Not understanding the word

Jesus said: “Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet it has no root within himself, but he takes advantage of it for a while, and when opposition or pressure arises on account of the word, immediately he turns away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” Matthew 13: 18-23

A word is like a seed, isn’t it? A word is intangible – it can’t be touched or weighed – but it can enter into a person’s understanding. You’re reading my words and those words – which don’t physically exist but are merely squiggles on a screen – are entering into you. A word is like a seed which enters the ground. It enters into a person. But a word isn’t a seed because you can touch a seed. And yet, a word is a seed because it can stay within a person and can actually change a person – grow a person - inside. Can you think of some words which, when someone has heard them, have changed them inside? A very dear friend of mine a few days ago heard the words, “Your wife is extremely ill and will not live.” That word changed him – changed his whole life. Another life changing word would be “Guilty” when heard by an accused in court. Or the three wonderful words “I forgive you”.
.	‘True, This! - Beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword.’ (E. Bulwer-Lytton, Writer, 1803-1873)
When a person hears an important word, he’s going to change inside. Around AD 30 Jesus wanted to explain how ordinary people would become his brothers and sisters. So he spoke about a word being like broadcast seed. When the sower broadcasts seed, some falls on the path and the birds eat it up. Some falls on stony ground, springs up but wilts and dies in the sun’s heat. Some falls among thorns and is choked by them. Finally, some falls on good ground and produces 100, or 60 or 30 times more fruit. Jesus’ disciples asked him to explain this parable. Matthew, his eye-witness biographer, recorded his reply. “*When anyone hears the word of the authority of heaven and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.”* Does this happen to you? Do words get snatched away from you? In past years I would always make notes during meetings. Folk would continue speaking whilst I jotted something down. The trouble was that, when I looked up again to listen, I realised that I’d missed several statements through writing instead of listening. But that’s not what Jesus meant. He was talking about someone who does hear the word – the word of the authority of heaven above – and that someone does take it to heart (Jesus spoke of “*what has been sown in his heart”) but that someone “does not understand it”.* When that takes place, Jesus says, somewhat cryptically, that “the evil * comes and snatches away” the word. Jesus uses the definite article “the” to describe the evil that snatches away the word. But he then uses an adjective without a noun – “evil”. Hence “the evil ”.* What is *“the evil ”? Whatever you may think it is, it renders useless the word of the authority of heaven by snatching it away. But there’s something else. This snatching away occurs when the person who hears the “does not understand it”.**
.	‘Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?’ (Prayer of King Solomon, circa BC 970)
What does that mean? *“Understanding the word”* seems to be vitally important because Jesus (see bold above) said this, “*As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”* In the original Greek text the verb “*to understand”* in both cases is syniemi. The syn means “*together”* and the hiemi means to put, join or send. The result is *"to join together". When I don’t understand, it is the evil ** who has won – not me.

Richard Syvret

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