Luke 8:4-10
"And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and chocked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand," Luke 8:4-10.
Why did Christ speak in parables? How you answer this question will reveal how you study the Scriptures. Will your answer be a biblical answer, or have you thought on this question and come up with your own answer? It is extremely easy for us to say, "this is what I think it means" or "this is what it means to me". Or "this is what I have always heard it means". "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation," II Peter 1:20. What is "private interpretation"? "Private" in this verse is the Greek word "Idios" and means belonging to oneself and not to another, one's own, peculiar; denoting ownership, that of which one is himself the owner, possessor, producer, as: my own, your own, his own. "Interpretation" is the Greek word "Epilusis" and means explanation, i.e. application:- interpretation. We are never to look at Scripture and say "this is what it means to me". Instead, we should ask, what does it actually mean? This applies to all of Scripture, even parables. One of the reasons we would rather give our own interpretation is because we do not like the biblical interpretation. When we do this our pride is telling God that we know better. "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble," James 4:6. A prideful person will not submit to Scripture when it says something he disagrees with. All of us have blind spots. May the Lord grant us grace to see them. Let us get into this parable.
In Luke 8:4, a multitude has gathered together to hear Jesus Christ teach. There would be men, women, and children, of all different kinds of backgrounds and trades. As we have seen in our study through the book of Luke, Jesus Christ proclaims truth to all. He doesn't water down the Scripture just to get a bigger following (John 6:60-66). How many people follow a Jesus they have fabricated in their minds in place of the Jesus of the Scriptures? Just like with Scripture, we cannot have a private interpretation of who Jesus Christ is.
Jesus Christ spoke to this crowd in a parable. "Parable" in this verse is the Greek word "Parabole", and means specifically, a parable, i.e. a short story under which something else is figured or in which the fictitious is used to represent and illustrate the real. Parables may be short, one sentence statements, or longer, more involved stories. The practicality of this parable would be understood by most who were there, but not all would understand the spiritual side.
Jesus Christ gives the parable in verses 5-8. We will look at the parable and the explanation of it next time in verses 11-15. Right now we want to turn our attention to the question, why did Christ speak in parables, and who can hear and understand what Christ is saying? This parable that Christ gave went out to all. Even today it still goes out to all. When we proclaim the gospel, we proclaim it to all. The same gospel goes out to all the world. We beg people to come to Jesus, but Jesus commands people to repent and believe the gospel. Notice the end of Luke 8:8 "And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." This is a command to hear. "Hear" means to understand. We are commanded to hear what the Scripture actually means, not what we think it should mean. How easy is it for us to twist Scripture to justify our actions? This is a result of pride. Pride causes us to kick against what Scripture actually says. Because of pride, we are concerned with our image. What will others think of me if I actually confess, agree, with what Scripture says? Our concern should be what does God think of me if I don't agree with what He says? It is our responsibility to learn what Scripture says. This means we must take much time to study Scripture, in context, and rightly divided. We must learn intellectually, but we are dependent upon the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us (I Corinthians 2:9-14).
In Luke 8:9 the disciples ask a question, and Christ gives the answer in verse 10. This answer is hard, and pride crushing. "And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand," Luke 8:10. Who are the "you", who are the "others"? This is a clear distinction. Who can see and hear, and who cannot? By what and whose power are they able to see and hear? Again, this is a very humbling verse.
We must point out that everyone in the crowd was able to hear and see Jesus Christ. You and I are able to read the Scriptures and hear the sermons. The saved and lost can see and hear, but it is the Lord Who opens up people's spiritual eyes and ears. It is the Lord who gives people understanding. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure," Philippians 2:13. "And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul," Acts 16:14. "And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed," Acts 13:48. It is God who gives eternal life; it is God who gives us understanding of His word (Psalm 110:3; Isaiah 50:5; Luke 24:45; John 6:44-45; Romans 9:16; II Corinthians 4:4-6; Ephesians 1:17-18, 2:5-9; James 1:16-17). "Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day," Deuteronomy 29:4. We must understand our spiritual state before and after the Lord saves us, and this understanding must be biblical. A biblical understanding of these truths are humbling. It is God who opens our eyes and ears, He saves our souls, He gives us the gift of saving faith, and He keeps us saved. This is made manifest in the explanation of the parable in verses 11-15. Why do four people hear, but only one understands? We will look at our spiritual state before salvation and why God must give us this understanding.
Send questions to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
