Sunday: a rushed, helter-skelter Bible "study"
Why is Venus so bright? Because the Sun is shining on her. in fact, the sky is loaded with planets this morning.
Sunday: some semblance of Bible study, right? Below is printed our Gospel for this morning, 6th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 10 Year A RCL Track 1: Matthew 13:1-9,18-23.
Here's the basic parable:
“Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
Note the gap in our designated Gospel reading, that we omit verses 10-17. Why the lectionary framers omitted it is pretty clear: first, evidently having ADD themselves, they always think we're too thick to listen to a long reading; also it's Matthew's aside, Jesus privately to his disciples explaining why he tells parables. And it's rather astonishing: as Matthew has Jesus making his secrets available only to his Jewish disciples, Matthew is simultaneously, as though with a wink of his eye, making those secrets available only to his Jewish-Christian audience. It's included below because I have a couple of comments about it:
Verse 11. From the LXX, Matthew's Greek τὰ μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, "the mysteries (NRSV has "secrets") of the kingdom of heaven" carries a hint of gnosticism, which we've talked about in our SS class: an early view (discounted by what evolved into orthodox Christianity, which is also evident at the beginning of Sayings Gospel Thomas, which we've also talked about), that the Kingdom is closed to outsiders and is only open to those who know (gnosis) and understand certain secrets.
I wonder but what this gnostic notion may have been appealing to Matthew as he writes to his Jewish Christian church, the hint that the Messiah is exclusively for the Jews, which Jesus' disciples certainly were; at the Time of Matthew's writing, maybe 85 AD? - - when the new Christian church (which began as a local sect of Judaism, messianic Jews) was being invaded, infiltrated, overrun with and taken over by pagan Gentiles, untouchable, unwelcome, and resented by many Jewish old-timers, including Matthew's Jewish-Christian audience.
Verses 14b-15. The LXX quotation Matthew uses is from Isaiah 6:9-10, which is part of the memorable Call of Isaiah. At least, in the King James Version it's memorable - - "In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord!! and he was high and lifted up! and his Train filled the temple!!! ... ". Where modern translators try to straighten everything out, the KJV scholars had a mind for the lyrical, beautiful, memorable. Why memorable? IDK, maybe because back in 1611 when the KJV is dated, most people could not read, so the Bible needed to be made so it could readily be committed to memory? IDK.
Incidentally, the Gospel of Thomas also records Jesus telling this parable:
G.Thomas logia 09 Jesus says:
(1) "Look, a sower went out. He filled his hands (with seeds), (and) he scattered (them).
(2) Some fell on the path, and the birds came and pecked them up.
(3) Others fell on the rock, and did not take root in the soil, and they did not put forth ears.
(4) And others fell among the thorns, they choked the seeds, and worms ate them.
(5) And others fell on good soil, and it produced good fruit.
It yielded sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure."
As does Mark 4, from where Matthew got it:
"4:3 Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
And Luke 8, oddly, but in SS class discussably, somewhat different:
"8:5 A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. 7 Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8 Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.”
Luke's version more resembles G.Thomas?
I'll not take off homiletically with the Gospel, because I'm not preaching this morning, and our preacher will do the right and best thing with the Gospel in his sermon. So I've done above what we might have done in our adult Sunday School class were it not for covid19. And besides, my time is up.
Remember who loves you: Father Tom does.
Matthew 13:1-9,18-23
The Parable of the Sower
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen!”
The Purpose of the Parables
10 Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 13 The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’ 14 With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:
‘You will indeed listen, but never understand,
and you will indeed look, but never perceive.
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and understand with their heart and turn—
and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.
The Parable of the Sower Explained
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23 But as for what was sown on good soil, 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.”