Luke 8:1-3 and Matthew 13:1-23
These three verses in Luke are not likewise covered in any of the other gospels. (For more info, see my first 2019 post below.) Strange that I would be reading this account and my 2019 comments when I have been reflecting on what I might say to the parish tomorrow on our 2020 and 2021 budgets – as I speak to Jesus’ “followers and financial supporters”.
The Parable of the Sower is covered in all three Synoptic gospels; we will cover the other two versions tomorrow. Matthew is the only writer who covers this Isaiah passage in a longer quote; today I particularly noticed it in verse 15: For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them. (Isaiah 6:10) I thought of my sitting in church on any given Sunday. While there I clearly see everything. But there are times (probably every Sunday) when my mind drifts and I don’t actually hear what is being said – maybe in the readings or the sermon or even in the ancient and holy words of the liturgy. And if I fail to truly hear what is being said, there’s no way that I can gain that understanding that Jesus wants of us – that changed heart, that healed soul. But if I do see and hear and understand properly, I come away a different person; it changes me. My prayer for all of us in every pew every Sunday – to really, truly see, hear, and understand and be healed.
See also: April 9 / Luke 8:1-3; April 10 / Matt. 13:1-9; April 11 / Matt. 13:10-23