The Gospel of Luke – Jesus is for everyone: Do you follow Jesus on social media?
Luke 8:4-15
We apologise for the lack of sound at the beginning of the YouTube video. The sound begins at 08:42.
Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9, part of Isaiah’s tough prophetic word. This shows us 3 things:
- Jesus identifies with Isaiah’s commission
- Jesus came to bring good news & bad news
- Jesus is not looking for superficial followers
Do you assess your significance by how many followers you have on social media? Society says we need to follow those with the most followers. They are the trend setters. Jesus would not be interested in how many likes his posts had or how many followers he had on social media. Jesus was a superstar in His generation, but He did not trade on His fame. He didn’t make it easy for people to follow Him. Jesus’ words were hard and challenging. Jesus is not interested in being popular. He is not looking for people who only follow Him when He is popular.
This parable really should be called the parable of the soils.
- Hard soil – Hardness of heart (vs 5,12) – The seed falls on rock hard ground. It cannot take root. These are the people whose hearts are hardened. They cannot hear the word. The only solution to hard soil is drastic action. God sometimes has to use drastic action on those whose hearts are hard.
- Rocky soil – Superficial (vs 6,13) – The seed falls on a thin layer of soil. These are people who respond quickly, but when trouble comes their faith dries up and dies. They do not put down deep roots. Jesus never said life would be easy. How do you respond to trouble in your life? Are your roots dependant on Jesus.
- Occupied soil – Compromise (vs 7,14) – These are people whose lives are occupied by wrong thing. They have never fully repented of wrong things in their live. They never really put Jesus first. Two things can occupy our lives – (1) The worries of this life & (2) Riches and pleasure. We need to clear the ground of our lives and seek.
- The good soil – Receptive (vs 8,15) – These are the people who receive the word, develop and grow and produce a harvest. Good soil people are open and receptive to God’s word in their lives. Jesus intends our lives to be fruitful, but we need to be open and receptive and allow God’s word to take root in our lives.