GOSPEL MESSAGE & RECORDING
The book of Galatians says, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ. (Galatians 3:16) Paul makes the point that the promise of God to the Jewish people is not only for them but also for all humanity through “the one Seed” Jesus Christ. Through the Seed, Jesus Christ, all of humanity will have an opportunity to be redeemed and saved. Since he is the Seed, he is planted and bears fruit; and we, as believers are his fruit. The plan of salvation by God for humanity can be seen in this way.
In the Gospel reading today, Jesus refers to himself as the “Bread of Life;” and whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood will have eternal life. There is only one flesh of Christ because there is only one Jesus Christ; but because He instituted the Eucharist, we are now able to experience his flesh and blood in a mystical manner. This “one flesh” becomes through the Eucharist (past, present, and future, in the Orthodox Church) “many fleshes” and is accessible to many who believe. That is, Jesus is the Seed, gives us his body and blood, and through the receiving of his Body and Blood, it becomes “planted” in us to bear spiritual fruit. This is a Christian principle that we must understand: for when a seed is planted there will also be a fruit.
In Galatians 6:7 it says, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." Here, sowing is a spiritual act, likewise for reaping. But the idea is the same as in the previous paragraph. Just as Jesus’ Body and Blood become in us the seed that is planted to produce spiritual gifts and spiritual qualities, so also, if the seed of sin becomes planted in our bodies, then what is produced in darkness and decay.
Here are a few examples:
What we sow, we will reap: When Christ sowed his flesh for the life of the world we reaped salvation. This is so because he was sowing what was good and holy, and when he did so, what was reaped was also good and holy. When we sow with good spiritual habits such as love, kindness, mercy, grace, purity, etc., we will always reap those good things in return. When we sow sin, hatred, licentious lifestyle, jealousy, drug, or alcohol, we will reap a destructive lifestyle. The point is: what we sow we will reap. What is sown determines what is reaped.
What we sow, we will reap as a harvest: When we sow a seed that seed becomes a plant and bears fruit. One seed brings forth many fruits. Similarly, in the spiritual sense, our seed will bear a harvest. The planter of the seed plants a seed with the anticipation of the harvest. If we sow a seed of sin, it will not bear only “one sin,” but rather will bear a “multitude of sins.” One sin can lead to many sins. Likewise, a seed that is sown in prayer will bear the harvest, that is, plenty of fruit, such as patience, kindness, and self-control.
What we sow, we will reap later: Reaping what we sow is inevitable, but it never comes immediately. We might feel that our present sin is going along fine with no consequence, but what we must understand is that we will reap later in the future. The consequences of sin are for the most part never immediate. It will only show up months or years later, so let us not be fooled by the ease of sin at present.