WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.040 Mark chapter four verses ten through twenty. 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:24.640 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables, and he said to them, To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:27.760 And he said to them, Do you not understand this parable? 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:30.719 How then will you understand all the other parables? 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:36.240 The sower sows the word, and these are the ones along the path where the word is sown. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:41.600 When they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:48.240 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground, the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:58.159 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while, then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:02.479 And others are the ones sown among thorns, they are those who hear the word. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:10.560 But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:19.920 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it, and bear fruit thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:21.200 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:22.400 Please be seated. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.319 Thanks for joining us this morning. 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:30.640 Uh it's fun to see some uh familiar faces that I haven't seen in a while that I just saw. 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:31.680 Hey, how are you guys doing? 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:32.879 Welcome back from Texas. 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:35.280 Um we uh uh thanks for joining us. 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:36.480 My name is James Rathrin. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.200 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:43.359 We've got an exciting Sunday uh with baptisms right after the service. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:46.079 What that well, it's kind of during the service, but you know. 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:54.239 Uh after we uh sing the last two songs, we will head out those doors right there, and the baptism will be right there. 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:57.599 And then we've got uh uh bounty castle. 00:01:58.560 --> 00:01:59.200 Yep. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:12.479 For the fans, and uh and Santiago's burritos, um, which it it's that's actually the definition of a party is Bounty Castle and Santiago's burritos. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:14.719 So we've we've got it today. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:21.439 Uh before we pray and get into today's text, uh, a couple of announcements to make. 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:26.400 So next week, right after the service, we've got the Welcome Team Volunteer Training. 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:38.240 So, Welcome Team is uh something that we've really invested in because we uh something that we really want to develop as a church is just a culture of welcoming. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:53.280 We are welcomed by Christ in the gospel, and that's something that doesn't happen um uh uh just organically if we if you just do nothing, but we want to invest in creating a culture in our church of welcoming and hospitality. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:03:01.599 So if you are interested in doing that and being a part of that, uh they that will take place immediately after the service next week. 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:03.120 So October 3rd. 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:05.919 Uh Bo Kellum on our welcome team, he's right there. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:12.400 He's got a great beard, he's got a pretty good lanyard on, he's got, yeah, he really likes movies like me. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:16.000 Um he's seen over 200 of them. 00:03:19.840 --> 00:03:35.280 Uh in Baptisms Today, uh on October 10th, we are partnering with a really cool organization that was started with a group by a group of clergy and uh some folks in the city government back in the 90s. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:42.879 There was this instance called the Summer of Violence, where there was uh a unique amount of youth violence in one summer in the 90s. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:54.960 And so some clergy got together with some um representatives in in uh Denver government and created this organization called Save Our Youth, and uh which is a very like 90s nonprofit name. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:00.560 Now it would be called like, I don't know, like two words together, like clear youth or something. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:06.719 And we would have uh uh and the it's a really simple thing that they do. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:09.439 It's just one-on-one mentorship. 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:32.800 So it's just they pair an adult with uh uh an at-risk, I don't know if that's the correct term, but youth who could use a mentor, and you just meet up together, go out to you know, uh grab ice cream or something after school, and just commit to uh some interactions a couple of times a month, and it's been incredibly successful. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:35.360 And it's so obvious and such a simple solution. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:40.319 Let's just connect people with people who care, connect youth with people who care. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:56.000 So this organization is hosting their annual fundraiser on October 23rd, that's Saturday, and they're hosting it right in Berkeley Park, so literally just right across the street uh in Berkeley Park, right there. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:58.000 So that's actually how we became connected. 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:02.959 They reached out to us and said, we love to partner with churches, especially. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:06.560 And uh, would you help us with this fundraiser? 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:11.839 So we're going to have a tent there uh where we're gonna like paint pumpkins and do things like that. 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:15.199 The fundraiser is a uh it's a 0.5k. 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:19.680 So you can probably handle it. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.279 And uh a costume contest and all sorts of things. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:27.839 Anyway, on so that's the 23rd, and so if you want to volunteer for that, let us know. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:38.240 Uh on October 10th, uh, one of the leaders of the organization is going to come here and bring donuts and just for like 20 minutes after the service, explain what this opportunity is. 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:50.160 So if that's something that you think you might be interested in, uh it developing a mentorship relationship like that with someone in our uh community, then uh uh stick around on October 10th, right after the service. 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:54.319 Okay, let's pray, and we'll get into our text for today. 00:05:54.639 --> 00:06:17.199 Holy Father, we thank you to have a service that's that's angling towards this picture that you've given us in baptism of your covenant promise to your people, that you will be our God, we will be your people, that we can be joined to the sacrifice that Christ made so that we might be united to Him and therefore united to you. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:25.759 Lord, I pray that you would build up your church as we witness this, that you would increase our faith to be able to behold what is happening at that time. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:31.680 Lord, I pray for our children who are gathered together in the other wing of the building. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:37.040 Lord, we pray that you would bless their time and that you would encourage their hearts with the word. 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:43.360 Lord, we pray that you would give us wisdom to be able to receive the word that you have for us today. 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:45.120 We'll look that up in Jesus' name. 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:45.839 Amen. 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:52.319 Okay, so we are continuing our march through Mark. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:07:00.480 Last week, one of our elders, John, preached through the first of this section on the parable of the sower. 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:06.079 Parable of the sower, as you'll remember, is the one where Jesus says there's a kingdom of heaven, something like this. 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:12.720 There's a sower that has seed, and he goes out and he sows sort of indiscriminately his seed, and it falls on these four different soils. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:17.839 One soil it's just plucked away immediately, another soil it sprouts up quickly but then vanishes. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:26.560 Another soil, it uh sprouts up, but then gets choked out by the cares of the world, and then the final fourth soil, it bears fruit and multiplies. 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:34.720 And that pertains to our hearts, how the word lands on our hearts and reveals the condition of our hearts. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:54.240 Well, this week we move out of that section and we continue with the parable of the sower, but instead of just proclaiming this parable to the multitudes, Jesus actually describes and interprets the meaning of the parable to his inner circle, his disciples. 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:58.240 So we're going to look at what the meaning of this parable is. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:01.519 Now, we are human people, amen. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:07.920 And we are, uh that means we are meaning makers. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:14.959 We are the types of creatures that must create meaning. 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:18.560 We are always looking to create meaning. 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:24.879 I'll give you two examples, two kind of broad, non-moral examples of how we're meaning makers. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:26.000 Consider a scientist. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:28.240 We'll look at a scientist and an artist. 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:35.360 So a scientist is a meaning maker because what happens to a scientist? 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:48.480 Well, we can consider like a um, you know, a biologist or something in the 1800s, and they're standing uh on an African plain at a river, and then there's 10,000 wildebeests that are walking in front of them. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:51.440 Uh 10,000 wildebeests in front of a scientist. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:57.840 Now, if you're a scientist, it's not enough for you to just write down 10,000 wildebeests, done. 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:00.639 You have to interpret it. 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:01.919 That's your job. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:07.919 You have to take this phenomena of 10,000 wilderbeests, and then you have to apply meaning to it. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:09.759 And so you put it in some sort of a story. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:13.440 Okay, we continue observing, and it looks like they're following the grass. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.159 And it looks like the grass is following the rain. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:21.600 And so, what do we call it when animals, uh certain creatures like this, act in this way? 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:25.039 Uh there let's let's give it a name and we'll put a word on it. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:27.600 Oh, this is a migration, is what we're seeing. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:30.559 And these animals are migratory animals. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:44.240 And so the scientist took the phenomena and then he told a story, and then he gave the story a name, and now he's not just standing in front of 10,000 wildebeests, he's standing in front of a migration. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:47.120 He's added meaning to the event. 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:49.840 So now it can be understood and interpreted. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:52.559 Now the artist does the same thing. 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:56.080 He or she must create meaning. 00:09:56.240 --> 00:10:02.240 And the way that the artist creates meaning is like the scientist, but it's almost precisely the opposite direction. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:20.879 The artist has this meaning, this idea, something in their imaginations, and then they come to the phenomena of the world, and they must gather it up into a particular form so that the phenomena in the world matches the meaning in their mind. 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:33.759 So that this block of marble, uh this block of marble becomes, it's organized and chipped away and put in the proper location and polished, and it becomes David, right? 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:35.519 The statue of David. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:44.480 It would not be enough to just set the marble out there and the artist to stand next to it and be like, okay, so the the David's in there. 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:46.159 You're just gonna have to take my word for it. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:49.200 No, he must make it manifest in the phenomena. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:11:05.360 And when an artist is able to take the marble and so perfectly convey what was in their mind that we all stand back and are able to grasp its meaning, we call that type of artist a master. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:11.519 Because they were able to take this raw material and turn it into meaning. 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:18.320 In the same way that the scientists, by telling the story, was able to take the raw material and turn it into meaning. 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:22.399 Now we are always doing this in our lives. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:28.080 We are taking the particular phenomena of our lives, and we are saying, okay, this is an interesting event. 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:39.360 We need to create some, I need to tell a story that allows me to make some meaning about it, to explain the way that I am or the way that I'm understanding the circumstances that I'm in. 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:46.240 Or we are working a job and we're constantly needing to take ideas that we have and then make them manifest in the world. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:56.960 Well, now what that is about humans is it's our image of Godness that makes us work in terms of meaning. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:00.960 We can't work outside of meaning. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:08.080 Now, God, of course, is the ultimate artist and scientist. 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:12.320 He is the one who perfectly does this task. 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:22.639 If you consider the way that God creates the world, he speaks, and that whatever was in the mind of God, it perfectly manifests. 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:27.440 He says, Let there be light, and there is light. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:38.960 And then, like a scientist, God steps back from his creation and he names it, and he places it into a particular narrative structure. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:51.600 So he says, let there be light, and then he steps back and he says, the the he separates the light from the darkness and says, the light shall be called day, and the darkness shall be called. 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:58.000 You see how God, in this pattern, we show how meaning develops. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:08.399 Does this so there's a there's a wedding here of the phenomena and the interpretation of the phenomena. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:17.759 There is the light itself, and then there's the naming of the light, and it's in that place that we experience meaning. 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:20.639 We have to do this as people. 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:26.399 There is no just raw data in the world revealing itself to you. 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:31.679 You must interpret it because you are driven towards meaning. 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:44.159 The Bible teaches us in the creation narrative that the fabric of existence is laid out in the meaningfulness of God's own intentions. 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:54.080 So the fabric of existence is laid out with meaning built into it by God. 00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:01.600 So that means that we walk and live and move and breathe in a world full of meaning. 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:06.080 It's proclaiming the meaning of God to us. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:17.440 And he creates us in his image to participate in the same process that God moves in. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:41.759 And so that's why we move through the world as scientists and as workers and as artists and as parents and as people who are in all of these different endeavors either gathering up something into meaning or naming the meaning that we discover in the world. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:44.399 That is our job as people. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:54.000 Now, when God creates something, it is the essence of truthfulness. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:58.159 That's the difference between our creation and his creation. 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:12.960 So, in order for our meaning that we develop in the world to be true, it must tie up to the meaning that God had in his intentions in his own mind. 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:21.279 So we are interpreters constantly seeking to describe and understand the meaning that is in the world. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:31.600 But it is only true when we're doing that, when we tie that ultimate meaning up to God himself. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:40.320 So this is why any worldview which removes God has also removed meaning. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:52.240 We cannot interpret our lives outside of the framework of God that plunges us into a world of meaninglessness. 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:55.679 Okay, that was a lot. 00:15:57.120 --> 00:15:58.559 Your meaning makers. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:02.879 Yeah. 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:06.240 Your meaning makers. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.159 God makes the ultimate meaning in the world. 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:19.519 In our hearts, we interpret the world constantly outside of God's meaning. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.000 And so our lives plunge into meaninglessness. 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:29.039 This brings us to parables. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:37.200 Parables are a story that has a meaning. 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.519 What do you ask after you hear a parable? 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:44.480 What does it mean? 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:49.840 Now, in that sense, you know what parables are a lot like? 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:51.600 Life. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:17:08.400 Because when something comes in and it disrupts you in your life, or you get you get news of something that's all of a sudden transformative, it interrupts the plot that you expected, you're always faced with this question, why? 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:11.200 Why did that happen? 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:13.119 What does this mean? 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:23.680 So parables are like that same event of life, just condensed into a little story. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:25.599 Because what is a story? 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:29.039 It's just the condensed events of life. 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:42.480 And in Jesus' parables and in his description of this parable today, we will see that there is a dilemma that we are faced with. 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:50.000 And this dilemma is we constantly deny the true meaning of our lives. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:56.960 And then we'll see that the solution is only to be found in Christ. 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:00.000 Alright, let's get into the text. 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:01.200 What an intro. 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:04.559 Nothing is as long as that intro, I promise. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:08.559 The purpose of the parables. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:10.960 Mark 4, 10 to 11. 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:17.519 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:27.200 And he said to them, To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything is in parables. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:31.599 Okay, now I explained earlier the format of the text that we're looking at. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:37.920 At the beginning of Mark 4, verses 1 through 10, Jesus explains the parable to the multitudes. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:38.880 He just shares it. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:56.880 And then in the middle of this section, like a sandwich in the middle of the section, Mark cuts in to this intimate setting with just Jesus and those around him and the 12 disciples. 00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:58.799 This is the inner circle of Jesus. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:01.440 So we're away from the multitudes now. 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:08.559 And the disciples ask him, What's up with the parables? 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:20.319 You know, when we're together, we seem to just talk, but when we're out with the groups, uh when we're out with the multitudes and you're preaching, you're always talking in parables. 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:24.640 Now Jesus begins to explain the answer to this question. 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:28.559 Why is it that Jesus is always talking in parables? 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:36.319 Well, Jesus begins and he describes these two groups. 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:44.240 He says, To you, his immediate inner circle, has been given the secret of the kingdom of God. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:49.359 But for those outside, everything is in parables. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.000 So there's two groups that Jesus is describing here. 00:19:54.160 --> 00:20:01.200 Those that are in his inner circle, whom he has chosen to follow him, and who have responded by following him with their lives. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:08.079 And of that group, he says, it's been given to you to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:09.440 Now listen to that language. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:11.200 It's a passive language. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:13.279 It's just been given to you. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:19.200 And is there anything that Jesus points to and it's been given to you because you're the most special of them all? 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:21.519 No, he doesn't say anything like that. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:23.119 We don't know the reason. 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:25.279 It was Jesus' own choice. 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:35.680 And he gives to them this opportunity to know, to know what is the kingdom of God, the secrets of the kingdom of God. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:42.480 And then he continues on and he says, now for those outside, everything is in parables. 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:45.599 So the question, well, why is that? 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:49.279 Why is everything in parables for those on the outside? 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:50.720 Listen to this. 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:52.079 Mark 4.12. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:55.279 If you want a tough verse, Mark 4.12. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:21:00.960 So that I speak only in parables to those on the outside. 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:03.680 Jesus, you know, Jesus is saying this. 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:11.119 I speak only in parables to those on the outside, so that they may indeed see but not perceive. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:18.240 And may indeed hear, but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:22.640 Now let's move on to our baptisms today. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:28.480 That's strange, right? 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:31.519 This is not what we expect. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:34.960 Is Jesus just like the worst evangelist ever? 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:50.400 When we think of parables, I think if we were to describe them to a friend, we'd say something like, Well, I'm sure Jesus talked in parables so that he could take something that was spiritual and make it concrete so that it was would be easier for us to understand. 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:52.799 How many of you have heard descriptions of parables like that? 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:54.559 Yeah, I've I'm sure I've said them. 00:21:54.799 --> 00:22:01.599 If I had the human capacity to take something theoretical and make it concrete, this probably would have been Entertaining sermon so far. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:05.759 But you're cursed with a very theoretical person up here. 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:11.599 But that's not the purpose of the parables. 00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:17.920 The purpose of the parables was actually to conceal. 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:28.799 It wasn't so that this would be it this would be it's simple, simpler to grasp, it's so that in the hearing of it, they wouldn't be able to understand. 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:33.759 In the seeing of it, the multitudes wouldn't perceive. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:36.319 It's so that. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:47.039 You read in all the commentaries that I read, all three, there was a there's this section, everybody gets to this part and they're like, this is a strange part of scripture. 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:48.799 And it's like, okay, well, we're on the same page. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:50.400 What did I buy you for? 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:59.440 And then they'll and then they're like, here's all of the gymnastics that people do to try and get rid of the so that here. 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:05.279 You know, like, oh, this could be rendered in this different way, and you know, it doesn't need to be so that for all these reasons. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:08.640 And then you get to the bottom and they're like, but none of those reasons check out. 00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:10.000 Jesus said so that. 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:15.680 He really was being intentional here with his language. 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:27.680 So the purpose of the parables is so that Jesus' word would result in rejection. 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:36.079 Jesus' word to the masses would foster a rejection of him. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:42.240 Now, Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 6 here when he says that. 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:46.400 It says, so that, and then it's just a quote from Isaiah chapter 6. 00:23:47.359 --> 00:24:00.400 And in the second half, half of that glorious chapter, which is the part that he's quoting from, uh, it's a description of Isaiah's prophetic ministry to the nation of Israel. 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:06.160 And God basically just recruited Isaiah, and it's like, you're gonna be a prophet, congratulations, welcome to the throne room. 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:08.400 I know it was scary, but here's a cold and you're fine. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:10.240 It's a very strange summary of that. 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:17.839 There's it and he is brought to uh he says, Whom shall I send and who will go for me? 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:19.759 And Isaiah says, Here I am, send me. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:22.640 God says, Great, you're gonna be my prophet now. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:24.880 Now here's what your ministry is gonna look like. 00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:28.240 You're going to proclaim and no one will listen. 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:32.160 Uh you're gonna you're gonna teach and nobody's gonna understand. 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:37.200 Uh you're going to be rejected even though you perfectly speak the truth. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:41.279 And when you speak the truth, uh everyone will reject you. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:44.000 And here's what's gonna happen to the nation then. 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:47.599 It will fall apart and collapse, although you try and hold it together. 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:51.599 It will be scattered uh as it's sacked by many other nations. 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:58.000 And then once it's even whittled down to a tenth of what it once was, I'm gonna burn it again. 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:03.440 Uh, so that I reduce it even further below a tenth. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:06.960 Oh, congratulations on graduating seminary. 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:09.440 Go get them. 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:14.000 Uh just like any, just like any good church planting conference. 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:22.160 So the tree gets cut down and only a stump remains. 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:29.279 That was that was the pattern of Isaiah's ministry, and that's the thing that we see taking place here. 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:36.400 Now, here's what we have to understand about Jesus and his word in the parables. 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:40.880 Jesus' word is the word of God. 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:50.960 And the word of God always accomplishes precisely what God intends for it to accomplish. 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:58.160 When God said, let there be light, the light wasn't like maybe dimly. 00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:02.319 No, the light, the light shone. 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:10.079 His word always accomplishes precisely what he intends for it to accomplish. 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:16.720 And Jesus' word is like a dividing knife or a sword. 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:30.240 And it is cutting down the middle of humanity, and it is revealing those who are with Christ and those who are against Christ. 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:37.599 His word, his word itself, is parsing as he speaks. 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:55.359 And he speaks in parables towards this end, precisely accomplishing, precisely gathering to him those whom he chooses to gather, and precisely to remain in their condemnation those whom he doesn't. 00:26:57.039 --> 00:26:59.759 Christ's word is perfectly effective. 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:02.880 Because consider this. 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:13.519 We are meaning makers, but we are not the ones that put the meaning into the world. 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:15.279 God is. 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:30.640 And so when we live in a way that is attuned only to our interpretations, and we we lay things out and we call what he calls good, we call bad. 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:45.519 And when we name what he calls bad, when we name that good, then we are living into, plummeting into a world of darkness. 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:57.279 Because the light is living in the proper interpretation, the one that matches the way God describes things to be. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:08.079 See, this is why Jesus moves here next. 00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:15.680 In Mark 4, 13, the next verse after he says this, and he said to them, Do you not understand this parable? 00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:19.200 How then will you understand all the parables? 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:30.079 What he's saying there is that the parable of the sower is the key to understanding all of the other parables of Christ. 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:33.279 Because what is the parable of the sower? 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:36.559 Well, Jesus explains it explicitly to his disciples, right? 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:44.240 It's it's he goes out and he scatters the seed, which is the word of God, and he scatters it, and on some hearts it falls. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:48.640 And on the some hearts already have an established path, right? 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:52.799 If we're gonna, let's just let's go interpretively crazy here with me for a moment, all right? 00:29:52.960 --> 00:30:03.359 Some hearts have an established path, and when they fall on that path and they're saying, I'm not going to deviate, this message of the kingdom has nothing to do with the way that I interpret my life. 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:06.000 Then it just gets plucked up and it goes away. 00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:13.680 Others are rocky and they receive it immediately with joy, but it's just because it's fashionable. 00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:22.799 You know, it's it's in vogue with their particular environment or it seems to fit some particular other heart's desire that this maps onto. 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:26.000 And so it sprouts up immediately with joy. 00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:33.680 But then when persecution arises, or when something goes out of order for what they had expected for their lives, it withers away immediately. 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:38.160 It just drifts off and goes out of fashion, like apparently skinny jeans have for Gen Z. 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:47.200 Or there's those who it grows up with them, and then it sprouts together with other things. 00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:55.839 And instead of the kingdom of God being the main soul, pure focus of our lives and our hearts, it's mixed. 00:30:56.079 --> 00:31:00.319 You know, it's mixed in with these other desires and these other cares of the world. 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:09.359 And so it gets choked out, and all of those things die and result in meaninglessness, death. 00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:10.960 It comes to nothing. 00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:13.680 There's no story we can tell about it, it's done. 00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:25.200 But then on some other hearts, it lands and is brought in, incorporated, and then it grows up. 00:31:25.359 --> 00:31:27.839 What is the meaning of a seed? 00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:30.559 You know, what's the meaning of an acorn? 00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:34.160 Try and describe an acorn to somebody who's never seen an oak tree. 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:37.359 I don't know how you could, if you find yourself in such a situation. 00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:49.200 And the and you'd say you can't really understand what this is until you see its true meaning, which is this glorious, glorious tree. 00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:51.440 And it's the same, it's the same way. 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:57.519 The seed comes and is incorporated into our hearts, and then its meaning is shown as it bears fruit. 00:31:57.680 --> 00:32:00.880 It amounts to what it was really intended to be. 00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:16.880 See, this parable, the very parable that he is saying, while he's saying, this is the crazy inception part of this, while he's saying the parable of the sower, he's doing the parable of the sower. 00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:29.839 And then he comes in with this small group of the disciples, and he continu and he explains to them the parable of the sower, and he's continuing to do the parable of the sower. 00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:34.240 Because what happens in the disciples' lives? 00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:39.839 It's incorporated by Jesus. 00:32:40.799 --> 00:32:55.519 And then it stretches on from these twelve throughout history up until a moment like this morning, where it's continuing to bear fruit to this day. 00:32:56.640 --> 00:32:59.440 Thirty, sixty, a hundredfold. 00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:03.920 That is the power of the word of God. 00:33:05.039 --> 00:33:13.759 You see, the the death that it reveals in the beginning is nothing in comparison to the life of the flourishing that comes from it. 00:33:13.920 --> 00:33:16.240 But they are both together. 00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:20.640 Because the word is like a sword, it is a dividing line. 00:33:21.759 --> 00:33:35.039 Now we see this very principle at work, this dynamic of the uh of the death that's revealed, and then zoom in up close to Jesus, and we see the life and the flourishing that he's bringing. 00:33:35.200 --> 00:33:42.480 We see this very dynamic is shown in that passage in Isaiah, the very passage that Jesus is quoting. 00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:45.359 See, it's all very like this. 00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:48.960 And which is so thrilling. 00:33:49.039 --> 00:33:53.119 I hope it gets seen in Isaiah 6.13. 00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:56.480 This is the end of this march where we can see the same pattern. 00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:08.960 So the march in Isaiah 6 is Isaiah becomes the prophet, and then it's like, it's gonna be bad, nobody's gonna listen, their ears will be stopped up, it's it's you're gonna have a terrible ministry, it's not gonna work. 00:34:09.119 --> 00:34:11.679 When there, and then it gets to this verse. 00:34:11.840 --> 00:34:15.199 It says, I'm gonna burn it down until a tenth remains. 00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:20.960 And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again. 00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:22.880 Twice baked. 00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:31.039 Like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled. 00:34:31.360 --> 00:34:33.519 So it's like an oak tree, and what was here? 00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:35.039 It's just a stump. 00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:36.559 It's nothing here. 00:34:38.880 --> 00:34:40.559 Now listen to this. 00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:44.800 This last phrase in the section. 00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:49.519 The holy seed is its stump. 00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:54.559 Now the now we we get the pattern, right? 00:34:54.719 --> 00:34:56.960 It's tearing down, tearing down, tearing down. 00:34:57.119 --> 00:35:00.559 Look at Isaiah, look at what your word is going to do. 00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:09.679 When the true meaning of God presses into the world, the result will just be the unstoppable hardness of people's hearts. 00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:10.559 Why? 00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:17.039 Because the true interpretation, the true meaning of the world is only found in God. 00:35:17.199 --> 00:35:22.880 And God, when you press in, you will reveal our decrepitness. 00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:29.280 When God draws in close to us, it is shown in our hearts. 00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:41.840 Just like how Paul talks about this in Romans 7, where he says, I didn't really know what covetousness was until I heard about covetousness in the law, and all of a sudden I realized this is all over me. 00:35:42.239 --> 00:35:44.320 I'm coveting all over the place. 00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:57.519 And just as we begin to get the true moral framework of the world as it is laid out to us in Scripture, it is revealed in our hearts our own depth of sinfulness and death. 00:35:59.039 --> 00:36:02.000 And so Isaiah's ministry has this very shape. 00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:08.239 The hardness of hearts is more deeply revealed. 00:36:08.559 --> 00:36:19.519 And then so strangely, so unexpectedly, I mean, this was not telegraphed at all in the text. 00:36:20.239 --> 00:36:37.519 This final this final phrase about the stump, which is the sign of God's judgment on them for not listening and heeding his word, he says, the holy seed is its stump. 00:36:39.519 --> 00:36:43.519 That means the holy offspring is its stump. 00:36:43.679 --> 00:36:52.000 So when you look at the stump, it's the sign of judgment, but it's also the holy offspring. 00:36:52.400 --> 00:37:06.559 And if you continue reading on through Isaiah and you move through to the last chapters of Isaiah, the last 20 chapters of Isaiah, it is all about the blessing upon the holy offspring. 00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:18.239 These are the ones whom God pours out his favor upon, whom God forgives their sins, whom he raises up to an innumerable nation. 00:37:18.880 --> 00:37:34.800 These are the ones who are shown the glory that they will receive in a new heavens and a new earth, where they are joined to the Lord and where they receive him and his presence joyfully, and they rest in him in the forgiveness that they have received. 00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:40.800 Do you see the shape of Isaiah's ministry? 00:37:41.760 --> 00:37:45.519 The word of the Lord reveals the hardness of our hearts. 00:37:46.800 --> 00:38:01.599 But to some, in seeing the hardness of our own hearts, we at the same time are poised to discover the grace of the Lord. 00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:06.079 Jesus' ministry has the same shape. 00:38:07.039 --> 00:38:24.639 Jesus proclaims his word, and initially these multitudes gather, but then Jesus' teaching becomes harder, and the multitudes are then turned away, and the multitudes turn away from Christ, and he's abandoned. 00:38:24.719 --> 00:38:33.039 And then finally, even the disciples, the inner circle of Jesus, abandons him and turns on him. 00:38:35.280 --> 00:38:41.679 Then Jesus himself is abandoned and turned on. 00:38:56.800 --> 00:39:04.480 And then what comes on the other side of this death and meaninglessness that Jesus plunges into? 00:39:04.880 --> 00:39:06.000 Resurrection. 00:39:10.239 --> 00:39:18.159 See, as Jesus presses in, our shame is exposed because we deny him. 00:39:19.280 --> 00:39:25.039 But he presses in further and his glory is exposed. 00:39:25.920 --> 00:39:32.320 Because the shape of this is that Jesus takes on our sin. 00:39:33.519 --> 00:39:37.119 Takes on our meaninglessness. 00:39:37.360 --> 00:39:45.039 Takes it on in the in the most, you know, of course he takes it on on the cross, but don't you see how he takes it on through the pattern of his whole ministry? 00:39:45.280 --> 00:39:51.440 As it is withered away and withered away, as he presses, he is the word of God and he brings it to the people. 00:39:51.519 --> 00:39:52.320 And what happens? 00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:55.119 The people turn on him and kill him. 00:39:56.320 --> 00:40:00.719 And then in that death is this glorious inversion. 00:40:03.599 --> 00:40:07.119 And that becomes our life. 00:40:08.639 --> 00:40:15.440 He takes on our death so that we might receive his life. 00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:18.000 And what are the parables for? 00:40:19.199 --> 00:40:23.039 They're so that that very thing will be accomplished. 00:40:24.239 --> 00:40:29.280 So that he will be concealed and then revealed in greater glory. 00:40:29.679 --> 00:40:32.400 Because who is Jesus? 00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:39.360 Jesus is the shoot that grows out of the stump. 00:40:41.119 --> 00:40:42.559 Where do we see his glory? 00:40:42.639 --> 00:40:45.519 It's that there is a stump here and there was nothing. 00:40:45.760 --> 00:40:52.239 Because people, us, left to our own devices, plunge ourselves into meaninglessness and nothingness. 00:40:54.000 --> 00:40:55.920 But Jesus starts right there. 00:40:59.119 --> 00:41:01.599 And he is the shoot that rises up. 00:41:02.400 --> 00:41:04.320 Jesus describes himself elsewhere. 00:41:04.559 --> 00:41:11.519 He says, if a seed, uh a seed doesn't bear fruit unless it falls into the earth and dies. 00:41:12.719 --> 00:41:23.440 Jesus is the seed that falls into the earth and dies to itself so that it might bear its fruit up in glory. 00:41:34.960 --> 00:41:37.679 Look, here's the point of this, part of the point of this. 00:41:38.800 --> 00:41:41.679 Jesus is the parable. 00:41:45.440 --> 00:41:49.920 He is the word of God revealed to the multitudes. 00:41:51.360 --> 00:41:55.360 And he becomes the dividing line of history. 00:41:57.199 --> 00:42:19.440 She says, if you come to me, if you receive me, if you name me as I am, if you name me Lord, then you will share in my flourishing and life and glory, as you, even though you go to death, you raise with me into resurrection. 00:42:20.159 --> 00:42:23.760 And he is the dividing line of history in just the other way. 00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:38.239 If you reject me as the source of all true meaning, then your life will continue on that path towards meaninglessness and death, bearing no real fruit. 00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:43.199 This is the promise of Christ. 00:42:43.840 --> 00:42:47.760 See how He He is at work just like the parable is at work. 00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:58.960 But better than just the parable, better than just that spoken word, better than just this story about the four soils is Christ Himself. 00:43:00.159 --> 00:43:05.519 Who, as He calls you to Himself, He lays Himself down for you. 00:43:07.920 --> 00:43:21.599 That you can be met in your meaninglessness, washed, made new, given a new heart that might see Him in the glory of the world that He has made. 00:43:24.559 --> 00:43:33.039 Today, as we move into baptisms, this is the very thing that is being shown. 00:43:34.400 --> 00:43:37.440 That we are buried with Christ. 00:43:39.519 --> 00:43:42.400 That in our sin we need to be buried. 00:43:43.199 --> 00:43:44.719 What is the result of our lives? 00:43:44.800 --> 00:43:48.480 That is it is death and meaninglessness outside of Him. 00:43:49.519 --> 00:43:50.880 But what is the good news? 00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:57.679 He united Himself to our death so that he might take it on. 00:43:58.960 --> 00:44:06.400