No Seed, No Fruit
Matthew 13:24 He set before to them another parable saying, “The kingdom of heaven resembles a person sowing seed in his field.”
Would anyone sow bad seed in a field on purpose? Would anyone drive to a farmer’s market and walk up to the counter to order a burlap sack full of bad seed that would, of course, never produce anything useful, ever? Likewise, is the kingdom of heaven able to produce anything sinful? Now, there’s a question.
As sparks fly upward, mankind will always be disposed to sticking a hand in the proverbial cookie jar. The problem is, so far, that really isn’t a problem…not really. Meanwhile, spirit-fruit is not being produced.
Spiritual fruit production for the kingdom of heaven is nothing if it doesn’t begin with seed. A person is not clothed at baptism (Galatians 3:27); rather the person is planted with the spirit-seed of Christ, in the same way that a field is planted with seed.
Doesn’t a farmer have high hopes for that newly planted field, that one day he’ll be shucking the sweet corn from the fruit-production of golden ears? Farmers naturally expect a good return because of their big investments. The life of Jesus was a big investment, seed planted in expectation of a good return, a huge harvest.
Christ’s death and spiritual resurrection is like a seed that dies in the winter but comes to life again in the spring. The spiritual death and resurrection during the act of baptism (Romans 6) is Christ’s seed coming to life again, reborn, as that person raises up from that watery grave, ready to go produce that spirit-fruit for The Farmer. But there’s more activity for that thriving plant.
The Twenty Commands of Jesus (book-ended between the gospel of Matthew, chapter’s five through seven) are used like sun, rain, and fertilizer; protective agencies to fight against the elements that otherwise thwart healthy production.
The evil offenses of the surrounding world are like the deer, rabbits and bad weather that destroy plants, killing them off before they’ve had a chance to grow. As the field is attacked by these evil offenses, the fertilizer maintains the health of that field (commands, such as, turn the other cheek) and the fruit of clemency (patience), and self-restraint is produced.
Baptism seems to get explained in 101 different ways, but the way of spirit-fruit production is no mystery, just perfect science.
Simply put: no seed, no fruit.
