A Farmer Went Out

Alright, well we are continuing our way through the Gospel of Luke and we are in chapter 8.

And at this point in the story Luke gives us a little bit of a big picture, a little bit of a summary about what is happening around this time with Jesus.

Let me just read it for us from Luke chapter 8.

Luke 8 · chapter mention

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.

The twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases.

Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had come out.

Joanna, the wife of Chusa, the manager of Herod's household.

Susanna, and many others.

These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

So Jesus is preaching.

And again, Luke's reminding us that Jesus was not just a healer and a miracle worker.

He came with a message.

And his message was good news.

Good news about what?

The kingdom of God.

The good news of Jesus is the kingdom of God.

Already when we get to this point in the story, we might scratch our heads and wonder,

what is the good news of the kingdom of God?

Well, in another occasion, Jesus was heard saying these words in Mark's gospel.

The kingdom of God has come near.

Repent and believe the good news.

So this was his message, that the kingdom of God has come near.

And what kingdom is this?

As I said last Sunday, to really understand this, we need to look back in our Bibles.

We could look back to the kingdom that God established for his people through Saul.

And then later, especially through David.

God made some amazing promises to David.

He not only chose David to be the king over Israel,

but he promised that David's throne, his kingdom, would endure forever.

And then we can think back to what we heard at the beginning of Luke's gospel.

What did Gabriel reveal to Mary?

Gabriel said that her son, to be born, would be given the throne of his father David.

And that he would reign over Jacob's descendants forever.

In a kingdom that would never end.

This is the kingdom that Jesus is talking about.

It's the kingdom of God, because it's the kingdom that comes from God.

It's established by God.

It has its source in him.

And this kingdom is near, because the king of this kingdom has now come.

He has been born.

And he is here.

And his people put their faith in Jesus, the king.

The citizenship of this kingdom is growing.

And yet, at the same time, many people had different expectations of this kingdom.

Many expected that it would resemble the kingdom of Israel from ancient times.

Many anticipated an earthly, geopolitical government and rule, with the Messiah leading the charge and kicking the Roman Empire out.

Establishing an earthly throne.

And already, Jesus has not been acting or measuring up to those kinds of expectations.

And yet, Jesus continues to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.

He continues to call people to repent and believe this good news, that the great kingdom of God is near.

As we'll see eventually, the rise of this kingdom will defy all expectations.

The path of Jesus to the throne will be through suffering, death, and resurrection.

And the full establishment of this kingdom awaits the second coming of Jesus in the distant future, when he returns from heaven.

So, Jesus went from one town and village to another, preaching this kingdom.

And Luke tells us that the twelve were with him.

The twelve disciples.

And not just the twelve, but also a large cohort of women.

And there's certainly some interesting details in there about the women.

But, for time's sake, we'll pass over those this morning.

What Luke really wants to get to and tell us about is what happened on one occasion, and possibly more than one,

where Jesus gave the people this teaching.

Verse 4.

While a large crowd was gathering, and people were coming to Jesus from town after town,

he told this parable.

A farmer went out to sow his seed.

As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path.

It was trampled on, and the birds ate it up.

Some fell on rocky ground.

And when it came up, the plants withered, because they had no moisture.

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it, and choked the plants.

Still other seed fell on good soil.

It came up and yielded a crop a hundred times more than was sown.

When he had said this, Jesus called out,

Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.

Now imagine for a moment that you just traveled several hours to hear Jesus on foot.

You've heard so much about him.

And this is what he says.

A farmer went out to sow his seed.

The seed landed in four different places,

and based on the condition of the soil in each place,

there was a different outcome.

One of the four outcomes was good.

Only one of them was the kind of outcome that the farmer hopes for.

Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.

What's your reaction to this?

I imagine there were many people thinking,

What's the point?

What does this mean?

Why is he telling us about this?

Is there a deeper meaning to this?

On its own, this teaching is kind of ambiguous.

It's kind of cryptic.

What are we supposed to do with this?

Is there some wisdom in here that we're supposed to discover?

And then there's the statement of Jesus at the end,

which is rather strange.

Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.

Don't we all have ears?

Aren't we all here listening to you, Jesus?

One modern translation attempts to highlight the force of the last part of Jesus' statement.

It says,

The one who has ears to hear had better listen.

Are you saying that we're not really listening, Jesus?

Are you saying that some of us don't have ears, that we're deaf?

And what does all this have to do with the farmer?

And the seed?

And the four kinds of ground?

Like, what are you talking about, Jesus?

Even a closer examination of the details of Jesus' parable

don't really get us much further.

The farmer sows seed, and it falls on these different places.

And what happens in each of these places is basically what we expect.

If it falls on the path, it gets trampled on.

Or the birds come and eat it.

That's expected.

If it falls on the rocky ground, the plant can hardly eke out its existence.

It's got no depth, and so it withers.

And it dies.

If it falls among the weeds, well, we've all seen things trying to grow alongside the weeds,

and we know how that goes.

That's expected.

Really, the only unexpected thing is maybe how Jesus describes the seed that falls on the good soil.

He says,

The plants came up and yielded a crop a hundred times what was sown.

This is what every farmer dreams of and hopes for.

A hundred times what was sown is the ultimate bumper crop.

We're talking like a wheat yield of around 160 bushels an acre.

With that kind of yield, the farmer would be hooting and hollering all the way up and down the field during harvest.

So that would be great for a farmer.

But what's the point?

And surprisingly, Jesus didn't explain the meaning of all this to this large crowd.

He just left it at that.

Many of them went away wondering what on earth Jesus was talking about.

Later on, Jesus' disciples asked him what the parable meant.

Verse 9.

His disciples asked him what this parable meant.

He said,

The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you.

But to others, I speak in parables.

So that though seeing, they may not see.

Though hearing, they may not understand.

From there, Jesus goes on to explain the details of the parable to them.

So there was a deeper meaning to this little parable or analogy of Jesus.

And we're going to get to it in just a moment.

But before he explains it to them, there's this explanation of why he speaks in parables.

And perhaps it's a little surprising.

These particular words of Jesus have been discussed and debated thoroughly through the centuries.

We'll start with the clear part.

Jesus says,

The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom has been given to you.

The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you.

So what's clear is that there are secrets.

There are mysteries, as some translations put it,

to the kingdom of God.

But this kingdom Jesus has been proclaiming has secrets.

It has elements that are hidden from plain sight.

It has inner workings that are not obvious or expected.

Jesus says,

The knowledge of these secrets has been given to you,

to his disciples.

According to Mark's gospel,

Jesus isn't just talking about the twelve,

but to the twelve and others of his disciples.

Probably it included these women as well,

that we've just heard were there,

and a good number of others as well.

And so what is clear is that there's this sort of insiders group,

and then there's an outside group.

And Jesus says to the insiders group,

The secrets of God's kingdom have been given to you,

but not to those on the outside.

And then Jesus explains the meaning of the parable to them.

He goes through each element,

and he tells what it represents.

We'll get to that in a moment,

in verses 11 to 15.

In other words,

when Jesus says the secrets of the kingdom of God

have been given to you,

what that means is that as Jesus tells these parables to the crowds,

he gives the explanation of them

only to his disciples,

only to the insiders group,

and not to everyone.

And this is just one of the many parables that Jesus told.

He told the parable of the mustard seed,

the parable of the prodigal son,

the parable of the wheat and the weeds,

the parables of the hidden treasure in the field,

and the pearl of great price,

and many more.

And Jesus, we notice,

begins quite a number of those parables

with this saying,

this phrase.

He'll say,

The kingdom of God is like,

and then he'll give this analogy,

he'll tell a parable,

where the kingdom of heaven is like,

by one count,

a dozen of the parables told,

which begin with those words.

Though some have pointed out

that probably about 25 to 30 of the parables

have to do with the kingdom of God.

They seem to almost all be focused around this.

And so Jesus is proclaiming the good news of the kingdom

to the crowds,

and as people ask questions,

well, what's the kingdom of God like?

How's it going to go?

Jesus is answering those questions

with a variety of parables and analogies.

But,

Jesus is explaining these parables

and their details only to his disciples.

Only to those who are traveling around with him

and following him.

To the twelve,

and to others who are part of that inside group.

The close followers of Jesus.

Now, why did Jesus do it like that?

Why not just explain the meaning of the parables

to everyone?

The details to everybody,

the whole crowd.

Here's where it becomes a lot less clear.

Here's what Jesus says about it.

He says,

He quotes from the prophet Isaiah,

who prophesied 700 years earlier.

What does that mean?

It almost sounds like Jesus is saying

he uses the parables deliberately.

But why?

Like,

are you saying that the purpose of them

is to conceal

or obscure the truth

from people who are hearing them?

It kind of sounds like that,

doesn't it?

To others I speak in parables

so that those seeing,

they may not see.

Though hearing,

they may not understand.

So,

what does that mean?

Jesus,

do you want them not to see?

Do you want them not to understand?

Don't you want them to see

and to understand everything that you're saying?

This apparent tension

has led to all sorts

of different explanations

of these words of Jesus.

But before we consider a few,

I just want to remind us that

this is a difficult passage to interpret.

And there's a number of reasons why.

The first reason

has to do with this

quoting the Old Testament prophet.

Quoting Isaiah.

Isaiah wrote

the part that Jesus

quoted 700 years prior.

He starts

his sentence,

Jesus does,

and then ends it

with the quote

from Isaiah.

If I quote Shakespeare

but you're not familiar

with that quote

or work

of Shakespeare

then it's not going to make sense.

And it's the same with this.

So we flip back

to Isaiah chapter 6

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

to try to understand

what Jesus means.

But then once we

get to it,

we realize that Isaiah 6

is itself

a difficult passage

to understand.

The prophet Isaiah

who lived during the reign

of King Uzziah

had a spectacular vision

from God.

He saw the Lord

high and exalted

seated on a throne.

and he saw

these strange

looking angel

things

worshiping God

and there was smoke

in the vision

and the ground shook

in the vision.

And Isaiah

is in the presence

of God

and he's crying out

sensing that he's

about to be

destroyed

because he's

a guilty sinner

in the presence

of a holy

and perfect God.

But then

in the vision

God takes his guilt

away

and makes atonement

for him

and then sends

Isaiah

to speak on his

behalf

to the people

of Israel.

It's like a

commissioning of Isaiah

to be a prophet.

But what God

says to Isaiah

in this commissioning

is

maybe unexpected.

He said

go and tell

this people

be ever hearing

but never

understanding

be ever seeing

but never perceiving

make the heart

of this people

calloused

make their ears

dull

and close their eyes

otherwise

they might see

with their eyes

hear with their ears

understand

with their hearts

and turn

and be healed.

Then I said

for how long

Lord?

And he answered

until the cities

lie ruined

and without

inhabitant

until the houses

are left deserted

and the fields

ruined and ravaged

until the Lord

has sent everyone

far away

and the land

is utterly

forsaken.

Do you see

what I mean?

Isaiah chapter 6

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

is a difficult

passage to understand.

He's sending

Isaiah

God is

but it sounds

here with

Isaiah

like God's

purpose

is not

to call

them

to repent

and be

saved

but rather

to bring

about

punishment

on them

for their

sins.

It seems

as if

God is

telling

Isaiah

right from

the get

go

that people

will not

respond

favorably

to his

words.

And we're

still left

with the

question

of what's

meant

by this

statement

go and

tell

this people

be ever

hearing

but never

understanding.

Be ever

seeing

but never

perceiving.

Is God

pronouncing

judgment

on Israel

here?

Is this

punishment?

Is it

that they're

kind of

left to a

sort of

spiritual

blindness

and deafness?

Is God

giving them

over to

hardness

of heart

and blindness

with these

words?

Or

you could

almost take

it the

complete

opposite way

too.

Is God

goading

them

with these

words?

Is he

trying to

provoke

a response

from their

dull hearts?

Is he

trying to

get them

to see

that they

think

they're

wise

and

understanding

but in

fact they

aren't?

Is God's

aim with

these words

really

stated there

in the

passage

that they

might turn

to him

and be

healed?

Or is

God

mainly just

expressing

to Isaiah

what he

knows

what will

happen?

what he

knows

will be

their

response?

Not

that he

wants

them

to

ignore

and

become

callous

but that

God

knows

that as

Isaiah

preaches

to them

this is

going to

be the

result.

They're

going to

harden

their

hearts

until

the

heart's

calloused.

They're

going to

tune him

out with

their ears

until

their ears

are dull

and unable

to hear

his voice.

And then

there's the

question of

when this

will happen.

how long

is this

to go

on for?

Verses

11 to

13 of

Isaiah

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

Is

Isaiah

saying that

the Jewish

people,

the nation

of Israel

will be

deaf and

blind to

the word

of God

until

Jerusalem

is destroyed

and the

Jews

scattered

in the

first and

second

century?

You see

what I

mean about

this passage

being difficult

to understand?

And so

it's quite

reasonable that

there's different

opinions on

what these

words of

Jesus mean.

One idea

is that

Jesus speaks

in parables

as a form

of divine

judgment.

Deliberately

concealing the

truth from

the people

so that the

people of

Israel will

get what

they deserve

for their

wicked

stubbornness

toward God.

And yet

at the same

time though

that there's

this remnant

that God

has chosen

by grace

and by his

mercy and

granted

understanding

to them

so that

not all

will perish.

Another idea

is that

Jesus simply

is focused

on explaining

how their

response to

his preaching

is the same

as the

people's

response to

Isaiah long

ago.

God would

rather they

repent and

turn and be

saved but

because of the

already hard

hearts of the

majority they

will hear and

see wonderful

things from

Jesus yet

many will

never understand

or believe

or turn back

to God and

be saved.

Some even

suggest that

these parables

have a sort

of dual

effect.

In their

outside form

they have

kind of the

function of

a veil

and they

cover the

truth that's

inside.

They only

reveal enough

to invite

and to

provoke

people to

draw near

to come

to God

to come

to Jesus

for more

and then

whether people

press in

and come

to Jesus

and ask

what does

it mean

is the

thing that

determines

whether or

not they

will receive

the secrets

of the

kingdom.

It's sort

of a litmus

test about

what's really

in the heart

of a person.

Do they

really want

to understand

God's

kingdom?

And if so

they will

draw near

to Jesus

they will

follow him

they'll

become one

of the

inside

group

but if

not they'll

just listen

and go

their way

and ignore

the teachings

of Jesus.

These are

some of the

ideas Christians

have had about

these words

of Jesus

and what

they mean

but let's

just now

focus on

the parable

of the

farmer.

Back to

the parable

of the

farmer.

One of

the wonderful

things here

is that

Luke takes

us to

the insider

group's

meeting

where Jesus

explained the

details.

We get

the details

so let's

look at that

in verses

11 to

15.

Jesus

goes back

over the

parable

with them

in private

and he

starts by

explaining

the overall

elements.

This is

the meaning

of the

parable.

The seed

is the

word of

God.

Those

along the

path are

the ones

who hear

and then

the devil

comes and

takes away

the word

from their

hearts.

So this

is a

parable about

people hearing

the word

of God.

Matthew's

gospel makes

it especially

clear.

In Matthew

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13

Jesus says

listen then to

what the

parable of

the sower

means.

When anyone

hears the

message about

the kingdom

and does

not understand

it the

evil one

comes and

snatches away

what was

sown in

their hearts.

So this

parable is

actually an

explanation

of why

people respond

the way they

do to

Jesus

preaching.

With that

key now

the meaning

of all of

it is

unlocked.

We can

understand

something of

what Jesus

was getting

at.

Now Jesus

goes through

each of the

four places

that the

seed fell

and each

one represents

the word

of God

that Jesus

is proclaiming

being heard

by people.

Suddenly

what Jesus

said at the

end makes

sense.

He who has

ears to hear

let him hear.

This whole

parable is

about hearing

the word

of God

which Jesus

has been

speaking.

So let's

go through

each of

these four

places

and see

how Jesus

explains them.

First there's

the seed

that fell

on the

path

and was

trampled

or eaten

by birds.

Jesus

says this

represents

those who

hear the

word of

God

but then

the devil

takes away

or snatches

the word

from their

hearts

so that

they may

not believe

and be

saved.

That's a

pretty sobering

thought

isn't it?

In other

words

some people

are responding

to Jesus

the way

that they

are

because

Satan

the devil

is at

work.

He is

influencing

them.

Personally

I find

the word

choice

of Jesus

rather

shocking

here.

The devil

comes and

takes away

the word

from their

hearts

so that

they may

not believe

and be

saved.

Can the

devil mess

with a

person's

heart?

Can he

steal

from that

deepest

part of

a person

the truth

that they've

heard?

According to

Jesus

the answer

is yes.

And his

purpose in

doing it

is so

wicked

so that

they might

not believe

and be

saved.

How evil.

The devil

hates God

and he

doesn't

want

anyone

to

believe

in

him.

He

wants

you

to

perish.

Now

we might

wonder

how the

devil

does

this

and we

could

talk

a little

bit

about

that.

We

know

from

other

places

that

his

main

way

of

operating

is

through

deception.

Jesus

called

him

a liar

and the

father

of

lies.

Jesus

said

that

when he

lies

he

speaks

his

native

language.

That's

in

John

John 8:44

chapter 8

verse

44.

And it's

not

like the

TV shows

where he

sits on

your

shoulder

and

whispers

lies

into

your

ear.

He's

not

everywhere

at

once

but he

is

deeply

responsible

for

creating

and

circulating

insidious

deceptions

in our

world.

Mix

enough

truth

with a

lie

and make

the lie

coherent

with other

lies

and

you

can

explain

all

sorts

of

things

without

the

need

for

God

or

Jesus.

He

doesn't

want

you

to

believe

in

Jesus.

He

doesn't

want

you

to be

saved.

And so

as far

as it

depends

on us

we need

to do

everything

we can

to receive

the word

of God

the words

of Jesus

deeply

into our

hearts.

we

can't

just

let

the

words

come

at

us

and

sit

up

on

the

surface.

We need

to take

it

in

deeply.

We need

to do

everything

we can

to soften

our hearts

towards

God

and

his

word.

Otherwise

we give

opportunity

to the

devil

to snatch

away

the truth

that we've

heard.

Next

there's the

seed that

fell on

the rocky

ground.

and

we

notice

that

these

are

people

who

receive

the

word

with

joy

when

they

hear

it.

The

good

news

of

Jesus

sounds

and

feels

like

good

news

to

them.

They

accept

it

but

not

deeply.

It's

still a

rather

shallow

and

surface

kind

of

belief.

They

have

no

root.

The

roots

can't

go

down

because

of the

rocks.

the

word

doesn't

go

deep

into

their

hearts.

They

believe

for a

while

says

Jesus

but

in

the

time

of

testing

they

fall

away.

Right

now

the

crowds

are

large

for

Jesus

but

the

size

of

the

crowds

doesn't

mean

that

all

of

them

really

believe

in

Jesus.

When

it

becomes

difficult

to be

a

follower

of

Jesus

later

on

in

the

story

and

the

opposition

intensifies

many

will

disappear

and

no

longer

follow

him

they

will

fall

away.

This

is the

story

for

many

in

every

generation.

They

grow up

going to

church

with

their

parents

and

for

many

years

that's

all

they

know.

It's

just

what

they

do.

But

then

when

it

becomes

apparent

that

there's

a

cost

to

following

Jesus

that

it

requires

personal

sacrifice

and

commitment

or

when

it

becomes

unpopular

to

follow

Jesus

they

fall

away.

They

stop

going

to

church

they

stop

doing

the

Christian

things

and

it

comes

out

that

their

faith

their

commitment

to

him

was

shallow

from

the

start.

Next

there is

the

seed

that

among

the

thorns

or

the

weeds.

Jesus

says

that

this

stands

for

those

who

hear

but

then

are

choked

by

life's

worries

riches

and

pleasures

and

they

do

not

mature.

So

they

hear

God's

word

maybe

even

make

a

profession

of

faith

in

Jesus

but

ultimately

they

do

not

respond

to

God's

word.

It's

choked

out.

It's

crowded

out

in their

hearts

and

in

their

lives

by

a

number

of

things.

Life's

worries.

Riches.

The

pursuit

of

material

things.

Pleasures.

Chasing

after

pleasures.

Feelings.

Entertainment.

They're

not

able to

respond

to

God's

words

deeply

because

even

though

they've

heard

it

there's

other

things

that

they're

giving

the

attention

of

their

heart

to

more.

Are

you

worried

about

a lot

of

things

in

life?

According

to

Jesus

worrying

about

things

in

life

can

affect

your

hearing.

Worrying

can

hinder

your

ability

to

hear

and

respond

to

the

word

of

God.

Or

are

you

constantly

thinking

about

how

much

money

you

have?

Or

the

next

thing

that

you'd

like

to

obtain

or

buy?

This

is

another

thing

that

can

affect

our

hearing.

The

pursuit

of

riches,

wealth,

material

things.

Or

is

it

pleasure?

Could

be

even

as

simple

as

being

addicted

to

our

phones.

habitually

scrolling

on a

device,

an

excess

of

movies

or

games

or

sports

or

social

media.

Or

it

could be

something

bigger

like

the

next

great

experience

that

we're

hoping

for,

the

next

luxury

getaway

or a

new

romantic

relationship.

And

God

has

made

this

life

and

this

world

with

pleasures,

things

for our

enjoyment.

But

the

problem

happens

when we

turn our

hearts

primarily

towards

getting

those

pleasures,

!

That's

the

main

thing

for us.

And

it

can

affect

our

ability

to hear

the

word

of

God

and

to

have

the

word

of

God

have

its

intended

result

in

our

life.

Finally,

!

There's

the seed

that fell

on the

good

soil

and

produced

the

ultimate

bumper

crop.

Jesus

says the

least

about

what this

looks like

in the

life of

a

person,

but

we

notice

just a

few

details.

We

notice

that

the

word

of

God

is

retained.

There are

those who

hear the

word,

retain it,

and by

persevering,

produce a

crop.

That

word

persevering

catches my

attention.

God's

word can

do great

things in

a person's

life,

but that

doesn't mean

it's going

to be

automatic,

instant,

or easy.

it requires

that we

stick with

the words

of Jesus.

It requires

that we

hear them

and go

on through

our lives

holding

on to

them

deeply

as

true.

But if

we do,

it leads

to the

most amazing

outcome,

the great

bumper crop,

which,

if we

translate the

metaphor,

salvation,

life as a

citizen in

God's

kingdom,

which is

coming.

And so

this is one

of the

first secrets

of the

kingdom.

Not

everyone,

sadly,

will enter

into it.

Many will

hear about

it,

or at least

hear about

the king

of this

kingdom,

and yet

only some

will end

up with

the good

outcome.

And it

comes down

to what

happens when

we hear

the word

of God,

the message

of Jesus.

Jesus.

It's not

enough to

just hear

it,

we must

believe it.

And it's

not enough

to believe

it in a

surface way,

to just

agree with

it,

or think it

sounds pretty

good,

we must

believe it

in the

deepest

depths of

our hearts.

We must

take Jesus'

words as

truth,

as the

very words

of God

to us.

and it's

not enough

to add

Jesus'

words to

the

collection

of all

the

other

things

that we

value,

but you

know,

kind of

keep it

on the

side while

we go

after all

these

things.

We must

value the

word of

God

as the

very word

of God

and prioritize

it above

all else

in life.

And it's

not easy

to do

this,

but the

good outcome,

the kingdom

of God

will be

found and

enjoyed

by those

who do.

Just a

brief word

on what

to do

with all

this.

You know,

the first

place of

this parable

was probably

very helpful

was no

doubt for

the disciples.

Think of

how they

followed

Jesus in

their own

day and

time,

and they

watched the

crowd

swarming

Jesus,

and everybody

is excited

about him.

Surely

they wondered

though,

why all of

a sudden

some people

just stopped

following.

And then

as it

gets closer

to Jesus'

death,

the crowds