Hamilton Baptist Sermons
7/5/24 Am Luke Chapter 8 - Craig Dyer
Today's reading is Luke 8 verses 4 to 21, the parable of the sower and then on from there. When a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, a sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it, and some fell on a rock, and as it grew up it withered away because it had no moisture, and some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell on good soil and grew and yielded a hundred fold. As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 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." Now the parable is this, the seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so they may not believe or be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root, so they'll believe for a while and their time of testing they fall away. 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. As for the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. A lamp under a jar, 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. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 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. Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd, and he was told, "Your father and your mother and brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you." But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it." Look chapter 8 is where we are today, now you might have observed how modern politicians in particular, lots of people in public life, but mostly the politicians I think are schooled in the art of working the crowd. I don't know when it started, but I have a theory that at some point say in the last 15 years when a certain next president of the United States or a Prime Ministerial candidate in the UK genuinely spotted a family member or a friend in a vast crowd and almost instinctively pointed to them. I think that probably maybe happened once genuinely, and I guess that those who choreographed these events and worked very hard on trying to improve the impact of them thought that that was a good look because the person at the front of the thousands looked sharp with the mental ability to pick out faces in a vast crowd, and so I think now they're all at it, even though they can't particularly see anybody in particular, but you'll often see them going like that. Now, they're super trippers in their eyes, they can't see a thing, you know, the big lights in their eyes, they can't see a thing but that, you know, and I honestly think it's part of this effort to try and enhance that sense of their sharpness and ability and people are wowed that there's two and a half million in the hall and they can spot their granny at 100 yards or something like that. I don't know. I noticed our new Prime Minister doing it in the steps of No. 10 on Friday morning, he even nudged his wife to draw attention, maybe it was genuine, but they're all at it all the time. There's a whole art form to looking presidential, to looking Prime Ministerio. And these candidates, poor souls that they are, are coached by handsomely paid consultants to maximize their impact on the crowds. But as we come to Luke 8, and the first of a short series in the parables of the Lord Jesus in this gospel, parables that pack a punch, we're going to see how utterly different the Lord Jesus is. Have a look with me at verse 4. When a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, a sore went out to sow his seed. It's remarkable, isn't it? It's not just that Jesus lived in gentler times. It's not just that he lived before there was a science of crowd and message management. And these things were a bit undeveloped in his days, not just that. It's just that he didn't feel the need to come across as presidential or Prime Ministerio. He didn't have a team advising him on how to get the crowd on side because irrespective of their response to him, which we're going to see was very, very naturally, he was the eternal king of the kingdom. Verse 10, he said to you, it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. And only the king can give the secrets of the kingdom of God. He is the king of that kingdom. And this crowd cannot add to his glory, cannot add to his power, not in the least. So he doesn't need to work the crowd to get their approval. He doesn't have squads of people standing on hand trying to measure the applause and what messages went down well and what can we dial down and what can we dial up. He doesn't have to do any of that. Actually, his only desire is that they hear his word. And as we go through these verses this morning, there are four things I want us to draw, I want to draw your attention to. The first is, first of all, very, very basic, the picture in the parable, the picture in this parable. Let's read again these initial verses. Verse 4, "When a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, a sore went out to sow his seed." Now, can you see the picture that Jesus is painting here, even in that first line? As he takes the opportunity to speak to this vast crowd, he tells them not a story about a crowd gathering, but a story about a sore scattering. And he's telling them about himself. He quickly establishes that in that first line, his primary business as a sore of seed, as a spreader of the word as verse 11 shows this seed to be. But this doesn't come out of the blue. Jesus getting up that day and saying a sore went out to sow. This does not come out the blue. From his earliest days, it was known that he had come to bring light. You might want to glance back to Luke chapter 2, just when this is going to a short run up to 8, just to get this clear in our minds. In Luke chapter 2, we read about Simeon, a godly old man, and in verse 27 of Luke chapter 2, the tail end of the Christmas story, he came in the spirit into the temple. This is Simeon. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus, verse 28, he took him up with his arms and blessed God and said, verse 30, just for speed this morning, verse 30, "For my eyes have seen your salvation, that you've prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel." So as he held the little baby in his arms, this is what he said. This is a light for revelation. This is one who's going to bring light to the darkness, who's going to reveal truth when it was not known. And do you remember how early that light began to shine? Do you remember when he was 12 years old, he got separated from his mom and dad on the journey back to Nazareth from Jerusalem when they'd all been up for the Passover festival? And Joseph and Mary assumed that he was with other family members because they were all walking together, going along the road, huge crowds of them, and they assumed that he was safe in the crowd. And then after three days, they hadn't discovered them, they had to go back, go way back through the crowd, way back to Jerusalem, and in that same chapter, verse 46, after three days, they found him in the temple, 12 year old, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. So he wasn't just asking, he was asking, they were answering, and then he was answering, and they were amazed at his answers. And then famously at the beginning of his ministry in Luke chapter 4, verse 16, he came to Nazareth where he'd been brought up as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, he stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was giving him, he unrolled the scroll, found the place where it is written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he's anointed me and noticed three times to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set the liberty, to liberty those who are oppressed," verse 19, "to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down, which did not mean he was finished, that was the teaching position in the synagogue. He sat down to be the teacher, he sat down, and the eyes of all verse 20 were fixed on heaven, and he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. The Proclaimer has come." And verse 22 says, "All spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth." So can we see that unsurprisingly the Lord Jesus was crystal clear on his God ordained mission? He had come ultimately to proclaim a saving message. And one of the things we discover when we read the Gospels is that the good things that Jesus could do were the enemy of the best thing that he could do. So if you're in Luke chapter 4, just look at verse 40, "When the sun was setting all who had who were sick with various diseases, diseases brought them to him and he laid his hands in every one of them and healed them." Verse 42, "The people sought him and came to him and would have kept him from leaving." Why? Of course they would have kept him from leaving, because if you have someone in your community who's able to empty the hospitals, that wish a general is emptied in two hours, and then Monkelins, well that's going to take him a bit longer, but let's say three hours for Monkelins and here Myers, and in six or seven hours the hospitals are emptied. Of course you do not want to lose someone like that in the community. But notice verse 42, "They would have kept him, but he said to them, 'I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, for I was sent for this purpose, not primarily to heal, but to preach, not primarily to bring immediate temporal physical relief, but to bring spiritual eternal relief by the preaching of this gospel." So I just want us to see that the sore had been going out to so for a long time before he expressed it in this way in chapter 8 verse 4. The time we get into chapter 6, Luke records the actual preaching of the Lord Jesus in verses 20 to 49. We're not going to read them today, but the sore was already aware that the seed wasn't always germinating, it wasn't always having the impact so famously chapter 6 verse 46, after what we call the sermon and the mount, after that concentrated period of teaching and seed sowing by the Lord Jesus, he says, verse 46 of chapter 6, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I tell you?" So you see, as he went out to sow he was already aware that something was not going well in terms of the reception of his word. They may have been there to hear him, they may even have responded appreciatively, they may even have identified him properly as Lord and called out Lord Lord, but there was a disconnect. They were not doing what he told them, and so followed the famous likeness of someone building on his house on the rock and those building on the sand. Friends, all of this that we've summarised in these last few moments, all of this is actually part of that word picture that the Lord Jesus paints in this parable. A sore went out to sow his seed, this is what the Lord Jesus had been doing all the way since his public ministry began. But as we look at this today, verse 5, "As he sowed some fill along the path, it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air diverted, some fell on the rock." It's what looked like soil, but the rock was right underneath it, and as it grew up it withered because it had no moisture, some fell among thorns, the thorns grew up with it and choked it, some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. And as he said these things, he called out, get that. So he's teaching, he's given this parable, and then he calls out, he who has ears to hear, let him hear, because he'd had that experience of, "Why do you call me Lord Lord and you do not do what I tell you?" His great longing is that they would hear him and act upon his word, but he knows already that the majority won't do that. So what we have here in the parable of the soil, of the soils as it really is, is Jesus the preacher's eye view of the crowds who came to him from town after town. We have his eye view of what is going on as he goes out with this Bible teaching ministry, this gospel spreading ministry. His ability to draw such a crowd must have looked very impressive. I'm sure his disciples thought this was a great sign that God's kingdom was growing, town after town. It's not just from Hamilton, they're coming from blank town, they're coming from Lark Hall, they're even coming from Lisbon. He goes, "This is amazing." But Jesus can see the reality. He can see something else that they can't see, and that's what this parable is about. So we go from the picture in this parable of Jesus being the one who goes forth to sow the seed of the gospel. Secondly, to the purpose of the parables, what was the definition that we were taught as children if you were taught anything? Wasn't it something like a parable is a heavenly story with an earthly meaning? And the basic idea was, parables are great because Jesus told them in order to make difficult concepts easy to understand. But listen, what he says next puts the skids under these definitions. Have a look at verse 9, his disciples asked him what this parable meant, and he said to them, "To you it has been given to the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others, they're in parables so that," and then he quotes from Isaiah chapter 6, "seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand." Now, what do you make of that? What is going on here? Are we better just to pass over verse 10 and get on to the actual meaning of this parable itself? Well, tempting though that is, believe me, verse 10 would be like a stone in your shoe if we didn't look at it. It would certainly be a stone in my shoe. It would bug us. What did Jesus mean by the fact that he tells parables so that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand? Well, at the basic level, we can scratch the idea that Jesus spoke in parables to make difficult concepts easier to understand. That's plainly not according to him why he used parables. In fact, it seems that the opposite is the case. He spoke in parables to make further understanding impossible. Isn't that very striking? And that word further is very important. It's central to our understanding of what's going on here. Remember what we reminded ourselves of there in chapter 6, verse 49, the one who hears and does not do the word is like a man who built this house on the ground without a foundation. Remember what we saw about Jesus saying to them, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" And the point is that if we do not hear and do the first thing we hear from Jesus, then we will not be able to move on in our understanding of him and of his kingdom. And that's why Jesus used parables because he was talking to people who had not reacted to the first things they'd heard and they wanted to hear more things. They hadn't responded to that word they'd already shared with them, but they wanted him to talk to them about other things that he wanted to grow in their understanding in other areas, though they had not dealt with the most foundational things. And I hardly need to say that Jesus is not explaining that he spoke in parables to leave some people out, to make it impossible for them to grasp what they long to know far from it. And that's why I take a point on this second heading just to try and help us grasp the purpose of the parables and get it clear. So for example in verse 10, let me draw your attention to the word translated secrets. He said to them to you, to those who came and asked him about it, the disciples, to you it's being given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. Now let's just be really clear. The Lord Jesus is not telling secrets to an inner circle to the exclusion of others. This is not a secret society that is establishing. That word used for secrets points not to information withheld but to the opposite, to truth made known. But what Jesus was making known, what he was referring to here as secrets, was truth that we could never discover for ourselves in a million years but which God had graciously revealed to us through his word and through his son. Now we've already seen that Jesus has come into the world for the express purpose of making known what was otherwise undiscoverable. Time and again he goes out as a sore to sow his seed. But he sees that some people only hear his words while others hear and act. They ask, like the disciples did in verse 9, they want to understand. But there are many others who hear and perhaps appreciate that they don't ask. They show no intention of taking his word into their lives and we'll see shortly how he portrays these reactions to his word in verses 11 to 15. But for the moment would you look ahead to what Jesus says after that in verses 16 to 18. Because this is so helpful in clarifying verse 10. If there's any danger of someone going home at lunchtime today thinking that Jesus was being deliberately obscure to everyone playing with people's affections, talking over their heads, deliberately trying to confuse them, pretending to be sowing seed but actually throwing gravel. We'll see now that nothing could be further from the truth as we notice him change the metaphor from sowing the seed to lighting a lamp. So he says in verse 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, for nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, made known. Nor is anything secret." So there's the word secret debunked that will not be made known and come to light. And what I've tried to do in our first heading this morning was to show that the big picture of the ministry of the Lord Jesus is a picture of God the Father lighting a lamp. That's what he did when he sent his son. Simeon held the young Jesus in his arms and called him a light for revelation. That's what he was. God the Father lit a lamp as he sent his son into the world and he put that lamp not under a jar, not under a bed but he put it on a stand that for three years again and again and again he went out and he sowed the seed of the Word of God of the Good News of the Kingdom so that those who enter may see the light. That phrase those who enter is very significant. And as Jesus did this, he made known what had been hidden since the creation of the world. So as we think of the purpose of the parables, there is no policy of Jesus to withhold life-changing truth. The problem as we're beginning to see is with the response to his word. So verse 18, take care then how you hear. What's that about? No one after putting a lighting a lamp puts under a jar or under a bed he puts on a stand. That's what God has done. There's nothing hidden that's not going to be made manifest. There's nothing secret that's not going to be brought to light. 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 he has will be taken away. In other words, some were careful as they heard the word and they kept his word. They retained it so that they had it, as verse 20 would say, to the one who has more will be given. They would go on learning, they would go on hearing, they would go on growing. And more and more they would understand the Lord Jesus and his kingdom and his ways. But those who heard his word and made no effort to retain it or apply it or understand it or interact with it or ask questions about it, they would receive no more. And even what they heard would be of no lasting benefit from them. That's the meaning of verse 18 to the one who has, to the one who's retained that word more will be given from the one who has not retained that word. Even what he thinks he has will be taken away because it's all about taking care how you hear. And that's the purpose of the parables. When Jesus used the parable, those who treasured his word and step by step moved with Jesus and what he was saying to them, they got the secrets of the kingdom laid brave, they grew in their understanding. While those who heard but didn't act on that first thing could make no more progress. Even though they wanted to, even though they kept coming to listen to him. So this was a mercy of Jesus. And he was making it claim that if you will not act on the first thing I say to you and put that in place in your life, you cannot receive more. So no matter what they saw, they could not see. And no matter what they heard, they could not understand. Now what does this mean for our lives today? What is my aim in talking about this this morning? Well, I don't know about you but I've known many people and I'm sure I've been a bit like this in my life at myself. So this might be you what I'm going to say next or it might be a friend of yours. The kind of person who says, you know, if I could have all my questions answered and all my curiosity satisfied, I might then be prepared seriously to consider becoming a follower of the Lord Jesus. That's a very common expression. I hear that all the time when I'm talking to people about the Lord and the gospel. And what this means this morning, what this means is we have to say to them, no, it doesn't work that way. Actually in any case, I don't know about you but I don't really buy it when someone tells me that the kind of person who must understand fully before they can trust something. And then they get on a plane next week and they fly to Tenerife and they're going to be sitting in a chair that's moving through the air at 400 miles an hour. 400 miles an hour, 30,000 feet off the west coast of or 30,000 feet in the air, just off the west coast of Africa over the Atlantic Ocean. And not only are they sitting in a seat traveling at 300 miles an hour, 30,000 feet in the air, not only are they doing that but they've just popped a tube of Pringles and cracked open a can of diet coke and they're sitting there watching old episodes of top gear. And why are they able to do that? Only because they've understood all the complexities of aerodynamics. Only because they've mastered all the systems on that Boeing or Airbus that they're sitting in. And if called upon they could fly the plane and land the plane. It's the only way they could sit in that chain and relax after all because they're the kind of people who never trust anything that they do not fully understand. Do you buy that? When you're going to get your appendix out and the anesthesia comes round for that reassuring chat beforehand and you sign the bit of paper. Do you understand? Of course you do. Every single, every combination of every drug, how the machines work, how everything will be done in the set. You understand everything otherwise you would not sign that and put yourself under the it's just not like that, is it? It's just not like that at all. It's not the way we learn. And Jesus is saying take him at his word one stage at a time. Get one thing clear and ask questions until it is clear. That's what the disciples do. What does this mean? First night. Friends, that's the picture. That's what we're learning about the culture of receiving the seed into life. It doesn't matter automatically. It doesn't mean there automatically goes in and brings transformation. It means that if we want to do to see that work we must interact with it. We must say, I don't get that. I don't understand that. I need to go and talk about that. I need to ask someone about that. That's what Jesus was commending here. But take him at his word one stage at a time. Get one thing clear, act upon it, move on, and you'll be given more light, more understanding. The pieces will begin to fall into place. Otherwise, if you say, I need all my questions answered, all my curiosity satisfied, and then I'll consider it. No matter what you see and what you hear, you will never progress beyond the state that you refuse to take. I have spent years talking to people who have a big question and you work at it with them and you answer the big question and then they've got another big question and another big question. What this helps me to see is that actually just working through all the big questions does not get anybody any further because our big questions are actually a way of just batting the seat of the word away that I don't have to deal with it. And that's the purpose of the parables. Jesus says, no, you're not going to make progress beyond this until you act with what I've said. God has put his lamp on a stand, light for revelation, glorious truth that we could never understand is now made known, made manifest in Jesus, or that we would take it a stage at a time, apply what he says and see our lives changed. Now, thirdly, the point of the parable. Let's go back now and see what Jesus says in this parable about the four classic responses to hearing his word. And they equate to the four places that the seed lands in the early part of the parable, the path, the rock, the thorns, and the soil. So verse 11, now the parable is this, the seed is the word of God. 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. Supposing we never got beyond that verse this morning, talk about Jesus bringing truth that we could otherwise never otherwise grasp. It's that not that right there. Who would have thought that every time you pitch up here and and someone gets up and opens the Word of God at this slot in the meeting and begins to begins to try and unfold the truth that's here or every time you at home sitting down in the morning or evening or whenever you do it, open your Bible and ask God to speak to you and begin to read it. Who would have thought that every time that happens there is a cosmic spiritual battle that takes place? And as the seed of the Word is being sown, the enemy is down like the birds trying to take it away as quickly as it lands. That's quite a picture. And of course the world thinks that this part is the most boring experience in the world, the monologue. But they do not realize that they've been anesthetized because the enemy knows that this is where the power is. And this is what the enemy will try to do. He will take away the word from our hearts and notice how high the stakes are for reception of that word. The word is the means by which we may believe and be saved. And he takes it away. The enemy takes it away so that they may not believe and be saved verse 12. I mean the stakes could not be higher. Doesn't that make us want to treasure it a bit more? Then verse 13, we move from the path to the rock. 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 a time of testing follow way. So where there is no depth of soil, the seed germinates immediately, but it can't survive in shallow soil conditions. And the Lord Jesus is looking out. We're having a Jesus eye view of what he sees as the soil goes out to soil. And he knows that some people are not like those in the path who they can't even remember what was said because it's gone. But there are others in this category and they remember what was said and they take it into the soil but it's very shallow. And they receive the word and they're thrilled to begin with the Lord Jesus with joy, the verse says. But when pressure comes from friends and colleagues about following Jesus, that is the trial that is spoken of here, the time of testing. A quick calculation in their head shows that Jesus is probably not worth the hassle he brings. And so they quietly and unceremoniously and even unconsciously ditch him. Because being a follower of Jesus in this world where you have an enemy who first of all steals seed and then an enemy who creates environments that makes it very, very hard to stand with and for Jesus. Frankly, my life is easy in comparison to you. I think of you in a Monday morning as you go back to work or to study or to school or wherever it may be. I think of the environments that you go into in a pray for you. Because that's the environment where it's very, very hard to stand for the Lord Jesus. Where as his word begins to work in you and change you and people begin to notice and aren't very appreciative of it. Some might be but majority are not in our culture. The pressure is on you to quietly move away from Jesus and his word. But even when people have come through that initial experience and have received the word and it's gone into deeper soil in their life, the enemy you notice in verse 14 is still at work in the pleasures and pressures of life to minimize spiritual growth, verse 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. Isn't it very striking? You could be decades into the Christian life, apparently. And then you just go through a season where you find that your priorities have changed. And things have come into your life that make it much more difficult to be a person who is a constant recipient of the Word of Christ in your own reading and in the public gatherings of his people to hear his word taught and applied. And you maybe don't even realize it. It's not a conscious thing. It's not that you say, "Well, I'm going through a season now where I need to deprioritize hearing from the Lord." And it's just a known thing in my life, other things have come on. And this is going so well, I just need to invest in this for a while, or this is going so badly, cares, riches, pressures, and pleasures. It doesn't matter what side of the bed it's on, which end of the scale, whether it's a great thing or a grim thing. Life will be calculated to take the Word away from you. And you could be decades into a mature Christian life when suddenly priorities change, and you're anesthetized from the Lord Jesus in his Word. Now, so far, this is very discouraging as we think of the implications this has for our primary work as a church. Our primary work is the work of the Lord Jesus, the sowing of the seed, the getting of this gospel out. And it's as well that Jesus prepared us for disappointment. In the first three categories, it's very disappointing, instant disappointment, and then short-term disappointment with the shallowness, and then long-term disappointment. We've invested in someone for decades, and we thought they were doing great, but now, just this last year, the change, their hearts are hardened. They're not with us. Our friends be cautious of these things. But also, he prepares us not only for disappointment and delay, he prepares us for exponential growth. Verse six said, "Some fell into good soil, and grew and yielded a hundredfold." If you were an investor looking at this stock, and you saw the reports on the first three categories, you might say, "I'm not touching that," but look now, it yielded a hundredfold. So verse 15, "As for that in the good soil, there are those who are hearing the Word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart." In other words, in a heart that is not double-minded, in a heart that does what it says. It doesn't mean that these are a different category of person, a more decent sort. It doesn't mean that. It means it's a heart that's straightforward in the reception of the application of that word that does exactly what Jesus says and is changed by that word. And as a result, they bear fruit with patience. The punch in this parable, I need to finish. What's the punch? Well, verse 19 is quite an amazing little edition that Luke gives us there. Then his mother and brothers came to him. Same word that's used in verse 4 of the crowds that came to him, but there was a problem. But they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside desiring to see all the earnestness for them to reach Jesus." But he answered, "The my mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it." What did that mean? Very simply, Jesus wasn't dissing his family. Right at the end of his life, he saw the compassion and the love that he had for Mary, his mother. He wasn't being disrespectful for his family. No, friends, this is it. The problem is never that Jesus is unreachable. That's never the problem. The whole parable makes it look like that, that he's being overly complex, that he's not speaking straightforwardly with these parables. And here in his poor family coming and all they want, they earnestly desire to see him. And all they want to do is reach out to Jesus. And our hearts are so sinful and our enemy is so shrewd that he can make us feel like, "That's me. I just long to reach out to Jesus, to come to him in my terms and to have him come to me in these terms and reach out to him." But the problem is never that Jesus is unreachable. He is the only one who is reaching out. The problem is that we try to put ourselves beyond his reach. And so Jesus says, "My family are not those even who are related to me by blood. My family, those who are reached by me, are those who hear the word of God and do it." And friends, if we do that, you will be as close to the Lord Jesus, closer even than his physical family. What an incredible reality. But the problem is never that Jesus makes himself unreachable. The problem is that we use tactics to make ourselves unreachable. But he is the one who goes and sows that seed and he's been doing so this morning. Well, let's pray about this before we sing and break bread together. Father, we thank you for this opportunity. We've had over these moments to look at your word together. And I ask our gracious Heavenly Father that by the power of your Holy Spirit, the Spirit, the Lord Jesus, there would be in our hearts a sense of caution about ever being casual when it comes to our hearts receiving the seed of your word. Grant us, Lord, if we've seen ourselves as those who have all these questions that we want answered and if we can get them answered, then we'll maybe consider Jesus. Grant us to see in the loving heart of Jesus how he says that will never work. Here is what will work. Peace by peace, word by word, verse by verse, truth by truth, take it into our lives. Let our hearts be good and honest enough to do what that word says, to see it changes. We pray our Heavenly Father that you would guard us from the seed be instantly stolen or it being shallow in our lives and joyful and then invisible, gone. And would you save us even decades down the line from other priorities coming in that persuade us that they're only going to be temporary and yet do untold damage in our relationship with you? Would you make it such our gracious Lord Jesus that we are those who hear the word and hold it fast and bear fruit with patience? We ask it for the glory of your name. Amen.