Mark 4:21-25 and Luke 8:16-18

“Notice what you notice.” …for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away (Luke 6:18). We saw this verse earlier in Matthew (and also today in Mark) – I remember texting about the word “has”. But Luke adds a caveat, “even what he thinks he has”. Those extra words jumped out. What we have – do we really have it or do we just think we have it? Because what we have today could be gone tomorrow!! Only our heavenly treasures will stand the test of time!

For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light (Luke 8:17). There is nothing in our lives that we have “hidden” that is not already known to God. And my sense from this verse is that this awful thing that we have “hidden” will become known to all the world at the Final Judgment. How embarrassing!! So, what to do? Confess! Confession is more than just “good for the soul”. Confession un-hides what is hidden. When we confess that “hidden” thing before God or to one another, that “hidden” thing is no longer hidden – it has “come to light” and, in my reading, is no longer fodder for the Final Judgment. And my guess is that unburdening ourselves from that hidden thing will fully lighten our loads in this present life.

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 13:44-52

“Notice what you notice.” Another late evening RTB for me… We’ve just got a lot going on that requires daytime hours. Sorry to those of you who wait for my note to begin your reading…!!

So today, two similar parables (Hidden Treasure and Pearl of Great Value) and one “end-time” parable, similar to the Wheat and Weeds (Tares). The first two are quite familiar to me. We cover one of them in Avanza and the other is quite similar. Except that the Hidden Treasure parable is a bit odd, in that a man found the treasure, then re-buried it and went off to buy the field. Even our Avanza kids thought this was a bit unethical. But the point that Jesus is making effectively justifies the means to the end – the Kingdom of Heaven is worth anything we have to do to get there – but Jesus has already done it all; we have but to accept his offer!

The Pearl of Great Price came home to me some 15 or so years ago. I was in a Wednesday morning prayer group; another member of the group was an accomplished saxophonist. He found what he considered to be the best saxophone he had ever seen – then went off and sold all his other instruments and bought that saxophone. It was his Pearl of Great Price.

Finally, the Dragnet parable, as I noted above, is quite similar to the Wheat and Weeds parable. However, it is the one parable of these seven in chapter 13 that is least familiar to me. Similar to the Wheat and the Weeds, there is an end-time sorting out between the good and the bad. So if we are the “good”, we are told that the “bad” will continue to exist among us. I could extend this a bit to that book title, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. But Scripture tells us, that’s the way it will always be – the bad with the good until the Kingdom of Heaven is fully consummated!

But what really struck me today was verse 51. Jesus said, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” Are these the same disciples who seem NOT to be “getting it” time and time again? But they have a simple answer – “Yes”. Today’s parables are three of the seven parables that Jesus has related to them in Chapter 13. There must be some value in repetition!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 13:31-33, Mark 4:30-32, and Luke 13:18-21

“Notice what you notice.” Two parables today – the mustard seed and leaven. A common denominator seems to be growth. The mustard seed is small, yet when planted grows into a 10-foot tree. And leaven “grows” the flour mixture to make bread or cakes. But the two examples are actually opposite to one another. The mustard seed is itself and outside influences – soil, water, nutrients – act upon it and cause its growth. Leaven, however, is the growth agent. It acts upon the flour mixture and causes the growth.

Jesus’ application for these two parables is the kingdom of God / kingdom of heaven. So He may be speaking of a small “mustard seed” group of people – Himself and His twelve disciples – who started small, but would grow infinitesimally over time to become the Kingdom. And as leaven affects the bread lump, these same disciples would be change agents for the entire world.

Or maybe we can make this personal? Outside influences – parents, teachers, pastors – advance us in our “mustard seed” Christian growth. By contrast, the leaven that is us affects those around us and helps them in their Christian growth. That is, we are leaven for the Kingdom.

I have to make mention of Mark’s particulars again. Matthew and Luke both say that the mustard seed “becomes a tree”. Mark, however, paints us the more complete picture: …it grows up…and puts out large branches… (Mark 4:32). A small item, but more picturesque, more detailed. Matthew and Luke also say that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches (Mt. 13:32; Lk. 13:19 uses past tense terminology). Mark, however, says that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade (Mark 4:32). Branches vs. shade? Go figure.

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 13:34-43

“Notice what you notice.” I keep seeing “the house”: Then He left the crowds and went into the house (v. 36). I just find it fascinating that Jesus has “a house” to go into. In addition, whenever I see “the house”, I just expect that He is in Capernaum, staying with Peter. Nothing more, just that – He went into the house.

Both the ESV and NASB translate verse 36 as it is written above. The NKJV offers a different perspective: Then Jesus sent the multitude away… (v. 36). It’s two completely different meanings between Jesus’ simply leaving the crowds and His sending them away. Frankly, it’s hard to see Jesus “sending them away”. At the Feeding of the 5000, when His disciples came to Him and asked Him to send the crowd away so that they could buy food, His response was to challenge the disciples to feed them, which He/they then did. So “sending them away” seems like an unlikely action for Jesus.

I wouldn’t have noticed verse 42(b), except that my Study Bible pointed out that “weeping and gnashing of teeth” occurs six times in Matthew and nowhere else in the New Testament. Still, it’s a phrase that seems to enjoy common usage – at least from my perspective.

It’s late and it’s been a very long day for me.

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 13:24-30

“Notice what you notice.” Matthew’s Parable of the Weeds (Tares)… Jesus’ explanation for this parable comes tomorrow, so be careful not to try to explain the parable or make too much of the meaning behind the story. This is the first of six “kingdom of heaven” parables in this chapter, with Jesus using metaphors to show His disciples what the kingdom of heaven is like (Mt. 13:31,33,44,45,47).

Yesterday at our RTB gathering we talked about planting seed by the “broadcast” method – grabbing seed from a bag by the handful and flinging it out, trying to spread it as evenly as possible. This is in contrast to “row crop” planting where seeds are planted in rows and spaced fairly evenly apart. With room to walk between the rows it would be more possible to pull up weeds (or cut them off at ground level) and not disturb the good seed. But with broadcast seed, it is difficult to walk through the field looking for the weeds and not stepping on and killing the good grain.

Another complication, as explained in footnotes in two Bibles, is that the weeds/tares that were sown in the wheat was actually “darnel”, a plant that looks like wheat when it is young but is clearly distinguishable when the wheat seed bears fruit. So the servants had to wait until the harvest to separate the wheat and the weeds.

Not much for today…

Slava Bohu!

Luke 8:4-15

“Notice what you notice.” Luke’s account of the Parable of the Sower… In spite of being the shortest of the three accounts of this parable, Luke has two items that the other writers do not have.

The first is in verse 8, As He said these things, He cried out (or He called out), “he who has ears to hear, let him hear”! Mark writes, “He said…”; Matthew simply continues from a previous sentence. I particularly like that “He cried out…” the translation in the NKJV. I always picture Jesus speaking calmly, teaching, sometimes in a louder voice, but never shouting. Even when He is chastising the Pharisees, I don’t see Him screaming, “You brood of vipers…”. He cried out… puts a slightly different imperative on those of us who believe we “have ears”.

Second, both Matthew and Mark end their explanations of the parable with the recipients on good soil accepting or understanding the word and bearing fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. Luke ends his account with …in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience (v. 15). Two things are different here: (1) they hold {the word} fast in an honest and good heart and (2) they bear fruit with patience. The “honest and good heart” phrase paints a picture of a sainted follower – quietly listening, absorbing, fully touched by Jesus’ words. Nice.

But I really like bearing fruit “with patience”. We sowers simply speak “the word” and wait…, wait…, wait… Whatever our listener’s reaction, we wait. Minutes. Hours. Days. Months. Years…???!!! (My baby brother…!) We don’t know the final outcome when we share “the word”. GLORY!

Slava Bohu!

Mark 4:13-20

“Notice what you notice.” I try to remain true to our guideline for this year, “Notice what you notice.” And often it’s a small thing – and again today.

Mark 4:14 says, The sower sows the word. That doesn’t sound like anything earth-shattering, but it was a sentence that was missing in Matthew, who jumped right in with Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom… (Mt. 13:18-19a). It’s another case of Mark clarifying something with just a bit more description. Luke actually says it even more clearly, Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God (Luke 8:11). But also, Luke is missing one word that Mark has – “the sower”.

To mention “the sower” is to put a distinct imprint on a somebody. It may be Jesus’ words, but it’s not necessarily coming directly from Jesus’ mouth. It could be (and will be later) His disciples. Or it could be – and certainly is – me! Us! I am the sower. We are the sowers!! And what are we sowing? That is, what “word” are we sowing? With our words…? With our actions…? Paul says on a number of occasions, Be imitators of me… (I Cor. 4:16, 11;1). Can we say that? Do we want others hearing “the word” that we speak or doing “the word” that we do? It’s a really small item, The sower sows the word, but it has a lot to say to us!

Slava Bohu!

Mark 4:1-12

“Notice what you notice.” Today is Mark’s account of the Parable of the Sower. As with Matthew’s account, the parable comes today with the explanation tomorrow. Yesterday I dealt with minutia, a focus on the word “has” in Matthew’s Gospel. That focus was, in part, because Matthew is the only account of this parable that has that verse, For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away (Mathew 13:12). So today, more to the parable itself.

My interest today is in verse 7, the third type of soil: Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. I am always intrigued when I see something in real life today that amplifies something in Scripture. That’s the case with verse 7. Gardens, farming, and agriculture in general provide good connections with the first century A.D. – the earth has produced our food from the beginning of time.

We have planted a garden every year since we moved to our small farm. This past summer we had all the crops in that we intended to plant and Carol had probably a cup or so of sweet corn seed left over. So late in the planting season she prepared a small 6×6 spot of “good soil” and planted those seeds. Alas, that plot was too small to plant all the seeds, so Carol doubled, tripled, even quadrupled some seeds into the same hole. Because it was late in the season and we had so much rain we did not get much harvest from that small plot. The stalks grew, but yielded very little sweet corn.

However, just a week ago we were in our garden pulling up corn stalks to burn prior to tilling the soil anew. I was working on that small plot. Although some stalks were of normal height, most of the stalks were somewhat stunted in their growth compared to stalks in the larger plot that had been planted earlier in the season. However, I was not ready for the Bible lesson. Where Carol had dropped three or four seeds into one hole, every one of those stalks was barely a foot tall. The seeds had fought one another for sunlight and nourishment to the point that none of them produced worth a darn. Although the problem was not the seed “falling among thorns”, the seeds did “choke” one another and yielded no fruit.

It’s sweet when everyday occurrences bring Scripture teachings to life!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 13:10-23

“Notice what you notice.” Yesterday, today, and the next three days are all about the sower and the seed. I’m sure we’ve all heard a number of sermons/messages on this famous parable, so it might be hard to pick out much to say, especially when we are repeating it twice. So I would encourage you to send your comments, no matter how large or how small. Even tiny snippets can sometimes speak mightily into our souls.

For to the one who has, … but from the one who has not… (v. 12). Has or has not WHAT??!! From the context I’ve always had to interject my own words into that verse, words like faith or belief. For to the one who has {faith}, … but from the one who has not {faith}… But it’s even more confusing than that. In the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) Jesus uses very similar words: For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away (v. 29). Clearly in this context Jesus is talking about money or wealth or talent. It’s not that clear in today’s reading.

Even today in my initial reading I was inserting words (faith, mostly). But as I looked deeper, reading and re-reading, I saw the same word “has” in the previous verse: To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. I realize that “has” is only a helping verb here, but it did allow me to interject words into verse 12 other than faith or belief: For to the one who has {the secrets of the kingdom of heaven…}. So I can re-read verse 12 differently: For to the one who has {the secrets of the kingdom of heaven}, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not {the secrets of the kingdom of heaven}, even what he has will be taken away (my emphasis and wording added in bold).

So where does that take me? It gives me something concrete to go on. Instead of vague concepts like faith or belief, we have Jesus speaking of specifics, like His Father in heaven or eternal life, or repentance and renewal, etc. Jesus could be suggesting that some of His listeners truly HAVE these secrets of the kingdom of heaven imbedded in their souls and they will continue to learn more. Others do not, and as He goes on in this reading, some clearly never will! Sad.

We’ll spend more time unpacking this parable in the next few days.

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 13:1-9

“Notice what you notice.” Today is our 100^th day in the Gospels – just so you know… Pat yourselves on the back if you’re keeping up. What hits me today is the fact that it’s all coming together for me. Except for our earlier time in Judea, we’ve had almost three months in Galilee, with most of that time in and around Capernaum. I’ve spent time with maps so I have some feel for the area, and I’ve got Capernaum firmly in my mind as a seaside city. So Jesus getting into a boat and the crowd standing on the beach (v. 2) is a clear picture in my mind.

What struck me most today, immediately, was the beginning of the first verse, That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. Both words, “house” and “sea” were immediately alive to me! I’ve commented at least twice, maybe three or four times, about Jesus being in a house, living in a house, going home, etc., likely to Peter’s house. So our passage today begins with Jesus in the house and then leaving the house – and I can see that! He goes out for a walk, for a breath of fresh air and sits by the sea – and I can see that! It’s really just a passing thought to most readers, more than likely glossed over until they get to the meat of the parable. But for me, it’s a glory sighting: That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. GLORY!

Slava Bohu!