On this day, Jesus leaves a house where He has been teaching and goes to sit by the Sea of Galilee. Large crowds gather around Him, prompting Him to get into a boat and teach from there while the multitudes stand on the shore. He begins teaching them many things using parables, starting with the parable of the sower. In this parable, a farmer goes out to sow seed, and the seed falls on four different types of ground: some beside the path where birds devour it, some on rocky places with little soil where it springs up quickly but withers in the sun, some among thorns that choke the plants, and some on good soil that produces a bountiful crop yielding thirty, sixty, or a hundred times what was sown. Jesus is addressing the multitudes gathered along the shore.
[1] On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. [2] And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
[3] Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. [4] And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. [5] Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. [6] But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. [7] And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. [8] But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Paul has just concluded a profound theological section explaining how believers are secure in God's love through Christ, with nothing able to separate them from this love. He has celebrated the triumph of faith and the assurance of salvation for those in Christ Jesus. Throughout the preceding chapters, Paul has systematically developed his gospel message: justification by faith alone, freedom from sin's dominion, life in the Spirit, and the certainty of future glory for all who believe. Now Paul transitions to address a deeply personal and troubling question that his teaching raises: if salvation comes through faith in Christ, what about Israel, God's chosen people who have largely rejected the gospel? This concern weighs heavily on Paul's heart as he begins to explore God's faithfulness to His promises despite Israel's unbelief. Paul is addressing the Christian community in Rome, which includes both Jewish and Gentile believers.
[1] I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, [2] that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. [3] For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, [4] who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; [5] of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
[6] But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, [7] nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” [8] That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. [9] For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”
[10] And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac [11] (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), [12] it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” [13] As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
[14] What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! [15] For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” [16] So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.