In Isaiah 55:11 God says, «My word which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me void, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.» Jesus said in Mark 7:13, «The traditions of men make void the word of God.» So in one place God says His word can’t be made void & in another He says it can, thus these must be talking about different «words.»
God got the idea across in Isaiah 55:11 of, «I will accomplish what I desire.» Something like that pertains to keeping promises. God makes a similar statement in Isaiah 45:23 while making a specific promise at the end, «I have sworn (made a promise) by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.» Remember also 2 Timothy 2:13, «If we are faithless, He remains faithful. He cannot deny himself.»
Another interesting thing about Isaiah 55:10-11 is that it is actually future tense. He says, «the word from my mouth shall be as trustworthy as the rain coming from above to water the earth before it evaporates.» Thus, at the very least, we cannot assume «the word» He is speaking about is scripture written before Isaiah.
In Mark 7:5-13 Jesus first quotes Moses (scripture) then He quotes a tradition which makes a truth claim. Here the «word of God» being referred to is the truth of God found in scripture. It can be made void by man made traditions.
The parable of the sower in Matthew 13 also gives us this idea of the word/truth of God being made void. There Jesus speaks of «the word of the kingdom» referring to the truth of the kingdom, something we now have written in scripture. Jesus says «the word can be snatched away by the evil one,» «the word can fall away because of affliction or persecution,» & that «the word can be choked & made unfruitful by the worries of the world & the deceitfulness of wealth.»
So it is evident from the teachings of Jesus & the original context of Isaiah 55:11 itself, God saying, «My word will not return to Me void» does not refer to scripture or the reading of it but instead to the effectiveness of His promises.
What do you expect to happen as a result of reading and hearing God’s Word? Do you expect to encounter something that will change you? The response of most people is pretty tepid and uninspired. Most don’t really expect much nor have they ever. For them, reading or hearing God’s Word is more of a tedious ritual than a transformative reality.
The readings for this Sunday clearly set forth that God’s Word can transform, renew, encourage, and empower us. We ought to begin to begin to expect great things from the faithful and attentive reception of the Word of God. However, Jesus also spells out some obstacles that keep the harvest small or even nonexistent for some.
Let’s look at what the Lord teaches in three steps.
I. Promise – The first reading shows that the Word of God can utterly transform us and bring forth a great harvest in our life:
Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void (Isaiah 55:10-11).
God’s Word has power! If we listen to God’s Word authentically and attentively, it will refresh us and bring forth the fruit of transformation. No one can authentically attend to God’s Word and go away unchanged. If listened to with alertness, God’s Word can open our mind to new realities, give us hope, and teach us the fundamental meaning of our life. It can thrill us or frighten us. It can make us wonder, repent, or rejoice; it can also transform us. It can make us mad, sad, or glad. If we attend to it, however, it’s pretty hard to go away neutral. Of His Word, Scripture itself says,
• The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Heb 4:12).
• “Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” (Jer 23:29)
• Jeremiah himself said, But if I say, “I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot (Jer 20:9).
• My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry! (Jer 4:19)
• Amos echoes, The lion has roared–—who will not fear? The sovereign LORD has spoken–—who can but prophesy? (Amos 3:8)
• The Apostles join the great company of preachers and declare, For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:20).
• [T]he Lord gave the Word, and great was the company of the preachers! (Ps 68:11)
• Through His preachers, the Lord wants to set us on fire: I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes (Jer 5:14).
• Yes, if we will let him, he will set us ablaze with his word. Thus he will also set the world on fire, through us.
Yes, if we will let Him, He will set us ablaze with His word. Thus He will also set the world on fire, through us. God’s word, effectively preached and thoughtfully attended to, is fire that transforms. Pray for fiery preachers. Pray for ears attentive to God’s Word. Pray for a soul alive and alert to sound of God’s trumpet. Pray for a mind capable of appreciating God’s Word’s in all its subtlety and all its plain meaning. It can change your life.
II. Problems – The Lord also alerts us to some problems that can arise in the human person. For while God’s Word does not lack power, neither does it violate His respect for our freedom and call to love. Consider that God speaks to inanimate objects and they must obey:
• And God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light (Gen 1:3).
• And [God] said: This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt (Job 38:11). And the sea obeyed.
• And He says to the mountains, “Move!” and they shake and melt like wax before his glance (see Ps 97:5).
But the human person is not inanimate. We are possessed of a soul and gifted with freedom so that we may love. God speaks to us and, remarkably, we are free to say, “No.” The Lord Jesus warns us in today’s Gospel that our freedom is ultimately respected. The power of God’s Word remains, but God Himself has made it depend on our “Yes.”
Ponder, then, some issues that can cut off from or reduce the power of God’s Word:
No Reception – In today’s Gospel Jesus this about some people: [T]hey look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand … Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted, and I heal them.
The Greek word translated here as “gross” is παχύνω (pachuno), meaning fat, thick, or dull. By extension, it means having an insensitive or hardened heart. Hence there are some who have hardened their hearts to God and His Word.
God (through Isaiah) once observed this about us: I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass (Is 48:4). This is another way of saying, I know that you are stubborn. Like iron, you are hardheaded. Like brass, your skull is thick; nothing can get through. For many of us, this tendency to be stiff-necked is gradually softened by the power of grace, the medicine of the sacraments, instruction by God’s Word, and the humility that can come from these.
For some, though, the stubbornness never abates. In fact, it grows even stronger as a descent into pride, and increasing hard-heartedness sets up. The deeper this descent, the more obnoxious the truth seems, and the less likely it is that they will be converted. As things progress, they shift from resistance to the truth to downright hostility. They harden their hearts and stiffen their necks. At some point, it would seem they reach the point of no return.
There are some texts in the Scriptures that speak of God Himself hardening the hearts of sinners. This is a very deep mystery and tied up in the deeper mystery that God is the primary cause of everything.
The text before us today, however, emphasizes the hardening of the heart from the human perspective: Those of hardened hearts have closed their eyes lest they see; They do not listen lest they be confronted with something they would rather not hear and sense the need for repentance and conversion. The Word of God can have no place in them because they reject it entirely; its offered power is cast aside.
No Reflection – The text speaks of the seed of God’s Word: The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart.
The Greek word translated here as “understand” is συνίημι (syniemi) which means literally, “to put (or set) together.” Figuratively, it means “to connect the dots, synthesize, understand.” In other words, the seed sown on the path refers to the person who gives little thought to the Word of God. He does not try to connect it to his life or to understand its practical application. He does not “set it together” (synthesize it) with his experience or seek to apply it in his life. The Word will not last due to his inattentiveness to its meaning and its deeper role in his life. Thus the Word stays only on the surface, in his short-term memory.
Encountering little resistance, Satan is able to take it away quickly from the man, who has not really connected God’s Word to his life anyway. Here, too, there can be little or no transformation, because the power of God’s Word is neither appreciated nor admitted into the deeper places of the man’s soul.
No Roots – The text says, The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The image here is of a plant that thrives when the weather is good and the wind calm, but blows away when the wind picks up, because of a lack of roots.
There are some who can rejoice in the Word of God, but only as long as it paints fair pictures and tickles their ears. But when the Word convicts them or causes them any negative experience within, or persecution without, they run away. When the wind blows, they are gone.
An old spiritual says, “Some go to church for to sing and shout. Before six months they’s all turned out.” As long as the preacher is talking about fair weather and there are no consequences to the Word, they’re shouting “Amen” and singing the refrains of the songs. But let that preacher step on their toes or someone in the world raise an eyebrow and they’re gone—gone with the wind. Here, too, the power of God’s Word to transform is cast aside.
No Recollection – The text says, The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety … chokes it off.
This describes people who are simply too distracted by the things of the world to spend time with the Word of God. They allow the water of their life to be disturbed; there is never enough calm for them to be reflective. They obsess over every small ripple that rocks the boat and do not trust God enough to relax and ponder His will and His Word. They are constantly busy with the details of their life and responding its “alarms.”
They allow the world to distract them from or draw them away from reflection on God’s world. This, too, limits the transformative power of God’s Word.
No Requirement – The text also speaks of the lure of riches [which] choke the word and it bears no fruit. Riches divide the heart.
People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (1 Tim 6:9-10).
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matt 6:21).
Some of the rich feel less need for God in their life. They are better able to maintain the illusion of self-support. But as these scriptures teach, it is an illusion, because all they really do is to buy themselves deeper into trouble.
If our treasure is in riches, our heart will not be with God’s Word. Job said, I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food (Job 23:12). Only with a heart set on God’s Word as a treasure will we hunger for it and reflect on it enough to be truly transformed by it.
III. Produce – The text says, But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear … the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Here, then, is the promise reiterated that the Word of God is powerful and will produce a radical transformation in us of thirty, sixty or even one hundredfold! Note that this promise is for those who receive the Word with understanding. That is, it is for those with συνίημι (syniemi), with a will to connect the dots, to synthesize, to seek to understand the Word and apply it to their life.
I am a witness to the power of God’s Word to transform and yield abundant fruit. I have learned to expect a lot from God’s Word: a new mind, a new heart, and a new life. God has not failed me. I have seen my life change dramatically for the better in so many ways. God has been good to me and has been true to His Word, which says, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). I cannot take credit for this new life I have received. It is the gift of God and He has given it to me through the power of His Word and the grace of His Sacraments.
Yes, I am a witness; how about you?
The lyrics of this song are taken from today’s first reading (from Isaiah 55):
«My word … shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please» (Isa. 55:11). My first introduction to Christian Science came through the quick healing of a severely sprained ankle. I could not put my foot to the floor, and had decided to cut short my visit with a friend in a near-by city when she told me she was having help in Christian Science and asked if she might telephone the practitioner regarding my ankle. I consented, and the call was made in the evening, but the next morning the pain and swelling were worse. When my friend reported this, the practitioner told her to tell me to put my foot down and walk. I was quite shocked at the command, but upon my friend’s insistence I obeyed. In fact I walked uptown —a distance of several blocks— and back without limping and without any trouble, for I had been instantaneously healed. The people in the house were as amazed as I was for they had all known of my misfortune and had sympathized with me early that morning.
My week’s visit was happily continued, but, strange to say, I was antagonistic to the explanation of Truth given me by the practitioner when she came to see us. What she said contradicted everything I thought regarding life and religion. Naturally, this loving one refrained from argument, and only requested that I obtain a copy of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, and read it for myself.
Scripture says, “My word shall not return void.” I want to thank Wissinoming Bible Fellowship for their faithfulness in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we become discouraged and don’t see the results of our planting the seed of the Gospel. We want to give up, because we don’t see the result of our endeavors. But behind the scene God has been working. You planted, others watered, and others harvested. God’s word does not return void.
Back in 1972, I was a very confused, frightened teenager. I was starting to go down the wrong road. My close friend and neighbor Nina Schaeffer invited me to her youth group led by her pastor and his wife, Keith and Dorothy Yoder. I was a rebellious teenager and angry at God, so I would act out. Pastor Keith and Dorothy were always patient with me and showed the love of Christ. They should have kicked me out, but they didn’t. This broke through my hard shell. From the time I was a child I always had an awareness that if I died I was going to hell. I was afraid of dying.
The church I attended never explained the Gospel. It was all about works and sacraments. I knew about Jesus, but not that I could know Him personally. I thought God was harsh and waiting to catch me in some sin that I must then go and confess, a love-hate relationship. I was angry and frustrated. A vicious circle with no way out. Here is where your church comes in, Pastor Keith and his wife Dorothy.
On Halloween Eve, they had a youth meeting party on Halloween!? Not a good time for us death and hell-fearing people. But, it was the right time for me and God. Pastor Keith told me of a loving Father who sent His only Son Jesus to die for my sins. The great part was that Jesus went further and did the impossible and resurrected from the dead and defeated death. I needed to repent of my sins and give my life to Jesus. I no longer had to fear death, Satan, or demons. They have no power over me, because I am God’s child because of Christ, adopted into His family.
I did it and accepted Jesus that night. Whew! Did my life change. Fear of death was gone. It took a little while, but slowly my negative attitudes changed. I started to faithfully attend Church, respect my parents, and work hard at my studies. I graduated from college and met my wonderful husband, John. God blessed us with two sons and two granddaughters. John is a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary and was called to be a pastor at Columbus Baptist Church across the river in South Jersey. We have been here faithfully preaching the Gospel for 40 years and will retire in July 2022. So you see you never know what God might be up to when you see a lonely, frightened teenager come through your door. God has used you and will continue to do so, as you serve Him faithfully.
by Maureen Callanan Grove
так и слово Моё, которое исходит из уст Моих, — оно не возвращается ко Мне тщетным, но исполняет то, что Мне угодно, и совершает то, для чего Я послал его.
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it 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.
so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me [c]void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall do that which I please, and it shall accomplish that for which I send it.