The Eleventh Sunday of Israel (G)

Luke 8:4-18

⁴ And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, ⁵ “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

⁹ And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, ¹⁰ he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ ¹¹ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. ¹² The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. ¹⁴ And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵ As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

^16 n“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. ¹⁷ For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. ¹⁸ Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

I have often wondered why Jesus explains some parables and not others. Likewise, Jeremiah gets an explanation for the good figs and the bad figs. But not all parables, poems, or visions are properly interpreted in Scripture. Some are not even interpreted very well outside of scripture.

Jesus explains the parable of the Sower. He is more than happy to remind us about the devil’s threat to our hearing the Word. Jesus even reminds us there is suffering and temptations in the world, which will not allow us to be rounded in the word. There are even the cares of this world like family, sports, school, and popularity, which will distract us from hearing God’s Word.

All these things help cover up the light God has given to you. But God does give you his Light. God sows his word in your ears/eyes as you hear/read his word and truth. God continues to tell you about His true Light shining into this dark world. God is shouting his word of forgiveness into your ears, don’t let the bad figs corrupt the good fig.