“And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.”
Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times — the yield figures (thirty, sixty, a hundred times) are extraordinary by ancient agricultural standards, where a tenfold return was considered excellent. The exaggerated abundance communicates the kingdom's supernatural fruitfulness: not merely good returns but overwhelmingly abundant harvest. The three levels of abundance (thirty, sixty, a hundred) communicate that fruitfulness varies among the good soil group — not all bear equally, but all bear abundantly by normal standards. The kingdom's harvest is disproportionate to the sowing — the logic of grace exceeds the logic of agriculture.
Church Fathers on Mark 4:8
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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