Mark 4:10

‘And when he was alone those who were about him with the twelve asked him what the parables meant.'

Notice that this was not just the twelve, it was a wider number of His followers ‘who were about Him' (compare Mark 3:34). They recognised that there was a lesson to be learned and came to Him seeking more truth. They were not satisfied just with a story.

‘When He was alone.' That is, when the crowds had dispersed and He was no longer in demand. This explanation need not necessarily have been given immediately. Indeed this comment suggests that it may well not have been, for Mark 4:35 suggests connection back to Mark 4:1 indicating a day of preaching, and some of these enquirers would not have been in the boat with Him. It awaited a suitable time and place. Mark puts it here so that the application immediately follows the giving of the parable and brings out Jesus' purpose in the use of parables.

‘What the parables meant.' Notice the plural for ‘parables'. This may indicate that Jesus had taught a number of parables at this juncture, to which they required explanation. However it may be that it rather indicates that they had recognised the fact that His story of the sower contained a number of ‘parables', i.e. riddles to be explained. We may translate, ‘what the illustrations meant'. (Compare Mark 3:23. The meaning of the word ‘parable' is more fixed for us than it was for them). We need not assume that they were completely in the dark about its meaning, but rather that they wanted to make sure that they had the message right.