The spirit of life was still in them, even though they had lain dormant for thousands of years.

 Matthew 13:3-9

(3) Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. (4) And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. (5) Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. (6) But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. (7) And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. (8) But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. (9) He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
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"The seed is the Word of God, and its hitting the ground is not the end of the story. A variety of things can happen that will affect the growth of that seed. Some might fall on stone, others might be buried too deep. Rain may come and wash away some of it. Birds may devour others. But because life is in the seed, something will happen.

"In the last century, archeologists found wheat and cotton seeds in some of the burial chambers that they excavated. Those seeds—which were probably anywhere from 2,000-4,000 years old—grew when put into the right soil. The spirit of life was still in them, even though they had lain dormant for thousands of years.

"This is dramatic confirmation that, if a seed is sown, it will do something when it lands in the right kind of soil. Jesus shows in this parable that the environment affects the seed's growth. When we make the proper application—people are the ground, and our environment and what we do after receiving the seed—the word of truth, containing the doctrines—is what affects its growth. In this analogy, growth represents sanctification, which is is the formation of God's image in us by living His way of life empowered by His Spirit. What we do with the seed is "work[ing] out [our] salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). It is the equivalent of rain, sunshine, weeding, fertilizing, so that the potential for fruit is the greatest. Sanctification is worked out through application, by living the doctrines and the truths of God."  (John W. Ritenbaugh, http://www.theberean.org/)

Compassion, Is A Fundamental and Distinctive Quality Of God

  

Matthew 14:14

(14) And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.

  Mark 6:34

(34) And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.
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"Jesus is "moved with compassion" when He sees the needy multitudes exhausted and wandering like sheep that had been tattered from cruel fleecing. Twice He is "moved with compassion" when He sees the hungry multitudes without food (Matthew 14:14; 15:32). The two blind men (Matthew 20:34) and the leper (Mark 1:41) also stir His compassion, as does the sorrow of the widow at Nain (Luke 7:13).

"In addition, Jesus uses the word translated "compassion" in three of His parables: The king has compassion on his bankrupt servant and forgives him his debt, showing how we should forgive one another (Matthew 18:21-35). The Samaritan has compassion on the Jewish victim and cares for him in love (Luke 10:25-37). Finally, the father has compassion on his rebellious son (Luke 15:20).

"We, too, should show compassion toward others. Compassion, a fundamental and distinctive quality of God, is literally "a feeling with and for others." It lies at the foundation of Israel's faith in God because, in an act of compassion, He delivered them from slavery and called them to be His own people. His compassion does not fail (Lamentations 3:22). Jesus teaches that it should be extended, not only to friends and neighbors, but to all, even to our enemies. 

(Martin G Collins, http://www.theberean.org/, "Today's Verse and Comment, 03/02/20107)

THE BASIC TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST.

 

CHRISTIAN LIVING FOR GOD - TODAY AND BEYOND.

 

“The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost’ ” (Luke 19:10, NKJV).

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is a story of God seeking after lost humanity.

Luke illustrates this truth by using three important parables found in the 15^th chapter of Luke:

1. The lost sheep (Luke 15:4–7),
2. The lost coin (vss. 8–10),
3. The lost son (vss. 11–32).

The mission of Jesus is a result of God’s love and grace. “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Rom. 5:20, NKJV), and through this grace we find ourselves saved.

Let’s look at the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin.

The Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin (Luke 15:3–10) are the first two in a series of three. The third is the “lost son” or the “prodigal son.” Just as in other cases, Jesus taught these parables in a set of three to emphasize a point.

In these three parables, what was the Pharisees problem with what Jesus was doing?

1. The Pharisees did not complain that Jesus was teaching sinners.
2. The Pharisees thought themselves to be righteous teachers of the law and all others to be wicked.
3. They could not condemn His preaching to “sinners,”
4. They did think it was inconsistent with the dignity of someone so knowledgeable in the Scriptures to “eat with them”, in other words to associate with them.

What is the presupposition behind the statement of the Pharisees, “this man welcomes sinners,”.

• The presupposition is that because of their class status and the knowledge, they were too good to be hanging out with people they thought were beneath them, sinners.

What is the significance of the opening statement in Luke chapter 15?

1. To understand the significance we must consider that the Jewish culture is a shame/honor-driven society that used shame/honor in a way that developed a sort of caste system.
2. Everything that was done in the Jewish culture either brought shame or honor.
3. The primary motivation for what and how things were done was based on seeking honor for oneself and avoiding shame.
4. This was the central and all-consuming preoccupation of all Jewish interaction.

What is the significance of this attitude that they had?

1. The Pharisees thought that if Jesus was actually who He said He was, He would not be associating with these people. 
2. They thought that this verified their claim that Jesus was not the Messiah.
3. Jesus saw this and used these three parables to explain who He was and what His mission on earth was.  Jesus identified Himself as the owner of the lost and was actively engaged in trying to find them.

In the parable of the Lost Sheep what does Jesus do to His listeners?

Jesus invites His listeners to place themselves into the story and does this by asking,

• “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep.”  
  • Why does Jesus use sheep? 
    • Two fold,  it was common knowledge in those days of the value of one sheep in relation to the flock value of the flock as a whole.
    • It would be well known who the owner of that sheep would be.
• In doing this Jesus is appealing to their intuitive reasoning and life experiences as a Jewish people. 
• He was removing Rabbinical, religious reasoning and placing the question in the realm of the common everyday person.

What did the Pharisees refuse to see?

• As the story completes, the Pharisees in their pride refuse to see themselves as the shameful “sinners,” that what Jesus was talking about.  Instead eagerly take the honoring label of being the “righteous” people.
• What did this do?
  • By the implication of their own pride, they place themselves in the position of being the less significant than not only the group of ninety-nine, but also the lost one.

What is Jesus’s response to this attitude in regards to what our mission should be as followers of Jesus Christ.

• He responds that “There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”.
• Jesus is pointing out that no matter how lost or damaged a person may be, Jesus holds their salvation in higher regard then that of people who claim salvation and feel they are better than the unsaved.

In these three parables, what was Jesus doing to the attitudes of His listeners?

• Jesus was turning His listeners’ understanding of things upside down.
• The Pharisees saw themselves as being the beloved of God and the “sinners” as refuse.
• Jesus uses the Pharisees’ prejudices against them, while encouraging the sinners with one clear message.

What was that message?

• That message is this:
  • God has a tender, personal concern for all human beings.
  • God has a joyous love for individuals who are lost (in sin) and are found (repent).
  • Jesus makes it clear that the Pharisees, who thought they were close to God, were actually distant and those sinners and tax collectors were the ones God was seeking after.

What conclusion can we draw from this?

• In Luke chapter 18 verse 14 Jesus says, “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Parable of the Lost Son.

What we need to do is to identify things that are in common in these three parables.  By doing this we can gain more context to help us understand the significance of the main elements in this story.

There is a progression of value in the three parables.

What are they?

• In the first parable, one sheep is lost in a flock of 100 sheep.
• In the next parable, one silver coin in ten silver coins is lost.
• In the third parable, one Son out of two is lost.

The power of these parables to reach the audience comes from the shame/honor aspect of the Jewish culture.

What are these aspects?

• To lose a sheep as a shepherd would be a very shameful thing for the one tending the flock
• A coin from a piece of bridal jewelry lost in her own house would be even more shameful since it represented that she was betrothed.
• The lost son, was the worst shame of all for any family in the Jewish culture.

What is the significance of this progression?

It is the progression from seeking after only 1 of 100 sheep, then 1 of 10 coins, then 1 of 2 sons.

• This shows the scope of God’s personal concern for all individuals.

Jesus was trying to show a personal familial relationship for all people in society by relating these three parables.   This relationship was that:

• Men and young boys would have related best to the shepherd and the lost sheep.
• All women would be able to related to the losing a bridal coin.
• Everybody present would understand the relationship of a father and son.

Can someone outline the characters in the Parable of the Lost Son?

• The forgiving father is a picture of God. In telling the story, Jesus identifies Himself with God in His loving attitude to the lost.
• The younger son symbolizes the lost, the tax collectors and sinners of that day.
• The elder brother represents the self-righteous the Pharisees and teachers of the law of that day.

What is the major theme of this parable?

• It is not the conversion of the sinner, but rather the restoration of a believer into fellowship with the Father.
• In the first two parables, the owner went out to look for what was lost.  
  • In this story the father waits and watches eagerly for his son's return.
• We see a progression through the three parables from the relationship of one in a hundred, to one in ten, to one in one.

What does this demonstrate?

• God’s love for each individual and His personal attentiveness towards all humanity.

What important message should we take from this story?

• The graciousness of the father overshadows the sinfulness of the son, It is the memory of the father’s, Gods, goodness that brings the prodigal son, the sinner, to repentance.

In these parables there is a lesson for everyone.  What is this lesson?

• It does not matter how far away from the throne of God you are, how debased you are or what your motives are.   Jesus describes how His Father will accept you.
• “…But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.”

But, for everyone, it requires somethings.  What are they?

• Recognition of fallen state - “I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you” (Luke 15:18).
• Confession of our sins - “…I am no longer worthy to be called your son…”.

There is a second message represented by the second son, what is it?

• Even though you claim Jesus Christ as your savior, you still can be “lost”.
• Like the elder son, many make their home in the Christian Church, yet their heart is in a “distant land” because
  • They are angry, constantly complaining instead of looking for solutions to problems.
  • They have an air of self-righteousness because they refuse to recognize that all human beings, no matter where they are in their life, have the same value in the eyes of God.

The line in a song goes, “I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”  This verse as part of that great hymn “Amazing Grace.”

What is the significance of this statement to all of us as Christians today?

• Being lost is the tragedy of all humanity, not just the downtrodden or poor.
• Because “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). Being found is a privilege that is equally universal.
• But what do we as Christians need to do?
• We need to grasp this concept in faith and cling to it as we in embrace of the the love of our heavenly Father.

Jesus asked Bartimaeus, “ ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ ” (Luke 18:41).

The question I have is, “What would you ask Jesus to do for you today?”