The Healing Touch of Jesus:
An Honest Look at Your Heart
Mark 4:1-34
Introduction
Listen! Did your parents ever tell you that? A teacher? Maybe you said it to your children. Did anyone ever tell you how to listen? I read an article about how to listen and it gave ten pointers. A few of them…
-Face the speaker and have eye contact.
-Don’t interrupt.
-Don’t start planning what to say next.
-Ask questions.
-Paraphrase and summarize.
Listening is an activity - you have to make the effort! Talk show host Larry King said, “I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.” — Larry King. So, now LISTEN!
Mark 4:1-3a
Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: “Listen!
Listen! That is the request of Jesus in our text, both in the beginning and the end. It would have been easy to be distracted in that setting. There were a lot of people around, so much so that Jesus got into a boat and began to teach from the edge of the lake!
The first word of this teaching: “Listen!”. I think if the Son of God tells us to listen, we should. It’s hard, as we will see. He wants us to listen because it is a vital lesson about following after King Jesus.
In this teaching section - the only one in Mark’s Gospel - Jesus offers up some parables - some stories to teach us something about following Him in his Kingdom. The first one is about a sower, the seed, and the soil.
Mark 4:3-9
“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
This is a parable about the condition of your heart. Jesus explains the parable in verses 14-20. There are four conditions of soils where the seed lands.
1. The Hard Heart
Mark 4:15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
Hughes: “The farmers’ fields in ancient Palestine were long, narrow, often serpentine strips divided by little paths which became beaten as hard as pavement by the feet, hooves, and wheels of those who used them.” The problem with these who do not really listen is that the enemy is taking away the word as soon as it is around them. They are capable of hearing, but don’t.
The word “hear” occurs 19 times in this chapter. There is someone helping us not to hear: the evil one who does not want us to hear or follow God’s word. Bookout: “…Some people will never respond positively to the word, even for a minute. They have ears, eyes, and hearts owned and protected by the wicked one.” Chappell: “Therefore he locks the door in the face of the knocking Christ and goes his godless way.” When we choose not to listen to God We Are:
-Hardening our hearts.
-Aiding the enemy who hates us.
-Keeping God from cultivating the Kingdom heart.
2. The Shallow Hearts
Mark 4:16-17 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Hughes “In Palestine much of the land is a thin two or three inch veneer of soil over a limestone bedrock.
…the sun beats down, the plant’s roots meet the bedrock, and it withers and died.”
Jesus identifies that trouble or persecution comes - making the decision to follow the King much more difficult. The Jews would try to avoid conflict with the Romans at all costs. The early Christians would face persecutions -would they continue to grow or fade away? Today we face resistance to the Christian message. We have to decide to stick with Jesus through the difficulty or not - and many will not. Someone has said that it’s not easy to be a Christian, but it is easy to start.
3. The Divided Heart
Mark 4:18-19 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Akin: They find “…more pleasure in cash than in Christ, more pleasure in their cravings than in their creator.” He called his a “Distracted heart”. Thorns that choke out the word, making unfruitful:
-Worries of life
-Deceitfulness of wealth
-Desires for other things
4. The Fruitful Heart
Mark 4:20 "Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
Hughes: “It is a heart that allows God’s Word to take deep root in it. It produces first a harvest of character:
‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self- control…” (Galatians 5:22,23). The fruitful Christian life we should all desire to have begins with our key word today: LISTEN to Jesus. Verse 23 “If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear”. Verse 24 “Consider carefully what you hear.
5. The Heart Where God is in Charge
Mark 4:26-29 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
Mark is the only one who shares the Parable of the Growing Seed.There is an acknowledgment of mystery here. Jesus explains the process but for it all to work a sower must sow the seed. Both of these parables require a sower. The seed - the Word of God - is at work and we are not in charge. We just need to listen! One person called this “The Silent Work of God.” When we listen and put into practice what we hear, we are giving God the space to accomplish His will in our lives.
6. The Heart of Kingdom Growth
Mark 4:30-32 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
- Don’t be discouraged with the little bit you may consider your Christian service - God can use it in big ways.
- This reminds us to put our confidence in the power of God!
Conclusion
1. Not every heart will be receptive. What about yours? Are you a productive, persevering believer? Are you a busy, preoccupied believer? Are you in the shallow soil of a superficial seeker? Are you the heart-hearted one who has no interest in spiritual things? The healing touch of Jesus will help us to be receptive if we will turn our hearts toward Him.
2. A real question is: In what condition do you want your heart to be? I could give you ten ways to get your heart in the right condition, but ultimately we end where we started: LISTEN to the Word of God!
3. Proverbs helps us see the way.
Love the Word of God
Proverbs 3:3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
Trust the Lord to Lead You
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
Guard your heart against the enemy
Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Stay on the right path
Proverbs 23:19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path:
Keep God in your Sights Always
Proverbs 28:14 Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.
4. These parables reminds me ….
-The crucial importance of keeping our hearts available to God
-The power of the seed - the Word of God - in our hearts / lives
-The most persistent sower is Jesus … His amazing mission to broadcast the gospel and receive all who hear … are we receiving His word today?
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Bible Class Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think Jesus taught in parables? What is a parable? Why would this be a good method of teaching we can use today?
2. What do you think are some of the barriers that people have up that keep their hearts from receiving the seed of the Word?
3. The idea of the seed growing quickly but then withering because of no roots is found in other passages such as Ephesians 3:17-18 and Colossians 2:6-7. What are ways we can grow deeper roots in our spiritual life? (Some ideas might be in those passages!)
4. The four soil (heart) types indicates that reception of the Gospel will not be as often as we would like. What thoughts does this spark about how we go about sharing the Gospel (methods)? How does this parable encourage us not to grow discouraged in sharing the Gospel?
5. How can we improve on our own “hearing” of the Kingdom message in our lives? How can I improve on my hearing from God? How do we keep our hearts open and tender to to the message of God?
6. What is the meaning of the Parable of the Mustard Seed? What does the mustard seed represent? What does the tree represent? What is the significance of the birds nesting in the tree?
7. We ended the lesson with several Proverbs that address the heart. Which one stood out to you?
8. When Jesus says, “If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.” (Mark 4:23) - what is your first step of obedience to this command?
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To receive sermon notes in your email inbox, subscribe here:
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To receive emails from John Dobbs on topics of faith, books, photography, and miscellany:
https://johndobbs.substack.com/l
To receive a daily picture, passage, prayer starting January 1, subscribe here:
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To watch videos of sermons from Forsythe Church of Christ:
https://www.youtube.com/c/ForsytheChurchofChrist
Our church website is http://facoc.org
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Resources
Akin, Daniel L. Christ-Centered Exposition Series: Exalting Jesus in Mark. Holman, 2014.
Bookout, Travis. Cruciform Christ: 52 Reflections on the Gospel of Mark. Cypress Publications, 2022.
Chappell, Clovis G. Sermons from the Parables, Abingdon Press, 1933.
Hughes, Kent. Preaching the Word Series: Mark, Volume One. Crossway, 1989.
Shackleford, Don. Harding University Lectures: The Lifestyle of Jesus According to the Gospel of Mark. Harding University, 1988.
Swindoll, Charles R. Swindoll’s Living Insights: Mark. Tyndale, 2016.
Wilson, Tim. 5 Lessons From the Parable of the Sower
https://chicory-tiger-ebfb.squarespace.com/blog/5-lessons-from-the-parable-of-the-sower
Ten Tips for Active Listening
https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/wellbeing/how-to-talk-about-health-problems/active-listening
