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UNTIL WE’RE ABLE TO MEET AT CHURCH AGAIN, THE GOSPEL READING FOR THE COMING SUNDAY AND SOME QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT WILL BE POSTED EVERY WEDNESDAY.  WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOUR OWN ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS. PLEASE EMAIL THEM TO:     

barbfletcher2@aol.com

 

ALL COMMENTS WILL BE COMPILED AND ADDED TO THE POSTING ON SATURDAY.   WE HOPE THAT YOU WILL JOIN THE CONVERSATION ABOUT THE GOSPEL READING EACH WEEK.

 

BIBLE STUDY FOR SUNDAY, July 12, 2020

 

PRAYER:     Holy Father, by the power of your Holy Spirit, prepare our hearts and minds to receive all that You want us to learn.  As we read your word, shine on us the light of your truth.  May we leave here with a deeper understanding of who You are and what your will is in each of our lives.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

CONTEXT:    Matthew 13 is one of the gospel’s major teaching units.  Jesus speaks to the people, using a series of parables, about the kingdom of heaven.  This Parable of the Sower is the first of seven, and like all of them, uses examples from everyday life to make us rethink life in new ways. Early farmers would sow seed manually by throwing it in every direction as they walked through their fields.  Jesus uses this example to explain why different people react in different ways to the same message, the word of God.

          

READING:   Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23     

The Parable of the Sower    1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen!”

 The Parable of the Sower Explained     18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

 

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT:

1.  Let’s get right to the substance: What do you think is the seed? Who do you think is the sower? And who do you think is the soil?

 

2.  What do you think Jesus saying in verse 9? Do you have ears that listen? What does it mean to really listen?

 

3.  Who may have represented each of the different types of soil in Jesus’s day? How about in our world today?Have you been each of these types of soil at one time or another? When, and how so?

 

4.  As Jesus’ followers, are we too meant to be sowers?What are some of the many ways we can sow seed?

 

5.  Why do you think the sower didn’t concentrate on the good areas of soil only, instead of wasting seed in beaten, rocky and thorny places? Why should we, as sowers, not worry about wasted seed?

 

6.  How can we explain verse 8? How could the same good soil result in differing amounts of harvest?

 

7.  Are you good soil? What can you do to improve your soil? How can we at St. Bart help each other to be more fertile soil?