Thursday, September 21, 2006

UNDERSTAND THIS

     Matt. 13:18. "Hear then the parable of the sower.
     At this point we ask, “Who does this parable speak to?” The components are the sower, the seed, and the soils. We are told straight up that Jesus is the sower in verse 37 of Matthew’s gospel: The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. However, anyone who presents the Word of God to others would be a legitimate sower. The seed, Luke tells us, is the Word of God (8:11). And, the soil represents the hearers of the Word of God. This will be more fully developed as we continue.
     In the Great Commission we are told: Matt. 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20. teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." In this instance we would be sowing the seed of God’s Word and as we do this we are going to be working with various soils that are described in the parable. This task will have disappointment as the poorer soil is addressed but the harvest will happen and in this we can take comfort as sower of the seed.
     Mark 4:13. And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables?
     We must understand that at this point Jesus has already finished presenting all the parables from the boat. This then would be a parenthetical passage that gives explanation of this parable of the soils that we witness before we delve into the others. His disciples have asked Him to explain to them the meaning as we have seen in verse 10, as soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.
     His question to them would be in an admonishing vernacular to awake them to give their attention intently.
     This particular parable of the soils gives the description of simple Christianity. Jesus said to them, His disciples, that the key to understand all other parables hinges upon this one.  
     

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