Mark 4:20
And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
The verse is part of the parable of the sower, given to explain why many who were expected to follow Christ did not receive Him, showing the different responses of human hearts left free to accept or reject Him. The seed and the sower are the same, and the outcome depends on the soil, which is the hearer's heart, with good ground representing the few whose hearts are prepared, cultivated, and kept free from what would choke the word. Those on good ground hear the word, welcome and retain it, and carry it into practice, bringing forth fruit in differing measures, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. Their fruit is a changed, holier daily life rich in good works that glorifies God, benefits others, and reproduces Christ's character in those who love Him and keep His words because He lives in them. No heart need remain hard, shallow, or thorn-filled, for by choosing to respond to the Spirit, by repentance that breaks up the fallow ground and removes evil growths, and by personal, Christlike care that softens hard hearts, the soil can be prepared to receive the truth and bear its harvest.
Parable Setting and Meaning
Mark 4:20 belongs to the parable of the sower, given to meet the disappointment felt because many expected followers and leaders did not accept Jesus as Messiah. Its illustrations were designed to awaken thought, with further explanation available to all who would ask Him for it.
The parable sets out the different tendencies of human hearts and the different kinds of people Christ taught. It explains why His ministry did not produce greater immediate results. People remain free to accept or reject Him, and the fruitful response is one possible outcome among others. It is not forced by Christ, by miracles, by direct power, or by compulsion to believe and obey.
The seed and the sower are the same in every case, while the different results depend on the soil, which is the hearer's heart. Few hearts are like well-cultivated good soil. That good soil represents people who hear the word of truth, welcome it into hearts prepared and kept free of what would choke it, cultivate their hearts, and receive it.
Those sown on good ground hear the word and receive it, then bring forth fruit in differing measures, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, and some a hundredfold. Such hearts are well cultivated and bring forth abundant fruit to the glory of God.
Their fruit is a changed, holier daily life in which the teaching is retained and carried into practice rather than fading. It appears in earnest Christian lives rich in good works and sincere endeavors to glorify God. It is revealed by actions, brings salvation, enables the hearer to benefit others and save many, and reproduces Christ's character in those who love Him and keep His words because Christ lives in them.
Cultivating Soil and Harvest
The heart need not stay hard, shallow, or choked with thorns, for each hearer can choose to respond to the Spirit and cooperate with God in preparing the soil. Repentance breaks up the soil, and the truth breaks up the fallow ground, uprooting at their roots the evil growths and tendencies that would choke the word. This requires deeper ploughing and purifying, with self, doubt, and unbelief cast out, and with earnest effort in Jesus' strength, name, and love. A heart broken before God in longing for true holiness develops love, faith, trust, and gentleness and revives love for God and man, while shallow faith without genuine love, trust, and unity is valueless and yields poor fruit such as evil thinking and evil speaking as the fruit of an evil tree.
Personal, Christlike care for others can soften hard hearts so that truth takes root, and even a heart as hard as a beaten path may become receptive when Christ's love is shown to it. Teaching believers from the start to follow Christ in self-denial, to trust His love, and to work for the lost helps prevent shallow faith or worldly concerns from choking the seed. Those who sow the truth must do so carefully and selflessly, trusting God to give it life, while God prepares hearts to receive the seed sown through preaching. Seeds of truth planted by faithful living and simple teaching can grow under the Holy Spirit's influence to the saving of souls, and the seed springs up and bears fruit to God's glory especially when Christ is presented as the Saviour and His redeeming love is joined to the teaching of truth, which may lead hearers to take their stand with Him.
The sown seed is also the truth carried by wisely distributed publications, tracts, and papers that are read by people who will not listen to a living preacher, and presenting publications can sow seeds that spring up and produce fruit. Its impression on the mind cannot readily be forgotten even when the seed lies buried for years beneath the rubbish of the world and pleasing deceptive fables. After earthly sorrow or affliction softens the heart, the long-buried seed springs up and bears fruit to the glory of God. The word received by attentive hearers can bear fruit even when its effect is not seen at once, for the seed of truth may remain dormant for a time and then be awakened to life by God's grace. Jesus' teaching sown in hearts would later take root, bring glory to God, help save many, and be passed on to future generations, and even hearing one discourse may leave an impression that is carried elsewhere where the truth may be heard again and take root.
Possession of the word is a talent and treasure house of knowledge laying on all who believe the responsibility to impart it to others, yet the seed received must be left to spring up in order, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear, then the harvest, going no faster than solid growth allows. The word thus received is to be taught in the very simplest way possible, with cheap pictures to illustrate it for uneducated hearers who cannot read. In early life the mind is especially open to influence, so truth planted in children's minds can take root and, as they grow, bear fruit that endures to eternal life, though results of teaching children may not be fully known until the day of God. Parents are to do this preparing work for young children by keeping them under their own teaching until eight or ten years of age and not trusting the molding of the infant mind to other hands too early.
The schoolroom is the open air amid flowers and birds, with God's great book of nature opened before children as fast as their minds can comprehend it so lessons will not soon be forgotten, and with plain lessons drawn from objects and nature. Youth are to be taught Bible truth plainly while searching the Scriptures with people experienced in the truth, so the teaching can be received and bear fruit. This cultivation of children's minds and formation of correct habits produces good ground that brings a marked change in families. Teaching placed before the mind is seed that grows and bears fruit in character and life, so bad seed bears a bad harvest.
Words of unbelief and darkness and difficult passages of Scripture spoken without purpose by ministers or members in whom the hearer has confidence can be sown in one who is weak, take root, and bear fruit as loss of faith in the Bible, refusal to preach, fascination with spiritualist agents, and leaving Seventh-day Adventists to join Satan's ranks. Those who talk out their doubts become agents through whom Satan transmits his fiery darts to other minds, while Satan exults to work unperceived in this way. Likewise books of skeptical science and philosophy, vague fanciful stories, and writings on Scripture subjects mixed with human fancies sow bad seed, and that seed springs up into a plentiful harvest of infidelity seen in the depravity of the human family.