Mark opens Jesus’ second year of ministry with Jesus speaking in parables to the multitudes that followed after him, and his first parable was The Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:3; cp. Matthew 13:18). All of Jesus parables were supposed to reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom of God in some manner, but they were understood only by those who were with Jesus. Yet, not even they understood, until he explained what they meant, and that was done when Jesus was alone with them and away from the crowds (Mark 4:10-11).
Notice that the seeds are sown by the sower in several types of ground, first, the wayside, which was the beaten path through the fields, next, upon rocky soil, then in soil containing thorns etc., and, finally upon good ground (Mark 4:4-8). Nevertheless, Jesus’ parable wasn’t the thing that was real. Instead, it is supposed to reveal a hidden reality, which, perhaps, might ordinarily be missed by folks who read the scriptures. Notice, that Mark tells us that the soil into which the sower sowed the seed reflects the condition of a man’s heart. Immediately, we are able to see two things. First, the Kingdom of God doesn’t come as folks ordinarily expected (cp. John 12:34). Instead, the Kingdom of God is within man (Luke 17:20-21). It was never intended to be a physical kingdom that one could point to or walk through. So, the soil into which the seed is sown is a man’s heart (Mark 4:15; cp. Luke 17:21). Secondly, since the Kingdom of God is actually within man, and particularly in his heart, the types of soil imply that within God’s Kingdom would be hearts that wouldn’t accept him, and some who said they believed but wouldn’t be faithful to him, and still others would believe only halfheartedly and would value the things of this world more than the Kingdom of God. Nevertheless, there would also be good hearts that would yield fruit to the Lord in varying degrees.
It appears that modern Christianity expects something different from the Kingdom of God. First of all, most Christians today believe Jesus will reign in a literal, physical Jerusalem on a literal, physical throne etc. Yet, none of this is compatible with the Parable of the Sower, which concludes that the mysteries of the Kingdom of God are found within a man’s heart. It is here where God reigns, and it is here where the Lord is rejected (cp. Matthew 12:34; Luke 6:45). Secondly, most modern Christians don’t believe evil could exist in God’s Kingdom. Rather, they believe when Jesus returns to set up his Kingdom, everything will be perfect for one thousand years (Revelation 20:1-6). After this, there will be a minor setback (Revelation 20:7-9), but in the end everything will be perfectly good (Revelation 20:10-15). However, the text doesn’t offer such a rosy picture. While there are the faithful inside New Jerusalem (Revelation 22:14), there are still folks on the outside of the city who are very evil (cp. Revelation 22:15). Yet, the Lord rules over all (Revelation 22:11, 17-19). In other words, everyone is in the Kingdom of God, but only those who believe are in the New Jerusalem. Does the king of one nation have right to govern the citizens of another kingdom? If unbelievers weren’t in the Kingdom of God, what right would the Lord have to judge them?
The Kingdom of God is within man and only those who have ears to hear are able to understand what Jesus says (Mark 4:9). Therefore, those who don’t have ears to hear are they who are unable to bear any fruit to the Lord (cp. Mark 4:4-7). This would include the demonic folks with psychic or clairvoyant powers to recognize him. While they were able to do so through the plainness of Jesus’ teaching during the first year of his public ministry (Mark 1:22-23, 34; 3:11-12), they could no longer recognize him through his subsequent teaching in parables. From this point onward, if the demonic folks recognized Jesus at all, it was his person they recognized, but recognition did not and could not come through his teaching, which triggered the recognition of the first demonic in Jesus’ path (Mark 1:23).
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