Reflective Bible Study

Every so often, a phrase jumps out at me while reading a passage I have read dozens of times before. Perhaps this has happened to you. You are leisurely reading through the Bible when bam, some phrase hits you in a new way and shifts your thinking.

This passage holds one of these “bam”-moments for me. While most of the time we read these verses, we focus in on the parable, the verse that jumped off the page at me comes after the story, and in Jesus’ direct words to the Pharisees. Verse 15 says, “He said to them, ‘You make yourselves look good in front of people, but God knows what is really in your hearts. What is important to people is hateful in God’s sight.’”

Prior readings of this verse never really jumped out at me, probably because the verses on either side of this one have powerful messages as well, but the last sentence of this verse hit me in a new way: “What is important to people is hateful in God’s sight.”

In the context, Jesus is challenging the Pharisees on their view of money and the priority they have placed on it, and in the sentence just before this one (verse 15a), sets the stage for a broader focus than on money. Making oneself look good in front of people may come because one has some money, but it is the desire for fame and status. Desiring fame and status is one subtle foothold for pride to enter our lives. Pride wants the focus to be turned towards me, and desiring fame and status, is similar because it wants the spotlight and the stage – specifically the attention.

But Jesus says, “What is important to people is hateful in God’s sight.”

This truth is both powerful and challenging.

Is God saying that He hates money, fame, status, and stuff?

While it might appear like this on the surface, Jesus is touching on a deeper truth: Where is your heart at?

Is your heart focused on acquiring money, stuff, status, etc. or is it focused on Jesus?

Can it be both? Perhaps one could have both sides of this dilemma, but there must be a priority that is visible in your life. If Jesus is first, then it must be visible to others through with where we put our money, time, talents, and other resources. If we are not intentionally placing Jesus first in our lives, all the stuff that crowds out God will crowd out God.

All the stuff that is important to people is hateful in God’s sight because it feeds pride in one’s heart, and because it crowds out God from being the primary focus. God doesn’t hate fame, status, or stuff; He wants us to have righteous priorities.

One of the interesting metaphors I find in Jesus’ teaching has to do with salt. In several places in the gospels, Jesus uses salt to describe a truth He wanted His followers to understand. In one of the most concentrated uses of the word salt, Mark describes one of Jesus’ ideas using this word six times in two verses.

Following Jesus’ warnings about stumbling in one’s faith, Mark gives us one of Jesus’ big ideas. He tells us Jesus concludes by saying, “For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” (v. 49-50)

In these two verses, the word salt is used as a noun, a verb, and as an adjective. This set of two verses also includes three somewhat unique ideas.

• “Everyone will be salted with fire.” (v. 49)

  This phrase makes me think that fire will be sprinkled on (or added to) everyone, because that is how salt is used today. However, before refrigeration, some things (such as meat) were dipped in and covered with salt as a way to keep it from spoiling. In many ways, this statement may mean that we will all experience God’s fire at some point in our lives. It may purify us in the present, or it may consume us at the judgment.

• “Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again?” (v. 50a)

  The second phrase describes how salt is inherently useful because of what it is and because of what it does. Salt’s value comes from being salty. If salt ever lost its saltiness, it will have also lost its value. This phrase concludes with the question, how can unsalty salt be made salty again? This is a question I don’t know the answer to, but one that deserves our attention if we are represented by salt in these phrases.

• “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” (v. 50b)

  This third phrase is interesting, and I think it describes how salt reacts to other things. Salt is found as an ingredient in almost everything, and salt can be added to most everything. However, salt must be added in the right quantities for it to not to ruin what it was added to. If we have salt inside of ourselves, this phrase may mean that we should interact with others, but also be discerning with how vocal we are with our faith. Too much salt will cause problems, and if salt is a symbol for our faith, than we should carry our faith inside of ourselves rather than letting it be dependent on others.

Overall, salt is an important metaphor when describing our spiritual lives, and it is one that has many different applications.

Immediately before sharing the parable of the farmer scattering seed, both Mark and Matthew introduce this portion of their gospels with an interesting statement. Mark transitions into the parable by saying “He taught them many things by parables…” (v. 2a)

Matthew transitions into this section by saying, “Then he told them many things in parables…” (v. 3a)

Both gospel writers then start into sharing about the parable of the farmer scattering his seed.

I don’t believe it is an accident or a coincidence that both Matthew and Mark place this parable as the first one immediately following their introductory statement. The reason I believe this is because immediately before sharing what the parable means, Jesus makes an equally interesting statement that is relevant for our “parables” discussion.

Mark captures this transition statement by telling us Jesus rhetorically asks the disciples, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?” (v. 13)

Both Mark and Matthew included this parable to open up Jesus’ big shift into teaching with parables. While this may not have been Jesus’ first parable He ever shared, it seemed to fit both gospel writers’ narratives to include it here before sharing more of Jesus’ parables.

Jesus’ shift into teaching with parables is a significant shift for us to pay attention to. All too often, when communicating, we feel that the information is enough – and sometimes sharing our information is all that is needed to inspire life change. But this only happens when there is something prompting the person to change from their own past and experience.

When Jesus shifted into using parables, He opened the door for multiple layers of meaning, and He began speaking to multiple audiences at different levels of education simultaneously. By creating stories that had characters illustrating the truths Jesus wanted us to learn, Jesus becomes a role model for us when communicating.

The parable of the farmer scattering seed has so many applications that it is startling to think about. While it touches on spiritual truth, it also shares how people who hear any message or any information can process it before applying or rejecting it. It opens the door for us to understand that some information, regardless of how it is packaged, will never reach a percentage of people who are unwilling to learn or change.

But the real brilliance of using parables or stories is that they get remembered. Whether we realize it or not, most of Jesus’ teachings that we remember are the ones that have been wrapped within parable and/or stories. In the introduction to Jesus’ parables, Mark expands our perspective about Jesus teaching with parables, and it is something that everyone of us can use when communicating with others.

Have you ever said something would happen, and then did things to help prompt that something to happen the way you described?

This could be describing how a leader casts a vision, and then works to bring their vision into reality, or it could be describing a pessimist who only sees the bad in life, and cannot seem to break free from his/her bleak reality.

Well Jesus also had a few self fulfilling prophecies, and in this passage’s parable, Jesus implies that He is “the Son” in this parable, the religious leaders are the evil tenants, and that they would ultimately put Him to death.

But ringing all through this parable is a much bigger truth: Because the religious leaders were hearing Jesus’ voice, they still had the opportunity to change and become God-respecting tenants.

Just because God has spoken judgment on someone/something doesn’t mean that it is too late. Just think about Jonah and Ninevah for a clear example.

More than likely, God’s proclamations are warnings that something big will happen if nothing changes. We could think of it like a parent saying “This is your last warning”, but coming from God, this definitely carries a lot of weight, and God has a track record of following through with the things He says (unlike many parents today).

In the parable, the tenants had the option of respecting the owner’s son, but they chose instead to kill him. This is a masterful illustration that Jesus uses because He strips away all the politics, all the history, and all the biases that the people had – including the religious leaders’ views as well. In one simple illustration, Jesus sums up the big problem with the religion in that region: the rules supporting the religion had replaced the focus on a relationship with God.

But with this illustration, Jesus is also saying, “You still have the chance to change.” By hearing Jesus’ voice, they could choose to once again respect God over their rules surrounding Him.

However, while they didn’t, the truth of this parable now lives with us. While we are able to recognize that we have God’s good news, we have the responsibility to be God-respecting tenants of this good news, and return a portion of the blessing God has given to us.

This discussion is about much more than just money. It also involves our time, talents, and relationships as well. God has blessed us with all these things and more, and it is wise of us to remember His role in everything we do.

In this parable, Jesus is also saying to you and I, “You still have the chance to change. You still can choose to place Me first in your life. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life that leads to Heaven.”