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Luke 8:5-8
His disciples asked Him what this parable meant, and Jesus obliged them by explaining that it had to do with the Kingdom of God. What we see in it are descriptions of four categories of people. In my experience in the church for nearly forty years, each one of these kinds of people has been and is currently in the church. Those in the first group, those by the wayside from whom the Devil steals the Word from their hearts (verse 12), come to church for a short time and never return. A man my wife and I knew from our teenage years showed up one Sabbath. We spoke to him, excited to see someone from our past being called, yet he never came to another service. Many more never make it as far as to darken the church's door. Those in the second category are "the ones on the rock . . . who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away" (Luke 8:13). Some people attend church for quite a while before leaving and not returning. Because they lack roots, they have no real commitment. For many of us, the Sabbath was our first test. If a person has no real commitment—no root, as Jesus puts it—he will probably not give up his job to keep the Sabbath. Such a person ends up falling away. Those in the third category of people concern us the most: "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity" (Luke 8:14). These people start out producing fruit, but somewhere on their journey to the Kingdom, they allow the worries, the riches, and the pleasures of life to distract them, and they stop producing fruit. In other words, their growth in Christ ceases. Finally, the fourth group "are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience" (Luke 8:15). "Patience" translates the Greek word hupomone, which suggests "endurance under extreme provocation." These people continue to follow Christ and grow spiritually despite the trials life throws at them. Just three verses later, Jesus advises: "Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him" (Luke 8:18). The New International Version translates the first sentence as "Consider carefully how you listen." He then links how we listen with rewards and punishments.
Clyde Finklea
Listen Carefully (Part Two)
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