WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Meditate on, and then pray, each phrase of this prayer: ‘Lord, help me to “know you more clearly, love you more dearly and follow you more nearly, day by day”’ (Richard of Chichester). Hard sayings Jesus’ parables were not stories that illustrated a preaching point, but sermons demanding a faith response from his listeners. Verse 12 (quoting Isaiah 6:9,10) is one of those ‘hard sayings’ of the Bible. It may seem as if the disciples had been granted an unfair advantage denied to the crowds (v 11). But it is difficult, sometimes impossible, to capture the tone of voice on the printed page. Sowing without ceasing When God sent Isaiah to a stubbornly unrepentant people, he spoke with irony, but also despair, yearning for his people to repent, yet realising that they were so hard of heart that they would not. The heart behind the harsh words was hurting and breaking, yet God keeps sending and speaking. The Sower sows without ceasing. Responding to Jesus Yet Jesus recognises this same spiritual dullness in those who have rejected the invitation to become insiders in God’s kingdom. Responsibility equals response-ability. We are each ‘response-able’ to respond to Jesus, and what Jesus demands is not superficial hearing or shallow acquiescence (vs 16–19), but acceptance leading to obedience (v 20). Respond: ‘Most people are bothered by those passages in Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me, I always noticed that the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those I do understand’ (Mark Twain). What have you understood today, and which you will obey? http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-05-17