The Soil under the Path: First, Jesus points out the well trod pathways that surrounded that farmer’s field: “And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it” (Mark 4:4). In Christ’s time the land was covered with small plots of land that were farmed. Fields were not fenced or walled, just marked off by the narrow paths and dirt roads that formed boundaries. To cross the land meant following these roads; travelers had used them to crisscross the land for centuries. Jesus once taught as He walked along such boundary pathways in Matthew 12:1, eating the grain growing along one of these ancient paths. The rich soil under these paths was trampled regularly by many feet and became a hard-packed pavement. Seeds would bounce along and rest atop this hard surface until trampled or eaten by birds.
The Soil over the Rocks: Mark 4:5 describes the shallow soil: “Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away.” This was also common in the land. Farmers always cleared their land, picking up any rocks that lay in the dirt. But this is no small rock in the dirt; this was a slab of limestone just below the surface of the soil, too big to move. The rich soil covered the slab, but not to any depth. Plants would germinate in the sun’s warmth held by the slab and thus grow rapidly. It would appear for a while that this section of the field had the best plants until hot weather came, and the surface moisture was drawn out of the soil. Then the roots tried to find the deeper sources of water to feed the plant’s growth. But the limestone stopped the root; the shallow root system failed; the plants withered and died; and the farmer’s hope of harvest ended.
The Soil around the Thorn roots: Mark 4:7 continues: “And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.” Again, we have the same rich soil, the same farmer, the same seed. The only difference is again below the surface. This time lurking unseen were the fibrous roots of the strong local weeds – thistles or brambles as the Greek word akantha denotes. The tops of these plants may have been cut off by the plowing of the field, but the roots remained spread around and alive. Here, the newly sprouted seeds were never able to outpace the strength of these roots that also sprouted anew and grew. The seeds were the outsiders, the thorns were the residents, and the seeds lost the battle for life. Sunlight was taken by the rapid growth of the weeds, water was soaked up, and space was gone – the tender plants were choked and died.
From KGD-31c – Four Hearts-One Soil (040418AM)
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