Mark 4:15

And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. AND THESE ARE THEY BY THE WAY-SIDE, WHERE THE WORD IS SOWN; BUT, WHEN THEY HAVE HEARD, SATAN COMETH IMMEDIATELY, AND TAKETH AWAY THE WORD THAT WAS SOWN IN THEIR HEARTS - or, more fully, Matthew 13:19, "When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which wee sown in his heart." The great truth here taught is, that Hearts all unbroken and hard are no fit soil for saving truth. They apprehend it not (Matthew 13:19), as God's means of restoring them to Himself; it penetrates not, makes no impression, but lies loose...

1-20 This parable contained instruction so important, that all capable of hearing were bound to attend to it. There are many things we are concerned to know; and if we understand not the plain truths of the gospel, how shall we learn those more difficult! It will help us to value the privileges we enjoy as disciples of Christ, if we seriously consider the deplorable state of all who have not such privileges. In the great field of the church, the word of God is dispensed to all. Of the many that hear the word of the gospel, but few receive it, so as to bring forth fruit. Many are much affected with the word for the present, who yet receive no abiding benefit. The word does not leave abiding impressions upon the minds of men, because their hearts are not duly disposed to receive it. The devil is very busy about careless hearers, as the fowls of the air go about the seed that lies above gr...

Verse Mark 4:15. THESE _ARE THEY_] Probably our Lord here refers to the people to whom he had just now preached, and who, it is likely, did not profit by the word spoken. _WHERE THE WORD IS SOWN_] Instead of this clause, four copies of the _Itala_ read the place thus - _They who are sown by the way side,_ _are they_ WHO RECEIVE THE WORD NEGLIGENTLY. There are thousands of this stamp in the Christian world. Reader, art _thou_ one of them?...

See the notes at Matthew 13:18....

EXPOSITION MARK 4:1 AND AGAIN HE BEGAN TO TEACH BY THE SEASIDE. This return to the seaside is mentioned by St. Mark only. From this time our Lord's teaching began to be more public. The room and the little courtyard no longer sufficed for the multitudes that came to him. The Authorized Version says that "a great multitude was gathered unto him." The Greek adjective, according to the most approved reading, is πλεῖστος the superlative of πολὺς,_ _and should be rendered "a very great" multitude. They bad probably been waiting for him in the neighborhood of Capernaum. HE ENTERED INTO A BOAT—probably the boat mentioned at Mark 3:9—AND SAT IN THE SEA, _i.e. _in the boat afloat on the water, so

AND THESE ARE THEY BY THE WAY SIDE, WHERE THE WORD IS SOWN,.... Such hearers are represented by the way side, in which the seed fell; who, coming where the Gospel is preached, stop awhile and hear it, and so are only casual and accidental hearers of it: BUT WHEN THEY HAVE HEARD; and indeed whilst they are hearing, and before they are well got out of the place of hearing, SATAN COMETH IMMEDIATELY AND TAKETH AWAY THE WORD THAT WAS SOWN IN THEIR HEARTS. The devil, signified by the fowl, or fowls of the air, immediately takes notice of such hearers, and is very busy with them; filling their minds with other things suitable to their dispositions, and setting before them other objects, whereby their minds are, at once, taken off from what they have been hearing; so that all that they have observed, and laid up in their memories, is lost at once, and never thought of any more....

Mark 4:1. _And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land._ You can easily picture that scene, the Master sitting down in the vessel, with a little breathing space of water between himself and the crowd, and then the multitude on the rising bank, standing one above another, and all gazing upon the Teacher who sat down and taught them. It ought to reconcile any of you who have to stand in the crowd here when you remember that the hearers all stood in those days, and only the preacher sat down. Mark 4:2. _And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:_ He d

MARK 4:15 eivj auvtou,j {C} Instead of eivj auvtou,j (B W ¦1 ¦13 28 _al_), several witnesses (a C L D 892 _al_) smooth the expression by reading evn auvtoi/j, while other witnesses (D Q 33 and the Majority Text) assimilate the text to Matthew’s wording evn th|/ kardi,a| auvtou/ ( Matthew 13:19), and a few other witnesses (A itl eth) assimilate to Luke’s wording avpo. th/j kardi,aj auvtw/n ...

CHAPTER 4 _ 1. Teaching by the Seaside. The Parable of the Sower. (Mark 4:1. Matthew 13:1; Luke 8:4 .)_ 2. The Word to shine forth in testimony. (Mark 4:21 .Luke 8:16 .) 3. The Parable of the Growth of the Seed and the Harvest. (Mark 4:26 .) 4. The Parable of the Mustard Seed. (Mark 4:30 .Matthew 13

TEACHING BY PARABLES. This section illustrates the method of teaching which the evangelist regards as characteristic of this period of the ministry. In it he combines some general observations about the use of parables, with what was originally a brief account of teaching delivered on one day. A comparison of Mark 4:1 and Mark 4:35 represents Jesus as entering a boat in which He stays all day and in which He crosses at night to the other side. Yet in Mark 4:10 He is supposed to effect an escape from the people, whom He is again addressing in Mark 4:26, as if no interruption had occurred. The original narrative must then have consisted of a group of parables. Into this