The Parable of the Sower

4 And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to
Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude
was on the land facing the sea. 2 Then He taught them many things by parables,
and said to them in His teaching:
3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that
some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds [a]of the air came and devoured it. 5
This verse is a great way to
Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it
show that Jesus does not force sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up it was
people to follow his word
rather provides them the free scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 And some seed fell
choice to follow themselves. among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no [b]crop. 8
This relates to our faith as
Christians as we choose to But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased
believe in what we hear rather
than what we see. Similarly we and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
can apply this verse to school 9 And He said [c]to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
and choose to listen to the
teachers and parents around
us and let us use the talents
God gave us.
The Purpose of Parables
10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the
parable. 11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the [d]mystery
of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,
12 so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and
not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”

The Parable of the Sower Explained

13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you Here Jesus tells us that
understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the temptation is easy and can
be present in anyone. Jesus
ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes talks and says some people
immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These hear his word but then
Jesus talks about how those Satan fills their heart and
who accept his word bear likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, takes the word away. Satans
fruit. When he says bear temptation can come in
fruit he talks about Gods immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and anyway of any sort.
word in people and how
they let it grow and nurture so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the
inside them. A question word’s sake, immediately they stumble. 18 Now these are the ones sown among
that arises is how do we
produce more fruit so that thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the
we can produce fruit of
thirtyfold, sixty and some a
deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word,
hundred and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those
who hear the word, [e]accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and
some a hundred.”
Jesus says whoever knows
the knowledge of the
Jesus here tells in a Light Under a Basket kingdom of heaven will be
metaphor, if the word of
21 Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a given more but whoever
God is to be hidden from
doesn’t know about the
others or to be spread
among others. This shows
bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden which will kingdom of heaven stuff will
be taken from them. This
what it is to be Christian as not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to works to show importance
Christians spread the love
and peace of God. We can light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” of our faith and without our
faith we suffer but with faith
spread the love of God and 24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you we succeed, showing that
Jesus to strangers, friends
God is necessary and
and even family through use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. 25 For needed in our lives.
prayers and acts of
kindness. Also when whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he
someone commits a sin we has will be taken away from him.”
can tell then about Jesus’
and God’s love for us and
that we should try to not
commit sins The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should [f]scatter seed on the
ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout
and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself:
Jesus here talks about our
first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the faith and although our faith
grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” may be small it can still
grow into something
plentiful, big and great and
can also preach and provide
The Parable of the Mustard Seed for others. This is
30 Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what comforting as it reminds us
that we all begin with small
parable shall we picture it? 31 It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on beginings in faith but with
God’ guidance, we grow
the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; 32 but when it is sown, it grows spiritually. God offers this
up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the oppurtunity to grow for
everyone because he is a
birds of the air may nest under its shade.” loving father.

COS TASK Page 1 of 1

1. In Mark 4:10–12, Jesus explains that the parables reveal deeper truths
to those who seek understanding. How does this passage reflect the
importance of prayer as a way of drawing closer to God and uncovering
His wisdom? How might this shape the way you pray during your
school day? (4 marks)

-​ God talked with parables to make it easier for people to know the meaning of his
teaching and what he wants to tell them. People who care about God’s words will seek
the meaning of them. God chose parables that where from peoples everyday life to
make it east for people to understand and to observe and search the deeper meaning of
them, but only people who care about God’s word would do this, but if people do not
care about God’s word they will not understand the meaning of his parables and will be
like those that have eyes but not perceive and those that have ears that can hear but do
not understand. Prayer is any form of communication from a person to God. When the
disciples asked Jesus about the meaning of the parables they were praying. Jesus
explains that prayer (wisdom) makes us closer to God, just like people where the more
time you spend with a person, the closer you will become with that person and the more
you’ll know them. This is just like God and the more we understand and know God, the
more we will understand his plans for us and what he wants us to do or not to do.
Accordingly to God, our plans and decisions will change to suit God’s plans and
intentions for us. It is like having close friend, after a while we unintentionally might
imitate their actions such as the way they talk or the way they think when tackling
decisions. So through prayer we can get closer to God and eventually imitate the
footsteps of Jesus. God said to us “Whatever you ask the father in my name he will give
you” (John 16:23). So during school daily prayer in each class, if we ask God for
understanding like the disciples did in (Mark 4:10) he surely will give us the
understanding. If we had a hard day at school or we didn't get the marks we were hoping
to achieve in a exam, by praying to God we will understand the reason this happened. It
could be because of a sin of self pride such as “I am so good at this subject” or “Its to
easy i don’t need to study”, this is like Job the righteous in the old testament where he
lost everything because he had self pride and self righteousness or maybe i didn’t do
my best as God taught us.

2. In the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:3–20), the seed that falls on good
ground represents those who “hear the word, accept it, and bear
fruit.” How can prayer help your heart become like the “good soil”?
What might be stopping this from happening in your own life as a student at St Mark’s?
(4 marks)

-​ Good soil means people who hear the word of God at church, at the shops, at sunday
school or from the bible accept it by applying it into their daily lives and bear fruit some
thirtyfold, some sixty and some a hundred. The fruit of the Holy Spirit are attributes of
people living in accord with the Holy Spirit. In (Galatians 5:22), the fruit of the spirit is
love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self
 control. Prayer is important to prepare the heart to receive God’s word. The bible says
“Unless the Lord builds the house they labour in vain who builds it” (Psalm 127:1), so if
God himself doesn’t help us and prepare us to receive his words all our efforts to hear
Gods word and fulfill it has been wasted. On the other hand God is able to touch peoples
heart no matter how tough they are in miraculous ways but people have to ask like Jesus
told us, “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be
opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). A school or social barrier that can keep us from spiritually
growing is mixing with the wrong people. Overtime when mixing with the wrong people
we change our habits to suit theirs. Instead we want to mix with the right people who will
bring us closer to God that will allow us to accept the word of God. As a student to
overcome this barrier you can find new friends or state to these friends that what they
are doing is wrong and that they need to stop and if they are true friends they will stop
their bad behaviours and follow the correct path.

3. In Mark 4:7, the seed is choked by thorns, representing “the cares of

this world” and “the desires for other things.” What are some “thorns”
that distract you from prayer or your relationship with God? How can
you work to remove them? Use examples from your personal and
school experiences. (4 marks)

-​ The thorns in our life can be in many different ways. For example playing video games
instead of praying is a thorn, it keeps us away from God and prevent us from getting
closer. Mixing with the wrong friend or group is also a thorn as you may copy their bad
habits or behaviours which leads to sinning and creating a gap between you and God.
Committing sins instead of doing the right thing is also a thorn. A real life example of
thorns could be when your friends decides to skip class, if you join them you have let the
thorn strangle you and take over you as you let yourself do the wrong thing. To remove
thorns you can pray to God to help remove temptation and avoid the need to sin. For
example back to the school example, instead of skipping class you can attend class
instead. When playing video games you can put a time limit so so you don’t over play
and fin yourself having no time to pray. Instead of mixing with the wrong group you could
go to a church group.

4. Jesus says the kingdom of God is like a man scattering seed, not
knowing how it grows (Mark 4:26–29). What does this teach us about
the importance of prayer, even when we don’t see immediate results?
What can we learn about the importance of praying consistently, even
as students of St Mark’s College? (4 marks)

-​ The man scattering the seeds is the servant, the seed is God’s word, and the ground is
the people's heart. If the servant provided even a small thong about Jesus to people as
small as a mustard seed, that can grow in peoples heart and become a big tree that
other people (birds of the air) can come and take refuge in it. The servant doesn’t know
how the word of God will grow inside peoples heart because that is God’s mysterious
 work. The role of prayer is great even without visible results. For example St Monica
prayed for over twenty years for her son, Augustine, to come back to God. So her
patience and persistence in praying for her son, even when it seemed like there was no
hope for Augustine to come back to God, shows her trust in God and the role of praying
without visible results. In this we find that consistent prayer is important as it helps us
achieve the results needed. It can also help in student life in achieving good marks and
results across all stuff, for example a personal story of mine were in my Term one results
for Science I had gotten a bad mark but with persistent prayer I was able to get a better
mark in Term two.

5. In Mark 4:30–32, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a mustard

seed—small but growing into something great. How can small, quiet
acts of prayer each day make a big difference in your spiritual life?
Share an example of a “mustard seed” prayer habit you could begin as
a student at St Mark’s. (4 marks)

-​ The mustard seed parable told by Jesus is a parable where the mustard seed is our
faith, and although if our faith is tiny, it can grow into something big. Little acts of
attending church and praying everyday can lead us to a closer relationship with God and
grow our faith, just like a mustard seed. One example of a ‘mustard seed’ prayer would
be praying in the morning and night and doing the sign of the cross when facing
difficulties and listening to hymns when by yourself. These little acts can bring a positive
outcome. Just like the mustard seed, doing these little activities can lead to a stronger
faith or tree, just like a mustard seed. This habit could lead to a spiritual growth by
continually getting closer to God and keeping your mind on God rather then bad, horrible
sins. Your tree also grows bigger spiritually and just like the mustard seed provided
shelter for others, this shelter can by symbolic towards you keeping others safe from
sins. Maintaining and keeping all these habits consistently everyday creates a stronger
spiritual connection and makes your tree bigger, stronger and reliable.