Reflective Bible Study

As we continue moving through Luke’s gospel, we come to the point when Luke decides to insert one of Jesus’ most important parables. Jesus even frames this parable as being so significant that understanding it will affect how we understand all His other parables. Also, in our discussion of this parable is the challenge that not everyone will be able to understand what Jesus has shared; but with that said, Jesus does not want you or me to be excluded from those given understanding.

Let’s read this parable and then discover what Jesus wants to teach us about God within it. Our passage and parable are found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 8, and we will read from the New Living Translation. Starting in verse 4, Luke tells us that:

⁴ One day Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear him: ⁵ “A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. ⁶ Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When he had said this, he called out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

Let’s pause here for a moment, because how Jesus has just concluded this parable challenges us to listen and understand. Jesus finishes by calling out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand”.

While a skeptic might call Jesus out for excluding those without hearing in this statement, when reading the gospels, it appears as though Jesus healed people before He taught the crowds. When someone who needed healing showed up, Jesus would stop teaching to focus on healing, or at the very least, He would shift the focus of what He was teaching to include healing. Jesus loved healing people.

With this in mind, I doubt there was a deaf person in the crowd when Jesus spoke these words, even though there may have been people present who had been deaf when they woke up that morning.

This parable emphasizes a number of big ideas. First, Jesus emphasizes a farmer sowing seed. While the farmer is planting seeds in his field, it appears he isn’t overly careful about where the seeds land, since some of the seed lands on less than ideal soil. Some seed lands on a footpath and it couldn’t take root; some seed fell among rocks, but it also couldn’t grow well; and some seed fell among thorns, which allowed it to grow, but not very long.

However, from the seed that fell on good soil, the farmer gained a crop that was a hundred times what had been planted.

This is a great parable, but it can be interpreted in many different ways beyond simply being a story about a farmer with no underlying meaning attached.

Because of this, I believe the disciples wanted clarification, so they ask Jesus what this parable meant.

Continuing in verse 9, Luke tells us:

⁹ His disciples asked him [Jesus] what this parable meant. ¹⁰ He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:

‘When they look, they won’t really see.
    When they hear, they won’t understand.’

¹¹ “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. ¹² The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. ¹³ The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. ¹⁴ The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. ¹⁵ And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.

Reading this explanation Jesus gives is powerful. Jesus first emphasizes that He teaches in parables so that there is a distinct level of obscurity in the truth He shares. This is to keep people who are uninterested in God’s truth from learning it, and to allow the Holy Spirit room to work in the lives and hearts of those who truly want to hear, understand, and apply Jesus’ teaching.

However, Jesus then shares the explanation of this parable. In this parable, the seed represents God’s word and the various places the seed lands represent different types of people that hear Gods word and what they ultimately do with what they hear.

But there is a character in this parable that is not explained. Nowhere in Jesus’ explanation do we see Him describe who the farmer represents. This lack of a detail is crucial for us to pay attention to, because if Jesus drew extra significance to this parable, as He does in Matthew and Mark, why would He have intentionally left out who the farmer represents?

This is important, because the only description we have for the farmer is that he sowed seed. Since Jesus tells us the seed represents God’s Word, the farmer is one who shares God’s Word with others. Following this understanding to its logical conclusion, Jesus fulfilled the role of the farmer when He was teaching and preaching the crowds, and the disciples fulfilled the role of the farmer when they were teaching the people following Jesus’ return to heaven.

Ultimately, the farmer is a role that we step in to when we share God’s Word with others.

What about the Holy Spirit?

In one way, the Holy Spirit could be considered the farmer, but I think the Holy Spirit plays a different, more subtle role. In this parable, I believe the Holy Spirit shows up in directing where the seed lands, and in the preparation of the soil where the seeds are able to grow the best. In this parable, similar to how Jesus shared that not everyone would be able to understand His teaching, I believe the Holy Spirit is directly involved in the growth of the seed into being ready for harvest!

In this parable, we have another subtle truth. With the Holy Spirit actively working preparing soil, we have the choice of which type of soil we will be. While we might be among the first three types of soil to begin with, when we ask for God’s help, specifically the Holy Spirit’s help, we might discover that a footpath that was too hard to take root becomes broken up enough for the seed to grow. We might also find that with the Holy Spirit’s help, what was once rocky soil has the rocks removed and nutrients added allowing us to grow. And we might also discover that what was once a thorn patch along the side of the road has had the thorns removed allowing us to grow. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we can grow into maturity regardless of what type of soil we believe ourselves to have been before meeting Jesus.

As we grow, we are able to step into the farmer’s role and begin spreading God’s word to others. In many ways, this parable describes the mission and methods of Jesus’ disciples and God’s followers. Wherever you are in your growth journey with God, be sure to ask the Holy Spirit for help moving forward!

God wants the best life for us, and I believe the best life for us in God’s mind is an eternal life in a recreated world. While God is more than willing to walk with us in this sinful world, He wants to help us grow and prepare us for the future sinless world that He desires us to be a part of!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. Choose to ask the Holy Spirit for help growing with God and intentionally step into the farmer role and share Jesus with others. When we share God with others, we partner with the Holy Spirit and we shouldn’t be surprised when the Holy Spirit shows up to help us spread the great news about Jesus!

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. While a pastor, speaker, author, or even a podcaster can share interesting ideas, filter everything you hear and read through the lens of the Bible to discover what God really wants for you. While the Bible might not speak to the technology of our world today, the Bible is amazingly relevant for our culture and for what we face spiritually as humans.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As Jesus begins His public ministry, we arrive at another fulfilled prophecy from the Old Testament. This particular prophecy is fascinating in my mind, and part of me is a little surprised that it doesn’t get much attention. Overall, this prophecy is a little easy to skim over, but when we decide to do this, we miss being reminded of an amazing aspect of God’s character.

The prophecy we will be focusing in on is found early on in the book of Isaiah, specifically in the first part of chapter 9. For our podcast time together, we will read it using the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 1, Isaiah the prophet writes:

¹ But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

² The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
³ You shall multiply the nation,
You shall increase their gladness;
They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
⁴ For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
⁵ For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
⁶ For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

In these seven verses, we have one of the most amazing pictures of the Messiah in the entire Bible. Not only does this prophecy begin with the Messiah being sent to a region known for being heavily populated with Gentiles, which is simply a descriptive catch-all word to describe those who are not Jewish, but this prophecy ends with the Messiah setting up His kingdom, which will have no end.

Reading this prophecy, and how it is framed helps us understand how those living in the first century could see the Messiah coming with military strength, and ultimately launching a successful attack against the Romans. This is because tucked within the middle of this passage is language that suggests the One God sends successfully freeing God’s people from those who oppress them.

However, when we move into the New Testament, it is interesting that at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He steps into the first portion of this prophecy to fulfill it. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 4, starting in verse 12, we learn that:

¹² [Now] when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; ¹³ and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

¹⁵ “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ “The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light,
And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death,
Upon them a Light dawned.”

Here at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry on earth, after He had been baptized and had spent time in the wilderness being tempted, we discover that Jesus stepped directly into fulfilling this prophecy by initially settling in Capernaum, which was within the region of Galilee. It is interesting in my mind that this prophecy specifically describes Galilee as being a region of Gentiles, rather than being a region of Jews. While Galilee was technically within Israel’s borders, or at least the borders that were established when Moses and Joshua brought the people of Israel to this region, over the centuries between that point and when Jesus walked the earth, politics had isolated this region away from the rest of Israel.

We know this because Samaria, which was also technically within Israel’s borders, was shunned and looked down on by the Jews. While we don’t have time to dig into the reasons for this in our time together, the prejudice against those living in Samaria was so strong that most every Jew would travel a much longer road around Samaria, rather than go through it. This longer road would logically isolate Galilee in the north, from Jerusalem and the other Jewish territories in the south. This isolation would also logically attract a greater number of non-Jews, or in other words, Gentiles.

While in other places and at later points in Jesus’ ministry, we find pushback against Jesus for being from Nazareth, which wasn’t very far away from Capernaum, the detail that Jesus began His ministry here and that this was prophesied about centuries earlier is incredible. I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the religious leaders knew this detail, but that they pushed it aside because it didn’t fit with the picture of the Messiah that they had created. The religious leaders at that time had a picture that was more in line with the middle and last portions of the prophecy we read, and I suspect that they skimmed over the first part which was less interesting.

However, for us living today, the first portion of this prophecy is powerful. Not only do we see Jesus fulfill the first part of this prophecy in how He begins His ministry, we see a powerful picture of God’s character as well.

In this prophecy, we see God stepping into history, and into a place that is described as being in darkness. Jesus came as a light that shines in the darkness. While it would be understandable if Jesus stepped into earth’s history into a place filled with people who were expecting Him, this is not what happened. Instead, Jesus begins in a place where most of those present were not actively looking for Him. Jesus came to a group of people who may have felt isolated through no direct fault of their own.

As a representative of God, Jesus teaches us that God is willing to come to those who feel isolated, abandoned, or outcast. Jesus came to a people who were not religious in the typical sense of the word. Jesus began His ministry among those who needed God’s light, God’s love, and God’s encouragement, and amazingly, many of Jesus’ disciples were people who lived within this place.

If you have felt distant, alone, abandoned, or in need of God’s light, love, and/or encouragement, then let’s take this prophecy as Jesus fulfilled it. Jesus came to people who felt like this, and Jesus called people who appeared to be the least religious.

Jesus loves those who society has rejected. Jesus loves those who are abandoned. And Jesus invites those who the world has given up on to come follow Him, and let Him transform them into the people He sees.

Jesus is calling you and me to follow Him. While our world is significantly different than the first century world, Jesus is interested in us as followers, because when we ally and align our lives with His, we can grow into being the people God created us to be at the point in history where He placed us in to live. While we might not get all our questions answered on this side of heaven, we can know and trust that God has a reason for giving us breath, and that with Him, we will be able to discover it as we move forward through life!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to ally your life with His in order to grow into being the person He created you to be. Move forward each day with God and let Him lead and guide you along the path He created you to walk.

As we move forward with God, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with Him. While other people can give you things to think about and ideas worth considering, take what you read, hear, and see to the truth found in the Bible. Through the pages of the Bible, discover God’s big picture of History, and how everything centers around God’s love for sinful, fallen humanity. Let Jesus redeem you and invite you into a relationship with Him that can begin today, and that will extend into eternity.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!