WELCOME
PRAYER
SONG
SILENCE
So we move on into the narrative of Luke at verse 8 where we read:
Luke 8.1-18
September 8th 2019
Meat
Luke 8:1 And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,
2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,
3 And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.
4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:
5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
16 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.
17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.
Luke 8:1 And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village (which appear to have all been in Galilee), preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,
The scripture speaks of – –
The Kingdom of Christ (Mt 6:33; Mr 1:14-15; Lu 4:43)
The Kingdom of Christ and God (Mt 13:41; 20:21)
The Kingdom of David (Ephesians 5:5)
The Kingdom (Mr 11:10) and
The kingdom of heaven (Mt 3:2; 4:17; 13:41)
Which all describe and refer to the same thing – perhaps in different aspects of it.
These aspects include:
Christ’s mediatorial authority and/or his coming rule on the earth.
the blessings and advantages of all kinds that flow from this reign
the subjects of this kingdom taken collectively, or the Church.
It’s important to note that while Jesus and the apostles were introducing the Kingdom and its arrival to earth which was initiated with the preaching of John the Baptist, only the elements of it appear to be in place while they were sharing the message of it; that the kingdom of God was “about to come in full” then and that the reign of the gospel was about to be set up over men once
the Propitiation for sin was made via crucifixion.
The death and resurrection occurred.
The ascension into heaven happened.
The Holy Spirit
The trials and persecutions of the Saints fell.
Satan’s reigns knowing his time was short
Jesus returns to save his church-bride, and
Jerusalem (all material religion) is leveled to the dust.
Then, and only then, would and could, the Kingdom of God (which Jesus plainly said is “in you”) could begin to reign from on high by the Spirit.
So Jesus is preparing the way for the fulfillment of all I just said to occur completely – and the twelve apostles were with him.
2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,
We are about to read about a group of women who came to minister to Jesus and the first one mentioned is Mary Magdalene, who obviously had been involved with Jesus in the past – having been healed of evil spirits (apparently seven devils) and infirmities.
Mary Magdalene, which best means, Mary of Magdala, which was or is still a town on the western shore of the Lake of Tiberias.
This is the first place we meet her in scripture as one of the women who “ministered to Christ of their substance.”
Which were apparently acts of gratitude for Him delivering them from various ailments and in this Mary’s case, demonic possession – seven of them.
We know from Matthew 27:55, Mark 15 and Luke 23 that these women accompanied him also on his last journey to Jerusalem, they stood near the cross. And there this Mary remained till all of it was over and His body was taken down and laid in Joseph’s tomb.
Then again, we know that in the earliest dawn of the first day of the week this same woman, along with Salome and Mary the mother of James (Matthew 28:1; and Mark 16:2) came to the sepulchre, bringing with them sweet spices, that they might anoint the body of Jesus.
There they found the sepulchre empty but saw the “vision of angels.” It was this Mary who ran to tell Peter and John, who were probably living together at this time and then she immediately returned to the sepulcher where she lingered, weeping at the door of the tomb.
Of all the people in His life, all those that He healed and those that He helped, Our Lord appears to this Mary of Magdala and oddly she initially does not recognize him.
So he says her name “Mary,” and she utters the joyful, reverent cry, “Rabboni.”
She tried to touch him but he forbids her, saying, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father.” And then this is the last record we have of Mary of Magdala.
Much has been said about her – that she was Jesus wife, that she was a harlot, and on and on. All we know is what I just recited to you except that she was from a place south of Capernaum and it was where Jesus went after feeding the four thousand.
We also know that seven in scripture often does not mean seven but could mean all devils that were in her.
So she is the first woman mentioned here by Luke. And that fact that he names these women certainly leads us to believe that they were a big part of the life and times of Jesus ministry on earth.
(verse 3)
3 And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.
Herod Antipas, who reigned in Galilee, who was a son of Herod the Great, had a steward named Khood-zahs, and who had a wife named Joanna, and Suzanna – we know nothing more about Joanna or Suzanna than they were here ministering unto the Lord of her substance and at His crucifixion.
Steward’s were typically slaves who were put in-charge of the domestic affairs of an important person and were in such a place because they were trusted.
So while Khood-zahs was faithfully serving Herod Antipas, his wife was serving the Lord – sound like a behind the scenes power couple in the faith to me.
When it reads that they ministered of their substance that is akin to saying that they bestowed upon the Lord their property and/or possessions.
What those possessions were is unknown but it is doubtful that it was opulence but more likely some food, a little money, wine and or piece of apparel or sandals.
They were materially fortifying his ministry but people then, and especially his followers, were typically very poor – which gives even more significance to this benevolence.
A final but important point in the set up of this scene: women. Lots of women.
Prior to the establishment of the faith, the Kingdom of God, when Satan reigned over the house of Israel, slavery and bigamy, and great mistreatment of women was universal.
Men were expected to treat their wives fairly but even under the Law they were not seen as equals. And of course, polygamy (introduced by Lamech, the Son of Cain, to the world and certainly not God at the Garden of Eden) was also practiced.
When Christ came, and overtook the effects of the Fall, which somehow allowed such things to exist and left God to only managing people amidst them, he reinstituted the way things were from the beginning – one man and one women – equal and in harmony with each others unique differences.
What I am saying is Jesus and the Good News, and the Kingdom of God established, did more for the emancipation and liberty of women than ANY other event in history.
To me the healing of these women was indictive of His overcoming the alienating effects of the fall heaped upon women as a whole – which amounted to some real devotion to these women whom he healed.
At this point, we are set up to hear a teaching where Jesus shares a profound parable (verse 4)
4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:
Now Matthews account presents the setting this way:
13:1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying,
We don’t have Luke giving us the same setting so either he omits this or it was a different setting with a similar teaching.
I am going to ignore the geographical setting and sort of amalgamate it all into one and the same setting and story for clarities sake. (verse 5)
5 A sower went out to sow his seed . . .
“A Sower went forth to sow his seed.”
What imagery we already have in our minds. Imagery that probably every man and woman present would understand and it is an imagery that even in our industrial age carries on – I mean, we because we still refer to someone sharing the Word of God with others as “sowing,” don’t we?
It is easy to see a person with a canvas bag strapped over their shoulder and the bag is sagging with seeds. And the person is going forth over the soil tossing and scattering them as a means to introduce them to the earth with the hope that they will take root.
So he speaks to them a parable beginning with:
A sower went forth to sow his seed – let’s read the parable itself –
and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
We’re going to cover the meaning of this parable later. But Jesus concludes teaching it with saying to the mass of people:
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
In my opinion, this is really a main factor behind the Lord telling parables. At one point He refused to give unbelieving Pharisees a sign and informed them that those who receive information they are not ready to hear end up worse off in the end than when they began.
I mean even the Lord spoke in parables that not everyone could understand. There is an important principle in “not casting pearls before swine,” as the scripture says because they will “trample the value of your words underfoot.
We are wise in our communications, attempting to understand our audience and its intentions.
For almost a decade and a half the ministry has received emails from people asking questions. It became necessary to assess as quickly as possible the intentions of the writers in order to not waste time.
You get pretty good at it after a while. Parables were a means of letting those really seeking truth to hear or ultimately understand while protecting the central message from those who are only out to attack and destroy.
Somewhere in the communication of truth when it hits the area of the human brain and heart, it will stick and grow in some and be rejected by others.
So Jesus, delivering very simple stories that contained great depth of meaning, is able to reach those with ears to hear and eyes to see while avoiding giving those who cannot handle the truth too much information.
In a rather profound sense, when it comes to sharing the truths of the Gospel with anyone – it ALL boils down to this line Jesus ends the parable of the Sower with:
“He who has ears to hear, let Him hear.”
The question, for me, is why do some have ears to hear and why do some to remain deaf?
I am convinced that it all comes down to the desires of the individual hearts. Those who honestly yearn for God’s truth will have ears to hear it, and those who have other intentions will hear and see what they honestly want to see and hear.
What’s interesting about parables, though, is that everyone can draw out from them various levels of meaning, and even those with eyes to see may not completely understand what they mean – including Jesus own disciples.
Such things take time to take root – and may or may not – depending on whether other enemies to the truth insert themselves into the mix.
In Matthews account of the telling of this parable of the Sower we read
10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
So even the disciples didn’t automatically understand Jesus reasons for teaching in this matter. Additionally, they often didn’t know the meaning of the parables He taught – as we will see relative to this one.
In any case, in response to the question as to why He spoke in parable Jesus gives SOME insight as to why some understand, saying:
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Now, when we read the word, mysteries, we automatically think of something that is really enigmatic and puzzling.
But in the Greek, the English word mystery relates best to something that has been covered or hidden, not revealed.
It’s not that the concepts are hard to figure out and are puzzling but just that they have not been brought to the light of day.
Therefore, the mysteries of the kingdom do not mean incomprehensible doctrines.
It is really important to make this distinction because human beings have a tendency to gravitate toward the mysterious; we like to delve into what is difficult and unavailable to the rest of the world and we often feel “special” when we are in possession of such knowledge.
This human bent was present very early on in the church with a people group called the Gnostics.
They prided themselves in possessing the mysteries of the Kingdom nobody else had.
But this was not the way the Lord worked.
When He was on trial, He said Himself:
John 18:20 “I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.”
Our Lord taught openly.
Suffered openly.
Died openly, and rose up in an open tomb.
Men love to take His open, free, liberating gospel and make it secret, mysterious.
Jesus came to bring light and to reveal, to expose and illuminate NOT the reverse. His parables were a means to teach those who had ears to hear based on the desires of their hearts.
Relative to the Gospel, that the Messiah would come and not be a political savior and therefore He would be crucified and raised from the dead – something that was not known or understood by the Nation.
Paul said in Romans 16:25
“Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began . . .”
He also said in Colossians 1:25-27
“Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
When the Apostles came to him and asked why he spoke in parable he said:
Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
This explains why the Jews would reject His own, the Jewish leadership would put their Messiah to death, their leadership and Nation dismantled, and the Good News would reach out to a Gentile nation.
In my estimation the Gospel was hid to His own because their hearts were not set on knowing the truth.
Jesus adds to the teaching, saying:
12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
In other words, those who have ears but do not hear will dwindle and lose whatever they have possessed.
Naturally, He was referring to the Nation of Israel. They had the Law, the Messiah, and access to the written oracles.
But because they do not have the ability to receive the more, again, due to the nature and disposition of their OWN hearts, they lost what they once possessed.
It’s almost a universal truth. Those in possession of some and improve upon it typically receive more – whether it be money, intelligence, love, or spiritual insight.
The Jews had many opportunities of learning the truth, Jesus came to them, he taught openly, and yes he taught in parables, but some heard and others did not. Why?
Their own hearts. They were NOT willing.
In Matthew Jesus says to them:
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they “seeing see not;” and “hearing they hear not,” neither do they understand.
The lines, “they seeing see not,” and “hearing they hear not” are just another way of saying they get the simple message of the parables, perhaps the physical elements of the teachings, but they entirely miss the purpose of the teaching in the first place which was always spiritual.
The proverbial blindness of the Jews was prophesied of hundreds of years before Jesus was even born by Isaiah, and Jesus notes this in the Matthew account, saying of the Nation of Israel
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
This verse is quoted from Isaiah 6:9-10 and, as with many prophesies, it had an application to the people at the time of Isaiah AND related to this time of the Lord. And what does the rest of it say?
“For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
We put this verse to music, which we have sung here are CAMPUS many times. It is a sad, factual verse, but not a condemnatory one.
God loves His creations. He longs for them to see and hear. This passage from Isaiah, repeated by our Lord, has the tenor of a parent who woefully bemoans the plight of a child addicted to drugs, the world, or is in a horribly destructive relationship – but can’t see the peril due to the power the external influences have on them DUE to the desires of their hearts.
This is why Jesus says to the apostles, whom he had chosen:
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
What a thing for the Lord to say to someone, huh? “Blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.”
I want Him to say that to me. And the only way I can see him being able to say that to me is because I choose to examine my own heart and its true intentions on a regular basis.
Those apostles truly were blessed to have eyes to see because standing before them, teaching them, was the greatest promise made flesh to ever occur in human history.
So, Jesus has presented this parable of the sower which we just read, and back to verse 9 of Luke 8 we read:
9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
It’s fascinating to me that Jesus has told them that they do in fact have eyes to see and ears to hear but they still ask Him to explain the parable to them! (Verse 10)
10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
Its subtle but do you see it? He said that he teaches in parables so those who see will see and those who don’t won’t.
Then he tells them in Matthew that they are blessed because they see and hear.
Then they ask Him, what do these parables mean?
And then he says to these apostles alone:
Unto you it is given . . . to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
In other words, “happy are you for having ears to hear and eyes to see” and then he tells them, “Unto you are GIVEN to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God” (meaning, I am going to tell you straight up what these parables mean – and I believe that this was done BECAUSE 1) they were men with hearts to hear and eyes to see, and 2) because they needed to understand clearly. And so at verse 11 Jesus proceeds to explain to them the parable, saying:
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Lets spend the remainder of our time speaking to this wonderfully insightful teaching of the master.
By the way, did you catch that the explanation of the PARABLE is given to everyone of us here today?
That in that day, it remained obscured to the audience He was teaching (with the exception of His Apostles) but today WE get to have the parable openly and plainly explained to us by reading what happened then?
That’s a pretty good proof that what Jesus did with them/then served a very different purpose than what it does today.
So let’s go to the board and let Jesus teach us plainly the meaning of the parable of the Sower.
SEED
(WORD OF GOD)
NOTES:
1 The Word is Spoken and or Read.
2 It is released by the Sower propelling it forth. Action.
2 The Sower’s actions are not always successful.
In fact, statistically speaking only one seed in four result in fruit. 25%
Wayside Soil
Rocky Soil
Thorny Soil
Good Soil
(Notice how Jesus leads this all back to the desires of the individual heart – what it wants, what it cares about, what its focus is on)
RECEPTION
Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
ENEMY
Then cometh the Devil
Temptation
(Matthew says insulted for the words sake)
Cares and Riches and pleasures of the World
ACTION
Taketh away the word out of their heart
Shallow growth
Go forth (into such things)
The Heart
Hears the word
Keeps it
RESULT
Lest (meaning they don’t) believe and are saved
Lack of roots
Are choked (showing initial growth)
Brings forth FRUIT with patience
SUMMARY
Never believed
Not saved from End time Destruction or to the New Jerusalem
Once believed with Joy “fall away”
Fruit to perfection, relative to Hebrews 6, suggests they fail to learn to love perfectly.
The Goal – FRUIT
Lesson to us
James 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Growth in the faith vital to sustainability
The danger in playing church.
Takes patience
