Matthew 13:31-35, Mark 4:30-34, and Luke 13:18-21

He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. (Mark 4:34) Mark adds a bit of an explanatory note in verse 34 as to Jesus’ affinity for speaking in parables. Would that we also could sit at His feet as …privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

…the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. (Mt. 13:32) I saw something new today, that this smallest of seeds (the mustard seed) grows to be the largest of the herbs, so large that the birds make nests in its branches. That’s a tree that is both large and strong. Granted, birds’ nests are not that heavy, but with the eggs hatched and the mother and father providing food – landing and taking off – those nests need the support of strong branches. It’s not like a weeping willow tree! But I wondered at the application for us today, and thought of those nests being our own small groups. Diocesan branches grow from the mustard seed that is ACNA, then other parish branches grow out from those diocesan branches – strong enough to host small group nests. And it’s in those small group nests that we are further nurtured. I have thought quite often of those people who left St. Andrew’s in 2019 – of how few there were who left who had been in one of the five small groups that we had at that time. There is something about small groups that is indeed nurturing!!

See also:

• April 17 (2019) / Matt. 13:31-33; Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18-21
• April 20 (2019) / Mark 4:26-29,33-34

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Seldom is Jesus so explicit in explaining something to the disciples. But in this case he detailed seven items from the parable: the sower, the field, the good seed, the weeds, the enemy, the harvest, and the reapers. Yes, there are seven elements to the parable, but I’m always fascinated when I see items as seven or twelve.

Let both grow together until the harvest… (v. 30a) I explain in the links below the difference between “row crop” planting and broadcasting seed onto a field. And clearly God has “broadcast” his children into the world. Babies from faithful mothers and unchurched mothers are born side-by-side in today’s hospitals. We are to be “in the world, but not of the world” (John 15:17). And just as the good seed and the bad seed grow together in the field, so we live side-by-side with unbelieving neighbors. So do we become more like them or do they become more like us?

I’m also thinking of good and bad seeds planted in my head. Can’t separate those very easily…!! Wait until the harvest!

See also:

• April 15 (2019) / Matt. 13:24-30
• April 16 (2019) / Matt. 13:34-43

Mark 4:1-20 and Luke 8:4-15

Two more Gospel accounts of the Parable of the Sower… I was noticing today the three seed scatterings that had negative outcomes. In the first case, by the wayside, nothing happened – no comment. In the second and third cases, however, seeds sprouted but did not bear fruit. These last two cases are interesting, in effect polar opposites, the rocky soil and the thorny ground. With the rocky soil, tribulation and persecution befall the person receiving the Word and he/she falls away. But the third case, the fertile, thorny ground is just the opposite – this person is extraordinarily blessed with money, wealth, power, whatever! And these “good things” result in the same outcome, failure to receive and act upon the Word. So life’s difficulties (tribulation and persecution) result in the same outcome as wealth and power. The better option – being good soil: But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. (Mark 4:20)

See also:

• April 12 (2019) / Mark 4:1-12
• April 13 (2019) / Mark 4:13-20
• April 14 (2019) / Luke 8:4-15

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 (2019) / Luke 8:1-3
• April 10 (2019) / Matt. 13:1-9
• April 11 (2019) / Matt. 13:10-23

Luke 8:19-21, 11:24-36, 12:10-12

Today, Luke’s writing on a number of items that we have covered the past few days in Matthew and Mark, with a number of my 2019 comments repeated in the links below…

And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. (Luke 12:11-12) Jesus’ prophetic words were realized a few years later when Peter and John found themselves in front of the Sanhedrin, defending themselves from a baseless charge in that they had done a good thing by healing a lame beggar in Jesus’ name (Acts 3). After hearing their testimony, the Jewish leaders were perplexed: Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13) These uneducated, common men, filled with the Holy Spirit spoke powerful words, just as Jesus had foretold! But one more item – these last few words from Luke are powerful for us today – do people “out there” recognize that we are living with Jesus? In my comments below I mention people looking into our eyes – what do they see? Do they see a body full of light? Do they see Jesus in us? Again, repeating Archbishop Beach, “If not, why not?”

See also:

• April 4 (2019) / Matt. 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-30; Luke 12:10-12
• April 5 (2019) / Matt. 12:38-42; Luke 11:29-32
• April 6 (2019) / Luke 11:33-36
• April 7 (2019) / Matt. 12:43-45; Luke 11:24-28
• April 8 (2019) / Matt. 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:19-21

Matthew 12:31-32, 38-50, and Mark 3:28-35

It’s been hard to organize material when the Synoptic gospels report on the same incidents – trying to keep chapters together, but also trying to follow the same incidents in two or three gospels. In addition the readings in 2019 were much shorter, so today’s readings in Matthew and Mark are covered in four separate links of my comments from 2019.

…whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. (Mark 3:29) Two items… First, Mark refers to Holy Spirit blasphemy as an “eternal sin”. Matthew and Luke have Jesus saying that this person will not be forgiven, which I suppose is saying the same thing. But there’s something about the word “eternal” that makes Jesus’ words in Mark come out so much stronger. Second, a number of commentators suggest that “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is giving Satan credit for the works of Jesus (whose works and miracles were done in the power of the Holy Spirit) – they were essentially accusing Jesus of being demon-possessed instead of Spirit-filled.” (My words from 2019.) If these commentators have that understanding correct, then the Pharisees who claimed that Jesus, Himself, was demon-possessed, then these Pharisees are damned to hell for all time. That’s tragic! Is there anyone else in all of Scripture damned to hell for all time?

See also:

• April 4 (2019) / Matt. 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-30
• April 5 (2019) / Matt. 12:38-42
• April 7 (2019) / Matt. 12:43-45
• April 8 (2019) / Matt. 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35

Matthew 12:22-30, Mark 3:20-27, and Luke 11:14-23

RTNT 2021. Then He went home… (Mark 3:20) This is one of the few recorded occasions (that I recall) where Jesus “went home”. Presumably Mark is referring to Peter’s (and Andrew’s?) house in Capernaum, for which there are a number of indications that Jesus used this house as a base for His Galilean ministry. Still, we don’t often think of Jesus having a “home”.

God’s echo…! In the third (Mark) link below, in that first of three items the discussion centers on Jesus’ family coming to take Him away: He is out of His mind. (Mark 3:21) We had this very discussion in our Men’s Group ZOOM meeting last night. Sunday’s Transfiguration reading led to a discussion of how anyone (Peter, James, and John in this case) could fall away from Jesus after having seen Him in His glorified state. That “following Jesus forever” discussion led to today’s reading about His family wanting to take Him away, but Mary maintained faith in who Jesus was, even to the point of following Him to the cross. In that post below I defended her “intervention” two years ago. It’s always nice to see these “echo” occasions!

When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. (Luke 11:21-22) When I read this verse I tend to think of Satan or one of his demons as the “strong man” and Jesus as the one stronger than he. However, an alternative interpretation could be that any one of us is that “strong man” and that Satan or one of his demons is the one stronger than he. We might look a bit more at this interpretation. This “strong man” – any one of us – is “fully armed” and guarding what is entrusted to him/us. But if we let our guard down even a slight bit, we can allow that one stronger than he to overcome us. The key is in the phrase, “fully armed”. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:10-17 what it means to be “fully armed”. We need to be vigilant: Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (I Peter 5:8)

See also:

• April 1 (2019) / Matt. 12:22-30
• April 2 (2019) / Luke 11:14-23
• April 3 (2019) / Mark 3:20-27

Luke 7:36-50

Each of the gospel writers records an anointing. Luke has his early in Jesus’ ministry, in Galilee; the other three place the (an?) anointing at the end of Jesus’ life, in Bethany in Judea. John is the only writer who names the woman – Mary – presumably Lazarus’ and Martha’s sister. Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts are quite similar and differ in a number of respects from John’s. All three differ substantially from Luke’s account, the one we are reading today. Scholars differ as to whether there was only one anointing or whether there were two (or three). But if there is any “correct chronology”, with Luke as our resident research historian, I would argue for two anointings – today’s and the one recorded much later in the other three gospels.

I’m wondering about Simon the Pharisee. Was he a Nicodemus-type “true seeker” or was he part of the Pharisaic effort to dispel this Messianic pretender? Evidently he was not a gracious host, having failed to offer Jesus water for His feet or to anoint His head with oil or to give Him a greeting kiss. These failures argue for the latter interpretation – that he was not a true seeker. Possibly he was somewhere in between, a rude host who was somewhat intrigued by Jesus? Simon does say to himself, “If this man were a prophet…?”, so it may be that he had some premonition that Jesus was more than a pretender.

This is now the second time that we have seen Jesus forgive sins. Forgiving sins is not like our forgiving one another for wrongs done. We saw earlier the Pharisees asking, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Luke 5:21) How does Jesus’ forgiving sins early in His Galilean ministry square with our theology that it is through His substitutionary death on the cross that our sins are forgiven? In forgiving sins early in His ministry, is Jesus appealing to His Father to grant this forgiveness, through Him? This issue is way too deep for my complete lack of theological training! Others of you care to weigh in…?

See also: March 31 (2019) / Luke 7:36-50

Luke 7:18-35

When we read these Matthew and Luke accounts on consecutive days we see how very similar they are – which makes the differences between them more pronounced. As happened to me two years ago, verses 29 and 30 caught my eye: When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. Sadly, the Pharisees (lawyers) rejected the purpose of God for themselves. That is such a sad statement. Still, I constantly am sympathetic to their plight. Both John and Jesus were turning the Pharisees’ “church” on its end, bringing new activities, new testimonies, new converts. What to make of these new upstarts? However, the evidence was there before them – Jesus recounting what He had done for the blind, the lame, the lepers, the deaf, the dead and the poor. They simply could not ignore Jesus – but they also could not embrace Him!

What struck me further in these two verses is whether or not we are “rejecting the purpose of God for ourselves”. But maybe we put this burden too easily on ourselves. Maybe not… But I’m thinking about the hundreds of people we know who are in fact “rejecting the purpose of God for themselves”. God created each and every one of us to love Him and to serve Him and others. Each one of us, both the lost and the found, have a purpose from God in our having been created. But far too many out there reject His purpose in their lives. They ignore or reject His call on their lives and in the world around them. Carol and I constantly have four of our brothers in mind (two each), almost daily, as they continue to reject Jesus – even though they were raised like us and know of His death, His resurrection, His salvation. We know that part of “our purpose” is reaching out to them, even though their responses can be heated. We pray – and wait.

See also: March 30 (2019) / Luke 7:18-35

Matthew 11:2-19

I got my undergraduate degree from a public institution, the University of Illinois. I was pleased to learn that this public institution offered a pair of Old and New Testament courses as fulfilling the Humanities General Studies requirement (and I certainly did not want to take Shakespeare courses!). It was in this NT course (taken out of sequence) that I wrote a paper about John the Baptist entitled “Born of Woman, No Man Greater”. That paper marked the beginning of my study of the Bible. It was also because of this NT course that I met a young man (Jim) who later led me to the Lord. We were in a Chemistry class together and I had brought my NT textbook, the Oxford Annotated Bible to class with me. Jim had already taken the NT course and recognized the OAB. That book started a conversation that terminated some three years later with my “born again” experience. So today’s reading brings back happy memories for me.

And again, David mentioned this very reading in his sermon today. Echo!!

See also: March 29 (2019) / Matt. 11:2-19