Still Other Seeds Fell On Fertile Soil

Wednesday, July 24, 2013         Still Other Seeds Fell On Fertile Soil

“Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

Mark 4:8 (Parable of the Sower Mark 4:1-9)

Many years ago I was in restaurant that was adjacent to the runways of the Ft. Lauderdale airport. Included in each booth was a set of headphones which allowed the patrons to listen to the airport Control Tower. My two friends each took turns listening, and then handed the headphones to me saying, “You will be disappointed because they aren’t working. Everything is garbled and we can’t understand anything.” I put on the earphones and heard, “Cesena 24 Tango clear for takeoff runway 9, maintain runway heading. Air Canada 386 taxi in position and hold runway 9.”

Why did I hear clearly and my friends only heard gibberish? I have a private pilot’s license and training and experience in airport communications. I knew how to listen to this particular form of communication.

Parables are a particular form of communication that Jesus used. His stories included symbols, and at times he used an ‘insiders’ vocabulary. Why? The truth was too revolutionary. The people of Israel wanted a Messiah who would deliver the whole country, all at once, from the oppression of Rome. If Jesus was that kind of Messiah, the Roman government would do all they could to stop him. If he wasn’t that kind of Messiah, the people would rebel against him.

The parable of the sower reveals that the Messiah wasn’t going to set the nation of Israel free. The parable reveals the sower (God) is setting individuals free, one at a time. In this story Jesus tells, some seeds don’t sprout, some sprout a little, others sprout more and then fade away. But some seeds take root and produce an exceedingly abundant harvest. However, in this story that Jesus tells, all eyes are on the sower, not the harvest. The sower is extravagant, so incredibly extravagant, sowing seeds here, there and everywhere. Such is the extraordinary nature of God’s grace.

The Gospels give us ample illustrations of the seeds that failed to produce fruit. They also give us many examples where the seeds found good soil. There was the Gentile Centurion, the woman who worshipped at Jesus’ feet while the Pharisee scoffed at Jesus, and eleven of the twelve disciples. All these received Jesus words and produced an abundant harvest.

There was also the group of women who traveled with Jesus. There was a high cost to their discipleship. Not only did they support his ministry with their financial means, they did so with a willingness to go against many of the social customs of their day. These women were the first disciples to truly get out of their comfort zone and dare to live a new way in response to the life-giving words of Jesus. These courageous women, as well as the others who received Jesus’ words, challenge me to examine my own life. How much fruit are Jesus’ words producing in my life? Is my love, my grace that I extend to others, as extravagant as my Abba’s grace for me?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  In addition to this BLOG they are distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com. The Kindle version will follow soon.

·        The second edition First Think – Then Pray has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.