Arkhaven logo

Medallions 4/4: Good Soil panel 1

4 of 4 visual exegetical medallions based on the parable of the soils (Matt. 13:1-8, 18-23)

The seed that fell on the ‘good soil.’

The ‘seed’—which Jesus tells us is the ‘word of the kingdom, 13:19 —is once again depicted as the crucified and risen Jesus Himself. The only saving word that ever has or ever can be spoken, is the word of Who God Is, declared in the flesh of the crucified Jesus Christ, who Lives forevermore. And so to seed, the word, the totality of the kingdom, is represented as Jesus Himself who descends as a flowing scroll into the soil of the human soul.

Unlike the other pictures in this series, the soil is not pictured as a man laying on his back, still in the death of his un-sown soul. Rather, the ‘good soil’ is alive and fruit-bearing, having received *and held fast* the word—who is Christ—in an ‘honest and good heart’ (Lk.8:15). In Matthew’s version of the parable, the crop sown is grain (v.8), but Luke does not tell us what it is. In this image, I’ve presented the crop as a fruitful grapevine.

God’s true people are presented as a flourishing vine in the Prophets (c.f., Is. 27:2- 3), thus the inclusion of the vine reminds us that the true people of God are those who receive the word who is Christ (Gal.3:26-29). We see the imagery of Israel-asVine fulfilled when Christ presents Himself as the True Vine (and so True Israel) in which His people are branches (John 15:1-6); therefore the vine imagery here also points to the fact that our fruitfulness comes only through union to *the* Vine. Finally, the grape vine also anticipates the wedding supper of the Lamb when Christ and His Bride (who is the ‘good soil,’ to mix metaphors) will share the nuptial wine of God’s covenant faithfulness in the Kingdom of the New Creation (Is.25:6-9).

As I finish up this series, let me just say that the question we ought to leave with is not, ‘am I the good soil?’ But, ‘will I open myself fully to receive Christ as Lord, God, and Life?’ You are not ‘locked in’ to be one soil or the other . . . the grace of God is an adamantine plow that will scatter the ravens and shatter the stones and uproot the thorns and turn even the hardest souls into rich, receptive soil . . . do not look inside, but look outside, to the resurrection illumined cross, and their behold and receive Him who is your life (John 6:37).

Medallions 4/4: Good Soil panel 3
Full of Eyes series cover
Medallions 4/4: Good Soil episode cover
24K views1.5K likes
8 comments

Full of Eyes

Created by
author avatar
WisePathBooks
The purpose of this series is to help you see (by faith), savor (as all satisfying food to your soul), and sing (in all of life) the beauty of the One True God as he is revealed in the crucified and risen Jesus throughout all of Scripture. This is not an arbitrary goal since the God for whom we—and all things—exist is communicated to his creation with definitive authority in the incarnate Son (John1:14,18), and with climactic finality at the cross (John 8:28, 17:1,5). The implication that derives from this truth is simple and yet, like the wardrobe in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, contains worlds of glory within it: if we would know the glory, the beauty, the identity of the One True God, we look to the resurrection-illuminated cross of Jesus Christ. - by Christopher Powers (www.FullOfEyes.com)
Guard Your Thoughts episode cover
Guard Your ThoughtsEpisode #70
Battle Cry of God episode cover
Battle Cry of GodEpisode #69
Cricifixion Baptism episode cover
Cricifixion BaptismEpisode #68
Reoriented Affections episode cover
Reoriented AffectionsEpisode #67
Indulgence of the Flesh episode cover
Indulgence of the FleshEpisode #66
Any Survivors? episode cover
Any Survivors?Episode #65
Through the True Abyss episode cover
Through the True AbyssEpisode #64
Medallions 4/4: Good Soil episode cover
Medallions 4/4: Good SoilEpisode #63
Medallions 3/4: Among Thorns episode cover
Medallions 3/4: Among ThornsEpisode #62
Medallions 2/4: On Rocky Ground episode cover
Medallions 2/4: On Rocky GroundEpisode #61
Medallions 1/4: Along the Path episode cover
Medallions 1/4: Along the PathEpisode #60
Christian Suffering episode cover
Christian SufferingEpisode #59
Bound to Him episode cover
Bound to HimEpisode #58
We Shall Again Praise Him episode cover
We Shall Again Praise HimEpisode #57
What Makes for Peace? episode cover
What Makes for Peace?Episode #56
Dead and Alive Again episode cover
Dead and Alive AgainEpisode #55
Soul-life In the Blood episode cover
Soul-life In the BloodEpisode #54
The Cup Passes None By episode cover
The Cup Passes None ByEpisode #53
The Object of Faith episode cover
The Object of FaithEpisode #52
Lay Down His Head episode cover
Lay Down His HeadEpisode #51
Lay Out Our Troubles episode cover
Lay Out Our TroublesEpisode #50
Suffering is Not Meaningless episode cover
Suffering is Not MeaninglessEpisode #49
It's All about Jesus episode cover
It's All about JesusEpisode #48
Building the House episode cover
Building the HouseEpisode #47
Judgment Seat episode cover
Judgment SeatEpisode #46
The Song of Christ and His People episode cover
The Song of Christ and His PeopleEpisode #45
True Obedience episode cover
True ObedienceEpisode #44
Central Transformation episode cover
Central TransformationEpisode #43
Rescue Mission episode cover
Rescue MissionEpisode #42
The Washing episode cover
The WashingEpisode #41
From Whence Comes Light episode cover
From Whence Comes LightEpisode #40
Ressurection-Shaped episode cover
Ressurection-ShapedEpisode #39
He Is Our Future episode cover
He Is Our FutureEpisode #38
Put to Death episode cover
Put to DeathEpisode #37
Sure Salvation episode cover
Sure SalvationEpisode #36
Living Tabernacle episode cover
Living TabernacleEpisode #35
Passing By episode cover
Passing ByEpisode #34
The Same Person episode cover
The Same PersonEpisode #33
Preparing Glory episode cover
Preparing GloryEpisode #32
Both At Once episode cover
Both At OnceEpisode #31
The Same episode cover
The SameEpisode #30
Crushed Rahab episode cover
Crushed RahabEpisode #29
Suffering With Us episode cover
Suffering With UsEpisode #28
Blessed from His Place episode cover
Blessed from His PlaceEpisode #27
Among Us episode cover
Among UsEpisode #26
Anguish to Joy episode cover
Anguish to JoyEpisode #25
Steadfast Love episode cover
Steadfast LoveEpisode #24
Identity episode cover
IdentityEpisode #23
Number Our Days episode cover
Number Our DaysEpisode #22
Beyond Forever episode cover
Beyond ForeverEpisode #21
Anastasiform Presence episode cover
Anastasiform PresenceEpisode #20
Look Only to Him episode cover
Look Only to HimEpisode #19
It Shall Be episode cover
It Shall BeEpisode #18
All Our Fallings episode cover
All Our FallingsEpisode #17
God With Us episode cover
God With UsEpisode #16
This is Love episode cover
This is LoveEpisode #15
Thorny Bush episode cover
Thorny BushEpisode #14
Where Else? episode cover
Where Else?Episode #13
Bound into a Yoke episode cover
Bound into a YokeEpisode #12
Dark Night of the Soul episode cover
Dark Night of the SoulEpisode #11
Why Not Be Defrauded? episode cover
Why Not Be Defrauded?Episode #10
Full Armor of God episode cover
Full Armor of GodEpisode #9
Light that is Life episode cover
Light that is LifeEpisode #8
Peace is a Person episode cover
Peace is a PersonEpisode #7
Meant for Evil, Meant for Good episode cover
Meant for Evil, Meant for GoodEpisode #6
Mighty Shepherd episode cover
Mighty ShepherdEpisode #5
Long Live the King episode cover
Long Live the KingEpisode #4
In Knowing His Name episode cover
In Knowing His NameEpisode #3
The Great Work Done episode cover
The Great Work DoneEpisode #2
Unexpected Welcome episode cover
Unexpected WelcomeEpisode #1
,
List icon
Comment icon
Prev icon
Next icon
Fullscreen icon