PARABLE OF THE SOWER: REVELATION AND RECEPTIVITY*

The so-call “Parable of the Sower” (Mark 4:3-8) is not an easy parable.  The disciples did not understand it (v 13); Jesus had to explain it to them (14-20).

Brief Explanation
The parable is about how people receive the Word/Presence of God in one’s life.  It calls for self-assessment.  For some (the path), God’s Word makes no impression; they are too hardened.  Some (rocky soil) receive the Word joyfully, but superficially.  When confronted by opposition to the will of God, they fall away from trusting God.  Some (thorny soil) others give some allegiance to God, but their worldly concerns and desires take precedent over God.  None of these soils/people bear God’s fruit.  Finally, others (good soil) openly receive God’s Word and Presence and entrust themselves deeply and fully to Jesus.  God causes their lives to bear fruit of righteousness for God’s Kingdom.

First Application: Regular Self-Assessment
Jesus challenged his hearers at that moment to stop all the whirl of life around them, to identify which type fit them, and to decide what they would do in response; that is to totally “hear.”  Would they fully commit to God?  I suppose these types of “soil-receptivity” to God may well express a general and rather static state of people.  I find, though, that I need this introspection daily.  I move through these soil caricatures day to day.  I want God’s Word/Presence to be so deeply rooted in my life that I am not shaken by the coercive power of unrighteousness nor lured and choked by desires of wanting something more/other than Jesus.  But, I still fail in these respects.  I need to apply this parable to myself every day.  (BTW: I would rename the popularly-called “Parable of the Sower,” the “Parable of Soil-Receptivity.”)

Explanatory Notes
A. The framing and linking of this parable indicate that it is a crucial one to understand:

1.     After the Gospel writer states that Jesus taught in many parables, this one is chosen for presentation (1-2).

2.     Jesus opens and closes it with the command, “Listen!” (3) and “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear" (9).  (“Hearing” in this cultural-linguistic context means that one takes in, engages with, and responds appropriately to the given words.)

3.     Between the presentation (3-9) and explanation (14-20) of the parable are what are often called “hard sayings” of Jesus (10-12) about “the secret of the kingdom of God” and “never perceiving.”

4.     Jesus says to his disciples, “Don't you understand this parable? Then how will you understand any parable?” (13)

5.     Following the “hard words” and the explanation of parable and are a group of sayings about revelation (21-25) which link together and back to the parable by the motif of hearing and the repetition of verse 9 at verse 23.

The framing and context of Jesus’ explanation shows the parable teaches something crucial about revelation:

1.     The “hard sayings” (10-12) and the sayings about revelation (21-25) bracket Jesus’ explanation of the parable (14-20) and re-enforce the message. 

2.     Jesus’ reference to “secret/mystery” of the kingdom of God, does not have a good English equivalent.  In the context of revelation, it refers to the way/will of God that is not yet known but will be made know in God’s timing. 

3.     In verse 12, Jesus is quoting Isaiah 6:9-10.  In that context, Isaiah is told that he will take God’s message to his people, but since they will reject it, their hearts (sensitivity to God) will be hardened.  By citing this text, Jesus implies that he is facing the same obstacle and results of Isaiah. 

4.     The point of verse 21-23 is that a lamp (think “candle”) obviously is not meant to be covered up, but placed where it can share its light.  So are the ways/will of God.  Still, person must have ears that hear. 

5.     Verse 24, which is confusing by itself, now makes sense in light of the parable: those who are receptive to God, receive even more; those who are not, become shut out in regard to God.  The saying captures an aspect of biblical theology about God’s self-revelation: those who receive the word of God, become increasingly sensitive to God; and those who refuse to hear, “harden” their hearts to the Presence of God.

Second Application: There Is No Neutral Response to God’s Self-Revelation
We always respond to God’s self-revelation, and our responses shape our “hearts.”  God’s revelation is relational.  Our response is relational.  In my assessment about what kind of soil I am (Am I being receptive?), I am assessing the state of my “heart's” relational receptivity.  If I am receiving God’s Word, then I am opening myself up to more of a relationship with Jesus.  If I am not actively hearing and receiving God’s Word, then I am creating a callousness that makes me less and less sensitive to Jesus' offer of relationship.  Each day I need to ask, “How am I responding?”

Lord, thank you that you offer Yourself in relationship with me.  Help me to always “hear” Your word fully every day.  I do not want to miss knowing You more and more.  Amen.
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*I have found in my teaching experience that students who were previously exposed to Jesus’ parables have the harder time understanding them.  In childhood Sunday School, the parables were reduced to platitudes.  As a result, those students struggled to go deeper.

CHRISTIANITY 101: DEALING WITH TEMPTATION, PT2: MENTAL HABITS

 In the previous blog on temptation, I mentioned six main points: 1) Our “battle” is with spiritual forces of evil.  2) Our “battlefield” is the mind.  3) Temptation, which occurs in the mind, is not sin.  4) Temptation must be stopped in the mind before it leads to sin.  (Our thoughts do not define us; our responses define us.)  5) Our temptations are not unique and are not beyond dealing with.  6) Jesus has experienced our temptations and can help us through them.  I want to expand upon point #4 by taking a close look at Romans 12:2:

Do not permit yourself to be conformed to this present age, but be allow yourself to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God– what is good and well-pleasing and perfect. (Rom 12:2)

Technical, but important, notes:

·       The two verbs for “conform” and “transform” are imperatives (commands) in the middle/passive voice.  The significant point is that we are recipients of external forces that act upon us, but we have roles to play, both negative (not to be conformed) and positive (to be transformed).

·       “Age” here is often translated as “world,” but what is significant is a negative nuance.  The present “age” is under the dominion of sin and death as opposed to being of the Kingdom of God’s Spirit and life.

·       One verb, dokimazo, is here translated by two, “test and approve,” because the sense is that one assays something for what is genuine or not in order to choose the genuine.

·       “Mind” is a term I should have clarified in my last post.  In Greek, mind (nous related words) is more than a faculty of reason.  It includes apprehension and comprehension with volitional commitment.

Commentary

Living in this “age” puts us in the position of being conformed to that which is not of God’s will.  As mentioned in the last post, there is a dimension which is adversarial to God.  We are to resist being shaped in that negative direction.  The area of conflict is the “mind” where temptations arise in the form of our thoughts and desires.  In our culture, I sometimes hear people conclude that they are what they think: “God made me, this is what I desire, so this must be who I am.”  No, the “mind” is the testing/assaying ground in which thoughts and desires are to be assessed as of God or not.  We are to submit our minds to God so that they increasingly become transformed in the likeness of Jesus’ mind.  We are to create mental habits that tests our desires, discerns what is God’s pleasing and perfect will, and rejects what is not.  This involves mental discipline: “we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ” (2Cor 10:5b).  It also calls for spiritual disciplines of prayer, study, and fellowship that increase our sensitivity to God’s Presence.  It is not easy.  However, anything that aligns us with the will of God brings its own reward of peace.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things.” (Phi 4:8 NET)

Jesus, my thought life is not easy to control, but I want it brought under your reign.  I want to think and desire that which is pleasing to you.  Transform me.  Amen.

CHRISTIANITY 101: DEALING WITH TEMPTATION*

I have never experienced a church that explicitly taught believers how to deal with temptation, particularly as new Christians.  It involves spiritual “warfare” in a “battle” for the mind.
Six main points
1) Our “battle” is with spiritual forces of evil.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. (Eph. 6:12)

(Too often spiritual dimensions in life are ignored or overblown.  A healthy starting point is this analogy: As an infection is to a cut, so is spiritual evil to our normal pathologies.  There is a real dimension that is adversarial to God.)

2) Our “battlefield” is the mind.  (The key point is in bold.)

For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, ⁴ for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments ⁵ and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ. (2 Cor. 10:3)

3) Temptation is not sin.  Jesus was tempted.  (The main noun and verb for “temptation” carries the idea that it tests a person and exposes their character in the Light of their response.)

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Matt. 4:1)

4) Temptation must be stopped in the mind before it leads to sin.  Our thoughts do not define us; our responses us.

But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. ¹⁵ Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. (James 1:14)

5) Our temptations are not unique and are not beyond dealing with.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Cor. 10:13)

6) Jesus has experienced our temptations and can help us through them.

For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  (Hebrews 4:15-16)

Summary and Application
Temptuous thoughts are normal, but they should be rejected as foreign to who we are as people of God.  Some people let such thoughts define them: “Since I feel X, I must be X.”  Others let temptations linger until they give birth to sin.  Temptations must be instantly identified as foreign to the Presence of God and one should call on God's help to reject them.
Although I often fail with various spiritual temptations, still I will be personal about a habit I seek to develop.  When I see a woman and begin to have a lustful thought, I attempt to stop it by saying a blessing for that woman and asking Jesus in His mercy to lead me to “escape” it and to cleanse my mind.  More personally (too personally?) I vividly recall an experience, on another issue, when one image after another was coming into my mind.  At first, it frightened me.  Then, I inwardly said, "Satan (= adversary), you can put any image in my mind you want, but I do not have to accept them.  Come Holy Spirit!"  My body literally shook and the images were gone.
Lord Jesus, you know how frail I am.  However, I want my mind, my thought-life, to be pleasing to you.  Lead me through every temptation and cleanse the thoughts of my heart.  Amen.
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*I posted on this topic more fully on July 10, 2024, "Temptation, the Mind, and Spiritual Warfare," but in a recent conversation I was encouraged to post on it again.  Shorter is sometimes better.