Mark 4:21-40

²¹Then Jesus said, “When somebody lights a candle they don’t put it under a bowl, do they? And they don’t put that candle under their bed, do they? No way. People hang lights up high, so everyone can see clearly.

²²It’s like this. There are some things you don’t know about yet, but some time later God will tell about them. And there are some things that are secret now, but some time later God will let you know what they are all about.

²³You’ve all got ears, so you have to listen to me properly, and take notice of my words.”

²⁴Then Jesus said, “Make sure you listen to me properly and think about what I say. When you really take notice of my message, God will help you understand it, and he will help you to know more and more of his word. But if you don’t want to listen to my message, God will stop you from understanding anything you do hear.”

²⁶Jesus kept on teaching, and said, “I want you to know the way God’s family grows. This is another picture story. A man wanted to grow some seed food, so he threw some seeds on the ground. The seeds fell on the ground and after that the man walked away and left the seeds there. Those seeds grew all by themselves and that man didn’t know what made those seeds grow. He just left them there for many days and they grew. God made those seeds grow in the ground. At first the long stick part grew, and after that the head part grew with all the seeds inside it. At the right time God made the seeds get hard, ready for people to cut down those plants and pick up the seed food. God is boss for everyone and his family will grow just like the seeds in that story.”

³⁰Jesus talked some more. He said, “Do you know what God’s family is like? I will tell you another picture story to help you understand it.

³¹God’s family is like a really little seed. You know that gum tree? Its seeds are very small.

³²When one of those small seeds falls into the ground it grows and grows. Later it gets really big with lots of branches, and birds can sit down in the shade on those branches, and they can make their nests there. Well, God’s family will grow like that.”

³³Jesus taught the people this way whenever they were ready to listen.

³⁴He only used picture stories when he talked to all the people. But later, when Jesus was sitting down with only his followers, he told them what the stories really mean.

³⁵On that same day, while Jesus was teaching, the sun started to go down. He was still sitting in the boat, so he stopped teaching and told his followers to take him across the lake.

³⁶So they left all the other people behind and his followers started to take him across the lake in their boat. Some other people got into their boats and followed them.

³⁷A little bit later a really strong storm came up. The wind was very strong, and the waves started to fill the boat with water. It was ready to sink.

³⁸Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat with his head on a pillow. His followers were frightened, so they woke him up and they shouted at him, “Hey, Teacher, we will all drown. And you don’t care. Why don’t you do something?”

³⁹Jesus opened his eyes, stood up and growled at the wind and told that water, “Stop. Be quiet.” Straight away the wind stopped and the water lay down flat. Everything was quiet and still.

⁴⁰Jesus then said to his followers, “Why are you so frightened?”