Mark 4:17, commentary and pictures

The verse describes the stony-ground hearers whose seed springs up at once with no depth of earth but withers when the sun scorches it because it has no root. They receive the word eagerly with joy and great zeal yet are controlled by feeling without stability of character, exalting truth in word without being doers of it and without the heart renewed by God's Spirit. To have no root is to have only superficial knowledge while pride, self-importance and love of supremacy remain in the heart, and to be disconnected from Christ instead of nourished by unseen union with Him through faith. When affliction, persecution, reproach or plain pointed truth calls for self-denial, sacrifice and taking up the cross, they are immediately offended and fall away because they did not count the cost and yield the life fully to its control. Hearers need not remain shallow, but gain deep enduring root by repentance that uproots evil, by studying Scripture and seeking God for wisdom, and by living Christ's life in denying self, bearing burdens and working for others.

Parable Setting and Symbols

The parable to which this verse belongs was taught in the early morning on the Sea of Galilee after a night spent in prayer, spoken to the multitude crowding the water's edge from a fisherman's boat pulled out a little from shore. The lesson was drawn from the scenery at hand — sowers casting seed beside reapers harvesting early grain, fruitful valleys and hillsides, barren rocks upon the beach, and birds and sea-fowls — so that those everyday objects would daily remind the hearers of the truth.

The parable sets forth the different tendencies and classes of the human heart as Christ met them. It helps explain why His ministry produced only limited immediate results, for people were not forced to believe or obey but had to choose whether to receive Christ. That choice requires joining human effort with His divine power to overcome besetting sin and develop Christian character.

The seed in the parable is the word of God as explained by Jesus and sown by preachers, which must be received by hearers whose hearts God prepares. Its effect may not be seen at once, yet attentive hearers can retain and repeat His words so that they bear fruit and save souls in later generations. The verse describes the stony-ground hearers, whose seed sprang up immediately because it had no depth of earth, but when the sun was up it was scorched and withered away because it had no root.

Eager Yet Shallow Reception

These hearers receive the truth eagerly with joy and great zeal, amazed that all cannot see what is so plain to them, urging the doctrine upon others and talking earnestly with ardor about faith and hope. They readily receive anything new and exciting, and hastily condemn those who carefully weigh the evidence or those of long experience as cold and unbelieving and lacking enthusiasm. They are controlled by feeling, without depth and stability of character, for principle does not reach deep enough to underlie action. They exalt truth in word but are not doers of it, because the heart has not been renewed by the transforming influence of God's Spirit. Their Christianity has not transformed character or produced a better daily life, but believes only for a time until tribulation comes.

Having no root means having only a superficial knowledge of the truth and breaking off some evil practices while the heart remains filled with pride and impurities, unholy ambition and self-importance, and love for supremacy. The spirit and principles that characterized the life of Christ have not been planted in the heart to control the life. Very many professed Christians are therefore Christians only in name, holding the truth in unrighteousness as a mere theory they can prove scriptural and sound while their course of action denies their faith. Their hearts are unsanctified through the truth, without its spirit and power, unholy in heart and unchristlike in deportment, content with a half-Christian life and doing as others do.

Some welcome the teaching with enthusiasm, but when they return to worldly surroundings, cares, and temptations their impressions fade, they take up sins again and relapse into indifference, while others carry its principles into daily life and retain the lesson. In the same way, those with no root may follow something new for a time, as with those drawn merely by the impression that someone has advanced new light rather than being firmly grounded in the truth already given. Faith without firm root can also be overcome when words of doubt take root and bear fruit, as when a weak brother trusted the doubts and unbelief voiced by brethren, said he no longer believed the Bible, and became drawn to spiritualism.

Trial Exposes Lack of Root

Those described have no deep, lasting root in themselves and endure only briefly or for a time, and afterward, when affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they are offended and quickly fall away. Those who firmly take their stand on truth will face such trials, which test whether they are rooted in it and willing to obey God, and believers need to be rooted in themselves, living the truth and setting a godly example.

The testing comes as affliction, persecution, reproach, temptation, tribulation, hardship, the heat of trial, and reproof. It comes when the word exposes cherished sin and calls for self-denial or sacrifice, when plain, pointed, close truth is brought to bear on the heart to reveal deformity of character, and when the pruning-knife is applied that they may bring forth fruit unto perfection. Their faith endures only while life is easy, and the seed withers because it lacks roots able to sustain it through trial. Their Christianity has not transformed character or produced a better daily life.

They falter and fail because they did not accept the cross as part of religious life and avoid it, and when ardor cools they turn from it and refuse to take it up. Trying to serve both self and Christ makes a person half-hearted, weak in purpose, and changeable in desire, so that person will not stand firm when difficulty comes. They could cultivate and enrich the heart so truth would take deeper hold, but that calls for patience and self-denial and radical change of life that costs too much effort. Taking up the cross and patiently making the self-denying changes truth requires would let faith take deeper hold able to sustain through trial, but those who refuse that effort abandon it under pressure.

They are easily offended by reproof, like the disciples who left Jesus because his saying was hard to hear. Though conscience tells them the close words spoken are truth, many will not bear the test or listen but close their eyes to imperfections, give up truth rather than submit to be sanctified through it, and flatter themselves they may get to heaven an easier way. The problem is not immediate joy in receiving the word but failure to count its cost and yield life fully to its control, and they may mistake the gospel for escape from suffering rather than deliverance from sin.

The seed's taking root is revealed by the life that follows: the heart may receive the word but thorns may overcome it, and actions will show whether the word has taken root and borne fruit, while those who reject the light of truth are overcome by temptation and lose self-control. Affliction does not always cause offense, for the seed of truth can also remain dormant for a time before God's grace awakens it to life and it bears fruit. Seed of truth planted by personal effort in the wise distribution of papers and tracts reaches people who will not listen to a living preacher, making impressions on minds that cannot readily be forgotten, and that seed may lie buried for years beneath the rubbish of the world and pleasing fables or remain dormant before it is awakened. When earthly sorrow or affliction comes it softens the heart rather than causing offense, so the buried seed springs up and bears fruit to the glory of God.

Growing Deep Enduring Roots

To have no root is to be disconnected from Christ, for spiritual life is nourished by the unseen union of the soul with Christ through faith, just as a plant is nourished by roots hidden in the soil, while stony-ground hearers instead rely on themselves, their good works, good impulses, and their own righteousness and are not strong in the Lord. Faith without inward root is shallow and valueless because so much of self is cherished that the life of Christ in the soul is quenched, and doubt and unbelief, refusal to cast self out of the heart, and want of love and unity keep the seed of the eternal Word from taking root. Hearers need not remain shallow, for by resisting God's Spirit they become inattentive to the word, while repentance and earnest effort in Christ's strength can prepare the heart for the word to take root. The heart must be cultivated by repentance and by uprooting evil tendencies so the good seed can grow.

The test of God's Word exposes supposed conversions that have not brought truth into the heart and conscience, leaving unsanctified self alive and producing weakness instead of a deep, enduring spiritual life. There must therefore be deeper ploughing in the heart, purification of the vessels, and breaking of the heart before God in longing for true holiness, with practical knowledge of genuine faith, love and trust developing gentleness, so that the seed may take root and spring up to bear fruit of a different quality to the glory of God instead of evil thinking and evil speaking as the fruit of an evil tree. A person gains that root by studying Scripture and seeking God for wisdom to understand its truths. This grounding is needed because everything that can be shaken will be shaken, and Satan works to undermine the Bible and those working for Christ, spreading unbelief and misleading minds.

Believers are to be taught from the beginning to live by Christ's life and character, bear burdens, deny natural desires, work for Christ, and endure hardship, for trusting Christ's love and serving the lost help keep worldly attractions and troubles from choking the word. Believers need to be rooted in themselves, live the truth, and set a godly example that recommends the truth to others, and decided effort to become firmly rooted is needed to keep from following those who abandon it. Having no root means having only a superficial knowledge of the truth and breaking off some evil practices while the heart remains filled with pride, impurities, unholy ambition, self-importance, and love for supremacy, without the spirit and principles that characterized the life of Christ planted in the heart to control the life. Having root means letting pure and holy principles take root downward so that fruit appears, especially in institutions for health. Unless the soul temple is cleansed of defilement with purity of thought, intensity of desire, and earnest daily effort to meet the standard in God's Word and correct the evil of the heart and deformity of character, even one cherished darling sin defiling the whole soul will cause entire failure to become elevated, subdued, and purified, to wear the white linen which is the righteousness of the saints, and to be fitted for companionship with the pure and holy.

Having root means burning and shining amid moral darkness, standing firm in the truth received through great light and many opportunities, and enduring so as to be relied upon in gospel labor. Those with root hold up the hands of workers sent to the regions beyond to those who sit in darkness and have no light, send earnest prayers as sharp sickles into the harvest field, take upon themselves responsibility and accountability for the saving of souls who have never heard the truth, exercise faith in Christ as their personal Saviour, accept the burden of responsibility, and serve as witnesses for God. Believers need to be educated so the truth is firmly rooted in them, shaping lives that faithfully uphold and recommend it to others. The word may take hold for a time, but presenting truth without Christ and his redeeming love can leave hearers unbalanced in their commitment, while presenting Christ as Saviour alongside the truth may help the seed bear lasting fruit.

Warnings for Church Life

The heart is soil that must be prepared for the Sower to scatter good seed so that the word takes root and endures, and parents prepare this soil by keeping young children under their own teaching till eight or ten years of age and not trusting the moulding of the infant mind to other hands too early. Their schoolroom is to be the open air amid the flowers and birds and their textbook the treasures of nature, with parents opening before them God's great book of nature as fast as their minds can comprehend it, so that lessons given amid such surroundings will not soon be forgotten, and this calls for time and labor devoted to cultivation of children's minds and formation of correct habits instead of time worse than wasted in following the fashions of the world. In early life, when the mind is especially impressible, good seed is to be sown in good soil so it can bear fruit unto eternal life, and clear, skillful teaching plants truth through children's education and church schools, whose good will be fully revealed at the day of God. Books of skeptical science and philosophy, vague fanciful stories, and Scripture writings mixed with fanciful human interpretation planted in young minds as seed in soil grow and produce a plentiful harvest of infidelity, seen in the depravity of the human family.

Churches raised up by ministers who are not converted likewise lack an inward foundation and cannot stand on their own when trouble comes. Church members who know the truth are to have deep roots in themselves, use their spiritual strength, care intensely for people who have not yet heard it, and accept responsibility for helping carry the truth to them, for those who receive the truth without being rooted in it endure only briefly and fall away when trouble or persecution comes because of the word. Entering schools without a settled connection with God risks being led astray instead of correcting error and sharing light, since hearers without deep roots in the truth can be led away from it.

Even a heart as hard as a beaten path can be softened so the seed can take root through Christ's love shown in personal ministry, for the word of truth must take root in a person's heart. The seed of truth sown by preaching can take root in a hearer's heart and later bear fruit even when the person hears only one discourse, and continued meetings allow more people to hear and give the seed opportunity to grow and lead to conversion.