Our Gloriously Grainy God

 Fifth Sunday in Lent

March 22, 2015

John 12:24

Our Gloriously Grainy God

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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Even though the trade Jesus learned from His guardian Joseph was carpentry, Jesus knew about farms and dirt and seeds. Remember this story He told?

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown. (Luke 8:5-8)

Of course, Jesus' love and familiarity with seeds and seed-bearing plants isn't surprising; He created them all and makes them grow. He knows the precise location of every seed on planet Earth.

Then Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches." (Luke 13:18-19)

In the first parable, Jesus describes how He sends pastors to preach the Seed, that is, the Word, to sinners. In the second parable, He describes how His Words that appear weak to the world actually create and sustain saving faith.

So did you catch the parable that Jesus told today? It isn't long; just a sentence or two.

I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12:24)

Right now farmers and gardeners are thinking about planting seeds. But when Jesus spoke these words, it was harvest time. But His story draws us to think about both planting and harvesting. He points us to the source of life and how His death produces our life.

For example, you have old packets of seeds in your house. You meant to plant them, but haven't gotten around to it. This year you will and the living seeds that were sleepily sitting in the envelope will finally die in the dirt, but then create new life for you to enjoy.

Jesus is like a grain of seed. Unless Jesus dies, He cannot create new life. Like a weak-looking mustard seed, Jesus' death on the cross also looks weak. But we trust His cross as the very place where He plants everlasting glory and strength. This is the reason He came into the world: to die at just the right hour, so that many lives are saved, including yours.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

Amen.