Crumbs91

 

Crumbs 91

The Meaning

ScriptureMark 4:13-20 New International Version 13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

Crumbs Meditating on the parables of our Lord I do not think a theology based on them alone is not intended. They were created with broad strokes; examples drawn from every day life on how to cope with everyday life. I am beginning to think from the New Testament that in the spread of the Word our way of life is of more significance than what we say.

In this passage we have three warnings and a single hope. God’s word to us can be snatched away by the evil one, starved by trouble or crushed by worry and desire. The hope is that from our lives some God honouring good might come.

The first danger is the devil. Our Lord believed in the Devil and evil spirits. In this scientific age a natural explanation does not displace a supernatural one. Hearts hardened by habit and tradition make receiving God’s word hard and attack by Satan a danger.

Stamina and strength in the things of God require persistent long term feeding on the Word. Sudden spirts of spirituality are okay, but steady progress is needed.

This parable was told long before films, TV and the internet and yet I confess these things too often squeeze out the Word of God in my life.

Preachers do not always concentrate on the fourth ground but it is most important. Fruit comes in two types in the New Testament context. By word and deed others should follow Christ through the witness of Christians. Christ saw His followers as salt and light in a decaying and dark world who by their presence would combat the rottenness and gloom. Paul mentions the fruit of the Spirit ( Galatians 5). The Word of God will change us for our good and the world’s.

Questions

1. What distracts you from receiving God’s word ?

2. How does the word of God come to us ?

3. How is the word of God changing you?