I've always enjoyed this parable but to be honest, there were a couple points that I glossed over because they didn't quite make sense, but since I thought I got the gist of the story I never took the time to chew on it. Can't help repeating myself, but that's the great thing about this devotional - makes me meditate on what I've read.
After telling the parable, Jesus says, "but to others I speak in parables, so that,
'though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.'"
This always confused me. It almost seems to say that speaking in parables will make it even more difficult for some to understand. What's the point in that? So I turned to the ever-handy www.biblegateway.com (thanks Kris) for a couple different translations and what Jesus was actually saying was, "This parable is about some of those people!"
The additional reading includes the parable of the lamp in verses 16-18, another seemingly simple story at first glance. But verse 18 really hit me this last time around. Jesus encourages us to be generous with what we've heard as we'll be accountable for the seeds we've been given.
And finally, what grabbed me the most in this passage is the fact that the Sower spread the seed on all sorts of ground, even non-fertile soil. Its not up to us to discriminate or judge who should hear the Word any more than we can control the waves of light from a lamp once we turn it on.
Let's get sowin!
Thanks Dan for the post. Your reflection made me think about that cryptic statement by Jesus, "though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand." You know the purpose of the parable was to reveal life saving truth to those who have "spiritual ears" to hear. But Jesus also gave his parable in order to hide the truth from those who would not receive the word with a good heart (ie. the harden heart, the superficial heart, the divided heart).
ReplyDeleteWho are the people who do not receive the word with a good heart? I think they refer mainly to people of good intentions within the church who receive the message of the kingdom with a hardened or superficial or divided heart. And it is to this group that Jesus say that those "who do not have (by which I take it to mean, have a good heart that bears fruit), even what they think they have will be taken from them." This ought to put fear into the hearts of all people who sit under the message of the gospel but are not changed by it. Let’s all pray for spiritual eyes and ears as we do our private devotions and sit under the preaching ministry of the word of God. Our life, that is, our eternal life depends on how we receive the message of God’s word and what that word does to our heart and in our heart – ie. Whether is it bearing fruit or being choked by our worldliness.
Posted by Pastor James