Breaking the Word

 On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,  and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots.  Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear." (Mt 13:1-9)

What Jesus was saying was not very obvious. He was talking about a farmer who was wasting. So much of seed was wasted on the rocks and in between paths and thorny bushes. Why did the farmer do so? Or why did Jesus say a story of this type? Jesus wanted the listeners to think. Jesus wanted them to struggle with what he was saying.

 Jesus was talking about the story of Israel. God sent kings, priests, prophets and none of them really succeeded. Now God was sending his own son like a seed in the field. Some are going to be wasted, but some will bear fruit. That is the good news that Jesus was bringing.

 It is a lesson for the disciples and even for the listeners. The listeners will have to think it through. Whatever be the failure in the ministry, opposition, wastage etc, the establishing of the kingdom will succeed. It will have its hundredfold success. The disciples should never be discouraged looking at the disappointments and failures. They should be hopeful like the farmer who is well aware of the wastage yet he continues to believe that there will be a harvest which would be hundredfold.

 While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. (Someone told him, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.") But he said in reply to the one who told him, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother." (Mt 12:46-50

Most of us speak in human terms and conditions. We see the reality and relationship on earthy terms. Physical and biological reasons are the basis for our doings and speaking. When we see a person we think of him in terms of his place of origins, his language, culture, caste and religion. And we stop with that.

Jesus does not limit his thinking in earthly terms. He goes beyond. For him there is only one relationship. It is with this that the people of Israel were formed when they left Egypt and it with this relationship they continued their living in the wilderness and later on in the land of Canaan. When they failed the prophets came to remind them of this and now Jesus has come to demonstrate that to the people.

This relationship is “one God and one people”. There is no other relationship that existed for the biblical people. That is why Jesus could boldly say, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother."