Mar 4:18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
Mar 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Alternative: And those who are the seeds in the thorns, they hear these ideas but this era's concerns and tricks of wealth and desires for more all come in, crowding out the idea and they become barren.

This is the final problem with people using Christ's ideas. Unlike the first two problems, this verse does not use the term for "immediately." Here, the problem is what must happen over time. Over time, other ideas about what is important crowd out Christ's ideas so that we don't get benefit from them.

In the last verse, there was too little earth to give people a foundation for understanding Christ's words beyond the initial pleasure they inspired. Here, the foundation is there, but there are too many other thoughts and concerns consuming the limited resources of our understanding.

Notice how Christ doesn't blame any of these people for not understanding what he is saying, but in this verse he makes it clear that these people are being tricked. In each case, the problem is people's nature and their situation. Some people have too much advertsity in their lives so they don't have any time to even think about Christ's ideas. Other people don't have a foundation for using Christs ideas when they are challenged. And finally, these people, who could understand Christ's ideas, are tricked over time by getting consumed by other concerns.

Christ consistently has little interest in accusing people of sin, making them feel guilty, or blaming them for their mistakes. However, the terms he uses are not judgment free. He makes it clear that people need to turn around (the idea that gets translated as "repent") and stop missing the mark ("sin"), and live a new idea. However, he understand that the conditions in our lives at any given time can make this difficult.

Christ doesn't seem particularly worried about the fact that many won't get it at any given time. Unlike preachers who feel they must convert people immediately to save them from eternal damnation, Christ simply accepts that fact not everyone is in the right place to accept his ideas at a given time. He doesn't pressure people to understand. In fact, he seems to indicate that those that use pressure to impress others with their ideas are part of the problem.

Christ never tells his apostles that they must exhort others or force them to understand. Indeed, Christ intentionally hides his ideas in analogies so that people have to work to understand what he is saying. He makes it clear that understanding is not easy and that many people simply don't have the capacity or conditions that allow understanding at any given point in time.

Given that Christ says that our errors and mistakes lead to death and understanding his ideas leads to life, you would expect him to be more like the hell-and-brimstone preachers, but instead he seems confident that God's rule is underway and that God's desire is shaping both earth and the universe. Christ's attitude might be indicate that everyone gets many chances to understand these ideas. Does he hint at reincarnation? Is the purpose of each era to give us another chance to rise about our petty social concerns and seek the eternal?

"Thorns" is from akantha (akantha), which means "thorn," "prickle," or "any thorny or prickly plant." Christ only uses it twice, in this parable and in the verse about knowing a tree by its fruits (Mat 7:16, Luk 6:44).


"Cares" is from the Greek merimna, (merimna) which means "cares," "thoughts," "solicitude," and "ambition."

"This world" is from aion (aion), which means "life," "lifetime," "age," or "generation."

"Deceitfulness" is from apatê (apate), which means "trick," "fraud," "guile," "deceit," and "treachery."

"Riches" is from ploutos (ploutos) which is used only once in Matthew to describe wealth. It means "wealth," "treasures," and "riches." It comes from the base word pletho, which means "to fill."

"Lusts" is from epithumia, (epithumia) which means "desire," "yearning," and "longing after."

"Other things" is from loipos (loipoy), which means "the remaining," "remaining over," and "the remaining."

"Entering in" is eisporeuô (eisporeuomai), which means "lead in," "go into," and "enter." It combines "eis," which means "in" with poreuô (poreuomai), which means "make to go," "carry," "convey," "bring," "go," "march," and "proceed."

"Choke" is from sumpnigô (sumnpnigo) which "to press closely" in the sense of crowding, "to choke," and "to damp down."

"Unfruitful" is from akarpos, (akarpos) which means "barren," "unfruitful," and is a metaphor for 'unprofitable."