Saturday, February
23, 2013, 7:43 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Father God” playing in my mind. Speak,
Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 13:1-23 (NIV 1984):
That same day Jesus
went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around
him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the
shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the
seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on
rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because
the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and
they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which
grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it
produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has
ears, let him hear.”
The disciples came to
him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has
been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will
have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from
him. This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing,
they do not hear or understand.
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever
seeing but never perceiving.
For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear
with their ears,
and they have
closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their
ears,
understand with
their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears
because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men
longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but
did not hear it.
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When
anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil
one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown
along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the
man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no
root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of
the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among
the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the
deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who
received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and
understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times
what was sown.”
Why Parables?
It appears that Jesus was speaking somewhere in Galilee,
perhaps in Capernaum. Evidently Capernaum was part of Israel. Israel, as a
nation at that time, still comprised the people of God living under the Old
Covenant relationship between them and God. Yet, there were most likely
Gentiles living in Capernaum, as well. So, when a crowd of people gathered to
listen to Jesus speak, the crowd could have consisted of a mixture of Jews and
Gentiles, though they may have been primarily Jewish, because Israel was a Jewish
nation.
Speaking to the crowd, Jesus told a parable about a farmer
sowing seed. The seed fell on four different types of soil and thus had four
different results. Jesus’s disciples asked him why he spoke in parables. Jesus
stated that the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom had been given to them,
his followers, who were listening to his words, and who were following Jesus’
teaching, but the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven had not been given to
“them.” So, who is “them”? Jesus went on to explain the “them.”
They were the ones Isaiah spoke about when he said these
people would be ever hearing, but never understanding; ever seeing, but never
perceiving. It appears he was speaking primarily to the people of Israel to
whom the law and the prophets had been given, to whom the covenant promise had
been given, and to whom so many blessings and provisions had been given by God
over multiple generations. Paul, when quoting Isaiah in the book of Acts
(28:26-27), applied the words spoken through Isaiah to Israel’s forefathers and
to those Israelites (Jews) of his day, as well.
I believe what Jesus was saying about the parables is that
only those who sought him out, who listened to him, and who followed him would
truly understand what Jesus was teaching, but those who had already made up
their minds and who had closed their hearts to the truth of the gospel weren’t
really listening anyway, so Jesus spoke in parables so that only those who were
truly following him would understand what he was saying. To me, the parables
required further understanding, so they prompted questions, seeking Jesus for
answers, and time spent with Jesus to learn what he was saying, so in
actuality, those who really wanted to know more would be drawn into a closer
relationship with Jesus.
What about Today?
Today, Israel, as a people of God, no longer consists of the
Jews as a nation, because they, as a nation, rejected Jesus Christ as their
Savior and Messiah (the promised one). The Bible says that Israel, i.e. the
people of God today, is comprised of those who have accepted God’s invitation
to make Jesus Christ their Lord (master) and Savior (from sin) of their lives, by
God’s grace, through faith (repentance and obedience) – see Luke 9:23-25; Eph.
4:17-24. We are the Body of Christ, the church, the temple of the Holy Spirit,
the heavenly Jerusalem, and the Holy City, and within us dwells the Holy of
Holies. Physical Jerusalem is of Hagar, the slave woman, but we are of the free
woman, and only those who have been circumcised of the heart, by the Spirit
(through faith in Jesus Christ) are true Israel.
So, how does this speak to us today? We, the church, have
been given the Word of God, Jesus Christ, salvation by grace, the indwelling
Holy Spirit, the promise of eternity with God in heaven, all the riches of God
in Christ Jesus, the gospel of salvation, God’s promises, and his blessings and
provisions. Especially in America we have been so blessed with freedom to
worship the Lord together in public, and with Biblical teaching in book stores,
on TV, on the radio and on the internet; with scripture-based words put to
music; with so many places where we can gather together without persecution
(yet); with so many Bibles in so many translations, and with so many Bible
study helps in books and on the internet, et al.
So, the question begs to be asked, “Are we, the church here
in America, a people, overall, who are ever hearing the word of God, but never
understanding; ever seeing, but never perceiving?” Is it possible to have been
given so much that we take it for granted? Is it possible to be raised in a
Christian church (institutional) and never really know Christ? Or, is it
possible to know him and yet to have fallen into a state of apathy or
lukewarmness to where we don’t pay him much attention anymore, so we are not
really listening to his words? And, is it possible to have been brought up in a
nation where the gospel is literally everywhere and so readily available and
yet never to have really even heard the truth? I believe the answer is “Yes” to
all these questions.
Part of the reason I believe this is the situation in the
institutional church here in America is that we have been given so much freedom
and Biblical knowledge and resources, that we do take them for granted. Also, we
are an affluent society. Even the poor among us have TVs, Stereos (MP3 players
or IPods), IPads (or other tablets), personal computers or laptops, and/or
smart phones, NetFlicks, video games and the like. We have access to so much
information, news, fiction, communications, et al, and so many of us are
continually plugged in to some type of electronic device or form of media or
communication. We are saturated as a society with information, news, and media
in various forms. Most everywhere you go in public there is a TV (+ some). And,
so much of what we take into our minds through these various forms of media
have no benefit at all to the advancement of the kingdom of heaven, and, in
fact, many of these influences are actually working against the advancement of
God’s kingdom and contrary to the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
I also believe that the other main reason we have this
situation in the church in America is that the church itself has largely
adopted the ways of the world, the ways of big business, and has watered down
(diluted) the gospel to make it more appealing to the world and to the human
flesh. If we are taught that we do not have to repent (turn away from our sins
and toward obedience to Christ and his commands), and we don’t have to obey Christ
in order to be saved, then we have opened the door wide for people to believe
they are saved when they are not, or to believe they can have a mediocre “relationship”
with Jesus Christ and still have his blessings and the promise and hope of
eternal life.
The Seed
The seed Jesus spoke about in his parable is the message of
the kingdom of heaven. Jesus preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
near.” Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, not just so we could go to
heaven one day, but so we could be free from slavery to sin while we still live
on the face of this earth, and so we could be slaves of righteousness. He said
that if anyone would come after him, he must deny (renounce) his selfish ways,
take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow (obey) Jesus
(Luke 9:23-25). So this message (seed) included repentance and obedience, as
well as God’s grace. And, today, just like in Jesus’ day, the message is met
with four potential responses from individuals:
1)
Hears the message, but doesn’t receive it at all
– Satan snatches it away.
2)
Hears the message, receives it joyfully, but it
never takes root, i.e. the reception of the message was shallow, so it was
short-lived – same result as #1.
3)
Hears the message, it appears it may have taken
root, but then the things of this world soon choke the truth of the message out
of the life of the person so that it is unfruitful in his or her life – could
have same result as #1 or…
4)
Hears the message, combines it with believing
faith, and bears fruit for the kingdom of heaven.
I believe no. 3 could be either someone who did not combine
hearing with genuine faith and that is why the things of this world were able
to choke out the truth, or it could be a person who genuinely believed in Jesus
Christ, was growing in his or her faith, but at some point in time got
distracted by the things of this life and God began to take a back seat or to
be ignored and temporarily forgotten. Self came back to the throne, and life’s
decisions are now based on selfish desires instead of on pleasing the Lord
Jesus. He or she is someone who knows the truth, is still hearing it audibly,
but is not really getting it and applying the truths to his or her life. Yet,
Jesus wants to move this person to #4, where he or she is listening, obeying,
daily dying to sin and self, and where he or she is being a fruit bearer for
the kingdom! I pray you will ask the Lord Jesus to show you what kind of soil
you are.
Father God /
Jennifer Love Moss / Mark Bradley
Oh, God above,
I’m falling down
before you.
There’s something I
just
Can’t get off my mind.
It seems so long
Since I’ve come to
you.
Do you remember
This child that once
adored you?
Can you forgive me
Now that I’ve ignored
you?
How can I now come
before you?
Will you hear me when
I cry?
Father God, hear my prayer.
Father God, I want to
know your will.
Help me, Lord, I need
you now.
I don’t know what to
do.
Show me the way.
Oh, precious Lord,
Do not remain in
silence.
I need your help.
There is no other way.
I can’t go on living
life for me.
All my decisions
are falling to the
ground.
I’m empty handed
And feeling so alone.
I want to be still and
know you,
But I feel so far
away.
Father God, hear my
prayer.
Father God, I want to
know your will.
Help me, Lord, I need
you now.
I don’t know what to
do.
Show me the way.
Oh, God above,
I’m falling down
before you.
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