Luke 8:1-21

Luke 8

The Parable of the Sower

1After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

4While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown."
When he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

9His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
" 'though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.'

11"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

A Lamp on a Stand

16"No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 17For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. 18Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him."

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

19Now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 20Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you."
21He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice."

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From verse 12: "Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved."

This is the part that could easily lead into a discussion of predestination, or why some are to be saved and others aren't. Do we truly make the choice ourselves? How much choice do we have, and how much is God "making it known" to us?

I don't know. What, am I supposed to have all the answers here?

The thing that DOES strike me, though, is the sheer penetration the gospel has had in many places of the world -- particularly America. Just about everyone has heard about Jesus. Sure, many haven't heard it presented very WELL, and many have false impressions about what it truly means to "be a Christian." But nevertheless, the word has gotten out in the past 2000 years! It's pretty rare to go somewhere and find someone around here that has NO knowledge of Jesus. The farmers have sowed a lot of seed!

So then, why don't more believe? Is the burden truly on the farmers that might be sowing the seed incorrectly? Is the burden on the young plants? Is the burden on God?

I suppose it falls on all three, to some extent. I admit it's not always easy to believe. It's hard not to be choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures.

As for the "lamp on a stand" section -- I had a coworker tell me once that she was a Christian, but that she didn't think we should talk about that sort of thing because it was a personal choice. She didn't want to seem like she was proselytizing. Actually, there are a LOT of people that think this way.

Again, one problem is that too many lamps have been noisy and annoying rather than being bright!

Verses 19-21 can be a struggle for me, because it seems kind of harsh at first glance. I don't always know how to take it -- was he forsaking his own family? But I must remind myself that Jesus came to earth with a task, and his entire "ministry" that is captured in the Bible only lasted for three years. He didn't have a lot of time! Plus, his point was that we have more than just our blood-relative families. You hear a lot of people in churches calling each other "brother" and "sister" now, and that's a perfect example of how people are (or should be) experiencing family and community within their group of Jesus-followers.

Huh. Once again I meant to just let the scripture speak for itself, but I ended up rambling. Oh well, feel free to ramble yourselves in the comments, if you'd like.