Welcome back. Great is His faithfulness.
Mark 4:1-12
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 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.7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no [b]crop. 8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
9 And He said [c]to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The Purpose of Parables10 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.’ ”
I read the Article about Parables from my Orthodox Study Bible, please see my teaching video for the reading and discussion...
John 12:40
“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”
According to St. John Chrysostom, Isaiah's prophecy is not indicating that God purposely causes spiritual blindness in those who would otherwise would have been faithful. It's a figure of speech commonly used in Scripture revealing God as giving people up to their own devices - ( as seen in Romans 1:24-26). HE HAS BLINDED is saying God has permitted their self chosen blindness ( see and compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27 - talking about Pharaoh). They did not become blind because God spoke through Isaiah, but instead Isaiah spoke because he foresaw their blindness.
See my teaching video for the Devotional, prayer focus and the moving forward questions.
Numbers 6:24-26
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord [a]lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’
In Christ love Jared W Campbell
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