Hearing and Doing the Word

Luke 8:1-21 - Riley Boggs

Recently Shelby and I started watching through the Star Wars movies again. You all might have guessed that from my Darth Vader story a few weeks ago. But, we started watching through them again, and for myself it had been nearly 10 years since I had seen them. And before watching them I thought I knew the story pretty well. I thought I knew the characters pretty well, despite what the Brownfield’s might think. I thought I had a good grasp on Star Wars. Turns out, I had missed a whole lot. There were all sorts of things that I had missed or forgotten. In fact, when I watched them I found myself thinking, “How in the world did I miss that before?”

I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has experienced this. I would guess that for most of us, we have watched a movie or tv show for the second, third, maybe fourth time, and noticed something that you never noticed before. Maybe there was something a character said or did that foreshadows what is to come, but somehow you missed it the first couple times you watched it. Or maybe a detail that you thought was pretty insignificant the first time, but upon watching it again, you realize that it’s actually pretty important.

Well if this is true of movies and tv shows, and it is, then I know that it is true when it comes to the Bible. By a raise of hands, who here has read a passage in the Bible that you thought you knew well, but as you read it again, it seemed like you had totally missed something before? I know that I have. In fact, this likely happens to us all the time. We read a verse or a passage and thing, “How in the world did I miss that before?” Maybe you had a missed a detail, or misunderstood what something meant, or maybe you had just forgotten. Or, it might be the case that the Spirit causes you to see something in a way that you had never seen before and would have never seen had it not been for His kindness. Whatever the case may be, when you read it again, it seems to fall on you fresh.

This morning, we find ourselves in a text that I think might have this effect on many of us. There is detail here in this passage that I think often gets overlooked or misunderstood. A detail so important that it not only affects how we read our passage this morning, but it will affect how you read the rest of Luke’s Gospel, and all the other Gospel’s. Now the reason that I think that this detail it is often overlooked or misunderstood is because it’s hard truth for us to accept. I think we don’t love the idea of what it being said, so we either sort of read past it without further examination or we dismiss it and think “well it can’t mean that”, and then we move on.

The thing that I think is revealed in this passage that is often missed or overlooked is what Jesus says about the purpose of the parables. Here in this passage, Jesus tells us that there are 2 purposes for them. The first one we all know and accept, and I would guess that most people think of it as the only reason for parables. The second one is often misunderstood or overlooked, and I would guess that most people do not think of it as a reason for the parables. And yet, they are both very clearly being taught by Jesus here in our text.

The structure of our text goes something like this. Verses 1-3 are narrative, telling us what is happening leads to this point and sort of setting the context a bit. Verses 4-8 are a parables. Verses 9-10 are an explanation of what the purpose of a parable is. In verses 11-15 we get that same parable mentioned previously, again, but this time explained a bit more. Then in verses 16-18 we get another parable, and finally in verses, 19-21 we get another narrative story. So, what I want to do is look at that detail in verses 9-10, where Jesus tells us the purpose of the parables, and then look at the rest of the text in light of that what He says.

Alright, let’s read what Jesus says here. After telling the parable of the sower, verse 9, we read, “And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 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”’”. Jesus tells His disciples that there are 2 purposes for the parables here. Here’s what they are.

1.) Parables are intended to reveal the truth to some and conceal truth from others

That first purpose, that the parables are intended to reveal truth to some, is likely the one that we all understand and what many would think is the only purpose of the parables. We think of the parables, rightly, as a way for Jesus to teach the truths that He wants to convey to people. We see that in verse 10 where He says that one of the purposes of the parables is so that the “secrets of the kingdom of God” can be given to some. In other words, through the parables, Jesus conveying truths regarding the Kingdom of God. But that’s not the only purpose. The other purpose that Jesus says the parables are for is so that “seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” In other words, to conceal the truths being shared in the parable. Though they see it, they don’t actually see it. Though they hear it, they don’t actually understand it.

Now, you might be thinking, “Why would Jesus want to conceal truth in the parables? Isn’t His whole purpose in coming to share the truth?” I mean look at verse 1 of our passage. What does it say Jesus is doing? He is proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. So why now is He saying that He speaks in parables in order to conceal those truths from some? Well in order to understand this, we need to look at what it is Jesus is quoting here in verse 10. Jesus is quoting Isaiah 6:9, which is what we heard read for our middle Scripture reading. And in that passage, the verse that many of us are familiar with is verse 8, where the Lord commissions Isaiah. The Lord asks, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And Isaiah responds and says, “Here I am! Send me.” That’s the part that we know, and that’s often where we stop. But Jesus isn’t quoting that part, He’s quoting what comes next. So, what does come next?

The Lord tells Isaiah what it is he should say. He says, Isaiah, “Go, and say to this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hears with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Did you catch that? What is the purpose of Isaiah’s message? The purpose of Isaiah’s message is to blind the people further. It’s to make their hearts dull and to keep them from understanding, so that what? So that, verse 10, they do not turn and be healed. That message that Isaiah is bringing is not supposed to liberate them, it’s supposed to blind them. And we know that for certain because Isaiah immediately asks the Lord how long he is to do this, and the Lord responds to him and says, “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and house without people and the land is a desolate waste, and the Lord removed people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.”

Now, think about our text this morning, where Jesus quotes this same message and says that it is one the purposes of the parables. Why is Jesus trying to conceal the truth? Well, it’s the same reason that Isaiah was to preach this message. It is to bring about judgment for their unbelief. And in particular that judgement is coming by way of the Lord hardening their hearts against the truth. For Isaiah, He was preaching to a people who had rebelled against God, and so now the message being preached is one that is intended to harden them further as judgement. For Jesus, He is preaching to people who as we have seen are rejecting Jesus at every turn, saying that there is no way that this is the Messiah. And in turn, He is preaching in parables so that their hearts might be hardened further as judgment for their rebellion

And, this is why at the end of the telling of the parable, in verse 8, Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” It’s not that all these people didn’t have ears, but rather it’s that only some believed that Jesus was who He says He was. And it’s only those people who will actually hear the truth being conveyed, because God will reveal it to them through these parables. All the while those who are rejecting Jesus will miss the truths being conveyed, as they are concealed in this parables.

R.C. Sproul said that “The kingdom of God involves truths that are beyond human insights and wisdom, but that God has now made known to Jesus’ committed followers.” In other words, these things being taught can’t be grasped on our own, they must be revealed to us by God. And we see very clearly here that God reveals to the truth to those who accept Jesus’ Words and God conceals the truth from those who reject Jesus’ Words. So for us, the admonition is to not ignore the truths of God, because when we do, we can become hardened. This is what I want us to see for our next point this morning.

2.) When we hear the Word of God, we must obey it

What happens when you don’t exercise for a long period of time? You all know this, but if you run or lift weights often, over time, it gets a bit easier. You don’t get out of breath as easily and your muscles aren’t as fatigued when you lift something. But, what happens if you take a few years off? If you pick back up and try to start running like you once did, you feel like you are dying. When you try to lift the same weight you once did, your muscles start to beg you to stop. So it is when we ignore the Word of God. If we make it our routine to hear God’s Word and obey it, over time, it becomes a bit easier. The truths of God’s Word don’t seem like burdens that we must live out, but blessings that we get to live out.

But the exact opposite happens when we reject God’s Word. When we do that, our hearts becomes a little hardened. Our muscles grow a bit tighter, and obedience feels much more difficult than it used to. You might even think back to a time where you were growing in the Lord and spending so much time in prayer and the Word and you ask yourself, how did I used to do that? Well, you were in shape. But now that you’ve rejected the Word of God many times, your heart has grown harder.

This is what Jesus is trying to teach us in the second parable found in verses 16-18. When we think of this parable we often think of the song, “This little light of mine”, that as I was told, I am supposed to let shine. And while that is true, that we are to shine the light of Christ to the world, I don’t think that is what this parable is conveying. What I think Jesus is conveying here is that we must obey what we have heard. Think of what He is saying here in relation to what we have just read about the secrets of the Kingdom of God being revealed in the parables. Now, He says, “16 “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.”

When God reveals the truths His Word to you, you must then obey. That’s the whole point of the Word being revealed to you. To hear and not obey would be like to light a map and to cover it with a jar or put it under a bed. It defeats the whole purpose of the lamp. So, rather than hiding the lamp, what do you do? You set it up so that the light may be seen. And, in the same way, when the Lord graciously reveals the truths of His Word to us, we must set it up in our heart. We can’t ignore it. And again, look what He says about those who do accepts verses those who ignore. When someone hears and obeys, more will be given to them. But, when people hear and reject, even what they have heard will be taken away from them.

This is the danger of rejecting what you have heard. Let’s say one Sunday morning you come here and as we spend time in God’s Word He begins to reveal to you something that you need to do in your life. Maybe we’re looking at Ephesians 4 that says to put away all bitterness, and you know that you have been harbored a lot of bitterness towards a brother or sister for something that they said to you. If the Lord reveals that to you through His Word, you need to let that bitterness go. You need to repent of it. That’s one of the reasons God brought you to church that morning, so that you might hear that. That’s the purpose of the Word. And if you choose to suppress that and you continue to harbor bitterness towards that person, then what will happen is that you will be more prone to bitterness in the future. But not only that, even truths that you had applied to in your life previously will begin to slip away. The truths that have been given to you previously, because you’ve rejected this truth, will begin to be concealed and grow in distance because of your hardened heart. This is why when we hear the Word of God, we must obey it.

In our passage we also have another parable from Jesus, one that He not only tells but explains a bit. It’s a parable that is sort of the outflow of what we have talked about so far. This idea of responding to the Word of God. And what Jesus is trying to show us specifically through this parable, is that there will be various response to the Word of God, which is our third point this morning.

3.). There will be various responses to the Word of God

You can see this parable first in verses 5-8 and then again in 11-15. The parable is what we call the parable of the sower. And we call is that rightly because that is what it is about. The parable says that there was a man who was sowing seed. And as he threw out the seed, it landed in 4 different places. First, it landed on the path between the rows in the field, and so it was trampled by others who walked this path and eaten by the birds as it sat along the hard ground. Second, some of the seeds fell on the rocky soil. This seed grew a little bit, but because it was too rocky below the surface and there wasn’t enough moisture, what grew withered away. Third, some of the seeds fell among the thorns. This too grew a little bit, but eventually got choked out from having to compete for nutrients among the thorns. And lastly, some seed fell into good soil. This seed grew up and produced bountiful fruit.

Now, we don’t have to guess at what Jesus is trying to convey here. He tells us exactly how to interpret this. He says that the seed is the Word of God and that the soils are people. Now, let’s think about each of these again. I’m sure that each of here know someone who falls into each of these categories, and what I want you to see is that the Lord knew that this would happen. It shouldn’t shock us, the Lord knew, and He told us to expect it right here.

If the seed is the Word of God and each soil is a person, think about these with me. The first person hears the Word of God, but it never even really gets planted. This is the seed that has fallen on the path. And Jesus says that the devil comes and takes the word away so that they may not believe or be saved. That is, the lies and deceitfulness of our enemy tricks them into thinking that the Word isn’t worth planting in their heart, and so they dismiss it immediately. It never even begins to take root. The second person hears the Word of God, and it does get planted and begins to grow a little. This is the seed that has fallen on the rocky soil. This person receives the Word, but it doesn’t take deep root, something is blocking it. There’s something that person is holding in their heart that’s preventing the Word from really taking root and so when testing comes, it withers away.

The third person hears the Word, it does get planted, and it also begins to grow a little. This is the seed that has fallen on the among the thorns. This person receives the Word, it begins to take root, but then it finds itself competing with other things from it’s place in that person. Worldly cares and riches and pleasures begin to choke out the Word, not letting it truly begin to grow, and ultimately choking it entirely out. And lastly, you have the person who hears the Word, lets it take deep root, and helps it grow more and more. This is the seed that has fallen in the good soil. This person hears the Word and allows it to take root in the deepest parts of their heart. They don’t allow anything to compete with it and choke it out, but rather they hold fast to the Word. And this person bears the fruit of this Word in their life.

We know people who fall into each one of these categories. The first 3 have likely caused many of hearts in this room to grieve. We’ve shared the Gospel with people over and over again and yet it seems like it’s not once penetrated their heart. We’ve seen people profess to follow Jesus, but neglect to really commit to the faith, and in time we’ve watched them drift away altogether. We’ve seen people profess to follow Jesus, be baptized, start to seriously pursue the faith, but then have something in their life distract them completely. And we realize that they never truly believed because of the things of this world had too tight of a grip on their heart. And, thanks be to God, we have seen people profess to follow Jesus, be baptized, start to pursue Christ and obey Him, and then have continued to grow and grow. They bear fruit even in times of struggle, because they obey God in their repentance and faith.

The point is that there will be various responses to the Word of God. We need to remember that first and foremost for ourselves. No soil becomes good on its own. Someone has to prepare it and make it what it is. God is the one who prepares the soil, our hearts, beforehand so that His Word might take deep root. We need to ask that God would continue to help us to be good soil. Ask Him make your heart and place where when the Word is hears, it is planted deep, and begins to bear fruit in your life. Not only that, but ask that He would make the hearts of those who you are sharing the Gospel with good soil. Ask Him to make the hearts of your children, of your family, of your friends, good soil, only He can do it, and He is faithful to do so.

The other admonishment here is that we need to, like we talked about earlier, obey the Word when we hear it. That’s what it means to be good soil. If we hear it, but reject it, then we might find the thorns of our life beginning to choke it out. We need to be diligent obey when we hear. And when we do, when we obey, it shows us that we are a part of Jesus’ family. That’s the final thing I want us to see this morning.

4.) Those who hear God’s Word and obey it are a part of Jesus’ family

The took the wording of this point from one my previous pastors, Lee, because I think it really conveys the point that Luke is making here. Look at the final 3 verses with me, starting in verse 19. Luke writes, “19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.”21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

When I first read this I had 2 questions. First, why does Luke include this story? Two, is Jesus being rude to his mother and brothers. The answer to the second question is emphatically, no. Jesus isn’t being rude to his mothers or brothers, rather He is trying to teach a very important truth about what it means to be a part of the family of God, which both his mother and brothers are a part of. And that’s the answer to the first question right there. Luke includes this because he wants us to see what Jesus says about being a part of the family of God.

And what Jesus says is this: It’s not about your bloodline. You don’t become a part of Jesus’ family because of who you parents are or who your parents aren’t. You don’t become a part of Jesus’ family, in their case, because He’s your son or He’s your brother. No, you become a part of Jesus’ family by hearing the Word of God and obeying it. That’s what makes you a part of Jesus’ family. It is trusting in Christ and showing that not only in the hearing His Word’s but obeying them when you hear. And this is why when people come to Him and say, “Hey Jesus, your mom and brothers are outside.” He answers, using this as a teaching moment, to say, “Actually, everyone who hears my Words and obeys them are my mother and brother.”

If we flip this to the negative then we see that those who don’t hear the Word aren’t a part of Jesus’ family. Not only that, but those who hear the Word but don’t obey it, they aren’t a part of Jesus’ family. And this is why those 3 different people, the 3 bad soils, were never actually a part of Jesus’ family. Though it may have appeared like it for a time, the reality is that if they were truly a part of the family, they never would have departed. And now, by looking at them refuses to obey God’s Word that they have indeed heard, they are showing themselves not to be a part of His family.

We inherent the both the good things and the bad things from our parents, who inherited them from their parents, who inherited them from their parents, and so on. You might inherent great eyesight from your parents, but you also might inherent an allergy to something that you’ll live with forever. You get the good and you get the bad, and there’s really nothing you can do about it.

This isn’t just true physically, emotionally, and psychologically. It’s also true spiritually. There’s something that each of us have inherited spiritually, not from our parents, but from Adam. That is, every single person who has ever existed since Adam has inherited a sinful nature. And what that means is that you have a nature that is bent towards sin, not obedience. You don’t want to live for the Lord, you want to live for yourself. You love sin, not God. And in the same way that you can’t do anything about your physical inherited traits, you can’t do anything about your spiritual inherited traits. You can pretend like it’s not the case by trying to hide the issue with your good deeds. This is kind of like putting on glasses when to fix your eyesight. Yes, you can see better, but the truth is your vision hasn’t changed.

The good news is that though you can’t do anything about it yourself, our Lord can. Not only can He, but He will. And this is because Jesus came to the Earth and lived a sinless life. Not only that, but He died a death He didn’t deserve and bore our sins and the punishment they deserve. Then, He resurrected 3 days later to demonstrate His power over sin and death. Because of this, if you can be healed from your sinful nature. If you repent of your sins and place your faith in Christ, He will give you a new heart. By the power of the Spirit in you, He will enable you to begin to love Him and obey Him in ways never possible on our own. Your desires will begin to change, and though you struggle, you can have real victory over the sin that once was inescapable. And as we do this, as we obey His Word, we show ourselves to be a part of Jesus’ family. We are sons and daughter of a Holy God, and by His grace, inherent the righteousness of His Son. We become an eternal family who links arms together and pursues the one who brought us in. Thanks be to God for this glorious reality. Amen.