Getting to Know Jesus #28

We have made our way to Luke 8, where the final baton has been passed from John the Baptist to Jesus:

Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.
4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Often in the Gospels we have people referring to Jesus as Rabbi, but His ministry was rather unique. Not only did he have this odd assortment of apostles, He also had a core group of women who travelled with them and helped support the ministry.  Most rabbis of His day had little to do with women. He also spoke in parables. This one is one of His better known ones: the seed, the sower, and the soil.  The picture was a very common one, easy for all to imagine, until you get to Jesus' last statement, or punchline if you will: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” What does hearing have to do with seed? Well, we will let Jesus explain that tomorrow, but simply put, Jesus went around proclaiming the Good News, plain and simple; the question was: were people ready to really listen and respond? Are we?