Isaiah 55:10-11/Psalm 65/Romans 8:18-23/Matthew 13:1-23 (or 13:1-9)
The Gospel for this Sunday is a very long one. Today's Sunday Gospel is about the Parable of the Sower, and in the long form of today's Gospel, Jesus provides an explanation about the parable. Jesus compares the Word of God to a seed being sown in the fields by farmers. He also compares mankind to the four types of land where the seeds fell. By this parable, Jesus describes how different people accept the Word of God. Not everybody accepts the Word of God the same.
The Lord tells us through this parable that no matter dynamic the Word of the Lord is, it will not bear fruit in our lives if we do not cooperate. How do we cooperate to the Word of the Lord bearing fruit in our lives? By listening and living by the Word of the Lord. Our cooperation is needed in order for the Lord's Word to be fruitful in our lives. It will not instantly bear fruit when we just hear it once.
If we do not cooperate, the Word of God will not bear fruit within us. It will not grow. Listening to it will not be enough for the Word of God to bear fruit in us. The Word of God will not automatically bear fruit in us if we do not do our part. Yes, the Word of God is powerful and dynamic, but it will not bear fruit in us if we do not cooperate with it, no matter how powerful and dynamic the Word of God is. The Word of God needs our permission to bear fruit in our lives.
God gave us free will. He respects our free will. No matter how much the Lord wants to give us eternal life, He will not force us. The Lord respects what kind of land we are in. He is the sower. The Lord sows His word to all of us. It is up to us if we will either accept the Word of the Lord, or make it unimportant. We will either be the path, the rocky ground, the thorny ground, or the good ground where the seed will be able to bear fruit in it. The Lord will not make us allow Him to do what He wants to do if we do not want to. God respects our free will.
What is our cooperation in order for the Word of God to grow in our hearts? We have to accept the Word of God in our hearts. Listening to the Word of God is not enough. It does not instantly bear fruit, like instant coffee or instant noodles. Before the Word of God can bear fruit, we have to accept it in our hearts. Accepting the Word of God in our life is like a consent form. For example, a child travel consent form. In order for a child to travel alone, the child would need the consent of his/her parents in order to travel alone. By accepting the Word of God in our hearts, we are consenting God to give us life.
The Word of God has the power to give life. When our Lord Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, one of the three temptations of Satan was changing stone into bread. Christ answers the devil's temptation by saying, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Mathew 4:4 and Luke 4:4) Food and water is very important for our life. We need food and water to survive. If we do not eat and drink, we will obviously die. But, the Word of God is more powerful than food and water. The Word of God is the main reason why we live. If it is not for God's word, we would not be living. We won't be moving or breathing if it is not for the Word of the Lord.
St. Peter himself said that Jesus has the words of eternal life. When Jesus' followers left Him, He asked his twelve disciples if they wanted to leave because the followers that left did not understand what Jesus was saying. St. Peter answers for the twelve disciples, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words that give eternal life." (John 6:68) Jesus has the words that give us eternal life. If it is not for the Word of the Lord, we would not have life within us. We will not be living right now if it is not for the Word of the Lord. This is how the Word of the Lord is very powerful.
St. John, in the beginning of his Gospel, said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1-2) Who is the Word that St. John was talking about? None other than Jesus. Jesus Himself is the Word of God. St. John also said about Jesus being the Word of God, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." (John 1:14) The Word of God became flesh through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Word made flesh. As the Word of God, Jesus gives us life. His words, just like what St. Peter said, are the words that give eternal life.
But, when Jesus was in the world, He was not known as the Word of God made flesh. Instead, He was known as the son of a carpenter and the son of Mary. For His countryman, Jesus was another countryman. He is not important to them. He is irrelevant. For them, Jesus is just like everybody else. Jesus is just like another countryman of theirs, another acquaintance. He doesn't look important to them. Christ is just like a small seed that looks unimportant.
They do not realize that there is something more in Jesus. Jesus is more than just their assumptions. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is God. Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, that God promised to send in order to save His nation. Jesus is the Word made flesh. The Word of God became human in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is true God and true man. Jesus has the words that give eternal life. But, Jesus humbled Himself and became man, like everybody else. He become a brother to all of us. He became one with us. Not only that, He also gives life to each and everyone of us.
Jesus' words are very powerful. If it weren't for His words, we would not have life in us. We would not live if not for Jesus. St. Peter said that the words that give eternal life can only be found in Jesus. No one has the words that give eternal life. We will not find the words that give eternal life from anybody else. We can only find it in the Lord Jesus Christ. To who shall we go? No one else but Jesus Himself. Why? He has the words that give eternal life.
In order for the Word of God to bear fruit in us, we have to do our part. We have to accept the Word of God in our hearts. No matter how powerful it is, it will not bear fruit if we do not accept or allow it to. Just like the seeds that fell on the good ground, let us accept the Word of God with all of our heart. Listening to the Word of God is not enough. If we just listen to the Word of God, it would only come in to one ear, and instead of going into our hearts, it will go out the other ear. We have to accept the Word of God in our hearts for it to bear fruit in us. The Word of God is the word that gives eternal life. Where can we find it? Only in Jesus. Jesus has the words of eternal life, and will grant eternal life to those who accept the Word of God. Let us be like the good ground that accepted the seeds in order for the seeds to grow and bear fruit. Let us accept the Word of God into our life for it to bear fruit in us.
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