Happy Easter – Ears to Hear (Matthew 13:37-43)

Easter: Ears to Hear (Matthew 13:43)

He replied, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; and the good seed—these are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all who cause sin and those guilty of lawlessness. They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Let anyone who has ears listen. Matthew 13:37-43 CSB

Happy Easter!

It is Easter Sunday! I hope and pray that all of you have a wonderful Easter, full of the love and light of Jesus! Our scripture might seem like a strange choice for today, end times judgment and all.

However, this passage is all about Jesus and salvation, and that is what Easter is all about. Jesus conquered sin and death and we celebrate that on Easter Sunday, but there is still some spiritual gardening to be done. 

Sowing Seed

Jesus, the Son of Man, is sowing good seed in the world. Think in natural terms right now – picture a wildflower seed. It is planted, grows and matures, and then produces more seeds. If the good seed represents the children of the kingdom, when they mature, they multiply and reproduce. More people are brought into the kingdom. 

A sign of our maturity as children of the kingdom is whether or not we are reproducing children of the kingdom. Are we telling others about Jesus? Are we bringing others into the kingdom of God?

Two Categories

Here is the deal, there are only two categories of humans: children of the kingdom and children of the evil one. And, there are dire consequences for those who remain children of the evil one. We are not called to be isolated from the children of the evil one, but we are called to go and tell the good news. 

You see, our scripture passage is an explanation of the following parable:

“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servant] of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” Matthew 13:24-30 CSB

Stand Strong

The enemy may sow people in our lives who are meant to derail us and get us plucked out of the faith, but we dig our roots down into God and stand strong. We remember the triumph of Jesus over death and the power of His resurrection. We tell them of the love of Jesus that wants to save them from an eternity in hell. The Master Gardener uses us in His process of transforming bad seed into good seed. 

Do you have spiritual ears?

The last line of the Matthew 13:43 says, “Let anyone who has ears listen.” I like to picture gigantic rabbit ears, perked up and listening when I picture these spiritual ears. Are we listening to the call of God? Are we hearing the spiritual truths of the Bible?

Sometimes we let our spiritual ears get lazy, they droop down, blocking out the sound of God’s voice. Sometimes we tune them into things other than God’s word. We need to straighten our ears and listen intently to hear and then hop to it and be obedient to share the gospel with those around us. 

Easter Action Step:

It is easy to be focused on food and family and egg hunts and Easter baskets on Easter Sunday. Our minds can be distracted by all the fun traditions that we observe. However, our action step today is to open our ears to truly hear what God is speaking and apply it to our lives. To shove aside distraction and take a few moments to really think about what God has done for us and be grateful. Then, share what God has done for us with those around us.

Share your thoughts in the comments on this post or under the Lent Week 6 post at www.facebook.com/devoinaction – we’d love to hear what you think and see pics of your Bible journaling!

Easter Prayer:

Dear God,  help us to have ears to hear what You are saying to us. Speak to us and show us when we have an opportunity to tell someone about Jesus. If this is not something we do all the time, it may be hard for us to recognize at first. Open our ears and our hearts to hear Your voice, to recognize Your call and to be obedient. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

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