Journal: Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society
Volume: JOTGES 34:67 (Autumn 2021)
Article: Examples Of The Four Soils In The Gospel Of Mark
Author: Kenneth W. Yates

JOTGES 34:67 (Autumn 2021) p. 3

Examples Of The Four Soils In The Gospel Of Mark

Kenneth W. Yates

Editor

I. Introduction

The Parable of the Four Soils is found in Mark 4:3–8. The Lord interprets the parable in 4:15–20.1 At face value Jesus says that the Word concerning Him and His coming kingdom will go out through His teaching and the teaching of His disciples. People will respond to that Word in various ways. The Word is like a seed planted in the soil. Each person’s response is represented by a particular soil, which pictures how that person’s heart receives the Word given to him.

The four soils are the hardened soil on the side of a road, the rocky soil, the thorny soil, and the good soil. Since only the good soil is said to produce an abundant crop—even though there are various degrees of that abundance—many maintain that only this last soil is a picture of believers. Associated with this idea is the belief that all “true” believers will have a good crop of spiritual fruit. The hardened soil, the rocky soil, and the thorny soil all describe different kinds of unbelievers.2

However, any fair reading of the parable will not come to those conclusions. There are not three kinds of unbelievers. A hearer either believes or he doesn’t. The good soil is not the only one that produces life; the rocky and thorny soils do as well. All three of these soils result in a plant, which is a proof of life. Unbelievers do not have eternal life.

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It is not the purpose of this article to address the specifics of the different soils. There are excellent treatments of the subject which the reader can access. This article will start with the assumption that the last three soils describe people who have believed in Jesus Christ for eternal life. In these soils, the issue is not eternal salvation, but fruitfulness. Some believers will not produce a rich spiritual crop in their lives.3

After giving the parable, the Lord tells the disciples that it is the key to understanding all of His parables (4:13). It would not be surprising, then, if the reader of Mark’s Gospel sees the truths of this parable worked out in the book. In fact, that is exactly what one sees. There are numerous illustrations of the soils, which also serve as warnings and instruction to all the disciples. I will look at these various illustrations, leading up to the Lord�...