“When You Know That You Know Because
You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know”
Luke 8:9-10
A sermon for 8/1/21
Pastor John Bright - Harmony & Swansonville UMC
I want to take time today and look closely at two verses in this new section of Luke 8. Next week, I will need your help to “un-pack” the Parable of the Sower. Please be sure to bring your “thinking cap” so we can discover together this foundational teaching for modern day disciples.
In Luke 8:4-8, Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower and then cries out, “He who has an ear, let him hear!” v.8. We read this many times in the Gospels when Jesus is teaching and it is the phrase that concludes each of the seven letters in Revelation 2 & 3. - “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Most often, we interpret this as meaning – “This is important so don’t miss it!”
In Luke 8, this seems to prompt a question from Jesus’ disciples – v. 9 “Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” What do you hear when they say this? I hear them saying,
“We do not understand!” Jesus is using a familiar image – the sower. In that day, to get seed in the ground, the soil would be prepared and rows cut. Then, with a bag of seed over the shoulder, a sower would walk and toss the seed. This is called “broadcast sowing.” While the disciples may know this image, they don’t get the meaning, so the question they ask is reasonable – v 9 “Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”
Jesus gives them some explanation before He interprets the parable for them – v. 10 “And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that
‘Seeing they may not see,
And hearing they may not understand.’”
We learn several things from this verse:
First, this parable is teaching something about the Kingdom of God
“To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God”
What’s that? The Kingdom of God is a core concept of Christianity that we learn about in the New Testament. I used the whole teaching sheet today for a full article from Got Questions Dot ORG. There you will see a broad and a narrow meaning given – “Broadly speaking, the kingdom of God is the rule of an eternal, sovereign God over all the universe. Several passages of Scripture show that God is the undeniable Monarch of all creation: “The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all” (Psalm 103:19). And, as King Nebuchadnezzar declared, “His kingdom is an eternal kingdom” (Daniel 4:3). Every authority that exists has been established by God (Romans 13:1). So, in one sense, the kingdom of God incorporates everything that is.”
“More narrowly, the kingdom of God is a spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to God’s authority. Those who defy God’s authority and refuse to submit to Him are not part of the kingdom of God; in contrast, those who acknowledge the lordship of Christ and gladly surrender to God’s rule in their hearts are part of the kingdom of God. In this sense, the kingdom of God is spiritual—Jesus said His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36), and He preached that repentance is necessary to be a part of the kingdom of God (Matthew 4:17). That the kingdom of God can be equated with the sphere of salvation is evident in John 3:5–7, where Jesus says the kingdom of God must be entered into by being born again.”
https://www.gotquestions.org/kingdom-of-God.html
So, this Kingdom of God is both physical and spiritual. God is sovereign over the whole universe He created. If there are any quantum physics fans out there that believe there are multiple realities or a multi-verse, well then God is sovereign over all of that, too. The spiritual side of the Kingdom of God is what we experience most often. As Believers, we have the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit. That makes us, as spiritual beings, a part of the Kingdom of God that is right here and right now.
We can only experience that part of the Kingdom of God that exists right now, but there will be so much more! Every time we gather for Communion, we experience a “foretaste” of what will come later – Revelation 19 “6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”
Jesus gave Communion to the Church, the Bride of Christ. In the spiritual aspect of the Kingdom of God, when you receive the elements you are participating in that Great Marriage Supper of the Lamb. How can that be? It is a mystery – not like magic – like something that will be fully revealed later. This is how Paul stated it in 1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”
Let’s look another part of verse 10
Not everyone will receive the truth of God’s Word
“but to the rest it is given in parables, that
‘Seeing they may not see,
And hearing they may not understand.’”
Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9 which comes right after God calls Isaiah to be a Prophet. God will tell him what to tell the people and show him what to show the people. Will they listen, or see? Nope! God will send them a warning and an explanation of the reason He is sending judgement. God will send the Assyrian Empire to scatter the northern tribes and occupy the land of Judah.
God will also use Isaiah to tell them of a coming Messiah – Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” Did they understand this way back then? Of course not. We have the ability to look back and see what God did to bring about the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, in a Bethlehem barn.
When we look back and see God’s Word to us – will everyone today receive it as truth? No – nothing has changed. As Believers, we have the Holy Spirit to open our spiritual eyes and ears so that we will not be like those Israelites in the days of Isaiah. We also have the advantage today of access to 2,000 years of teaching in the Apostolic Faith. What I teach you every Sunday, I try to make sure is in line with the truth revealed in God’s Word and the truth given to those who came before us in the faith. Some of the more recent names we recognize – John Calvin, Martin Luther, John and Charles Wesley. Other names from the past are more foreign to us – Polycarp, John Chrysostom, or Clement of Alexandria – these are just a few of the early Church leaders that made sure the Church remained true to God’s Word.
Are believers today true to God’s Words and the teachings of the Apostolic Faith?
Here’s the problem -
You don’t know what you don’t know
This is a popular phrase in business leadership teaching. It reminds leaders to surround themselves with folks who know what they don’t know. It has been picked up in popular culture to mean that you can’t know what is coming so enjoy the now. Sounds like the modern-day version of “Eat, drink and be merry” (Luke 12:19).
On a practical level, your actually can’t know what you don’t know – think about it. Something must come your way that reveals where there is gap in your knowing. As Believers, we need remain open our whole lives to the Truth of God’s Word because there is always more to learn and experience in this amazing journey. There are also cautions for Believers when we live out God’s Word.
We should take seriously the warnings of the very end of the Bible – Revelation 22 “18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” That’s heavy duty!
When I look around at the Church – not just these two congregations I serve – the Church all around the World, it seems to me that every issue and every struggle comes from either removing from or adding to God’s Word. So, what’s the Church to do?
Believers need to get back to a plain reading of God’s Word and an absolute assurance that it means what it says. In the past, to criticize me, folks have called me a “literalist” because I get a word like “all” in the text and proclaim – “All means all and that’s all all means.” It is a simple matter in most areas of our lives to discover what God is telling us in His Word – then we HAVE TO OBEY THAT WORD! See, that’s where the rubber meets the road. I often talk to you about forgiveness because it appears that many Believers struggle to walk in forgiveness with others and have the hardest time forgiving self. I could read you a dozen scriptures from the New Testament and they would all agree – for the Believer, forgiveness is NOT OPTIONAL. That mean you and I have to – NOT OPTIONAL – forgive others and self. How you work that out in the fellowship of other Believers may look different now than it did a thousand years ago – but it still is NOT OPTIONAL.
Are we ready for that kind of assurance where you know that you know and then you go do what has to be done?
If you want to travel down the road of discipleship, that’s where you are heading. Amen
