What Did Jesus Teach About Response and Acceptance?

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. -Matthew 28:19-20

This is the eighth part of my series on what Yeshua (Jesus) directed his Jewish disciples to teach the newly minted Gentile Messianic disciples to obey. Today, we'll take a look at what Yeshua (Jesus) taught about what we do when we hear the Good News. In other words, we'll examine the different aspects of our response and acceptance of him. Before we go on though, let's review the previous lesson: What Did Jesus Teach About Following Him:

In a nutshell, we learn that when we choose to be disciples of Yeshua, we are not promised trouble-free lives and despite the difficulties, we must always make the purposes of the Kingdom our first and unconditional priority. If we are faithful to God, God will be faithful to us and take care of us. If our faith is strong and our eyes are on the Master, we are able to do anything he asks of us.

What we're looking at today, the concepts of hearing the message of the Good News and what we do with it, really should have come before lessons on following the Messiah, since we still must hear the Word first, and then make a decision for or against becoming a disciple of the Master. Let's cut to the chase.

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." -Matthew 7:24-27

That seems pretty simple and straightforward. If we hear the words of the Good News and puts them into practice, we will be able to endure great storms, most likely the "storms" of spiritual, emotional, and generally life challenges. These are the things we all worry about and the concerns we all have over our existence. It's not much of a stretch to see that Yeshua is saying he is the foundation upon which to build; the Rock, strong, solid, secure, enduring. Of course, we have a choice as to build on stone or sand.

"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." -Matthew 13:18-23

This is Yeshua's plain language explanation of the Parable of the Sower to his disciples. He's describing the different possible responses people can have to the Good News. Some of it is very favorable but other responses, alas, are not. Again, it's a matter of making choices. Yeshua again brings up one of the major roadblocks in responding to him, even after accepting his offer of discipleship; the "worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth". Hearing and making an initial acceptance is one thing, but the real fruit is in our being able to understand, take root, and then respond, especially over time. Yielding a large return is the real goal in becoming disciples, not just some momentary power surge when we first come to faith. Verse 23 tells the tale: "But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

The Parable of the Weeds says something similar but not exactly the same:

He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

"As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear". -Matthew 13:37-43

This is why living in the world can be hard sometimes. The sprouts from the "good seed" have to grow in the same field as the weeds (and in this parable, "weeds" represent the seed of the "evil one", not merely the worries of the world). God won't prematurely weed the field so that only the good sprouts can grow. This seems rather contrary to those of us who maintain a yard and keep a garden. We work all season to keep the weeds at bay so the "good sprouts" can grow and flourish, but in the reality of our lives, the world is like a vacant lot, with sunflowers and pigweed growing side by side. Even once we accept the Good News and respond in discipleship, we are expected to endure in a challenging and sometimes troublesome world, rather than being provided an ideal and protected environment. That's how you'll know the plants which truly bear good fruit. They are the ones that survive and thrive, in spite of the weeds.

Don't worry, though. In due time, the weeds will be pulled and burned. Just make sure you're a plant producing good fruit and not a weed. I suspect some of the plants in the vacant lot may be experiencing identity confusion. Continual self-examination will help.

This next parable is interesting:

"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'

" 'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

"Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go.

"Which of the two did what his father wanted?"
"The first," they answered.

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. -Matthew 21:28-32

This is the difference between those who say they are righteous and those who behave righteously. Sometimes we don't start out on the right path, saying we will not obey, but we change our minds, repent, and end up working in the Master's vineyard. This was one of the times Yeshua delivered a "slap in the face" to the corrupt religious hierarchy of his day; those who made themselves look holy but did not act that way. The Parable of the Tenants (Matthew 21:33-46) teaches the same lesson using a different analogy, and the Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Matthew 22:1-14) teaches that, when you are invited, you can either accept or reject the invitation to the banquet, but if you accept, come "dressed" for the occasion, that is, accept the invitation as it was given and take it seriously. Don't say you're a disciple but then behave frivolously. Don't treat what is holy as if it is common.

This last example may be difficult to understand within the current content, but I think it fits:

At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure". -Matthew 11:25-26

Some people think that the invitation to discipleship is limited to only certain population groups. During the time of the Gospels, many believed that only the outwardly "righteous" had a place in the "world to come", but as we see in Matthew 21:28-32, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of those to elevate themselves based on outward signs of righteousness. In Acts 10, God had to tell Peter in a vision that it wasn't only the Jews who could accept discipleship, but the Gentiles as well, even though he had been given the original Messianic directive years before (see Matthew 28:19-20) to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (See Acts 10:44-48 for Peter's amazed response at witnessing Gentiles receiving the Holy Spirit). Even today, there are many who believe that only those who attend specific denominations or sects are the "true believers", while everyone else is destined for destruction.

The quote of the Master from Matthew 11:25-26 is one of my favorites, because it says that the rich, the powerful, the academicians, and the theologians aren't the exclusive keepers of God's Word and that in fact, discipleship and access to God is available to everyone who believes and acts upon the Good News. So those of you out there who have been tempted to rely on your positions of leadership, on your titles, on your membership in the "true" churches, or on your university degrees, please remember that God is the God of everyone, not just the favored few. Remember the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14).

Conclusion: What does Yeshua teach us about hearing the Good News and our response to him?

1. When we hear the Good News, we must put it into practice by using the Rock as the foundation on which we build our lives.
2. When we put the Good News into practice, the crop it yields is not just our own lives but in the many seeds we plant which bring up large crops of disciples for the Kingdom.
3. When we hear the Good News and put it into practice, we shouldn't expect that we'll grow in a field only yielding good sprouts. We'll be surrounded by weeds. Don't be discouraged. It's how we grow among the weeds that tells much about our fruit.
4. Interestingly enough, it's not necessarily our initial "yes" or "no" to the Good News that matters, but how we actually responded in action, even if we said "no" but then repented, changed our minds, and now perform as if we had first said "yes". That's what really matters.
5. If we accept the Good News, we shouldn't be frivolous about it. We should show up dressed for the occasion and prepared for the banquet. Don't treat holiness cheaply.
6. The offer of the Good News is for everyone, not just for the elite, or for the educated, or for only one religious or ethnic group. It must be offered to everyone or the message means nothing.

In a nutshell, in today's lesson, we learn that when we hear the Good News of Messiah Yeshua that's being delivered to the entire world, we must respond by building the foundation of our lives on the Rock and then sharing the seed that was planted with as many as we can. Put the Word into practice so we can bear good fruit and yield large crops of disciples for the Master. It's not so much whether we say "yes" or "no" but whether we repent and then "do" that counts.

Remember that the message wasn't issued just for an elite few, for only the highly educated, for only the "Rabbis", for only the theologians. No. The message was sent out to the world, too; for the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the garbage collectors, the homeless, the hungry, the needy...for all the people of all the nations. For everyone. Not just for you.

Now go. Spread some seed. Yield good fruit. Harvest a great crop. Time is short.