Luke chapter 8

vs 12

I've got to say the Calvinist position is pretty strong here - it reflects both God's sovereignty over salvation and also his power over the devil. Of course, that's not how it's worded. The way it is worded, though, is not a way any Christians would be comfortable, I think. Regardless of our feelings on free will, the power of Satan needs to be limited. And therefore, as this sentence stands, it can't be that simple. Sufficed to say that the devil has is part, God has his part - the only thing not to be mentioned in this seed is the hearer, interestingly.

vs 13

This one (and the rest) is all about the hearer and their response. Instantly positive, soon finished. An alarmingly good insight into human nature. One is the fickleness of humanity - it is these people who are at present listening to Jesus, and who will be crying "Crucify him!" before 3 years is up. Not that I'm saying we should never change our minds, but that we should do it for the right reasons, not just because someone's bigger than you. The other is our ability to get super keen on something in the short term, and then to burn out. I'm a regular at this - I get super keen over something like a game, then I get disillusioned with it, and I quit it. I honestly don't know if there's a cure for that part of the human condition.

vs 14

This seed really brings up a powerful question - is this kind of person saved? It's something we worry about a lot, partially with justification, and this verse does not help. We all know the kind of person it is - the kind who makes a commitment to Christ, and would probably call themselves a Christian too, but they are basically ineffectual, and it's almost impossible to tell them apart from a non-Christian. Their words might be Christian, but their actions seem all the same as the world. Protestants, especially evangelicals, are the first to cry "Justification by faith in Christ alone!" Good on them. Pity the Bible is not keen to paint such a simple picture as that. I agree that justification comes through faith. Where does maturity come from? And does maturity equal salvation?

Instead of answering this question, though (it's probably better answered in James or Romans), here's a related question for you - are we as a church too focussed on questions of lowest-common-denominator salvation? Are we too keen to pump the numbers? Are we too spiritually minded? Are we as a church as focussed on building mature, fruitful Christians as we are on spreading the gospel in the first place? Here's a simple test - if your church had 10 people confess faith in Christ next Sunday, how prepared would you be to (explain baptism to them, baptise them)*, start them off on a program of discipleship which would allow them to grow in Christian maturity? In fact, how well is your church looking after its current members in that way?

The * was for baptism, which always gets on my goat, because the same people who don't kiss me at the door of church see it as a once-for-all eternal command and insist that all believers must be baptised, but allow them to wait 1, 2, 5+ years before getting baptised. The Bible seems to indicate that when someone believes, they want to get baptised immediately. You know why? Because culturally it meant more to them than it does to us. I'm not against baptism, I just think we have a kooky attitude towards it.

vs 15

There's a bit of flattery for this seed, noble and pure of heart, shucks. Because, honestly, how many of us who accepted Christ can say thatwe have a noble and pure heart? Put perhaps Jesus could be seen as saying that, the more noble and pure your heart, the bigger your crop will be.

vs 16

Light is for shining. Interesting that this section comes straight after the section on maturity equalling crop yield, because that is not otherwise an interpretation you'd necessarily make from the parable of the sower's interpretation on its own (except, of course, that a bigger crop creates more seeds, but I don't believe that's the point of the parable per se).

vs 17

More directly relevant to the lampstand parable is this verse. It is about all things coming to light, being revealed, in the end. Not how we normally think about this parable. We usually think about it as being about reaching people with the gospel, rather than about the gospel exposing the crappy parts of the world.

vs 18

You want a confusing passage? Here's one for you. I think you have to read it in terms of the first bit, about listening and understanding. Those who are listening already will hear even more. Those who are switched off won't even get what's being talked about.

vs 19

Which means not only was the crowd large, but not all of them were really all that considerate.

vs 20

Someone was nice enough to inform Jesus of what was happening. Family is very important, especially in this culture, so you'd think he would want to know. And everyone would assume that he would treat them with special privilege, because that is what everyone had always done, and still does. Nepotism rules the third world.

vs 21

So when Jesus makes this statement, it is all the more culturally grating on the people of his time. Now it doesn't say what happened next - did he then say "But ok, let them come through the crowd so I can hug my mum?" It would seem a little out of keeping with his words, wouldn't it?"

vs 22

And now, Jesus is off on his next adventure - by boat. Which is of course a mistake, because boats are evil. Stay tuned.