The Efficacy of God's Word

Did you catch the words in our Isaiah text? “(My word) shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” God’s Word is likened onto a seed in the parable our Lord Jesus tells in our Gospel Lesson. And the abundant harvest represents people who come to faith in Christ through His Word. Jesus promised in Matthew 9:37, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” And yet in our present Gospel text Jesus explains why not all seeds sown will produce a harvest. It has nothing to do with defective seed!...