The One Year Bible Club with Teaching
Commentary by Nick Boork
March 28
Luke 8:4-21
Commentary by Nick Boork
March 28
Luke 8:4-21
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March 28 - Luke 8:4-21
And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear". 9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” 10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, 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 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
16 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. 18 Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.” 19 Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. 20 And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.” 21 But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
OKAY, HERE'S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
In this portion of Scripture Jesus teaches the most important parable about the kingdom of God. What is a parable? Simply put, it’s a story and Jesus was a master storyteller. The Lord painted pictures in people's minds by telling stories so that they could understand spiritual truths. The parable of the sower is the most important parable or story that Jesus ever told. In it, Jesus reveals how the kingdom of God comes into a person's life in the form of a seed. That seed is a message, the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
According to Jesus the seed is the same but the type of soil and the conditions in which the seed grow are radically different. He paints a picture in the minds of His hearers of a farmer scattering seed in an open field. The seed falls on the ground and Jesus teaches four different scenarios of what happens to the seed. Every human being that has ever heard the Gospel is in one of these 4 groups.
Group – 1 People that hear the word of God but then hear another voice and that's the voice of Satan.
Jesus says the Devil comes immediately to steal the word of God out of people's hearts. Multitudes of people choose to listen to that other voice. What would that other voice of Satan be saying?
Group – 2 People that hear the Word of God but don't have root
Jesus says these people receive the Word with joy but it doesn't take root in their hearts. It springs up and looks like there's new life and for a moment there is but then as soon as trouble hits or tribulation or persecution because of the Word of God they fall away and stop believing.
Group – 3 People that hear the Word of God but they don't give it 1st place in their life.
They believe the Word of God but they don't give it the priority in their life that it needs to bring forth fruit. Jesus said it's like a seed growing up choked by thorns, thistles and weeds. They allow other things, other activities, pleasures, pursuing money and other things to have priority over the Word of God and this becomes their downfall. All these other things enter their lives and crowd out the Word of God and suck the life right out of them. So they mentally believe the Word of God but spiritually they remain untransformed and their impact on others is zero.
Group – 4 People that receive the Word of God with a sincere heart, understand the importance of the Word and give it first place in their lives.
Jesus says that they bring forth fruit with patience. What fruit is Jesus talking about? I think He's talking about two different kinds of fruit that Christians produce. The first kind of fruit we produce is the transformation of our characters becoming Christ-like. The Bible says that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control and if we belong to Jesus Christ we put to death our old selves and carnal ways.
The other kind of fruit is influencing people to believe and receive Jesus Christ. On fire Christians have a way of getting other people on fire! Their passion for Jesus Christ and sincere dedication shines like a light in the darkness all around them and others can see the light of Christ in their lives. People are drawn to Jesus Christ through their influence because they see Jesus Christ in them and they want what they have! They keep walking with God patiently and influence people throughout their life to faith in Jesus Christ. The key word is patience. What does it mean to be a patient Christian? The blue letter Bible has this definition: Patience in the Blue Letter Bible
1) steadfastness, constancy, endurance
a) in the NT the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings
WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) According to Jesus there are four groups of hearers on the planet.
2) What people do with the Word of God determines the effect it has in their lives.
3) For those that have made Jesus Christ Lord of their lives the only group that you want to be in is group 4.
These are the people that hear the Word of God and bring forth fruit with patience.
Question: Of the four groups, which group do you think you’re in?
Challenge: Determine today to give the Word of God first place in your life and you'll bring forth fruit if you don't give up! This is a spiritual principle that works without discrimination. Life is short, make yours count for the Kingdom of God!
And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear". 9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” 10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, 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 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
16 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. 18 Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.” 19 Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. 20 And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.” 21 But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
OKAY, HERE'S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
In this portion of Scripture Jesus teaches the most important parable about the kingdom of God. What is a parable? Simply put, it’s a story and Jesus was a master storyteller. The Lord painted pictures in people's minds by telling stories so that they could understand spiritual truths. The parable of the sower is the most important parable or story that Jesus ever told. In it, Jesus reveals how the kingdom of God comes into a person's life in the form of a seed. That seed is a message, the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
According to Jesus the seed is the same but the type of soil and the conditions in which the seed grow are radically different. He paints a picture in the minds of His hearers of a farmer scattering seed in an open field. The seed falls on the ground and Jesus teaches four different scenarios of what happens to the seed. Every human being that has ever heard the Gospel is in one of these 4 groups.
Group – 1 People that hear the word of God but then hear another voice and that's the voice of Satan.
Jesus says the Devil comes immediately to steal the word of God out of people's hearts. Multitudes of people choose to listen to that other voice. What would that other voice of Satan be saying?
- Surely you can't believe that!
- The Bible is just a fairytale!
- Jesus born of a virgin are you crazy? It's scientifically impossible!
- The resurrection, right!
- If God is all-powerful how come we have all the problems in the world?
- You don’t want to become a Jesus freak!
Group – 2 People that hear the Word of God but don't have root
Jesus says these people receive the Word with joy but it doesn't take root in their hearts. It springs up and looks like there's new life and for a moment there is but then as soon as trouble hits or tribulation or persecution because of the Word of God they fall away and stop believing.
Group – 3 People that hear the Word of God but they don't give it 1st place in their life.
They believe the Word of God but they don't give it the priority in their life that it needs to bring forth fruit. Jesus said it's like a seed growing up choked by thorns, thistles and weeds. They allow other things, other activities, pleasures, pursuing money and other things to have priority over the Word of God and this becomes their downfall. All these other things enter their lives and crowd out the Word of God and suck the life right out of them. So they mentally believe the Word of God but spiritually they remain untransformed and their impact on others is zero.
Group – 4 People that receive the Word of God with a sincere heart, understand the importance of the Word and give it first place in their lives.
Jesus says that they bring forth fruit with patience. What fruit is Jesus talking about? I think He's talking about two different kinds of fruit that Christians produce. The first kind of fruit we produce is the transformation of our characters becoming Christ-like. The Bible says that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control and if we belong to Jesus Christ we put to death our old selves and carnal ways.
The other kind of fruit is influencing people to believe and receive Jesus Christ. On fire Christians have a way of getting other people on fire! Their passion for Jesus Christ and sincere dedication shines like a light in the darkness all around them and others can see the light of Christ in their lives. People are drawn to Jesus Christ through their influence because they see Jesus Christ in them and they want what they have! They keep walking with God patiently and influence people throughout their life to faith in Jesus Christ. The key word is patience. What does it mean to be a patient Christian? The blue letter Bible has this definition: Patience in the Blue Letter Bible
1) steadfastness, constancy, endurance
a) in the NT the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings
WHAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE?
1) According to Jesus there are four groups of hearers on the planet.
2) What people do with the Word of God determines the effect it has in their lives.
3) For those that have made Jesus Christ Lord of their lives the only group that you want to be in is group 4.
These are the people that hear the Word of God and bring forth fruit with patience.
Question: Of the four groups, which group do you think you’re in?
Challenge: Determine today to give the Word of God first place in your life and you'll bring forth fruit if you don't give up! This is a spiritual principle that works without discrimination. Life is short, make yours count for the Kingdom of God!
ORDINATION
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll
We provide Ministry Credentials and Ordination through Diamond Ministerial Association. Click to learn more and apply! http://www.diamondinstitute.org/ordination
ONLINE COURSES
For Bible courses and ministry resources see our online school Diamond Institute. Enroll free today and get access to our free and pay as you go courses. http://www.diamondinstitute.org/enroll