What does Luke 8:12 mean?
Jesus is explaining the parable of the sower (Luke 8:4–8) to the Twelve and a larger group of disciples (Luke 8:9; Mark 4:10). The "seed" the farmer sows represents God's Word—in this context, specifically the teachings of Jesus (Luke 8:11). The hard path that rejects the seed until birds take the seed away (Luke 8:5) represents people who hear God's Word but their openness to Satan's lies is already so strong the words don't penetrate their hearts.Luke's larger point is that these people were predisposed to reject God's Word. Jesus calls us to hear and understand (Luke 8:10), hear and believe (Luke 8:13), hear and mature in our faith (Luke 8:14), and hear and hold fast so we may bear fruit (Luke 8:15).
It's important to properly understand the role of spiritual warfare in our lives. Satan is only one being who, as far as we know, can only be in one place at a time. Very few individuals can assume that Satan, himself, is attacking them. And even though individuals can be demonized, Satan and the demons do not primarily attack individuals directly. They can more efficiently attack humanity by influencing the cultures and power structures that people live under. flooding culture with temptations for lust or greed or pride is more efficient than tempting each of us individually. So, when Jesus says that "the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts," this taking away seems to be by filling the culture with distractions—sinful and not—so that our attentions are elsewhere and our hearts are already hardened toward God's Word.
"So that they may not believe and be saved" seems to be a continuation of the Isaiah 6:9–10 quote that Luke cuts short in Luke 8:10. It is a paraphrase of "…and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed" (Isaiah 6:10).
That Satan takes the Word "from their hearts" does not mean these people are saved and lose their salvation. The Word has reached their innermost being, but the message has not implanted. Like the demons, they may have some understanding, but do not submit to and agree with the message (James 2:19).
It's interesting to note that where Luke uses "the devil," Mark uses "Satan" (Mark 4:15), and Matthew uses "the evil one" (Matthew 13:19). The difference is described using the phrases ipsissima verba and ipsissima vox. These are Latin terms that mean "the very words" and "the very voice." We tend to assume that everything written in the Gospels occurred precisely as the writers present them. In truth, the writers rearrange the teachings and miracles into themes, condense some of the teachings, and—with the Holy Spirit's leading—change words without changing meaning. We do not have Jesus' exact words—especially because He likely spoke Aramaic and the texts were written in Greek. We do have His voice, that is, the precise meaning of what He wanted to communicate.
