Read: Luke 8:1-8; Mark 3:20-4:20; Matthew 12:22-13:9
When Jesus traveled he took his twelve disciples and a few women with him. Interesting to note that one was the wife of Herod’s business manager. These women supported Jesus and his disciples monetarily.
Everything Jesus did upset the religious leaders. They were so jealous they couldn’t see or judge straight. Since they couldn’t do what Jesus did they sought to undermine his reputation. God sent Jesus a man demon-possessed who was blind and couldn’t speak. Jesus cast the demon out and healed the man.
Since the religious leaders couldn’t figure out how he could cast demons out of people, they decided he must have a demon himself. Jesus explained that a demon can’t cast out a demon. It takes someone more powerful than Satan to throw Satan out and He was that person.
Jesus went on to explain that if you didn’t work with him you were his enemy. He warned them that they could be forgiven of their sins against him but they would not be forgiven if they spoke evil against the Holy Spirit. He reminded them that they would be held responsible for every idle word they spoke. (May that be a reminder to me.)
Jesus gave them the parable of the seed and the sower and told them that if they didn’t understand this parable, they wouldn’t understand any of them. So, I want to expound on this parable.
If you see a house that is beautiful on the outside but you’ve seen what a mess it is inside, you realize that the outside is just a facade and not a true measure of the value of the real home. Anyone can build a beautiful building, but what goes on in that building is the real value of the building. In the parable about the seed and the sower, it was neither the seed or the sower that were bad. The sower was God and the seed was the Word of God. The problem was with the soil. The soil represents our hearts. If we don’t have room for the seed then it won’t take root and grow. If we make room for the seed then it will grow and spread in our hearts. Our hearts must be soft and tender.
The Pharasee’s tried to do the opposite. They tried to make their appearance perfect when their hearts were hard and a mess. God works from the inside out. We try to work from the outside in. When we get saved it is not our job to clean our outside up. The Holy Spirit will do that. It is our job to make room in our hearts for the seed to grow. Then it will spread to our actions and desires without us having to lift a finger. When our hearts are changed we change the root. The old branches from the dead root will eventually wither up and die too. The key is filling the soil of our hearts with plant food which is the Word of God and water which is the Holy Spirit. Then all the things like judging others, worry, conflict with others, etc. will all work out under the law of love.
Lord, may our hearts be fertile soil that receives the seed of your Word and produces a garden of love.
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