15^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME–A

 

I Reading: Isaiah 55:10-11: The rain makes the earth give growth.

II Reading: Romans 8:18-23: The whole creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal His Son.

Gospel: Matthew 13:1-23: A sower went out to sow.

            

Gospel: Matthew 13:1-9: It produced crops a hundredfold.

The Parable of the Farmer or Sower: How a Man Receives the Gospel?

Jesus revealed and pictured modern-day Christianity. He said the kingdom of Heaven is a mixture of good and bad. It includes professing believers as well as genuine believers; false doctrine as well as true doctrine.

Jesus pictured the world and its priceless value. He said that he had come to seek and sacrificially purchase the world. He said that his followers are to laboriously work, seeking to pull people into the kingdom of God. They were now responsible for teaching the new as well as the old.

Each hearer is responsible for how he receives the Word of God.

1. Jesus Christ preached a parable (v.1-2)

a. On the Sabbath

b. By the seashore in a boat

c. Large crowds gathered

d. They pressed him into a boat

2. A farmer went forth to sow (v.3,18)

3. A large number did not allow the Word of God to take permanent root (v.4-8)

a. Some the Word dwelt by the path

b. Some the Word in rocky places

c. Some received the Word among thorns

4. Only a small number allowed the Word to take permanent root (v.8)

5. Only a few allowed the Word to bear 100% fruit (v.8)

6. A strong call: Hear (v.9)

Thought: A person is held accountable for the kind of heart he has: hard, emotional, superficial, thorny, or soft and tender.

 

Gospel: Matthew 13:10-17: The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to you, but they are not revealed to them.

The Messiah’s Reasons for Speaking in Parables:

Who Receives and Who Loses

Why did Jesus speak like this so that his audience could not understand? The reasons are:

i. The unbelieving crowds were deliberately shutting their eyes and ears to His claim and refusing to be converted and healed spiritually (v.13-15).

ii. It was time to teach the “secrets of the kingdom of heaven” to true disciples. Only the true disciples could understand his teachings and obey them but the deaf and blind heart and mind people would not listen to Jesus.

iii. “The secrets of the kingdom of heaven” cannot be understood without first recognizing Jesus as the Messiah and as the one who brings the kingdom of Heaven to people.

1. Why Jesus spoke in parables (v.10-11)

a. The disciples questioned Jesus

b. The general statement

          1) Secrets are given to believers

          2) Secrets are not given to unbelievers

2. Reason 1: Seekers and achievers receive more (v.12)

a. Some seek and have

b. Some do not seek and lose

3. Reason 2: Unbelievers reject and lose (v.13-15)

a. Their wilful rejection

          1) Do seek and hear, yet refuse to really see and hear

          2) Refuse to understand

b. Their rejection prophesied

c. Their rejection described

1) Harden their hearts

2) Deafen their ears

3) Close their eyes

4) Deny what they see

5) Refuse understanding

6) Fight conversion and healing

4 Reason 3: Believers receive and are blessed (v.16-17)

a. They see and hear

b. They are especially privileged over Old Testament believers

Thought: A little formula says it all.

          Perspective + Initiative = Success

          Perspective – Initiative = Lost opportunity

          Initiative – Perspective = Nothing

The person who seeks more achieves more and more.

 

Gospel: Matthew 13:18-23: The man who hears the word and understands it, he is the one who yields a harvest.

The Parable of the Farmer or Sower Explained, 13:18-23

This passage is the interpretation of the Farmer and the Seed (Mt 13:1-9)

1. Describes the Kingdom of Heaven

2. The seed by the path

a. Identity: A person who is hard and close-minded

b. Problem: His heart is not soft; the seed is unable to penetrate

c. Result: Satan snatches the seed away

3. The seed on rocky ground

a. Identity: A person who experiences a quick, dramatic conversion

b. Problem: He has little root and is unprepared to face the trials and persecution of life

c. The result: He falls away

5. The seed on good ground

a. Identity: Those who hear and understand the Word

b. Result: They bear fruit, but they bear different percentages

Thought: Mary listened and received the Word of God with total obedience and humility and treasured it in her heart and pondered. Finally, she produced fruit (giving birth to Jesus) a hundredfold.  How many of us listen and receive the Word of God and produce a hundredfold or sixty or thirty or nothing? We need to become the receiver and the message of the Word of God as Jesus was. Listening to the Word of God with obedience and humility is very important in life.

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 14^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME–A

 

I Reading: Zachariah 9:9-10: See now, your king comes humbly to you: The prophet sees the Messianic King entering Jerusalem on an animal of peace and in humility. War will be no more; universal peace will be established. The reading brings back thoughts of Passion (Palm) Sunday. The prophet Zachariah gives to the Jews a true picture of what the Messiah would be like.

II Reading: Romans 8:9.11-13: If by the Spirit you put an end to the misdeeds of the body, you live:

Baptism with Christ creates a new life for the believers, a life directed by the indwelling Spirit, a word used nearly thirty times in this chapter alone. The word “Body” is not an easy word to define in Pauline usage. Here it means our lower self is prone to sin. The man came to know the goodness of God through Jesus Christ.

Gospel: Matthew 11: 25-30: I am gentle and humble in heart:

Our Lord gives a self-revelation that indicates a oneness with the Father. Then like Isaiah with his call to come to the waters and drink, our Lord issues a gracious invitation that has been accepted through the centuries by those who have sought relief from the burdens of life. The yoke to which our Lord refers is primarily the burden of the Pharisaic law. His yoke fits lightly and does not chafe. It is a personal appeal by Jesus Christ to all.

 

The Blindness of This Generation:

The generation was blind to three things:

1.    The people were blind to God’s truth:

a.    The wise are blind: self-sufficient

b.    The little children are not blind: teachable

2.    The people are blind to God’s will and purpose:

3.    The people were blind to the Messiah. Note: a man is blind to four facts about the Messiah:

a.    He is of God, His very own Son

b.    He has been given all things

c.     He is the Mediator

d.    He alone reveals God

 

The Great Invitation: Given to this Generation, Mt 11:28-30

 

Jesus paints two pictures in this passage. One picture is of extreme weariness. The other picture is of extreme pressure. This is the person who is about to explode; he cannot take anymore. Jesus did not say what caused the weariness or pressure (heavy burdens).

It does not matter, for his invitation is open to all. It is a simple invitation, requiring so little and offering so much.

1.    Come to Me (v.28)

a.    Who: The weary

b.    Why: He will give rest

c.     Condition: Must come to Jesus

2.    Take my yoke-learn of Me (v.29-30)

a.    Why:

1)    He is gentle and humble

2)    We will find rest

3)    His yoke is easy, his burden is light

b.    Condition: Must come to Jesus Christ

Thought: Some of the things that exhaust us are

·       Too much work

·       Worldliness and carnality (fleshy pleasure)

·       Sin and guilt

·       Unsatisfying spirit in money and material possession

·       Name and fame of emptiness in life

·       Power and lowliness of it

·       The rituals and traditions of religion

·       Rules and regulations

·       Not knowing the truth of life is one of the major causes of exhaustion

Thought: Every person has his/her yoke that is his/her life to live and his/her task to do while on earth. Jesus is gentle and humble. He cares, looks after us. How far we can go to Jesus’ invitation (Come to ME) and how capable we are.

Thought: Spiritual truth is “hidden” where? In God. The only key to spiritual truth is faith and trust in God. What Christ condemns is not intelligence and wisdom but intellectual pride and self-sufficiency.

Gospel: Matthew 11: 28-30: I am gentle and humble in heart.

 

The Great Invitation: Given to This Generation, Mt 11:28-30

Christ paints two pictures in this passage. One picture is of extreme weariness. The other picture is of extreme pressure. Jesus does not say what caused the weariness or pressure (heavy burdens). It does not matter, for his invitation is open to all. It is a simple invitation, requiring so little and offering so much.

3.    Come to Me (v.28)

d.    Who: The weary

e.     Why: He will give rest

f.      Condition: Must come to Jesus

4.    Take my yoke-learn of Me (v.29-30)

c.     Why:

4)    He is gentle and humble

5)    We will find rest

6)    His yoke is easy, his burden is light

d.    Condition: Must come to Jesus Christ

Thought: Some of the things that exhaust us are

·       Too much work

·       Worldliness and carnality (fleshy pleasure)

·       Sin and guilt

·       Unsatisfying spirit in money and material possession

·       Name and fame of emptiness in life

·       Power and lowliness of it

·       The rituals and traditions of religion

·       Rules and regulations

·       Not knowing the truth of life is one the major causes of exhaustion

Thought: Every person has his/her yoke that is his/her life to live and his/her task to do while on earth. Jesus is gentle and humble. He cares, looks after us. How far we can go to Jesus’ invitation (Come to ME) and how capable we are.

Thought: The purpose of our life is to know Jesus and the Father who sent him: only those who strive to know them will have life eternal (Jn 17:3). Pride, greed, sin in all its forms, prevent us from knowing God; we must strive at all times to get rid of sin.

Jesus is a gentle and humble person so let us learn from him and try to resemble him in these two qualities (Ps 144:8-9)

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