The Stories of Jesus

 A story grabs our attention. When that story has the power of God behind it, just imagine what it can do. As we continue reading through Mark, today we come across a chapter where Jesus turns into a storyteller. He shares a few short stories, stories with a great deal of meaning behind them. 

Jesus is no ordinary storyteller. When he tells a story, he is trying to make a major point about a person and their relationship with God. Jesus wants his hearers, and us as later readers, to know about God's attitude toward his creation and how he created them to live. We get a small flavor of that with the stories we encounter today.

As you read through the story of the sower today, it may seem a little different. After all, most of us aren't farmers. Even if we have some background with farming, the setting of the story is so different. Instead of sacks of seed to fling to the ground, we now pour bags of seed into plows designed to plant seeds with precision. There is no room for wasted seed, which would just be a waste of money.

That's what sets this sower apart, and likely part of what would cause the hearers to remember this story. This sower is like some young child having fun with a sack of seeds, tossing seed practically everywhere except for where it is supposed to go. There is seed in the road, seed in the weeds, and seed in the rocks. Oh, some did get to the field, but that's almost by chance, it seems. This sower would not be the one you would hire to plant your field, make no mistake about it.

And yet, Jesus is making a rather unusual comparison. The sower is the person who spreads God's Word. It's Jesus. It's God, letting people know about him. It's Jesus' disciples, telling others about him. That's where this story gets really strange. The intent isn't necessarily to be strategic in where that seed gets cast. It's that the seed goes everywhere. Sometimes that seed will end up in places where it is quickly taken away. Those who hear won't like it and will leave. Sometimes that seed will seem to take root, but will be short-lived. We are to nurture that new life as long as God gives us opportunity, but it is up to God to determine what happens with it. Some of that message of good news will be well-received, but will end up being choked out as people work through all the other matters of this world. Our hope is that we can help weed through it with them. Yet other seed lands and takes great root, and that's when we rejoice in God's growth and harvest.

That's the thing with Jesus' stories. He tells them with purpose, to explain God and His design. He tells us about ourselves, sometimes as God's children and other times as those who are wandering away. He encourages us to live out life as God's people. So may these stories draw you closer to Jesus, just as he wants.