What Kind of Dirt Are You? / Mark 4:1-41

Building a Real Community

We are cruising right along through our series, touching on key themes chapter by chapter. Last week, Shay left off by reminding us that Jesus is building a brand-new community. It is a community not based on the usual things the world builds upon, but based on following the Servant, following Jesus, and trusting Him and His word in our lives.

Now in Mark chapter 4, Jesus wants to make sure we truly understand what following and trusting Him is really about. He essentially says, “Don’t fool yourself.” Some of us might be fooling ourselves, thinking we are further along than we actually are. My mom always used to say, “Ignorance is bliss.” And it’s totally true! If I hadn’t read certain scriptures, I wouldn’t know how messed up things were in my life.

This chapter was one of those places for me. When I was a kid, I knew these parables. I knew the stories Jesus told, but I never really got it until the transition between my high school and freshman year in college. It broke me down, but it also became the very thing that brought me back together and built me up.

Mark 4:1 (NASB)

He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.

Picture this scene: Jesus has so many people surrounding Him—not just hundreds, but thousands. In order to address the crowd, He literally has to get into a boat and push off from the shore just to broadcast His voice so everyone can hear.

Now, does having thousands of people around Jesus mean that His true followers increased by thousands? Not necessarily. Jesus is about to weed out the people who are just hanging around for the show from those who are genuinely interested in following Him. Some people just wanted to see what they could get out of Jesus.

Teaching in Parables: Physical Pictures of Spiritual Truths

How does Jesus weed them out? He does it through His teaching method.

Mark 4:2 (NASB)

And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,

There are different ways to define a parable, but I simply look at it by putting the letters “c-o-m” in front of it: comparison. A parable compares something in the physical world with something in the spiritual world.

He tells them a story about a sower scattering seed.

Mark 4:8-9 (NASB)

‘Other [seeds] fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.’ And He was saying, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’

Jesus uses a phrase here that means, “Listen up! If you have ears to hear, hear this!”

Imagine those thousands of people in the crowd. They have heard about Jesus. They know He does incredible miracles, but they have also heard that He teaches with profound authority unlike anyone else. So they are ready. They pull out their notepads, ready to write down deep theological insights. Then Jesus starts speaking, and people start looking at each other thinking, “Am I missing something? Is He seriously just talking about farming?”

And it’s not even advanced agricultural science; it’s elementary Farming 101. Rocks are bad. Weeds are bad. Good soil produces a crop.

You can imagine people walking away thinking, “Man, He was really off today. He didn’t prepare. He was just winging it.” And crowd members gradually disperse. But the disciples and those close to Him stop and say, “Wait a minute. We must be missing something. Jesus doesn’t just say simple things that mean nothing. There’s got to be more.”

So they stick around and ask questions. It’s like being in a college class. In some classes, you just show up for the credit, do the bare minimum, and leave. But in a class you actually care about, you stay after the bell rings. You go up to the professor and ask questions because you truly want to learn. That is what the disciples did.

Why Parables? Hearing vs. Truly Listening

Mark 4:11-12 (NASB)

And He was saying to them, ‘To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.’

Jesus tells them, “The reason I speak in parables is that those who don’t really care about what I have to say will just hear a simple farming story and leave. But you stuck around because you understand that there is life-changing truth here.” If the others had truly cared, they would have stayed and asked.

Some of us do the same thing. Halfway through a sermon, we look at our phones thinking, “Is this done yet? Should we get In-N-Out or Chipotle after this?” You leave, and within two hours, you don’t even remember what was taught because you aren’t turning it over in your mind. It doesn’t matter to you because you don’t actually want your life to be changed.

Maybe you leave saying, “That was a great talk,” or “That made me chuckle,” or even, “Wow, that sermon was a real kick in the face!” But after a couple of hours, the numbness wears off. After a couple of days, the swelling goes down. A week later, you look completely unchanged. That is a cycle many people stay on for years: constant kicks in the face, but zero real transformation.

The Four Soils: Unpacking the Word

Mark 4:13 (NASB)

And He said to them, ’Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?

Jesus says, “If you don’t understand this foundational parable, how will you understand anything else?” It’s not merely about hearing the words; it’s about how you respond to what you hear.

Mark 4:14-15 (NASB)

’The sower sows the word. ’These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

The first soil is the hard path. When the word is sown, it bounces right off. It doesn’t even go in one ear and out the other—it bounces off immediately, and Satan takes it away. These are people like the Pharisees. They hear the words of Jesus, but they have zero intention of letting Him change their lives.

Mark 4:16-17 (NASB)

’In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky [places], who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no [firm] root in themselves, but are [only] temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.

The second type is the rocky soil. The seed goes in, and they receive it immediately with joy. They hear about love and peace and say, “I’m in!” But they jump in before understanding what discipleship costs. They think Jesus is just going to make their current life better and easier. But they have no root. The moment affliction or persecution arises because of the word, they fall away.

Mark 4:18-19 (NASB)

’And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Then there is the seed sown among thorns—the weedy soil. These are people who hear the word, but the worries of life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things choke out the word, leaving it unfruitful.

This is the person who wants to add Jesus to their life rather than hand Jesus their life. There is a massive difference between adding Jesus and surrendering your life to Him. Weedy soil says, “Jesus can handle my worry about going to hell, but I’m going to keep pursuing my career, my comforts, and my pleasures.” Every time there is a competition between Jesus and the things of this world, the weeds choke out the word.

Mark 4:20 (NASB)

‘And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.’

Finally, there is the good soil. In the Greek, the verb for “hear” here is in a tense that denotes continuous action. Good soil represents someone who continually hears the word and accepts it. It’s an ongoing posture of receiving God’s direction, maturing, and bearing fruit—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. Fruit is simply a life that reflects and displays the word of Jesus.

Florist vs. Farmer: The Illusion of “Better Than Nothing”

When I first studied this passage, I evaluated the soils in a hierarchy: Hard soil is the absolute worst. Rocky soil is a step up because at least it receives the word for a while. Weedy soil is even better because it doesn’t abandon Jesus completely; it just adds Him to the mix. That’s where I placed myself: “Well, I’m weedy soil, but at least that’s better than nothing!”

Then the Holy Spirit hit me with a reality check: “PJ, why are you looking at this like a florist? This isn’t meant to be viewed from the perspective of a florist; it’s meant to be viewed from the perspective of a farmer.”

A florist cares about leaves, stems, and how pretty the plant looks. A farmer only cares about one thing: fruit.

We live in an agricultural area. Imagine a farmer owning a thousand acres of vineyards. At harvest time, there isn’t a single grape on the vines. Do you think that farmer walks through the fields and says, “Well, there are no grapes, but man, those leaves look green and healthy!” Absolutely not!

How much fruit does hard soil produce? Zero. How much fruit does rocky soil produce? Zero. How much fruit does weedy soil produce? Zero.

From a farmer’s perspective, there aren’t four categories of people. There are only two: fruitful and unfruitful. Good and bad. There are three varieties of unfruitful soil, but they all yield the exact same result: nothing.

That realization crushed me because I could no longer hide behind the excuse that I was “better than nothing.” It is all or nothing. Partway in is not in at all.

At the same time, we need to understand what good soil really is. Good soil does not mean perfect soil. Good soil simply means you are continually hearing, continually accepting, and progressively bearing fruit. You start at thirtyfold, mature to sixtyfold, and grow to a hundredfold. It is an ongoing journey of obedience.

Pop Quiz on the Sea: Testing Faith in the Storm

What does Jesus do with those of us who struggle with being unfruitful? Look at how He dealt with His disciples.

Mark 4:34-35 (NASB)

and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples. On that day, when evening came, He said to them, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’

Jesus spent the entire day lecturing and explaining parables to them. Then evening comes, and He says, “Let’s go over to the other side.”

This was the pop quiz. Jesus gave them a word: “We are going to the other side.”

Mark 4:37-38 (NASB)

And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’

A violent squall comes up. The waves break over the boat, threatening to sink it. And where is Jesus? He is fast asleep on a cushion in the stern. The disciples wake Him in a panic, crying out, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing?”

Mark 4:39-40 (NASB)

And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Hush, be still.’ And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?’

Jesus rebukes the wind and the sea, and everything becomes completely calm. Then He turns to His disciples and asks, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Many people read this account and think it’s solely about Jesus displaying His supernatural power. But in context, it reveals the disciples’ lack of faith. Jesus didn’t ask, “Did you see how powerful I am?” He asked, “Why didn’t you trust My word? I told you we were going to the other side.”

He didn’t promise an easy journey. He didn’t promise the boat wouldn’t take on water. He simply gave His word that they were crossing over.

Walking with Jesus: From Lecture to Lab

You might expect chapter 5 to open with Jesus firing all twelve disciples and hiring a new crew. But He doesn’t dump them. Even when they acted like rocky soil in the storm, Jesus remained faithful to them.

And remarkably, the disciples didn’t walk away from Jesus either. They stayed in the boat. Jesus took them from the lecture of Mark 4, through the pop quiz on the sea, straight into the practical lab of ministry in Mark 5.

If you are good soil today, remember that you haven’t arrived. Keep hearing. Keep accepting. Keep letting God produce thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold fruit in your life.

If you realize today that you have been living as hard, rocky, or weedy soil, stop making excuses. Humble yourself before the Lord. Acknowledge that being halfway in is the same as producing nothing. But take heart: Jesus does not abandon you. He invites you to fully surrender your life to Him and walk with Him in genuine faith.

Let’s pray.