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!

Luke 8:1-3

“Notice what you notice.” A very short passage today. My Study Bible tells me that these verses are from Jesus’ second journey into Galilee, so if true my chronology is messed up. Still, we do have Jesus in Galilee going throughout the “cities and villages” (v. 1).

So three women (“and many others”, v. 3) are mentioned as accompanying Jesus on his journeys (along with the twelve disciples) and providing for Him/them out of their means. Two of these three women, Mary Magdalene and Joanna were also with Mary the mother of Jesus when they went to the tomb on Easter morning (Luke 24:10). So these two clearly were very devoted followers, all the way from Galilee to Jerusalem!

Joanna is curious in this mix. Luke has her as the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager (v. 3). A CNN special series in 2015 said that this Herod was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great (https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/31/living/funding-jesus-ministry/index.html). So Joanna was probably both wealthy and well-placed – not that Jesus needed any political connections!! Luke writes that these were women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities (v. 2), so presumably Joanna’s following Jesus was an expression of her appreciation for Jesus’ ministry toward her.

Luke is the only writer who mentions this financial support for Jesus and these three women are his only mention. It is likely, however, that Jesus had other support, including Lazarus’ family (John 11) plus Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea (John 19:38-40). Luke otherwise had a lot to say about wealth and poverty, so it’s strange that he had so little to say about financial support.

It just dawned on me that we (as faithful givers) are followers and financial supporters of Jesus’ ministry. We belong in an updated version of Luke 8:1-3!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 12:46-50, Mark 3:31-35, and Luke 8:19-21

“Notice what you notice.” Two things strike me today. The first is very simple, one word – outside. I’ve always pictured Jesus preaching out in the open air with crowds all around Him. But each of these writers today has Jesus inside (presumably a house) with His mother and brothers “outside” wanting to speak to Him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd (Luke 8:19). Right away I recall the lame man and the “pallet through the roof” story. And there have been a number of similar occasions where we have seen Jesus “inside”, again presumably a house, possibly Simon Peter’s. I recall an earlier passage where it even mentioned that Jesus “went home” (Mark 3:20). So it appears that in Galilee, especially in Capernaum, Jesus had a “home” and spent time inside.

The second item is Jesus’ answer to His own question, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” Mark writes, “…whoever does the will of God”, Matthew writes “…whoever does the will of My Father in heaven, while Luke writes that My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. (Luke 8:21) Matthew expands on Mark a bit, while Luke takes them both a step further, joining us to the Father when we hear and do His word. So there’s the challenge – hearing and doing. Thankfully we are in a church where we “hear the word of God” every Sunday. That leaves us the other 166 hours in the week for our “doing”. It’s Monday morning, let’s do it!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 12:43-45 and Luke 11:24-28

“Notice what you notice.” We’ve probably all heard sermons on today’s topic, that someone has an unclean spirit cast out, but the person does not replace the unclean spirit with “something positive” and the unclean spirit returns “en force”. Jesus’ comments are perfectly in line with Samuel’s sermon today on discipleship. Samuel spoke of conversion, but no follow-up – of salvation without sanctification. We all need to fill those empty spots that are created when we walk away from troublesome areas in our lives.

David’s sermons the past two weeks have offered wonderful insights on repentance. Samuel’s sermon today on discipleship is a natural follow-up to David’s repentance sermons. So listen online to Samuel if you missed church today – and to David’s previous sermons if you missed those!

Slava Bohu!

Luke 11:33-36

“Notice what you notice.” Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness (v. 34). I have always read this verse with a major focus only on the first eight words, “Your eye is the lamp of your body.” Essentially I had in mind, “Watch out what you are looking at.” Mostly that’s what online commentaries were saying also. What you are looking at affects the rest of who you are. Mostly it’s an external focus, our eye looking out and affecting our entire being either for good or for bad.

But today I looked at that whole verse differently. Instead of our eyes looking out, I imagined others looking in at “our soul”. What do others see when they look at us, when they look into our eyes? Re-read the second part of that verse. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light. What do other people see when they look into our eyes? Do they see a shining, radiant being or do they see a soul clouded in darkness?

This latter understanding is more consistent with the first verse, No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket… (v. 33). The whole purpose of lighting a lamp is to see whatever is inside the room where the lamp is located.

Metaphors always fail at some level, but the Holy Spirit today put a different light (pun intended) on Jesus’ words in this passage.

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 12:38-42 and Luke 11:29-32

“Notice what you notice.” Asking for a sign… There is one major difference between Matthew and Luke with respect to Jonah. Both writers focus on the repentance of the men of Nineveh. However, Matthew also added the three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish (v. 40). It’s surprising that Luke would have left that out, given that it was Jesus’ prophetic insight into His own resurrection. Which brings me to wonder, how much did Jesus, in His humanity, truly understand about his death and resurrection? Clearly in this Matthew passage He knows something about His resurrection. Later in Matthew 16:21 Jesus again foretells his death and resurrection to His disciples (repeated in Mark and Luke). But in detail, how much did He know? And did His knowledge of His future resurrection affect His going to the cross? Could He endure the cross better knowing that the cross was not the end for Him? Does our own “resurrection from the dead” – into Jesus’ presence when we die – affect how we live our lives today? …or how we share with those around us? Interesting.

There is something else futuristic in these passages that I had not seen before. Matthew and Luke both write that the “men of Nineveh” (~750 BC) and the “queen of Sheba” (~950 BC) …will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it (Mt. 12:41-42; Lk. 11:31-32). Jesus here is speaking of the Last Judgment, but He makes it clear that this Judgment will be universal in both space and time. I fear for what Jesus would have to say today about our own evil and adulterous generation (Mt. 12:39), which will also participate in the Last Judgment.

Slava Bohu!