2.12.22 - The Parable of the Sower (Kenny Camacho)

SCRIPTURE: Mark 4:3-20


“The Parable of the Sower makes us wrestle, but we are richer for that wrestling. We grow. Which, in the end, is exactly how the parable says things work: when we are planted in a place that is deep, when we reach down into the difficulty of things, we begin to flourish. Shallow understandings wither, or are snatched away. Emotionalism and sensationalism don’t endure. The Kingdom of God is a place where seeds scattered in dark places, even ones far from the path, can take root and be nourished.” 


REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. Have you ever experienced a change in the meaning of something? What was it? What meanings did it have? Do you know why the change happened?

  2. Why do you think Jesus spoke in parables? Do you ever find this frustrating? Why?

  3. Read the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:3-9): what is your initial sense of what the parable means? What might another interpretation of it be? 

  4. Now, read Jesus’s explanation of the parable to His disciples (Mark 4:13-20). What does this clarify? What new questions does it present? 

  5. The “first rule” of reading a parable is to have “ears to hear,” which Kenny defined as a willingness to shift our perspective from what the parable teaches us to what the parable reveals about God and His Kingdom. Try to apply this rule to the Parable of the Sower. What do you see? 

  6. The “second rule” of reading a parable is to “look for more, not less,” which Kenny defined as a willingness to see how a story changes over time and from different perspectives (he compared this to the changing view from a window). Try to apply this rule to the Parable of the Sower: what do you see? 

  7. This week, our challenge was introspective: when it comes to your faith, are you hoping to know a thing more or to know more things? What’s the difference? In reference to the Parable of the Sower, what kind of “soil” is your heart? Are you content with the answer?

Kenny Camacho