From Gary... Explanations, please...

Recently, a neighbor of mine (lets call her Jane) purchased a beautiful new SUV.  This vehicle has all the bells and whistles and looks very, very, costly. When she shared how much she paid for this, I was amazed that anyone in a retirement community could afford such a large amount of money, until she just happened to mention that it was a leased vehicle. Sometimes it takes explanation to understand, as in the episode below...

Mark, Chapter 4 (NASB)

Mar 4:1  He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.
Mar 4:2  And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,
Mar 4:3  "Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;
Mar 4:4  as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
Mar 4:5  "Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.
Mar 4:6  "And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
Mar 4:7  "Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
Mar 4:8  "Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
Mar 4:9  And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Mar 4:10  As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.
Mar 4:11  And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables,
Mar 4:12  so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN."
Mar 4:13  And He *said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?
Mar 4:14  "The sower sows the word.
Mar 4:15  "These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.
Mar 4:16  "In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy;
Mar 4:17  and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.
Mar 4:18  "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
Mar 4:19  but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Mar 4:20  "And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
Mar 4:21  And He was saying to them, "A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand?
Mar 4:22  "For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.
Mar 4:23  "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

Now, Jane's vehicle was a Toyota, but I didn't recognize the emblem on the back at first. And then I saw this picture which explains all....

Honestly, I felt a bit foolish for not having realized this before.  Perhaps there are things that you don't understand about the Bible- Try asking... and then really LISTEN (Mark 4:23)