At this point I would like to say, by way of reminder, that when we read the Bible, we should not understand it in a natural way. We should not understand any word in the Scriptures in a natural way. The problem among Christians is that, for the most part, they read the Bible according to their natural understanding. Our need is for spiritual understanding. This was the reason Paul says in Colossians 1:9 that he asked on behalf of the saints that they would be “filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” This was also the reason Paul prayed, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him” (Eph. 1:17). Paul knew that in this Epistle spiritual mysteries would be unveiled, and he knew that he had to use human language. He was concerned that the receivers of this Epistle might understand his writing merely in a natural way according to the letters in black and white. Therefore, Paul prayed that the Father would grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation. This prayer indicates strongly that we should not try to understand the Bible in letter merely according to our natural mentality.
No doubt, since the Bible is something written, we need a proper understanding of the words written. However, the interpretation of what is written should not be according to our natural understanding. Instead, the interpretation must be according to spiritual wisdom and revelation. In particular, we need a spiritual understanding of how the Lord Jesus preached the gospel.
Mark 1:14 tells us that Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God. According to verse 15, He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent and believe in the gospel!” The Lord’s word here is brief. There is no record in this chapter of a lengthy message given by Him. When He came to Galilee to preach the gospel, He did not say, “You all must realize that you are sinners. You became fallen in Adam. Now you need to repent and believe in Me as the One who has come to die for your sins. If you do not repent and believe, you will go to hell.” In Mark there is not such a message given by the Lord.
Only one chapter in the Gospel of Mark is devoted to the Lord’s preaching, and this is chapter four. Chapter four contains the only message of the Lord Jesus recorded in Mark. He did not give a message in chapters one through three; neither did He give a message in chapters five through sixteen. His one message recorded in Mark was not preached to sinners. Taking a boat as His Holy of Holies, He preached the gospel to His disciples.
What is the central thought of the Lord’s message in Mark 4? The central thought is that the Lord is the Sower sowing Himself into us as a seed. He opened His preaching in chapter four with these words: “Behold, the sower went out to sow.” Later, in 4:26, He said, “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed on the earth.” Here we have the Lord as the Sower sowing Himself as the seed into God’s chosen people.
Some may question why we say that the Lord Jesus came to sow Himself into people. They may wonder why we do not say that Jesus came to preach the gospel. The reason we emphasize the Lord’s sowing is that the proper understanding of preaching the gospel has been spoiled. Yes, the New Testament says that the Lord Jesus came to preach the gospel. However, He did not preach the gospel according to our understanding of the way the gospel is preached. On the contrary, in Mark 4 we see that the Lord preached the gospel by sowing Himself as a seed into people.
In Mark 1 we are told that the Lord Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of God. But how did He preach the gospel, and what is the gospel the Lord preached? We should not understand either the gospel itself or the preaching of the gospel in a natural way. Concerning this, many Christians are covered by a thick veil of tradition. They take for granted that they know what it means, according to the New Testament, to preach the gospel. As we have seen, chapter four of Mark reveals that to preach the gospel is to sow the seed. As we have pointed out in previous messages, the seed sown in Mark 4 is the seed of the kingdom.
If we want to have a proper understanding of the gospel and of the preaching of the gospel, we need to consider what is revealed in the Gospel of Mark. First, in 1:14 we see that the Lord preached the gospel of God. In verse 15 He spoke of the kingdom of God and the gospel. In Mark there is no further mention of the kingdom until chapter four. We have seen that 4:26 says, “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed on the earth.” Therefore, in chapter four of Mark we see what the kingdom of God is, and we also see what it means to preach the gospel. According to this chapter, to preach is to sow.