The Word of God is a Seed
Kingdom Principle: Seeds; Part III
Locate in Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-15
The primary explanation to this parable is the seed that the farmer sows is the Word of God (Mark 4:14; Luke 8:11). Since the Kingdom of God operates on the principle of seeds we must pay attention to the importance of Jesus’ statement concerning the Word being the seed in this parable. This is the open door to understanding everything. The Kingdom functions like a seed; The Word of God is the seed that makes the kingdom work in our lives. As Kingdom people we must be Word minded, meditating on it to be continually planting seeds from scripture. It is a simple but profound truth.
God Places Importance on His Word
The greatest gift God gave us outside of Jesus was the scriptures. He places incredible value on the Word that was written, preserved and passed down to us. It says in the Psalms, “You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!” (Psalm 138:2b AMP). A statement like this makes me stop and ponder.
Paul told us in Philippians that Jesus was exalted to the place of honor and inherited a name above all else, at His name, everything bows and confesses His lordship (Philippians 2:9-11). Hebrews also starts out with this idea. Through His redemption victory, Jesus became far superior to the angels, just as the name He owns is far superior to theirs (Hebrews 1:4). Revelation tells us“On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (Revelation 19:16). In fact, when we are born again we make this confession of faith in His name and title as Lord (Romans 10:9-10). Finally Acts tells us “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Obviously God’s name is extremely important, however, He magnifies His Word above His name, that’s amazing!
Jesus Proved the Importance God Places on His Word
Locate in Scripture: Matthew 11:1-19; Luke 7:18-35
Everywhere Jesus went He used and operated in the Word. A great example of this is when John the Baptist was put in prison. Before this, John was convinced that Jesus was the Lamb of God. And freely gave up His own ministry and His own disciples saying he must become less so Christ could be more (John 3:27-30). Then, after being imprisoned by Herod and time had passed he sent His disciples to Jesus with a question. “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Luke 7:19). Discouragement and doubt crept in because of life’s circumstances.
Look at what Jesus did in response to this question, “At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me” (Luke 7:21-23).
Then after John’s disciples left, Jesus turned to the crowd and gave a huge compliment about John, “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. He who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 11:11-15).
As John sat in prison, I’m sure discouragement crept in. It’s interesting that this compliment by Jesus, about no prophet being greater than John, was given to the multitudes, not to John’s disciples to take back with them. Why? The answer lies in what Jesus did send back to tell John. As they waited for an answer, Jesus performed these miracles; He gave the blind their sight, He made the lame walk, He cured those who had leprosy and restored the ears of the deaf. Then He raised the dead and preached the good news to the poor. (Matthew 11:4-6; Luke 7:21-23). This is the message Jesus sent to encourage John while in prison in a dire situation.
At the beginning of John’s ministry, the Pharisees came to him asking if he was the Christ? “John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord’” (John 1:23). This is a direct quote from the prophet Isaiah. John found himself in the scriptures and knew this was about him, written five hundred years before he was born. John knew his mission was to prepare the way for the Messiah from this prophetic writing.
John was familiar with scripture and especially knew what Isaiah had written about the Christ. While John’s disciples waited, Jesus performed everything that Isaiah said the Messiah would do in front of them and used this as proof to encourage John in prison. “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert: (Isaiah 35:5-6). He performed every one of these things in their presence and then raised the dead as the final proof, in case any doubt remained.
The takeaway point is this; Jesus did not stop at compliments to encourage John, it might have been said to the multitudes, however Jesus used the Word of God to encourage and confirm to John the answer to his question. He pulled out all the stops to make sure John had what he needed to survive in prison, locked up for Christ. Jesus wanted to reassure him that it wasn’t in vain, he was the Messiah!
There is amazing application for us in this truth! If Jesus used the scriptures as the final and full authority on the matter, then planting God’s Word in our heart is critical for success in life (Joshua 1:8). Everything we need for life is found in His Word (II Peter 1:3-4). The trick is getting the seed inside where it can germinate and grow.
Join me for Part IV; ‘You Need to Plant a Seed to Have a Harvest'