Jesus Taught About Broadcasting

In the early 1900’s, an engineer named Reginald Fessenden, who had worked with Thomas Edison, was convinced that it would be possible to transmit a voice through telegraph and not just the dots and dashes of Morse code.

This culminated on December 24th,1906 with the first radio broadcast in the U.S. Unsuspecting wireless telegraph operators were stunned as they heard the voice of Mr. Fessenden greeting his unseen audience, and opening his Bible, he began reading the story of Christ’s birth from the Gospel of Luke. Then putting his violin to his shoulder, he began playing O Holy Night while his wife and a friend joined in singing.

AGRICULTURAL CONNECTION

The term broadcast, which we associate with radio and television, was a word first adapted by radio, but it was borrowed from agriculture.

Broadcasting is an ancient method of planting seeds by flinging seeds by hand while walking through a field. There is modern farm equipment today that accomplishes the same task faster.

REPURPOSED FOR RADIO

Radio adopted this description because there was no way of knowing who was actually tuning in to the programs. It was like seed being scattered.

Jesus taught about broadcasting in the Gospel of Luke.  “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Luke 8:5-8