The Parable of the Sower (cp. Matthew 13:18) seems to be a very basic parable, but it contains a veritable wealth of information in describing how folks are affected by the Gospel. We are all affected in different ways. Some, unbelievers, although they show no sign of being affected at all, show a prejudice toward the Gospel due to preconceived ideas and doctrines of men. On the other hand, others show some signs the Gospel means something to them, but, although they say they claim to believe, they either don’t show signs of any change in their lives or the change amounts to very little, and they fall away, when the going gets tough. In any event, it seems clear that none of these folks are committed to the Gospel at all. In contrast, however, still others seem to have varying degrees of commitment, and their lives are changed accordingly, yielding different levels of fruit for the sake of Christ.
According to Mark 4:1, Jesus was at the seaside, meaning near the Sea of Galilee. The multitudes had gathered about him, and he entered a boat, so he could put some distance between himself and the crowd, while he spent time teaching them (Mark 4:2). Luke tells us that the multitude gathered out of every city (Luke 8:4), and Matthew says it was the same day (Matthew 13:1), but what does he mean: the same day. If I said, “we went camping the same month two years in a row,” it would be clear, at least to most folks, that, if I went camping in June the first year, I also went camping in June of the second year. This is what Matthew means in saying the same day. The Greek can mean the same 24 hour day or the same season, the same time, or age etc.
In earlier studies[1] I showed that the reason folks came out of every city was to worship the Lord during the annual holy days, and in the context of Mark 3:7-8 this had to do with celebrating the holy days of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar (27 AD). When these folks heard about the mighty things Jesus had done, they gathered around him. It wasn’t that they heard about the mighty things Jesus had done and came out of every city to see him, they came out of every city to celebrate the annual holy days, and, while celebrating those days in Capernaum, they heard of Jesus and gathered around him.
When John was put in prison, Jesus was in Judea, and he returned to Galilee to escape imprisonment, himself, evading the Pharisees by going through Samaria (John 4:1-4; cp. Mark 1:14-15). Nevertheless, Jesus’ public ministry began about one year prior to his returning to Galilee.[2] So, if Jesus began preaching the Gospel during the seventh calendar month of his first year of public ministry, and this incorporated the events of Mark, chapters 2 and 3, then, after John’s imprisonment, and while Jesus was in Judea, he returned to Galilee through Samaria, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God in or about the seventh calendar month of the following year. Thus, two things become apparent concerning the introduction of the Parable of the Sower. First, Matthew’s same day (Matthew 13:1) refers to the same time of year (but a year later). Secondly, the multitudes that came out of every city (Luke 8:4) refer to their coming to Capernaum one year after the events surrounding Mark 3:7-8 to celebrate the annual holy days during the seventh month in the Jewish calendar (i.e., in 28 AD). Everyone who celebrated the annual holy days mentioned in Leviticus 23 couldn’t do so in Jerusalem. Too many people celebrated those days to adequately accommodate everyone in the space in and around Jerusalem. Therefore, Capernaum was also designated as a Jewish city outside of Judea, whereby folks there and in surrounding areas outside of Galilee could choose to worship the Lord, instead of going to Jerusalem, where space was at a premium. So, the celebration of the festivals of the seventh calendar month provide the context of both the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and the start of his second year of ministry, and just after John’s imprisonment.
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[1] See my earlier studies: Is It Unlawful to Speak on the Sabbath? and The Clueless Multitude.
[2] See my earlier study: When Did the Ministry of Jesus Begin?
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