“And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:”
Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow — the rocky ground is not ground covered with rocks but ground with a shelf of bedrock just below the surface, a thin layer of soil over stone. The quick sprouting is not a virtue but a sign of the problem: rapid growth in shallow soil indicates that the roots are spreading horizontally rather than going deep, because the bedrock prevents downward growth. The quickness is deceptive — it looks like responsive growth but it is superficial growth that lacks the foundation for sustained life.
Church Fathers on Mark 4:5
Although the Lord appears in the transactions mentioned above to neglect His mother, nevertheless He honours her; since on her account He goes forth about the borders of the sea.
For if we look into the Gospel of Matthew, it appears that this same teaching of the Lord at the sea, was delivered on the same day as the former. For after the conclusion of the first sermon, Matthew immediately subjoins, saying, 'The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea-side.'
But He began to teach at the sea, that the place of His teaching might point out the bitter feelings and instability of His hearers.
Read all 22 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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