SEED SOWN ON GOOD SOIL
Mark 4:1-20
Key Verse: 4:20
1. How was the lake a good place for Jesus to meet and teach the crowds (1)? In what way did Jesus teach the word of God to the people (2)? What is a parable?
2. In Jesus’ parable, who is the main character, what soils are described and how are they different from each other (3-8)? How might the ending be surprising to listeners at that time? How did Jesus challenge his listeners (3a,9)?
3. Who asked Jesus about the parables, and why (10)? What is the secret of the kingdom and who is privileged to receive it (11a)? Why did Jesus teach in parables “to those on the outside” (11b-12)?
4. Why was understanding this parable so important for the disciples (13)? Who does the farmer represent and how is the word like a seed (14)? What happens to the word that is sown on a path-like heart and why (15)?
5. What happens to the word that falls on a rocky heart and why (16)? To what is the hot sun compared (17)? What happens to the word sown in a thorny heart and why (18-19)? How can unfruitful hearts become fruitful (Ps 51:10; Hos 10:12)?
6. Read verse 20. What happens to the seed planted in a good heart? What does it mean to "hear" and "accept" the word? What does the crop represent?