In Mark 4:3-9 Jesus tells the parable of the scattered seed. He said,
“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
In Mark 4:14-20 Jesus begins to explain the parable to the disciples. He says,
“The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
As we “scatter seed” we will find all of these different ground conditions. If you keep reading in Mark Jesus is teaching and healing massive amounts of people. There are so many people that Jesus and the disciples don’t have time to eat or rest. They take a boat to the other side of the lake and find the man who is possessed by a legion of demons. Jesus heals him and sends the demons into a herd of pigs at their request and the pigs run down a hill into the water and drowned (It was a bad day to be walking your pigs).
The pig herders run in town and tell all the people what had happened. All those people come out to see Jesus, but instead of being amazed they were terrified and ask him to leave. Jesus and his disciples had just landed on shore, but they got back in there boat and went to the other side.
When they reached land Jesus raises a girl from the dead and heals the woman with the constant bleeding. Then you goes back to his home town in Mark 6:2-3.
“The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.”
First the people were amazed at his teaching. But then as they considered the fact that they knew his family, they become “deeply offended”. Instead of the people being amazed with Jesus, Jesus was amazed at their unbelief.
Jesus worked among people who believed him, who were amazed by him, who were unsure about him, who were offended by him and who hated him.
Some of the seed we scatter won’t turn into much. But some of the seed we scatter will produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Don’t be afraid to scatter.