The Real Problem

The Real Problem

Sexagesima – 2/8/2026

Luke 8:4-15

Rev. Dr. Christopher W. Brademeyer

That portion from God’s holy Word for consideration this morning is our lesson from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke in the eighth chapter with special emphasis on verses nine through eleven which read as follows:

“And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that “seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.”’”[1]

Thus far the Scriptures.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

There is a question that Christians often hesitate to ask out loud, but many quietly carry in their hearts: If God loves everyone, why are some people not saved? Or perhaps you have asked it this way: If God loves everyone, why is there a hell at all?

Scripture is clear about certain things. God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”[2] Christ died for the sins of the whole world.[3] The Gospel, the means by which God brings sinners to salvation, is preached widely and freely.[4] And yet, not all are saved. Some hear the Word and fall away. Others never believe at all.

This is not only something Scripture teaches; our Lord Himself speaks of the outer darkness.[5] It is also something we encounter in life. We know people who respond to Christ with open contempt, and others who meet Him with a militant indifference. The Word of God describes reality as it truly is.

Our Lord’s Parable of the Sower confronts this question directly. And it does so in a way that strips away false comfort, exposes dangerous assumptions, and finally leads us to the only place where real and lasting comfort can be found.

The Parable of the Word

Detail from The Last Judgement by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1525-1530)

Jesus begins by making one thing unmistakably clear: the seed is the Word of God. The problem in this parable is not with the seed. The Word is not defective. It is not weak. It is not unclear. It is not insufficient. God’s Word does exactly what God intends it to do. It accomplishes what it says simply by being spoken.

Of all speech in all the world, God’s Word alone does what it says simply by saying it. In the beginning, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. In Baptism He says, “You are Mine,” and a sinner is reborn. When God speaks, reality bends to His Word.

Isaiah says it plainly: God’s Word does not return empty.[6] It always accomplishes what He sends it to do. When the Word is preached, something always happens according to the will of the One who speaks it.

So when Jesus describes different outcomes in this parable, He does not blame the seed. He directs our attention to the hearers, to the reception of the Word. The same Word is sown in every case. The difference lies entirely in the soil. That is to say, the difference is in the heart.

In Scripture, the heart is not merely the seat of emotions. It is the center of the person: the will, the trust, the orientation of one’s life. Some hear the Word, but it never penetrates to that center.

Some hear, and Satan snatches the Word away before faith even begins. Some receive it with joy, but when suffering or persecution comes, they fall away. Some believe for a time, but the Word is choked by the cares, riches, and pleasures of this life. And some hear, retain the Word, and bear fruit with patience, according to God’s design.

Jesus is brutally honest: there are different kinds of hearers within the visible Church. This parable is not about “those people out there.” It is spoken to those who are already listening to Jesus. And this is the hard truth we must not evade: those who fall away are the problem, not the Word, not God. God does not fail them. The Word does not fail them. What has been given is rejected, neglected, or abandoned. Hell is not evidence of God’s lack of love, but of human resistance to His grace.

Now, this does not mean that someone choked by the cares of the world is forever lost, nor that Satan cannot be resisted when the Word is again preached. But it does mean this: when the Word does not bear good fruit in us, the fault does not lie with God or His Word.

A Necessary Warning

At this point, the parable turns from explanation to warning. Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” That is not a poetic flourish. It is a call to vigilance. The devil is active. The world is seductive. Indifference is deadly. Spiritual apathy is not neutral, it is dangerous and has eternal consequences.

The cares of this life slowly choke faith. The desire for money, success, comfort, respectability, even laziness, can grow up alongside the Word and suffocate it. Shallow enthusiasm collapses under the weight of suffering. A faith that has no depth has difficulty withstanding the terrors and trials of this fallen world. Casual exposure to the Word without repentance hardens the heart, leaving a person increasingly immune to correction and comfort alike.

No one simply drifts into faithful endurance. But many drift away from it. So guard your hearts. Not by looking inward for strength or certainty, but by clinging outwardly to where God has promised to be found: where the Word is preached and absolves, where it is read and sung, where it is eaten and drunk. Do not presume that grace will somehow be found apart from the means through which God has promised to deliver it.

Comfort in the Power of the Word

But now hear this clearly: this parable is not given to leave tender consciences in despair.

It is not meant to drive believers into endless self-examination, asking whether they are “good enough soil.” If you go looking there, you will always find reasons for doubt. Scripture is clear: none are good, not even one.[7]

When faith feels weak, when Christ seems distant, when the cares of the world press heavily upon you, digging around in your sincerity, your piety, or your works will not bring comfort. It only breeds anxiety and suspicion about your standing before God.

True comfort lies elsewhere: in the Word itself. The same Word that exposes hard hearts is the Word that creates good soil. The Word that warns is the Word that forgives. The Word that convicts is the Word that sustains.  If you find your heart cold, if the world’s weight feels heavy, if temptation abounds and faith feels fragile, do not look inward. Look to Christ as He gives Himself to you in His Word.

You do not make yourself receptive. You are made receptive by God through the work of the Holy Spirit by that Word. Even patience, even fruit borne slowly over time, is God’s gift. If you are troubled by your sin, aware of your weakness, weary of the world’s pull, that is not evidence of dead faith. It is evidence that the Word is still at work in you. “My grace is sufficient for you,” the Lord says.[8] And it truly is.

Conclusion

So why do people go to hell if God loves everyone? Not because the Word fails. Not because God withholds grace. But because the Word is resisted, rejected, or abandoned.

And why are you saved? Not because you have made yourself better soil, but because God continues to work through His Word in you again and again.

Therefore, hear the Word. Hold fast to it. Return to it in repentance and faith. And trust this promise: the Word that God speaks to you in Christ will not return empty, but will accomplish His saving purpose unto life everlasting.

In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen

 The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] Luke 8:9-11 English Standard Version. All further quotations of the Holy Scriptures are from the ESV.

[2] 1 Timothy 2:4

[3] John 3:16

[4] Matthew 28:19ff

[5] Matthew 25:41-46

[6] Isaiah 55:11

[7] Romans 3:10-12

[8] 2 Corinthians 12:9