Sunflower Seeds

Sunflower Seeds

Luke 8:4-15

Village Nights

10/20/22

Intro

Biblical Literacy focus What does it mean to be Biblically Literate? Passage and Parable about the word of God in Luke

The seed is thrown (v. 4-8)

4 As a large crowd was gathering, and people were coming to Jesus from every town, he said in a parable,

5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the sky devoured it.

6 Other seed fell on the rock; when it grew up, it withered away, since it lacked moisture.

7 Other seed fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with it and choked it.

8 Still other seed fell on good ground; when it grew up, it produced fruit: a hundred times what was sown.” As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”

What is this and why lol Nature of God’s acts AND the proper response to them — connect daily life and KoG “Parables are like stained-glass windows in a cathedral, dull and lifeless from the outside, but brilliant and radiant from within. Parables do not simply dispense good advice. They are good news, but the good news cannot be understood apart from the one who announces it. The life of Jesus is the greatest parable of all.”

What’s the miracle here? Not the soil, but the KoG among the soil

Why Parables (v. 9-10)

9 Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?”

10 So he said, “The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given for you to know, but to the rest it is in parables, so that, “Looking they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.”

THEY do not see or hear… But YOU have the secrets of the Kingdom This is about access — and will you treasure the thing you have access to, or not? APP: Don’t ask where the seed is… you’re hearing it right now. Will you treasure it? God’s gifted it to you Notice — they didn’t earn it, “the secrets… have been given for you to know…”

How the seed is received (v. 11-15)

11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.

12 The seed along the path are those who have heard and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

13 And the seed on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. Having no root, these believe for a while and fall away in a time of testing.

14 As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit.

15 But the seed in the good ground—these are the ones who, having heard the word with an honest and good heart, hold on to it and by enduring, produce fruit.

Seed = word of God PEOPLE

The seed fell along the path — devil comes and steals the word from their hearts The seed fell along the rock — hear/receive with joy, but falling away in testing The seed fell among thorns — they hear and go, but choked by worries, riches, pleasures of life, and produce no good fruit The seed fell onto good soil — heard the word with good and honest heart, and hold onto it with endurance, producing fruit

God gives his word graciously BUT the hearers response is key too Equal and opposite dangers to focus on one or the other The proper response is faith and perseverance — good fruit

back to v. 8 — “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.” Biblical literacy matters b/c God gives us an opportunity to treasure what he treasures God’s word flow from his nature

ILLUS: National Treasure

The word of God is a treasure to us Biblical literacy matters because it is God’s word Do we treat it like that in our lives?

DISCUSSION QUESTION:

What would God want you to treasure in your life? How does that compare to what you currently treasure in life?

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My Thinking:

Who is the sower? What is the seed? Seed = word of God This passage is less about farming and more about treasuring the word of God The seed looks insignificant, yet is the foundation for growing life

v. 4-8

WORD

The seed fell along the path — the word of God is trampled on and devoured

The seed fell along the rock — the word of God dies b/c it lacked moisture

The seed fell among thorns — the word of God dies b/c is choked out

The seed fell onto good soil — the word of God produced fruit

v. 9-10

THEY do not see or hear…

But YOU have the secrets of the Kingdom

This is about access — they have access right now while others do not

Why would Jesus do that? — he’s discipling them and teaching them!

He knows what their future is in making other disciples

Notice Jesus doesn’t even answer their question directly, “What does this parable mean?”

He answers, “You have access, but they don’t” — in other words, will you listen to the precious thing you have access to?

v. 11-15

Seed = word of God

Doesn’t matter who the sower is — Jesus doesn’t care to mention it

PEOPLE

The seed fell along the path — those who’ve heard and the devil comes and steals the word from their hearts so they may not believe and be saved

The seed fell along the rock — hear, receive with joy, but no root, resulting in them falling away in a time of testing

The seed fell among thorns — they hear and go, but are choked by worries, riches, pleasures of life, and produce no good fruit

The seed fell onto good soil — heard the word with good and honest heart, and hold onto it with endurance, producing fruit

Research on Passage/Background:

Jewish and Greek teachers would intentionally leave out certain points of parables so that only the people who were serious enough would persevere and understand.

Astute listeners or Insiders Intentionally — did not interpret to everyone, it was supposed to make people think, “What is this all about?” Tenant farmers would have resonated with this parable — it was a life they experienced. Parables are references to daily life. 100 times what was sown is an amazing crop for Galilee “Parables are like stained-glass windows in a cathedral, dull and lifeless from the outside, but brilliant and radiant from within. Parables do not simply dispense good advice. They are good news, but the good news cannot be understood apart from the one who announces it. The life of Jesus is the greatest parable of all.” Does reflect discipleship, but also its main focus is the kingdom of God — thus the miracle could be said to be not the soil but the fact that the seed has even been thrown, i.e. the Kingdom is here

Research on Theology:

Jesus often uses parables to demonstrate the nature of God’s acts and the proper response to God’s acts. to state the knowledge of God’s purposes The proper response is faith and perseverance, which then, with the word, produces good fruit. “In some people’s hearts the seed may never get a chance to germinate, in others its growth is arrested because they fail to endure.” v. 9-10 — the secrets of the KoG are GIVEN not earned. God gives them graciously 2 Major Theological Themes

Primacy and Unearned word of God that is sown into the world The manner of hearing of those who receive the word BOTH DEEPLY MATTER