to reward them one day.

1Co 3:12-15 KJV  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;  (13)  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.  (14)  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.  (15)  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

GO FOR THE GOLD!

But the demoniac, himself, seems to be the GOOD GROUND.

• He may have had at least two thousand devils in him, possessing him, but he had a heart that was good enough to run to Jesus and want help.
• And when Jesus set him free and was urged by the people to leave the region, and the former demoniac came wanting to be with Jesus, the Lord told him to stay.

Mar 5:18-20 KJV  And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.  (19)  Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.  (20)  And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.

He caused people to MARVEL about Jesus.

• He produced something for God.

And another event occurred which shows another example of good ground.

Mar 5:25-34 KJV  And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,  (26)  And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,  (27)  When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.  (28)  For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.  (29)  And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.  (30)  And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?  (31)  And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?  (32)  And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.  (33)  But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.  (34)  And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

She was HEALED!

• Something occurred in her heart til she had so much faith and the seed of the Word was so rooted in her that she was healed of a twelve year affliction!
• Such people are good soil.
• They hear the word and it produces something great in them.
• I believe healing does not occur due to lack of something, and we need to learn what that lack is.
• But the bottom line is that this woman had good soil.

She caught Jesus' attention.

• While other people touched his arms and legs and robe, she touched JESUS' SPIRIT.
• He takes note out of all the crowds and homes in on those who truly reach out and touch Him!

And there is yet even more an example of a good heart.

Mar 5:35-43 KJV  While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?  (36)  As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.  (37)  And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.  (38)  And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.  (39)  And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.  (40)  And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.  (41)  And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.  (42)  And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.  (43)  And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.

RESURRECTION!

• She heard the Lord's Word while in a state of death!
• Jesus spoke to a dead girl as though she could hear him!
• He told HER to arise.
• He said unto her!

Nothing is greater than resurrection!

• Especially in salvation.

Rom 6:11 KJV  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom 6:13 KJV  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Col 2:12 KJV  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

IF I am not producing in my life some fruit for God, like causing others to marvel about Jesus, or seeing actual healings or even resurrections in salvation or even from physical death, which does still occur with some ministries, then I am one of the first three types of earth in Jesus' parable. 

• Probably not the first one where I simply reject the seed so it does not even germinate.
• But I am either too shallow and have some stones in there or I have thorns of cares and concerns for things other than God which take up space in my heart they should not be taking up.

1Co 7:30-31 KJV  And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;  (31)  And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.

If you are facing things that offend you, then change and allow those things to no longer offend you.

• Go through a hard time as though it is not there.
• Yes, deal with what you must deal with, but do what I mean is do not allow life's circumcstances to cause you to put God and your salvation on hold for a few days or weeks.

Psa 119:165 KJV  Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

If we get offended, our heart lacks the word of God.

• And the word of God lacks our heart.
• NOTHING will offend or shock or stun a soul to cause it to put their Christianity on hold.
• What powerful Christianity we have when we LOVE the Word.
• The HEART loves.
• And the soil is the heart and the seed is the word.

Not only shall nothing offend such people, but cares of the world are not in a soul's HEART to choke the word.

When it comes to riches, cares of the world and anything else, they should never get into our hearts where we LOVE them.

• Desire riches, there is nothing wrong with that.
• But do not LOVE them where they get into your heart.
• Keep them in your section that does not affect God's work in your heart.

We see the former demoniac producing fruit that caused many to marvel.

• We see the woman produce a fruit of healing in her twelve year issue of blood.
• And we see a 12 year old girl raised from the dead by the word of Jesus Christ.

Great, greater and greatest.

After all, Jesus did list three sorts of production from good soil:

Mar 4:20 KJV  And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

30 times more, 60 times more and one hundred times more!

Luk 8:18 KJV  Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.