Teaching by Parables. This section illustrates the method of teaching which the evangelist regards as characteristic of this period of the ministry. In it he combines some general observations about the use of parables, with what was originally a brief account of teaching delivered on one day. A comparison of Mark 4:1 and Mark 4:35 represents Jesus as entering a boat in which He stays all day and in which He crosses at night to the other side. Yet in Mark 4:10 He is supposed to effect an escape from the people, whom He is again addressing in Mark 4:26, as if no interruption had occurred. The original narrative must then have consisted of a group of parables. Into this have been inserted some general comments and an interpretation of the parable of the Sower. Mk. regards the parables as obscure enigmas designed to hide the truth from the common people (see especially Mark 4:10-12; Mark 4:34). But the original purpose can only have been to make the message of Jesus clearer. Each parable illustrates some aspect of the kingdom. Though doubtless Wellhausen is right in warning us against excluding allegory too rigidly, and against supposing that parables must all be interpreted in the same way, yet as a rule the point of comparison is to be sought in the whole situation or action described in the parable. The story of the Sower may have been originally intended to illustrate the differing receptions given to the appeal of Jesus, and its main purpose was probably to impress a sense of responsibility on His hearers (Mark 4:9). The general discussion of parabolic teaching (Mark 4:10-12) forme an awkward interruption of the address to the crowd, and is also difficult in itself. Can Jesus have made use of parables in order that men might not be converted and forgiven? Such a view conflicts with the nature of the parables themselves and with express statements in Mark 4:21 f. and Mark 4:33. Consequently it is suggested, e.g. by Loisy, that this is later reflection due to the fact that apostolic Christians no longer understood the parables, and concluded from this that they must have been still more obscure to the Jews, whose unbelief must be attributed to the counsel of God (see Romans 9 f. and especially Mark 11:8-10). But though the saying attributed to Jesus in Mark 4:11 f. cannot give the explanation of His use of parables, it may stiff rest on a genuine utterance misapplied by the evangelist, e.g. I speak to them in parables because their heart is fat (so Merx). In view of Matthew 11:20-27; Matthew 12:38 ff. we know that Jesus reflected on His failure to convert His people, and He may have felt that His mission to Israel was strangely similar to that of Isaiah (see Isaiah 6:9 ff.)
Mark 4:13-20. The interpretation of the Sower is introduced by a question which implies the astonishment of Jesus at the disciples-' failure to understand the parable. Mk. records a number of rebukes to the disciples for want of faith or of understanding, e.g. Mark 4:40, Mark 7:18; Mark 8:17. The gospel dwells on the obtuseness of the Twelve. Is this an attempt to give effect to a dogmatic assumption that Jesus called exceptionally wicked and foolish men to follow Him? (so Wrede), or is it partisanship anxious to depreciate the Twelve in order to elevate Paul? (so Loisy, p. 133). That some of the contexts of these passages are of doubtful historicity favours some such hypothesis; but the earliest tradition, if genuinely apostolic, would dwell on the failings of the first disciples. These passages are best understood as reflecting and sometimes extending what must have been a prominent feature of the apostles-' account of their fellowship with their Lord. He constantly surprised them. The interpretation that follows has been attributed to the later apostolic Church rather than to the Master, on the grounds that it allegorises and so misses the main point of the parable, and further that some phrases refer not to the historical circumstances of the work of Jesus but to general features of the later Christian mission. The first argument is inconclusive, and while the influence of later conditions may be traced in the vague and general character of the interpretation, it may still rest on genuine reflections of Jesus as to the causes which led men to reject His message. We know that fear of persecution and love of wealth were among the chief obstacles to discipleship which He recognised on other occasions.