Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-9)
Again, he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:
“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
In this parable as in many others, I wanted to awaken people to faith. Speaking of fruitfulness, with simple and practical examples, encouraged people to come to believe, to realize that what is possible in one domain - like seeds growing and bringing many fruits - was possible in others. The power of life in plants is amazing, and people needed to be renewed in their trust in the Father, in the living faith in the Father. For this, they needed to listen to me, to listen to God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through my words. My words were like seeds that I was planting in the hearts open to God, in people who wanted to hear God speak to them. Living faith is not only about what God said in the past, it is also and foremost about hearing God speak today so that people can learn to follow God and love Him every day of their lives.
What is the purpose of parables? (Mark 4:10-12)
And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.”
These words were first given to Isaiah, and they are important. The Father has always been speaking to men, not only to few like Abraham. The problem is rather that people have not been listening to the Father, have not believed in the Father. The purpose of these words was not to close the gates of heaven, but to make people aware that when they don’t see God, when they don’t hear him speak to them, it is because they have closed themselves to us; this is not because we don’t speak. I repeated these words because in them you learn that the kingdom of God is revealed to those who are willing to listen and follow, to those who desire to see and do God’s will.
With the Father, we want to bring everyone to repentance and to a living communion with us. This is our desire. Now, we are clearly aware that many hearts, even religious people, are closed to us. They are willing to read a text and to decide for themselves how to apply it in their lives - or how to tell others what they should do. Yet, they are not ready for us to speak to them, to believe that the Father is a living God, a burning fire, a present fire. Learn to encounter God in your present, to expect God to speak to you and to show you His way. That is what I experienced during my life on earth, during all my years of ministry. The Father spoke to me and showed me what to do every day, his word for me never grew old, it was always fresh, it was my daily bread. Love needs to be fed regularly, like a fire regularly needs wood to keep burning.
Let your desire to hear God speak grow in you. Expect God to speak to you, ask Him and He will surprise you. He desires much more than you to speak with you, to show you His love. I have the desire to speak with each and every of my disciples, every day of their lives. Paul understood this very well, when he encouraged people to pray without ceasing, to speak and listen to us continually. This is part of the fire of love that we want to kindle and see burning in every life. Hope, expect, believe in us, believe in our love and our desire to communicate with you. This is of key importance. Everyone who has ears to hear, let them hear.
The Father and I, we are not deaf, or dumb, or blind, or mute. We see, we hear and we speak. Through living faith you will learn, by our grace, to hear me and you will be led by me every day of your life. Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. Ask the Holy Spirit to come in you and to open your ears and eyes to our love.
I am your good shepherd. My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me.
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