Strangling the word

There are some elderly unmarried people living in Jersey who are quite well-off but have no brothers or sisters. In fact they don’t have any living relatives.

Have you noticed that others try very hard to become brothers and sisters to people like that? Some of those others, I know, even set their heart on being treated like a brother or sister in the elderly person’s will.

Jesus Christ around AD 30 wanted to explain to ordinary people how to become his brothers and sisters. He told them about a sower broadcasting seed – broadcasting word. The seed falls on the path and the birds eat it up. It falls on stony ground, springs up but wilts and dies in the sun’s heat. It also falls among thorns and is choked by them. Finally it falls on good ground and yields 100, or 60 or 30 times more fruit. 

This parable telling me how to become a brother or sister of Jesus is quite cryptic, isn’t it? Coded even? And what’s all this about the word falling amongst thorns? And being choked? How on earth can that relate to being a brother or sister of Jesus? And what in reality is this word in any case?

Here, in bold above, is Jesus’ explanation – to his followers – about the seed among thorns.  “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.”
 
Whatever this seed – this word – actually is, it seems that it will have no effect at all if it falls upon – maybe is listened to by – someone who is busy in one of two ways.

First, busy through the cares of this world. Is there anyone in Jersey today who has no worldly cares? Even the wealthy elderly unmarried in Jersey have cares. Are those cares going completely to choke the broadcast seed?

Second, there are folk who are busy in the second way – through the deceitfulness of riches – the lies being told by riches. How do riches tell lies? Do riches make promises that they can’t deliver? Is it true that absolutely everything will be totally good when I become rich?

Jesus also spoke of the broadcast word falling on a road and being immediately eaten by birds. The eater was “the evil one” (see above). And he spoke about the broadcast word falling on rocky places, springing up, but falling away because of opposition and pressure from others.

Will any seed – any of the word of the authority of heaven – fall on good ground? See bold above. When it does it yields fruit 100, 60 or 30 fold.

But, what exactly is this broadcast word of the authority of heaven which enters in and grows inside folk – the word by which they become brothers and sisters of Jesus?

At that time in AD 30, Jesus didn’t tell his disciples what that word – that seed– actually was. They had to work out exactly what that word really was over the next year or two.