Today we in our family celebrate a birthday. Our pastor preached today on the famous parable of the sower from the Gospel of Matthew. What I learned today is that some of the "hearers" may have been expecting a seven-fold or a ten-fold yield. Those ratios were evidently considered good yields for crops in Jesus' day. Yet for the one who "hears and understands" the yield can be much more than that, says our Lord.
"...this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." Matthew 13:23
From a 19th century illustration on Wikimedia Commons of the parable of the sower.
This is a beautiful, but rather stark portrayal of the sower who seems isolated and alone in a large expanse of terrain. Notice the birds ready to snatch away the seeds.
A more colorful and close-in representation of the parable, this time from an Romanian
icon found also on Wikimedia Commons.
Happy Birthday and may you hear and understand!
No comments:
Post a Comment