Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem
Luke 8
The Parable of the Sower
8 After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.
4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
“‘though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.’[a]
11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
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New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Having been in the music Ministry for some 40 years, I have witnessed a lot of "techniques" for spreading the Word of God. Tent Meetings, Street Theater, Band Concerts, Pop-Up Booths at Motorcycle Rallies, and numerous other attractions were employed to "plow the field" before planting the seed of the Gospel. We naturally followed the Western Way of doing things. First, a farmer breaks up the ground with a plow, and then he goes out and sows the seed.
Imagine my shock when I read that in the First Century Middle East, it was done exactly the opposite way. The farmer would sow the seed everywhere, and then turn the soil over it.
The field was crisscrossed with pathways and peppered with rocky outcroppings, so the seeds that fell on those places were quickly gobbled up by birds, or trampled underfoot.
This implies that the Word of God goes everywhere, but where it lands is important. A receptive heart doesn't need to be "plowed" in advance in order to receive the word. I struggle a bit with this bit of agricultural history, since I have spent the majority of my life "Plowing", and maybe not nearly as much "Sowing". It's been a harrowing experience! (OK. I'll stop now.)
Today's reading introduces us to two women who helped support Jesus and His disciples in their Ministry. Susanna is only mentioned once, but Mary Magdalene is mention TWELVE TIMES in the Gospels. Both Mark and Luke tell us that she had been delivered from seven demons. Mary is often associated with the lady in the previous chapter who washed Jesus's feet with her tears, and so, there is a popular legend that she was a prostitute. Now we realize that notion came from a sermon by Pope Gregory I back in 591AD. This spawned a flurry of legends and art depicting her as a "Fallen Woman". However, right here we see Mary and Susanna supporting a ministry of at least thirteen men, and they do it out of their own means. That means that they were either very wealthy or respected businesswomen.
Just as Pope Gregory's sermon gave rise to an entire legend about Mary's "profession", modern fiction writers have created an entire cultural edifice built on the theory that Jesus and Mary were married. Silly books like "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" and "The Da Vinci Code" advance crazy theories based upon Medieval legends and Non-Canonical Devotional Literature. It's too bad that there are so many stories about Mary that aren't true, since the Truth is actually more interesting:
1. She was from a fishing village in Galilee called "Magdala".
2. She was a woman of means.
3. She was an early follower of Jesus.
4. She was delivered from seven demons.
5. She supported Jesus's Ministry using her own resources.
6. Unlike most of the other (male) Apostles, she stood at the foot of the Cross with several other women, including Jesus's Mother, and one lone man, the Apostle John.
7. She went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, to find the tomb empty.
8. She was the first human being to see the Resurrected Jesus.
9. She was sent by Jesus to the other Apostles to announce His Resurrection.
Any other saint would be delighted to have such a resume'.
Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.
"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)
God Bless America.
Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.
Hallelujah and Amen
ML/LTOS
