Perhaps I should start answering my own questions just to get the ball rolling. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on how their answering the questions! So, today, you'll see my responses to the questions. Join in with me! I'm going to try to get Jenny to give her answers, too:)
Read Luke 8:4-39 (find it here)
Jesus stops to tell a parable (a story with a spiritual message). Who knows, with so many people being there from many different towns, he could've stopped to speak in a field. It would've been the perfect place with adequate space.
Even though Jesus gives the disciples the privilege of understanding the parable by explaining it to them thoroughly, Jesus knows that even a symbolic parable will go over many people's heads.
God showers his word upon all different types of people in the world. The footpath represents those who hear the message but do nothing with it. They are course and give God no time of day. God still deposits His word in their lives, anyway. It leaves them just as quickly as it arrives.
The rocky soil is symbolic of those who hear and accept the message. Even though they may believe for a while, temptation makes them change their mind. The Greek word for temptation (peirasmo) is not that simple. Temptation could be defined as peer pressure, for example, when non-Christ followers ridicule new believers as being simple- (in other words, stupid) or closed-minded (intolerant). Another form of temptation, as seen in clues by how its used in the original Greek, could suggest that unanswered questions or doubts may have caused this person to ultimately dismiss God's word as wrong, immoral or useless.
Unlike the rocky soil, the culprit of the thorny soil is not outside (as in peer pressure or ridicule) but more individual and personal. The cares, riches and pleasures of this life are those things that we are NOT willing to give up into order to follow Christ. For example, God commands us to give to the poor. Um, no thanks. That money is mine! Selfishness proves immaturity (my interpretation of verse 14).
With that mindset, its no surprise that the thorny variety doesn't receive the message with joy like the rocky soil-type people do.
Remember when we talked about how good people produce good fruit? That is what happens when people "hear God's word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest." (verse 15) Patiently, Jesus says. You don't break all of your bad habits all at once.
Check out this thought. If you listen to Jesus' teachings, you will understand more and more. For those that don't, "even what they think they understand will be taken away from them." They will think they are brilliant but the opposite will be true. That makes me think of someone like Stephen Hawking. The man is so smart but misses the truth of God's greatness by a mile because he only trusts his own, limited mind and not God's word.
(See verses 19-21) I said that when Jesus was choosing his disciples he was essentially choosing his family, right? It wasn't as if Jesus was disrespecting his mother and brothers, but he was calling his followers part of his or God's family!
I can't blame the disciples for being scared of drowning while being in a storm. But, then again, if Jesus could raise from the dead, I guess it would be logical to assume he can calm a storm, right? However, raising ONE person and controlling NATURE is completely different. That's why the disciples were still befuddled when the wind and waves obeyed him!
They get to the other side of the sea just in time to meet a naked, homeless, screaming, demon-possessed man. They almost drown and then the disciples see THIS! The name Legion is an important clue here. A legion is a well-trained battalion of 5,000 Roman soldiers. Can you imagine hearing 5,000 demons talking at once?! That may have been what is was like to hear this guy scream or talk. No wonder people were freaked out by him!
The demons were sent out of the man and into a herd of pigs, which immediately went crazy and drowned in the nearby lake. That freaked the herdsmen out. They ran back to tell everybody what they saw. The crowd saw the man, completely healed and sane!
Happy ending to the story, right? No...
The people reacted in fear and wanted Jesus to leave. Jesus respected their wish and left. Why did they want him to leave? Maybe this is what the people were thinking, "If it costs the waste of thousands of pigs (which is equal to about $200,000+) to get this guy sane, what will it costs to heal other people in our town?" Sadly enough, their possessions were more important than anything else. So Jesus left.
The healed man wanted to go with them. Jesus declines and orders the man to go back to the town and tell them "everything God has done for you." (verse 39) So that's what he did. Do you know what happened after that?
...here's a clue, check out Mark 5:19-20
Questions
1.) What do you think is more common in today's culture; to find someone who represents rocky (is influenced by peer pressure and doubts) or thorny (selfishness) soil? Why do you say that?
2.) Do you know people who are so smart that they miss the point of faith? Do you try to have an answer to all of your questions about the faith in order to just appease your curiosity? If we knew everything about God, would we need faith, heck, would we need Him? Doesn't faith make sense after all?
3.) The man that Jesus healed wanted to leave with Jesus. Jesus gave him a job, "Go tell your story to your town!" He goes far beyond that! The man goes to TEN TOWNS and people accept his story with amazement! Think about it: sometimes we want something specific from God. He tells us no and gives us a duty that seems pointless but ends up causing a HUGE impact for good! Does that help you consider why it feels as if God answers your specific prayer request with a no? Why or why not?
This is what I think:
ReplyDelete1.) I would assume that most people who are not Christ-followers would think that they know better than God (in other words, thorny). However, I'm thinking about someone like me. I know that I was much more insecure when I was younger in my faith As for the younger generation, rockiness may be more common.
2.) YES! I have a friend who studied the Bible so much as a hobby that he's now an atheist. Its like he became too smart and civilized to believe anything the Bible says. YES, I naturally want answers to everything I wonder about. Yes, if I had all the answers, I would probably think just like my friend I just talked about.
3.)Yes, even though it doesn't make it any easier to wait (or pout over it). For example, I doubted whether leaving FPC was the right thing for me, but I now (kinda) see where God may use me in the near future and I'm excited about it. It wouldn't have happened if I had gotten my way. Plus, us moving was the best thing for our marriage.
1) I think its more common to find someone who is influence by peer pressure. Before I came to Christ others influenced me more than who really mattered like Jesus.
ReplyDelete2) I know a number of people to think they are so smart that they miss the point of faith. I try to search for my answers. I tend not to just believe what others tell me. That is their interpretation. God gave me a different mind to understand things with. Faith in my opinion makes plenty of sense.
3) Yes, that def helps me understand. For example I prayed for a long time for God to solve my parents problem and he kept giving me the answer I didn’t want to hear...NO. I didn’t understand at the time. However I see why now. My mother is stronger that she has ever been. She has gotten really involved with a non-profit organization Racing for hope. That is her serving God and helping children. I am so proud of her. I know that this is why God didn’t answer my prayers; he had bigger things in mind for my mother. For her to show Gods amazing love to children with life threating illnesses.