The Milk and the Meat
Plus: Our first weekly morsel
Life is still conspiring to keep us away from the microphone, so there are no new radio/podcast episodes ready yet. On Sirius/XM 131 Family Talk, we continue to air previously recorded lessons every Sunday evening. Of course, you can always access those episodes, and our complete archive of 260+ Bible lessons, at any time using the links below:
In the meantime, we’d like to start a weekly practice of sending you a ‘morsel of meat’ that you can ‘chew on’ during your devotional time. But first, here’s some background on that particular metaphor in the form of a convicting, almost poetic excerpt from the book of Hebrews:
Someone who lives on milk is still an infant …
Solid food is for those who are mature …
So let’s stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again …
Let’s go on instead and become mature!(Select verses from Hebrews 5:11-6:3, NLT)
In the King James translation of the Bible, “solid food” is rendered “meat.” That’s why our mentor, the late Pastor Gary Whipple, often began teaching the Kingdom truths with a lesson on “the milk and the meat.” (He was an old-school Southern Baptist, so he read from the King James.)
Modern translations may have lost the alliteration and the symmetry of “milk” and “meat,” but the message remains clear. Once we are spiritually reborn and weaned on the milk of the Word — what the author of Hebrews calls the “basic things about God’s word” (Hebrews 5:12) and the “basic teachings about Christ “(Hebrews 6:1) — we are to “move forward to further understanding” (Hebrews 6:3). In other words, we’re called to maturity, the sort of spiritual adulthood that can only come from feeding on the strong food that is advanced teachings about Christ Jesus and His future reign over all the earth.
What sort of teachings? Our first weekly morsel is a ‘prime’ example.
If you’re hungry for more, you can click below to listen to our 20-Minute Bible Study on “The Milk & The Meat.” (Also available here.)
The Parable of the Farmer
“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them.
Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died.
Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants.
Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!
Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
(Matthew 13:3-9, NLT)
This parable is the lead-up to the verse that inspired the name of our ministry. Right after Jesus told it to the gathered crowd, His disciples went up to him and asked: “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
Jesus replied: “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.” (Matthew 13:11, NASB)
And that answers our question for today as well. What sort of “advanced teachings” are spiritually mature Christians supposed to be seeking? The sort of teachings found in our Lord’s parables. That’s because it has also been granted to us to know the mysteries (or secrets) about the Kingdom of Heaven contained within them. We know this because we have the gospel of Matthew, which extends our Lord’s invitation to “anyone with ears to hear” and also recounts His revelation of what the parable means:
“The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts.
The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.
The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.
The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
(Matthew 13:3-9, NLT)
Jesus later also explained that He is the Farmer in the parables (Matthew 13:37).
We should also reflect further on the “good soil” that is a type (symbol, metaphor) for “those who truly hear and understand God’s word,” multiplying it by 30, 60 or 100 times. That is the picture of a mature Christian!
Until next time, may “the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.”
