Lenten Reader | Day 9

February 27th, 2026

He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”

“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Mark 4:21-41

Good Soil

In this chapter, Jesus talks about how His word will transform only some of those who hear the words of God. Jesus spoke in parables to the groups, but to his disciples, he openly explained them. Mark recorded the explanations so that we could understand as well. As believers, we are “permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God.” 

In verse 24, He tells us to “pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given – and you will receive even more.”  He then warns us that if we are not listening, even what little understanding they have “will be taken away from them.” 

I can certainly testify to this. Before I believed, I studied portions of the scripture in an honors literature class in college. I remember reading those passages, studying them, and even writing a paper on them for the class. And even though I got an A- on the assignment, I quickly forgot anything that I learned! Years later as I reflect on those readings and that assignment, I now see that I wasn’t TRULY LISTENING, nor was I empowered by the Holy Spirit to UNDERSTAND! 

Just as in faith, the farmer places the seed in the soil and has no idea how it develops into a plant, we really have no true understanding of exactly how this transformation occurs in our life. But we can be witnesses to the fact that it happened. 

As a person who wants to understand how things work, I used to be troubled by those who professed such spiritual change. How could faith in the unknown truly change a person? Now that it has happened to me, I understand that some things we were not meant to be understood FULLY but that we are to have faith in God’s plan for our lives. And if we know the basics and continue to listen closely, He will reveal more and more to us as we grow as Christians. 

Jerry Kunz