A seed on good soil

Mark 3:31-4:9

³¹Then [Jesus’] mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. ³²A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” ³³And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ³⁴And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

¹Again [Jesus] began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ²He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³“Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” ⁹And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

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In several of his letters to Christian communities throughout the ancient Near East, Saint Paul calls his readers “brothers and sisters in Christ.” This phrase has been passed down for nearly two millennia among Christians, emphasizing a special kind of spiritual kinship we share as men and women baptized in Jesus’ name. However, according to Jesus’ own conviction at the conclusion of chapter 3 of Mark’s gospel, we not only have the chance to be like brothers and sisters to each other, but we can actually become brothers and sisters to Jesus Christ himself: “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister…” This is no small or purely sentimental statement on Jesus’ part, either. Earlier in chapter 3, Jesus’ family members are concerned about the increasingly public and confrontational things Jesus has said and done. Talk of Jesus being mentally disturbed, or even possessed by a demon, prompts his family to act. Amid all of this talk and worry, Jesus’ family decides to go find him and “restrain him” (see Mark 3:19b-22). When his family members eventually arrived and sent Jesus a message that they were outside and wanted to talk to him, his response was no doubt as jarring as it was hurtful: “ ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’ ”

As was already said once, you and I have the chance not just to be called brothers and sisters in Jesus’ name, but also to become true brothers and sisters to Jesus himself if we are willing to seek out and do the will of God. Apparently, as Jesus’ sobering response to his family indicates in the passage, their attempts to keep him out of the public eye and spared from further ridicule, however well intentioned they may have been, was not what God willed. So, how do we avoid that same pitfall; or, in other words, how do we try and seek out what God’s wills (or, wants) for us and then do it? Perhaps Jesus’ parable at the start of chapter 4 can orient us in the right direction. In the story, a sower casts his seed over every type of ground. In several spots the seeds ultimately don’t stand a chance—they face scorching heat, have shallow roots, or succumb to encroaching thorn bushes. As we all know, however, some seeds are lucky enough to make it into fertile ground, where they could sprout robustly to become plants yielding a plentiful harvest. Surely, what God wants for us is to be like these seeds which grow so freely and abundantly!

During our Lenten journey, then, maybe we need to keep our eyes focused not just on the end of the road—which is our sharing in Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection—but also on the type of ground we’re walking on, too! We have to notice the ground around us; what kind of soil makes up the path we’re treading this Lent? Are we seeking out fertile ground for ourselves, so that God can nurture the seeds of faith, hope, and love that have been planted in our lives? Are we encouraging others to seek out equally fertile ground, so that God can nurture these same seeds as they’ve been sown in the lives of our friends, family, neighbors, roommates, coworkers, students? Or if I, like a seed with shallow roots, started Lent off with the best of intentions about keeping a certain discipline, but soon failed to stay true to it, am I willing to ask God to help deepen my roots so I can recommit to seeing my discipline through the remainder of the season? Or if I, like a seed that could be choked by thorns, find myself surrounded by certain people or activities that are belittling or even hurting me, can I find someone trustworthy to talk to about confronting this situation before it causes any more harm?

These sorts of questions are especially meaningful during Lent because Jesus himself always equated the forgiveness of sins with experiences of profound empowerment and healing. So, if we feel like our roots are shallow, or we feel we’re being choked, or we feel parched from lack of nourishment, this is a perfect time to reach out to our brother Jesus, and to all our other brothers and sisters who we have through him, for help, healing, refreshment, or whatever else we may need. If we seek to live life in this way—to live and grow and be strengthened in fertile ground—we will be well on our way to doing the holy will of God as brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus.