God's Word is like a seed (Lk 8:4-15)
God's Word is like a seed. This comparison does not only apply to this parable, similarly, is in the parable of the mustard grain, about the wheat and the weed, about the grain growing by its own power, it is extremely meaningful to Jesus. Let's take a closer look at it.
Today, we usually associate a word with the message of information. Someone is passing messages to someone. It was quite different in the biblical tradition. Word - Hebrew dabar - not only says something, but also has a driving force. God said and it really happened as He said. Elijah once told a king that there would be no rain until he said, and it happen. It is not just limited to the word of God. In the book of Esther, after Haman's intentions were exposed to the king, we read: The word went out of the king's mouth, and the face of Haman was covered (Est 7: 8). But this is especially true of the word of God. Moreover, the events following the words become a test whether it is really God's word. In Deuteronomy we read: If a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD but the word does not come true, it is a word the LORD did not speak. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not fear him. (cf. Dt 18:22)
The seed has a wonderful life force in it. After being thrown into the ground, it begins to swell and grow by itself, and finally produce a crop. Precisely this power to grow, contained in something inconspicuous, small, insignificant, is a wonderful image of the word of God: For since in the wisdom of God the world did not come to know God through wisdom, it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith. (cf. 1 Cor 1:21)
The tragedy of today's man is the loss of understanding of the word. Contemporary man believes that the word is at his disposal, that he is the master of the word, that he can manipulate it, use it, do with it as he wishes. He does not understand that his humanity, what is most precious in him, is shaped by the word, by the message that comes to him. It is thanks to the word that he can discover the truth, recognize the good, ignite the idea, understand that he is someone and not something. Thanks to the word, he can meet others, he can tell him: "you", share with him what is most precious in his heart and hear from him something that he is not able to see or experience by himself.
What about the word of God? If we humiliate with a word, use it haphazardly, think that we can use it at our will, we close ourselves to all the wealth that this word brings. We are like a beaten path, on which the seed has fallen and been trampled on or taken away by Satan. It is in Satan's interest that the word be disregarded and not accepted. And that's what's happening today. Words are used freely, without responsibility. And then people who use the word so freely, similarly, approach the word of God, ridiculing it. They do not understand that they are facing something that is beyond them.
In order for the word to bear fruit, it must fall into fertile soil, i.e., it must go deep into the heart: But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance. (cf. Lk 8:15). Only when we let the word work in us, that is, believe in it and live according to its message, does it begin to grow, gradually revealing its wisdom. It then results in peace, balance, and joy, as long as we do not allow ourselves to be drowned out by noisy substitutes of happiness that leave behind chaos and disgust. Perseverance is needed for the full growth of a word. Perseverance is the fundamental value of the Christian life. It is thanks to it that the word of God yields a hundredfold - that is, unimaginably large.
Christ gives us a treasure that is infinitely beyond us. We must accept it with faith and perseverance.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george