Biblical Places Spiritual Spaces The Plain of Ginosar

The Parables of The Kingdom

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:9

 

The Plain of Ginosar is on the northwestern corner of the Sea of Galilee. It was in this area that Jesus spoke at least 60 % of His recorded words.

The Plain of Ginosar from Mt Arbel

 

Mt Hermon sits to the north of Ginosar

 

This is a good place to consider the things Jesus said on the Plain of Ginosar

 

How do you communicate a message to someone in a manner that they would not only receive it intellectually but also understand it in their heart?

How does head knowledge get transformed into heart knowledge?

As parents, do we want our children just to be obedient or have a relationship with us of trust and love?

What is the method of God in relating to us where we have the free will to decide for ourselves? How does He reach our innermost being?

What is the goal of our evangelistic efforts?

Compliance and obedience or intimate relationship?

 

The western side of the Plain of Ginosar

 

Let's examine the Parables of the Kingdom.

 

¹ That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. ² And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

³ And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying,

 “Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴ and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.

 ⁵ Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. ⁶ But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

⁷ Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.

⁸ And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

 ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.”

¹⁰ And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

¹¹  Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

¹² For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
‘ YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;
YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;
¹⁵ FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL,
WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR,
AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES,
OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES,
HEAR WITH THEIR EARS,
AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN,
AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷ For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

 

Otherwise: mḗpote, at any time. Lest at any time.
(I) As a neg. particle, not even, never, .
(II) As a conj., that not ever, that never, lest ever, perhaps

This passage is from Isaiah 6, when the prophet sees a vision and receives his commission from the Lord.

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

⁹ He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.’
¹⁰ “Render the hearts of this people  insensitive,
Their ears dull, And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”  Isaiah 6:8-10

Otherwise: Hebrew pen: A conjunction meaning lest, so that, not. It indicates the prevention of a possible event: lest, so that . . . not; or of an event that will occur unless it is stopped It indicates a negative purpose or result

From the IVP Bible Commentary:

The role of the prophet. The description of eyes and ears that do not function as they should or a heart that is hard or heavy matches that which occurs elsewhere in medical texts or in contexts of fear. In 1 Samuel 25 Nabal suffers some sort of paralysis, stroke or heart attack, and his heart becomes as stone. In a Babylonian wisdom hymn a sufferer describes his fear-induced paralysis as resulting in eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear.

It is difficult to know whether the paralysis that meets Isaiah’s messages comes from spiritual sickness or from fear. The prophet’s role was to deliver the message regardless of whether there was any response or not. If the message did not result in response, it would at least establish clearly the people’s guilt.

 

 A stormy day on the Plain of Ginosar

 

Why did Jesus teach in parables?

One scholarly opinion from Dr Spiros Zodhiates:

“The clue to understanding is found in the correct translation of a Greek word mepote, usually translated ‘least’. However, it shoudh be translated as a suppositional participle, ‘if perhaps.’

Christ’s reasoning is this: “If I speak plainly to these people knowing that they would be rejecting not what they do not understand, but what they do understand. If I speak to them in parables and they do not understand what I am saying, then their rejecton is based on the lack of understanding and it will diminish their guilt. Their guilt is not based upon whether they understand or not, but on their rejection for God and Me, not because of what I say, but because of what I am, which should have been clear enough to them.”  Key Word Study Bible

Another opinion:

Perhaps Jesus was throwing out clues to His identity and the Kingdom of God, hoping that His listeners would connect the dots and let the Holy Spirit reveal the true intent of the message, as He does to us.

God seems to want us to engage Him in dialogue, hoping that we will analyze what we hear and see and conclude that He is real, He is Lord, He is Savior, and He is the Greatest Lover of our Souls.

His plan is that we would make the choice to spend Eternity with Him of our own free will, taking a leap of faith, rather than forcibly accepting the facts about God and not wholeheartedly receiving Him as our Lord.

To help us and His other disciples, Jesus offers an explanation:

¹⁸ “Hear then the parable of the sower.

 ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.

²⁰ The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he  falls away.

 ²² And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

 ²³ And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” Matthew 13:1-23

 

The Word of God falls on four different types of soil:

 

1) Hard soil, beside the road, and there is no understanding of the message.

2) Rocky soil, which hinders the development of roots, and the message withers when there are troubles.

3) Thorny soil, which hinders the growth of the word due to focus on worldly issues such as power, pleasure and possessions.

4) Good soil in which the word takes root, sprouts, grows branches and leaves and eventually bears fruit.

What is the message for us in this parable?

a) An accurate description of the type of people we will meet as we share our personal testimonies.

b) A prediction on how our efforts to win others to Christ will end.

c) An encouragement of the challenges of our evangelistic efforts.

 

How did Jesus’ disciples receive this word?

 

Three Examples:

Phillip and the Ethiopian

But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

²⁷ So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹

Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”

³⁰ Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

³¹ And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?”

And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

³² Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:
“HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER;
AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT,
SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.
³³ “IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY;
WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION?
FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH.”

³⁴ The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?”

³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

³⁶ As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

³⁷ [And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]

 ³⁸ And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

 ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip found himself at  Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea. Acts 8:26-40

Contextual facts:

Ethiopians knew about Yahweh because of the relationship of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with difficult questions. ² So she came to Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels carrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. ³ Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from the king which he did not explain to her. 1 Kings 10:1-3

 

From Free Map online

Eunuchs were not permitted to enter the courts of the Temple.

“No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD. Deuteronomy 23:1

The Ethiopian was reading from Isaiah 53. This was a favored passage of Scripture for those who had suffered mutilation.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? Isaiah 53:7-8

The Eunuch did not understand what He was reading, but Phillip explained this passage as referring to Jesus and his scourging and death on the Cross, and now we all are considered ‘whole and acceptable’ to the Lord.

Having never been allowed to be baptized, the Eunuch realized that he was considered acceptable to God through the sacrifice of Jesus, thus eligible for baptism into the Kingdom.

The Hard Soil beside the road became Good Soil through the efforts and explanation of Phillip.

 

The Port at Caesarea 

 

Peter and Corneilus

¹ Now there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, ² a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.

 ³ About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!”

⁴ And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, “What is it, Lord?”

 And he said to him, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. ⁵ Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; ⁶ he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.”

⁷ When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants, ⁸ and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

⁹ On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰ But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; ¹¹ and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, ¹² and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.

¹³ A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”

¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.”

¹⁵Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

¹⁶ This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.

¹⁷ Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate; ¹⁸ and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.

¹⁹ While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. ²⁰ But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.”

²¹ Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?”

 ²² They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear  a message from you.” ²³ So he invited them in and gave them lodging.

And on the next day he got up and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him. ²⁴ On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

²⁵ When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and  worshiped him.

 ²⁶ But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am just a man.” ²⁷ As he talked with him, he entered and *found many people assembled.

²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. ²⁹ That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason you have sent for me.”

³⁰ Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments, ³¹ and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. ³² Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

³⁴  Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but in every nation the man who  fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. ³⁶ The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching  peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)— ³⁷ you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.

 ³⁸  You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power,  and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

³⁹ We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.

⁴⁰  God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, ⁴¹  not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.

⁴² And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.

⁴⁵  All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God.

Then Peter answered, ⁴⁷ “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” ⁴⁸ And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days. Acts 10

 

Caesarea

 

Cornelius was a Roman who believed in the many gods of the Pantheon. 

It was the customary to offer worship and sacrifices to the local gods, which Cornelius did.  He was a believer in Yahweh but he had no roots to really understand who Yahweh is.

Peter was a Jew who dislike Romans, and did not want to explain the Gospel to such riff raff. His insulting greeting to Cornelius was a reflection of his prejudices and not Scripture. Hebrews were instructed to leave portions of their harvest for the foreigners, and to invite them into their homes and celebrate the festivals with them.

Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:10

You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; ¹⁴ and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns. Deuteronomy 16:13-14

Because of the vision that Peter had on the roof of his home combined with the vision that Cornelius had, Peter was willing to step away from his prejudices and remember the Great Commission, an obediently tell the Roman audience in Cornelius’ home about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. That’s when God did His part.

Now suddenly Cornelius and his Roman friends are filled with the Holy Spirit and have deep and profound roots into the mysteries of God.

The Rocky Soil became Good Soil through the efforts and explanation of Peter and the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Thessaloniki

 

Paul and the Thessalonians

¹ Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

² And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, ³  explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.”

 ⁴  And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women.

⁵ But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. ⁶ When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset  the world have come here also; ⁷  and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

 ⁸ They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. ⁹ And when they had received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released them.

The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Acts 17:1-10

Thessaloniki is a Macedonian port city on the Via Ignatia. It was a commercial hub for this northern Aegean region with access to the Black Sea. Ships from the Middle East, Egypt and North Africa used this port as a gateway into the European markets. The Romans established a mint in Thessaloniki to facilitate the commerce of this region. The stock market was active in this city with speculation of crop and other commodity futures.

Paul entered a city of thorny soil, where the focus on wealth and the cares of the world were a hinderance to the acceptance of the Gospel. Yet we know that is efforts were successful in establishing a Christian community in Thessaloniki from the two letters he later wrote to his friends there.

 

¹  Paul and Silvanus and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
²  We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; ³ constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and  steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, ⁴ knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;

 ⁵ For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. ⁶ You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

 ⁸ For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. ⁹ For they themselves report about us what kind of a  reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve  a living and true God, ¹⁰ and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 1-10

Through the efforts of Paul, Silas, Luke and Timothy, the thorny soil of Thessaloniki became good soil.

Their discipleship often required encouragement and admonition in this commercial center of the Aegean as noted in Paul’s second letter to this congregation.

⁶ Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you  keep away from every brother who leads an  unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us.

 ⁷ For you yourselves know how you ought to  follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, ⁸ nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; ⁹ not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example.

 ¹⁰ For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. ¹¹ For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. ¹² Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. ¹³ But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

 

The Hard Soil, the Rocky soil and the Thorny Soil became good soil through the faithful efforts of the followers of Jesus, through the work of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

The ancient agora of Thessaloniki

 

Evangelism is often a mystery, as explained by Jesus in his next parable as recorded by Mark.

 

Parable of the Seed
²⁶ And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; ²⁷ and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know.

²⁸ The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.

²⁹ But when the crop permits, he immediately  puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4:26-29

Principle: In our mission to bring the Good News to the people of our communities, we are instructed to do our part to turn hard, rocky, thorny soil into good soil and let the Holy Spirit do His part to bring a conviction into the hearts of our friends that Jesus is Lord.