Mark's Gospel Part 6 - Come Near And Listen

And the Lord Jesus Christ will continue to speak to you while I am preaching, insofar as I am faithful to the Word of God.

And here is Jesus' question for us all.

Will you listen?

Will you listen?

And the Lord Jesus tells us, he warns us that when the word of God goes out, there are always two types of listeners.

We see them in those final verses of chapter three.

There were those who were outside, and there were those who were gathered around Jesus, close to him, with him, listening at his feet.

Always those two groups, those who are near and wanting to come nearer, those outside in danger of moving further away.

We see these two groups too as we go through chapter four, the very first verse, chapter four, we see this huge crowd that gathers.

There's Jesus in the boat there on the shore.

Everyone in that crowd, they were in the presence of the words of Jesus.

But you come down to verse 10 and you find that now there are those who are around him with the twelve.

Not everyone has stuck with Jesus.

And Jesus says the same when he talks about the lamp.

Down in verse 21, it's not a lamp, it is the lamp.

He's talking about himself.

The light, the truth of Jesus has been held out, but verse 25, not everyone will hear.

The one who has, the one who has not, the one who has, that's someone who has, well, their heart, if you imagine this image, their heart has big and obedient ears.

Whereas a person whose heart has closed ears to the word of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the Lord Jesus' aim in this passage is that we would listen well, that we would be a fruitful listener to the word of God, and that we would understand what stops people from listening well.

And it's so important, isn't it?

We we want to be good listeners.

And also, as we, if we're Christian people, as we seek to share the good news of the Lord Jesus, we should be encouraged to, we're given here biblical expectations, if you like.

Even as Jesus himself taught the word, there were mixed responses.

It is very sobering.

As Jesus taught this parable about listening, there were those in the crowd that day who would listen well, and there were those who would not listen well.

There were those who would listen and bear fruit, and there were those who would be fruitless.

And it's actually the same ever since.

Every time the word of God is preached, it's not possible to respond neutrally to it.

It may sometimes feel like it.

It's actually not possible.

The word of God, it's in the hands of God, it's like a knife.

It cuts, uh, it is effective, it will result in some listening well and fruitfully, and others not.

And what makes the difference between those two groups?

Well, that is what the Lord Jesus unpacks in this passage.

So at the start of uh chapter four, there's this there's this vast crowd.

He's had to get into a floating pulpit, the crowd's listening on the shore.

Verse 2, we're told he he taught them in parables.

We'll come back to that in a minute.

And he begins in verse 3 with this word of command.

He says, Listen.

You must listen.

This is a voice that comes with the with the authority of heaven, listen.

And then he tells this familiar parable the four different soils onto which a farmer sows grain.

The path, the birds eat it quickly up.

The rocky uh ground, there's thin soil, the plant briefly uh shoots up, and then it withers under the sun.

There's the thorny ground, the plant grows, but then it is choked, and there is no fruit.

And then there is the good soil in which the seed grows and there is an abundant harvest.

And Jesus says, verse 9, he who has ears to hear, hear, hear.

And then, verse 10, do you see what happens next?

When Jesus was alone, except of course he wasn't alone, there were those who were around him with the twelve.

So there are a bunch of people who come near to Jesus, and we're going to see throughout this parable that which direction you go in when you hear the word of Jesus is well, it's determinative.

You hear the word of Jesus, do you move toward him?

Do you go away from him?

Well, a bunch of people, together with the twelve, they come near to Jesus and they ask him about the parables.

And the first word that Jesus gives to them, well, he speaks to them about the power of God.

He says, in effect, I give truth to people and I hide the truth from people.

So he's trying to explain to them these two groups of people, these two responses, how do you explain the difference between them?

And it's essential we know that that we might be good listeners.

And the first word he has for those disciples of his, he says, I give and I hide the truth.

Now, parables.

On the face of it, parables are the simplest form of teaching.

Uh, you take an everyday uh object or activity, it's like a farmer sowing seed, and you use it to make a teaching point which is easy to understand, but which is not what Jesus says.

Do you see?

That's not what Jesus says.

That's not why I teach like this.

Verses 10, verse 11, verse 12, it's actually really tempting to uh twist those verses or or just skip over them.

Because when you look at them, this is what Jesus says.

He says, I am speaking in this way to prevent those on the outside from understanding the truth and being forgiven.

Now you see the two groups of people here.

Uh both groups of people listen, they both hear the same parable, but only one group is told what it means.

That is, those people who come close to Jesus who want to listen, they want to humble themselves and receive from him.

See, they are the ones to whom the explanation is given.

And everyone else the Lord deliberately keeps in the dark.

Verse 12 They may indeed see but not perceive, hear, but not forget, not understand, lest they turn and be forgiven.

And Jesus is here quoting from Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

The Lord had been speaking, he had been warning, and just like with Jesus, the crowds they did not want to repent and believe, and so the Lord judged them.

He used his word as a tool of judgment to hide truth from them.

And this same pattern is repeated every time the word is preached, not just not just when a parable is taught.

Truth is shared with some, truth is concealed from another.

And we're reminded of this that when the gospel goes out, uh the Lord is not sitting helpless in heaven.

He's not like a passive onlooker.

He is the same sovereign Lord of heaven and earth.

He's in charge of everything, every molecule.

He conceals truth from some.

Now we're going to see in a moment how every person bears responsibility for their own listening.

Hence the command repeated: listen, listen.

But our response to God, it is not outside the realm of the power and might of our God.

There are puzzles in that, there is mystery in that.

Some of us I know find that acutely hard.

And if that's you, do uh come and have a conversation if you'd appreciate it.

But this is the reality.

The human heart, it is not the one place in the universe which is unreachable by the power of God.

He conceals truth from some, but also he gives truth to others.

That's what he says, isn't it, to the twelve and to those with them.

To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of heaven.

So if you're someone who it's your desire to sit at Jesus' feet and listen, and you love the word of the Lord, and you you try to line up your life behind Jesus.

Well, why?

How?

Well, this has been given to you.

Not because you're a you're a better person, you you merit it in any way, but it is simply the free and the wonderful gift of God.

So, what do we do with this as we consider the power of God?

Well, certainly it should make us pray, shouldn't it?

Lord, give me understanding.

And we're not just talking here about a kind of cerebral understanding, but an understanding that bears fruit.

Would you grant others understanding?

Maybe you're thinking of someone you're trying to share the gospel with.

When you come to church on a Sunday, do you pray for other church members?

Maybe as you uh sit in church right now, do you pray for those around you?

Lord, give the gift of true hearing.

It'd be a wonderful thing to pray.

So the Lord Jesus here.

The first thing he has to say to his disciples, uh, he holds out the power of God, but then he speaks of the choice of man, and here is our responsibility.

We must listen.

He says it repeatedly, doesn't he?

Verse 3, listen.

Verse 9, listen.

Verse 24, listen.

So the parable, there are four different soils, but actually there are only two responses, aren't there?

There is fruitless, so those on the outside, there is no deep hearing, and there is fruitful, those on the inside who have come close to Jesus.

His word is at work in them.

So let's consider the soils for a minute.

Uh, the pathway.

You could call this the hard heart.

So, children on your learning sheets, the hard heart.

Uh, this path is it's trodden down, uh, it is uh baked, it is dusty, the seed lands, a bird swoops, and it's gone.

In these opening chapters of the gospel, I guess it's a bit like the Pharisees.

They heard, but nothing sunk in.

You imagine throwing a tennis ball at someone's head and it just bounces off.

Maybe we know someone who is like this.

Maybe this was you once.

Maybe for some of us, this is how we are still.

Jesus, not for me.

Uh, don't want to hear.

Really not interested.

You know, hard, like a path, it's concrete like.

And Jesus warns too, uh, there is a devil involved, also.

Uh I don't want you to listen, says the devil, in effect.

You don't want to listen, I don't want you to listen, so I will snatch it away.

He does not want you to respond to the word of God.

Then there's the rocky soil, which you would say is a shallow heart.

The word is received with joy and it initially looks positive, but there is no depth, it's shallow, uh, no roots, hot sun comes, and a bit like a blowtorch.

Imagine taking a blowtorch to a pot plant, shrivels.

Maybe we've seen this.

It looks like the word of God has gone in, but persecution or suffering comes.

Maybe someone is mocked or rejected for saying that they follow Jesus.

Maybe it's a non-Christian spouse who gives their husband or wife a hard time for wanting to go to church, and they just wither.

Well, Jesus comes to his people with precious promises for when we suffer, especially for when we suffer with him.

But there's another voice, you know, the shallow-hearted person, they're hearing another voice that's even louder.

It's not worth it.

It's too hard to follow Jesus.

The cost is too great.

You know, this repenting and believing.

Then the third soil, uh, the seed that's sown among spiky thorns, you could call a strangled heart.

Uh, there seems to be growth, but growth slows, and then the plant shrivels.

And the thorns, what are the thorns that uh crash in and twist and strangle this plant?

Well, an illustration.

What about Judas?

Yeah, Judas, one of the twelve.

And then the gospel story says, well, he loved money.

And then we see that he stole from the money bag, and then we see that he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

So the strangled heart, it's a person who starts to love things too much.

Maybe it's fun, maybe it's games, it's riches, it's career, and the word is squeezed out.

Maybe it's loving another person too much, pursuing a relationship that's not yours to pursue, and the word gets squeezed out.

And over time, you just stop listening less.

You stop listening to the words.

It gets quieter and quieter.

You don't trust that Jesus will provide, we don't trust that Jesus will satisfy.

It's quite sobering, isn't it?

Before we come to the good soil, um, just just imagine.

You imagine that great crowd, uh, that the word is going out, the farmer sows uh indiscriminately.

By the way, the the the church Christian people, we do sow the word everywhere.

We're not ever to think to ourselves, you know, I won't share the gospel with Uncle Fred.

You know, there is no point.

He could never become a Christian.

We don't know what will happen.

You know, there is real mystery here.

The farmer sows indiscriminately, we sow indiscriminately, and in that great crowd, everyone hears externally.

That is, everyone hears with these things that are stuck on the sides of our heads.

But in some, there is only an external hearing.

That's as far as it goes.

And Jesus' parable tells us that sometimes those folk will look like they've started off in the Christian life, but in time it's revealed that they haven't.

There's not an inward hearing, because there's another set of ears that we've all got.

You know, our hearts have also got ears attached to them.

Our hearts have actually also got feet attached to them, and our hearts will either move towards Jesus and his word, or they will run away from him.

And Jesus is, well, he's realistic here.

It happened to him as he sowed, and it is also terrifying.

You can hear the word of life with your ears, that is, these ears, yet it does not take root and bring fruitfulness and life.

But that's not all.

Verse 20 there will be good soil.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.

And this is what the Lord wants each of us to be: this kind of soil type, you know, a soil that accepts and bears fruit.

So when you hear the word of God, your instinct is to accept it and move toward Jesus.

You know, you sort of say in your mind, yeah, this is the word of God to me.

Maybe I find it hard to believe, but Lord, help me, it is your word.

It's a word of life in its calling me to sacrifice something.

Maybe say no to something or embrace something that's hard, but with the Holy Spirit's help, that is the direction I want to go.

You know, the feet of your heart, they incline you towards Jesus.

This person, this Christian, we'll often spot in ourselves traits of the other soils.

But we'll bring those things to the Lord and seek to repent of them.

So maybe, you know, Lord, like that shallow soil, I recognize my fear of suffering or persecution.

Help me to stand for Jesus.

I find it hard.

Lord, I worry about the future, but with your help I will pray and learn to trust you because you care for me.

Things like money and pleasures, they are so distracting.

I've got these particular temptations, Lord.

I want to believe that Jesus is my best treasure.

Help me to starve myself of those wrong loves and those desires that pull me away from Him.

So, how's our listening?

How's our listening?

Now, some of us we do need to start by bringing our ears to the Bible more than we do, as in these ears.

Uh, we are often super distracted people, aren't we?

I find myself more and more distracted.

Uh often it's that cursed smartphone in the pocket.

It demands attention.

But when we listen, the Lord also wants us to bring our hearts, you know, and the ears of our hearts.

You know, He wants a listening and a receiving that is honest.

We come to the Word with my life, with my weaknesses, with my sins, and one that is active and that is responsive.

Maybe you can see in your life as you look back over the last five years, there is a particular fruit that God has been growing in you.

Well, give thanks for that.

Praise him.

He is in the business of growing fruit.

Is there a particular fruit you know that he wants to grow in you?

Maybe there's a particular area of godliness you need to make progress in.

But as we do this, as we as we listen actively and honestly, do expect fruitfulness.

There will be a harvest in God's people.

Just before we finish, uh, do remember what's at stake.

Uh these these two groups of people, uh, those near to Jesus, listening, those far from him, uh not bringing the ears of their heart to Christ.

Well, eternity actually depends on what we do, doesn't it?

How we listen, what direction we go in.

At this point in the gospel story, just think about those who are near and those who are far.

Those who were far away from Christ, well, they were the churchy types, they were the Pharisees, and also at this point, actually, Jesus' own family, though wonderfully they did not stay there.

Who was near?

Well, it was people like lepers, it was people like those saved from demonization.

It was the ragtag bunch of his disciples that included notorious sinners.

But those two groups they were defined ultimately by what they did with we by what we do with the word of God.

And so the Lord Jesus he says, listen.

Let me pray for his help to that end.

Let me pray.

Father, we ask that you would make your word a swift word and an effective one.

We pray that it would pass from our ears to our hearts and to our affections, and thence to what we say with our lips and what we do with our lives.

And we ask that for Jesus' name's sake.

Amen.

Amen.