Seeds and Soil: Mark 4:1-20

The crowd had grown so large that Jesus stepped into a boat and pushed off from shore. He sat on the wooden seat, rocking gently with the waves, while the multitude spread across the beach like a living carpet—thousands of faces turned toward the water, ears straining to catch every word.

"Listen!" he called, and the word cut through the murmuring. "A farmer went out to sow his seed."

They knew this scene. They had lived it. Every spring, farmers walked their fields with seed bags slung across their shoulders, broadcasting grain in wide arcs across the soil.

"As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up."