HG063-64.1b Matthew 12:46-13:23, Mark 3:31-4:29, Luke 8:4-21
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31 Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.”
33 But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
1 And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. 2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:
3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
9 And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 so that
‘Seeing they may see and not perceive,
And hearing they may hear and not understand;
Lest they should turn,
And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
21 Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. 25 For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
31-35
What a day Jesus is having – He’s been with the multitude and been unable to eat – His friends thought He was mad, then the Scribes turned up calling Him Satan, and now His earthly family are there! But why are they there? Are they there to hear Him? I doubt it as they are standing without, or are they there because they think He should rest and eat and above all stop preaching to the crowds? This is the probable answer. They have come to take control.
In the world it is always something commended when someone studies hard depriving themselves of sleep and food but when it is a spiritual goal then it is frowned on. Some families would want to stop the Gospel being preached by one of their members because it reflects upon them and they do not want to align themselves with the gospel, as it seems foolishness to them and have fear of being embarrassed. Our families are not always in the right.
Well, His own family thought He had gone too far. Why?
Jesus had thrown away personal security. He left home and a good business and became a wandering preacher.
Jesus had thrown away Personal Safety—Most people play it safe. If it isn’t safe we even think it is wrong. Remember the Pharisees and the Herodians are out to kill him.
Jesus had thrown away Reputation. Last week we saw he was being accused of being a tool of Satan.
Jesus had thrown away Comfort. He wasn’t even able to eat He was so busy!
(Adapted from Allan Quak on sermoncentral.com)
Jesus, then, does not rise to meet His earthly family for this would neglect those seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness. His goal was the salvation of others and He gave honour to those present as if they were His mother, brothers and sisters. Let us learn wisdom about how to deal with our families and friends who are unbelievers. Here we see it is those who do His commands that are accorded the title of being His mother, brother or sister. And what a privilege it is. We are treated with the same love that He has to His own family. We are the King’s family. We should also give one another the same respect as being members of the same family. We should also want to be with each other. We should seek one another’s good and look out for each other. We also must be about our family’s business. And what is that? It is to hear and to do the will of God.
We do find Jesus’ earthly family in the upper room at Pentecost together with the other disciples having become disciples themselves – James, the brother of Jesus even wrote the letter bearing His name in our Scriptures.
1-20
Now Jesus returns to teaching by the sea and mainly does this in the form of parables which are stories with a spiritual content. And immediately we are thrown into that very familiar Parable of the Sower also known as the Parable of the Soils. Contained within each seed, which here we know it to be the Word of God, within each seed is the power for life, there is so much potential. Of course, the Word of God is powerful and fruitful above any earthly seed.
Who is the sower? In the immediate context it is Jesus. In our context it is you and I. Who is the soil? In the immediate context it is the people listening to Jesus. In our context we can take it to mean ourselves or those whom we seek to reach with the Gospel. And the soil speaks to the receptiveness of each heart. Either it is well prepared and accepting of the Word of God or else the Word hardens the hearts of those who refuse it or somewhere in-between.
Plainly, I could concentrate upon those hearers of God’s Word in Jesus’ day and their mainly lack of response but then I would be avoiding the questions we need to ask of ourselves such as:
How often do we come to church and hear God say something to us and not remember what it was? Within minutes we cannot remember what it is that it was about? Sunday-by-Sunday we hear the Word of God preached in truth but after the service do we remember what we were called to do? Did we repent? Did we obey? Were we encouraged? Did we encourage one another? Do the conversations after a service distract us from what we heard? Has the Word that was sown been so quickly taken away? IS this not the word that was sown in the heart but taken away?
How often do we come to church and hear God say something to us and it affects us so much that we are determined to do what it takes to put it into practice and are very enthusiastic but within a week or two it is all forgotten? Is there something God has been saying to us and we have not yet actioned it? Are we as zealous for the Lord as we used to be when we were not ashamed to preach the gospel but now, have the years taken their toll? Are we quick to speak a word in season for our Lord or are we now much too sensible? It is fine when we are together but what about out there? We hear that people are going to a lost eternity: If we truly understand then we will be zealous for our Lord in this area. Don’t allow discouragement make the seed of none effect. IS this not the word that was sown on stony ground because we do not take the time and effort to put it into practice, so much so, that our Christian life stalls?
How often do we come to church and hear God say something to us and our thoughts are on what to eat, our Sunday lunch, how much money we have and need and want, or what is on TV, or what work we have to do, or talking with our friends? Are we taken up more by the things of this world than we are of the next? We forget that the things that are seen are temporal and have no lasting value. When it is put like that it puts these things in perspective. The things that the world lusts after are of the flesh and the eyes (1 John 2.16) and the world is at enmity with God so we should desire the opposite. This person’s heart is divided:
Preaching the Word: Mark—Jesus, Servant and Savior The Seed Upon the Thorny Soil: the Divided Heart (vv. 18, 19)
like the heart of the girl to which a young man once proposed. He said, “Darling, I want you to know that I love you more than anything else in the world. I want you to marry me. I’m not rich. I don’t have a yacht or a Rolls Royce like Johnny Brown, but I do love you with all my heart.” She thought for a minute and then replied, “I love you with all my heart, too, but tell me more about Johnny Brown.
IS this not he word sown on thorny ground? Don’t allow these things to choke any longer. Crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts. Put off the old man. Friendship with the world is hatred towards God. The problem is that there is no growth in the Christian life. The Christian who is in a thorny ground state is an unhappy one. For those who will be happy in Jesus we have to trust and obey.
How often do we come to church and hear God say something to us and we hear gladly, and we put it into practice in our daily lives and persevere no matter what with discipline? IS this not the word sown on good soil? And because of this we put down strong roots and above ground we become this plant that produces more seed planting again and again reproducing itself. We teach each other in our manner of lives: learning humility, holiness, love, patience and many other things by each others’ examples. It is not possible to hide this kind of fruit as those who are Christians will bear at least some fruit.
Our response to God’s Word is always one of these four. Let us not allow there to be a single seed lost because of our neglect.
These soils also should serve too encourage us to evangelise. The seed will do its job if only we would tell people about Jesus and the good news. This parable shows us that sometimes the seed will land in the right place, in a prepared heart. Those who receive the truth will receive more. Those who don’t will lose what they have. The seed does not bounce off every heart that hears. How one hears and receives is a mystery:
I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His word
Wrought peace within my heart.
I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing men of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him.
Though we do not understand it is incumbent upon us to share our faith:
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
When they hear God’s Word it produces faith. And that is what the rest of the passage we read says in the Parable of the Lamp, of the Growing Seed and of the Mustard Seed. We are called to multiply as this is evidence that the seed fell on good soil.
We have looked at family and then we looked at how seed has interacted with the ground. But both have a similar message: Hear and do God’s will. Or as Jesus said in His own way:
And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Communion
Communion
Jesus does not call us to do something He was not willing to do Himself. And it came at a price. Remember He said: “not my will but yours be done” to His Father. From the very beginning God set in motion a plan to save us from ourselves, from sin, from death, from hell and it was going to be very costly. It is easy to partake of these emblems before us today and think: Yeah, Jesus did this for me. But, for Jesus, this was no easy thing, He was not blasé about the suffering He was about to endure. Despite the fear of doing something so horrendous that would separate Him from His Father for the first time in forever. He knew that what He was doing was worth it. He thought that you were worth it. That’s why He did it. Isaiah puts it like this:
Having suffered, he will reflect on his work,
he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done.
“My servant will acquit many,
for he carried their sins.
You were worth it.
Pray.
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Benediction
Benediction
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Bibliography
Bibliography
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/you-can-commit-the-unforgivable-sin-allan-quak-sermon-on-unpardonable-sin-202260
Hughes, R. K. (1989). Mark: Jesus, servant and savior. Westchester, IL: Crossway Books.