Matthew
13:1-23
Jesus
Explains the Four Soils
Parable
13:1
That day Jesus went out of the house and was
sitting by the sea.
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."
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change
the way we think, and the way we live.
Commentary
by Bob Pardue
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
If you have never made the
commitment to receive the love and life-changing
experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to
see
John 3:16 for more
information.
Other
Bible Study Verses For Living ...
Matthew
12:1-14
- Jesus
and Working on the
Sabbath
Matthew
12:15-37 - The Unpardonable
Sin
Matthew
12:38-45 - Pharisees
Demand Miracles from Christ - Asking for
Signs
Matthew
12:46-50 - The True Family of
Jesus
Verses explaining the four soils and rocky
soil are from New American Standard Bible -
Study lessons from Life Application Bible -
NIV
|