WHOM SHALL I SEND... WHO HAS EARS TO HEAR

Isaiah’s Commission from the Lord

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ (Isaiah 6:8-9)

Isaiah is called to be a prophet in 742 bc—the year of King Uzziah’s death. Uzziah has enjoyed a long reign, but lived in isolation as a leper during his last years.

Isaiah has an awe-inspiring vision of God (6:1–13). The Lord is enthroned in his temple, surrounded by seraphs—the winged beings that worship and serve him continually.

God is utterly holy. He is infinitely higher than his creatures. He is completely pure in his character.

Isaiah, in stark contrast, sees himself as a moral leper. He is riddled with sin, and can have nothing to do with this holy God.

But, as Isaiah cries out in despair, a seraph touches his mouth with a live coal from the altar. God in his mercy reaches out to purge Isaiah’s sin and remove his shame. His lips are consecrated to speak God’s word.

When he hears God asking, ‘Whom shall I send?’ Isaiah gives the heartfelt response, ‘Send me!’

God commissions Isaiah to a difficult and unrewarding task. He has to take God’s message to people who will listen but never understand. Their senses will be dulled by self-interest.

They won’t allow God’s word to reach their hearts because they don’t want to change their lives. This is the experience of many prophets, from Jeremiah to Jesus (Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2; Mark 11:17–18).

And He said, “Go”: When we say, “Here am I! Send me” to the Lord, we should expect that He will say “Go.”

He may say, “Go and serve Me here” or “Go and serve me there” or “Go and be prepared for future service,” but God always has a “Go” for us!

Isaiah heeds God’s voice (6:8b–13): Isaiah volunteers.

IF YOU DON’T SOW, IT WILL NOT GROW

The parable of the sower (Mark 4:1-20)

(4:1–20)

He sits in a boat, so that the crowd doesn’t overwhelm him, and teaches the people along the shore.

Jesus often used a boat as His “pulpit” (Mark 3:9). It gave Him a place to speak away from the press of the crowds, it provided good acoustics, and it was probably a nice backdrop.

When Jesus taught from a boat, surely it was a new thing.

We can imagine some critic saying, “You can’t do that! Teaching belongs in the synagogue or in some other appropriate place.”

It would be easy to come up with objections: “The damp air might make people sick” or “There are a lot of mosquitoes down at the shore” or “Someone might drown.”

But Jesus knew that teaching from a boat suited His purposes well enough.

Parables, in their spiritual function, are more like riddles or puzzles than easy illustrations. They can be understood by those who have the right “key.”

He describes a farmer scattering seed. The seed lands in various places—on a path, on rock, among thorns and on good soil. The birds snatch it from the path, the sun scorches it on the rock and the thorns choke it! But the good soil produces a wonderful harvest.

This is a parable. Jesus tells many such stories. He leaves it to his hearers to make the connection between his everyday images and the kingdom of God.

Later, the Twelve ask Jesus what these parables mean. He explains that the good news of the kingdom is like a secret being shared.

Some people are spiritually blind and can’t see it.

Some are spiritually deaf and can’t hear it.

Some refuse to believe in God and block it out.

He reminds them that the prophet Isaiah had to live with this frustration. Isaiah also delivered God’s message to people who couldn’t or wouldn’t receive it (Isaiah 6:9–10). Now Jesus is doing the same.

He explains the parable of the sower.

The seed is a picture of God’s good news being broadcast. The different places it falls are people’s hearts. Some hearts are hard, some shallow, some overcrowded and some open and deep. In spite of all the setbacks, the good news is going to produce a record harvest.

The spiritual meaning until Jesus explained the key to them: The sower sows the word (Mark 4:14)

Jesus said that the word of God is like a seed. It gets planted in our hearts and then has the potential to bear fruit. But not every seed grows into a plant and bears fruit. The kind of soil it lands on makes all the difference.

The natural tendency is for the audience to critique the preacher. But here, Jesus the preacher critiques His audience. The issue is how well they will hear, not how well He will preach.

We learn something else here: It is by preaching that the seed is sown. You can study the seed, categorize the seed, analyze the seed, know the seed, or even love the seed. But if you don’t sow it, nothing will grow.

But if the seed is the word, then every preacher must make sure he uses good seed. “It is a high offence against God to change the Master’s seed, to mix it, or to sow bad seed in the place of it.” (Clarke).

Those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred: Some people are like the good ground, and they accept the word, and bear fruit, thus fulfilling the purpose of the seed.

This parable shows that when the word is received as it should be, something happens—fruit is produced. If nothing happens, then the word is not being received as it should.