15 And these are they by the wayside, where the word is planted; and when they have given ear, the Evil One comes straight away and takes away the word which has been planted in them.
And the Evil One who put them in error was sent down into the sea of ever-burning fire, where the beast and the false prophet are, and their punishment will go on day and night for ever and ever.
And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be let loose out of his prison,
And he took the dragon, the old snake, which is the Evil One and Satan, and put chains on him for a thousand years, And put him into the great deep, and it was shut and locked over him, so that he might put the nations in error no longer, till the thousand years were ended: after this he will be let loose for a little time.
Be serious and keep watch; the Evil One, who is against you, goes about like a lion with open mouth in search of food;
But when Paul was about to say something, Gallio said to the Jews, If this was anything to do with wrongdoing or crime, there would be a reason for me to give you a hearing: But if it is a question of words or names or of your law, see to it yourselves; I will not be a judge of such things. And he sent them away from the judge's seat. And they all made an attack on Sosthenes, the ruler of the Synagogue, and gave him blows before the judge's seat; but Gallio gave no attention to these things.
And that there may not be any evil liver, or any man without respect for God, like Esau, who let his birthright go for a plate of food.
For this reason there is the more need for us to give attention to the things which have come to our ears, for fear that by chance we might be slipping away.
But if our good news is veiled, it is veiled from those who are on the way to destruction: Because the god of this world has made blind the minds of those who have not faith, so that the light of the good news of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not be shining on them.
So that Satan may not get the better of us: for we are not without knowledge of his designs.
But had certain questions against him in connection with their religion, and about one Jesus, now dead, who, Paul said, was living. And as I had not enough knowledge for the discussion of these things, I made the suggestion to him to go to Jerusalem and be judged there.
And Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were married to his daughters, Come, let us go out of this place, for the Lord is about to send destruction on the town. But his sons-in-law did not take him seriously.
And some of those who were supporters of the theories of the Epicureans and the Stoics, had a meeting with him. And some said, What is this talker of foolish words saying? And others, He seems to be a preacher of strange gods: because he was preaching of Jesus and his coming back from the dead. And they took him to Mars' Hill, saying, Will you make clear to us what is this new teaching of yours? For you seem to us to say strange things, and we have a desire to get the sense of them.
But Peter said, Ananias, why has the Evil One put it into your heart to be false to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
And they all gave reasons why they were not able to come. The first said to him, I have got a new field, and it is necessary for me to go and see it: I am full of regret that I am unable to come. And another said, I have got some cattle, and I am going to make a test of them: I am full of regret that I am unable to come.
Those by the side of the road are those who have given hearing; then the Evil One comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not have faith and get salvation.
And while he was doing it, some was dropped by the wayside, and the birds came and took it for food.
When the word of the kingdom comes to anyone, and the sense of it is not clear to him, then the Evil One comes, and quickly takes away that which was put in his heart. He is the seed dropped by the wayside.
Then said Jesus to him, Away, Satan: for it is in the Writings, Give worship to the Lord your God and be his servant only.
Who would have had faith in the word which has come to our ears, and to whom had the arm of the Lord been unveiled?
And there was a day when the sons of the gods came together before the Lord, and the Satan came with them. And the Lord said to the Satan, Where do you come from? And the Satan said in answer, From wandering this way and that on the earth, and walking about on it. And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil? And the Satan said in answer to the Lord, Is it for nothing that Job is a god-fearing man? Have you yourself not put a wall round him and his house and all he has on every side, blessing the work of his hands, and increasing his cattle in the land? But now, put out your hand against all he has, and he will be cursing you to your face. And the Lord said to the Satan, See, I give all he has into your hands, only do not put a finger on the man himself. And the Satan went out from before the Lord.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Mark 4
Commentary on Mark 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 4
In this chapter, we have,
Mar 4:1-20
The foregoing chapter began with Christ's entering into the synagogue (v. 1); this chapter begins with Christ's teaching again by the sea side. Thus he changed his method, that if possible all might be reached and wrought upon. To gratify the nice and more genteel sort of people that had seats, chief seats, in the synagogue, and did not care for hearing a sermon any where else, he did not preach always by the sea side, but, having liberty, went often into the synagogue, and taught there; yet, to gratify the poor, the mob, that could not get room in the synagogue, he did not always preach there, but began again to teach by the sea side, where they could come within hearing. Thus are we debtors both to the wise and to the unwise, Rom. 1:14.
Here seems to be a new convenience found out, which had not been used before, though he had before preached by the sea side (ch. 2:13), and that was-his standing in a ship, while his hearers stood upon the land; and that inland sea of Tiberias having no tide, there was no ebbing and flowing of the waters to disturb them. Methinks Christ's carrying his doctrine into a ship, and preaching it thence, was a presage of his sending the gospel to the isles of the Gentiles, and the shipping off of the kingdom of God (that rich cargo) from the Jewish nation, to be sent to a people that would bring forth more of the fruits of it. Now observe here,
In particular, we have here,
Having thus prepared them for it, he gives them the interpretation of the parable of the sower, as we had it before in Matthew. Let us only observe here,
Mar 4:21-34
The lessons which our Saviour designs to teach us here by parables and figurative expressions are these:-
After the parables thus specified the historian concludes with this general account of Christ's preaching-that with many such parables he spoke the word unto them (v. 33); probably designing to refer us to the larger account of the parables of this kind, which we had before, Mt. 13. He spoke in parables, as they were able to hear them; he fetched his comparisons from those things that were familiar to them, and level to their capacity, and delivered them in plain expressions, in condescension to their capacity; though he did not let them into the mystery of the parables, yet his manner of expression was easy, and such as they might hereafter recollect to their edification. But, for the present, without a parable spoke he not unto them, v. 34. The glory of the Lord was covered with a cloud, and God speaks to us in the language of the sons of men, that, though not at first, yet by degrees, we may understand his meaning; the disciples themselves understood those sayings of Christ afterward, which at first they did not rightly take the sense of. But these parables he expounded to them, when they were alone. We cannot but wish we had had that exposition, as we had of the parable of the sower; but it was not so needful; because, when the church should be enlarged, that would expound these parables to us, without any more ado.
Mar 4:35-41
This miracle which Christ wrought for the relief of his disciples, in stilling the storm, we had before (Mt. 8:23, etc.); but it is here more fully related. Observe,