Matthew 13:1-23

Jesus Explains the Four Soils Parable

2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow;

4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.

5 "Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.

6 "But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7 "Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.

8 "And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

9 "He who has ears, let him hear."

An Explanation

10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"

11 Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

12 "For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

13 "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

14 "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;

YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;

15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL,

WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR,

AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES,

OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES,

HEAR WITH THEIR EARS,

AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN,

AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'

16 "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

17 "For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Sower Explained

18 "Hear then the parable of the sower.

19 "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.

20 "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.

22 "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

23 "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

Sowing and Reaping According to Christ

Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables. These stories were told in terms they could understand. The people certainly understood the process of planting (sowing) and reaping as many were farmers. If the parable were told in our time Jesus might use examples like an automobile using good or bad fuel. All in all, Jesus knew what the crowd would comprehend and varied his teachings accordingly.

With that said, the ultimate goal of these parables is to reach people who are sincerely searching for the truth. Those who are not really interested will only be entertained and are not motivated to discover the true meaning.

Making Christ Known

In this parable the farmer sowed good seed but not all became fruitful. I remember a comparison from a movie about seed planting. The actor was explaining faith with a parable using the fictional character from the book, Johnny Appleseed.

Johnny Appleseed went all about the countryside planting apples. Some of the seeds produced bountiful apple trees full with fruit while some never sprouted. Johnny planted a few seeds and he moved on. He knew that not all seeds would produce but he kept planting. He had good seeds and left a trail of apple trees all across the country.

Our Seed and Soil

As Christians, God gives us good seed; as a matter of fact, the very best. We need to be like Johnny Appleseed and sow the good news about Jesus Christ along the way of our journey through life. Some will listen, some will hear and receive and some will never take that step of accepting Christ. It's sad to know this fact but we can't let that keep us from "planting more seeds".

Love In Christ

- Bob

Matthew 12:1-14 - Jesus and Working on the Sabbath