Luke 8:1-15

This is one of those stories that pops up repeatedly, so Jesus must have wanted us to give it some thought.  If your Bible is out of reach, you can read it here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%208%3A1-15&version=NLT

Luke starts this story by reminding us of something that often slips my mind. Jesus and his twelve specially chosen disciples were usually travelling in a larger group.   Among his faithful followers were a number of women who financially supported his work out of their own pockets.  Bless Luke for noticing these women and remembering them.  He mentions a few by name, and it’s worth remembering because we will meet them again.  Jesus has always shared his ministry with women.  It’s an honour to continue that tradition in whatever capacity he allows.  I pray he will help me be faithful.  

Luke chooses this moment in his account to tell us the parable of the sower.  It appears in three of the four gospels, so it must have made an impression on his followers.  Jesus probably shared the analogy many times.  Remember, he was travelling from town to town with one unified message, so the parables that were recorded are probably the ones the disciples remembered best.  

Story telling is a great way to get a message across, and Jesus knew that.  He also knew that not everyone would actually follow what he was talking about. Apparently he was counting on that.  He tells his disciples that he teaches in parables so that people would be free to not understand. I’ve wondered about this a lot.  I think it’s just this.  Some people don’t want to know the truth.  Others just aren’t ready for it.  Jesus knew that.  He also knew that people were more likely to hear a story and hold onto it.  He could have just preached the truth.  No illustrations.  No mnemonic devices.  Just the facts.  But then the people who heard him had a responsibility to respond right there and then.  And a lot of them were just there for the entertainment value, maybe to be seen.  But when you paint a picture that makes a point, your audience can walk away and chew on it.  It can come back to them later.  If they just ignore and forget it, well, that’s on them.  But if it was told in a context like theirs, a story about farming told to people who lived in a largely agrarian culture, it could keep coming back to their consciousness.  Maybe one day they would be inspecting a harvest-ready field and notice among their rich, productive crop some plants that never matured because they got choked by thorns, others that had withered because they grew up on rocks and couldn’t get roots deep enough to find water, and patches where there was nothing growing at all because the soil had been beaten to a hard path that couldn’t absorb the seed before the birds got to it.  

I guess it’s a helpful reminder to people who are trying to share the truth of the Bible with those around them.  The people who are hearing the message, the word of God, are coming from a lot of different places and levels of interest.  The message will always land, but the ground it lands on will determine what happens to it.  That’s ok.  It doesn’t stop farmers from spreading their seeds.  It shouldn’t stop us from speaking God’s word.  We aren’t responsible for the harvest.  We just have to be faithful to keep throwing the seed around.  

It also provides some instruction for those of us who are hearing the word of God.  Maybe if it’s not making much difference in our lives, it’s time to look at the environment we are providing for it to grow.  If I just keep losing the same battle, or if I can’t grasp some concept, maybe my heart needs a little cultivating.  Am I excited about what I hear in the moment, but unwilling to give it time and attention, so it sprouts and dies before it changes me?  Or maybe I’m just so distracted by other things I can’t focus on what I’m supposed to be learning.  (I’ll be real with you here, if God’s word isn’t bearing fruit in my life, that one is the most likely scenario.)  Maybe I’m just so beaten down I can’t even hear what is being said.  If I want a healthy walk of faith that changes me and makes others want to know my Jesus, I need to cultivate my heart.  

I need to close the door on distractions, 

pray for real that God would help me, 

take time to actually read the Bible, 

spend time talking about it with other believers.  

I need to cultivate a heart that is healthy enough for God’s word to take root and grow.