“And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,”
He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said — the parable section of Mark 4 is the only extended teaching discourse in this Gospel before the Olivet Discourse of chapter 13. Mark's Gospel is primarily a narrative of action; chapter 4 is its major teaching interlude. The many things by parables communicates that what is recorded is a selection, not a complete transcript. The parable as a teaching form uses the familiar (agriculture, households, nature) to communicate the unfamiliar (the kingdom of God). The parables are not merely illustrative but structurally revelatory: they show the kingdom's nature in the only way the kingdom's nature can be communicated — through story.
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