The Parable of the Sower

Mark For Everyone

MARK 4.1–20
The Parable of the Sower...

...I once knew a young man who was suffering from severe depression. Eventually he went to a psychiatrist and told her, not only how bad he was feeling, but what he’d been dreaming about, night after night. He was inside a house which was on fire. A close friend was setting light to it and pouring petrol on the flames. He was terrified, but he always managed to get out in the end.

The psychiatrist had no difficulty in explaining. In a dream, the house stands for your whole self. The friend is a part of your own personality that’s important to you, but in this case is causing trouble. The story tells you what, at a level below conscious thought, you really know about what’s happening: in this case, that though this time is very unpleasant you will eventually emerge safe and sound.
The ancient world knew about dreams and their interpretation. The Old Testament has plenty of them. Jesus’ parables are in some ways like dreams in search of meanings. Certainly this one is...

Taken from Mark for Everyone by Tom Wright