Friday -Mark 4:1-20

The questions we ask when studying the Bible can sorted into three types:

1. Observation: What can we see happening in the passage? What is does the passage say?
2. Interpretation: What does it mean? What was the authors intended message?
3. Application: Hows does this apply to my life? What actions can I take?

After the today's passage you can find a few each type of question. Can you add a question or two to each type?

Mark 4:1-20The Message (MSG)

4 1-2 He went back to teaching by the sea. A crowd built up to such a great size that he had to get into an offshore boat, using the boat as a pulpit as the people pushed to the water’s edge. He taught by using stories, many stories.

3-8 “Listen. What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled among the weeds and nothing came of it. Some fell on good earth and came up with a flourish, producing a harvest exceeding his wildest dreams.

9 “Are you listening to this? Really listening?”

10-12 When they were off by themselves, those who were close to him, along with the Twelve, asked about the stories. He told them, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom—you know how it works. But to those who can’t see it yet, everything comes in stories, creating readiness, nudging them toward receptive insight. These are people—

Whose eyes are open but don’t see a thing,
Whose ears are open but don’t understand a word,
Who avoid making an about-face and getting forgiven.”

13 He continued, “Do you see how this story works? All my stories work this way.

14-15 “The farmer plants the Word. Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them.

16-17 “And some are like the seed that lands in the gravel. When they first hear the Word, they respond with great enthusiasm. But there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.

18-19 “The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it.

20 “But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams.”

Observation:
1) How many people heard the teaching story (parable)?
2) Who heard the explanation of the story?
3) How many places did the seeds fall?
4) How many successfully grew?

Interpretation:
1) Why did Jesus tell many a story but only explained it to a few?
2) Why did the same message have different results?
3) What reasons did some of the "soils" fail to produce a crop?
4) What was the point of Jesus' story?

Application:
1) Jesus talks about "really listening" how do you really listen?
2) What type of "soil" do you think you are?
3) Do you think people can change their "soil" type?
4) If said "no" why not? If you said "yes" then how?