The Seed of Christ in the Hearts of Men and Women

Introduction

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Last week, we saw why and how Jesus uses Parables, which are fictional stories that relate to the everyday experience of the reader and are meant to challenge them by some truth illustrated by the parable, specifically truths relating to the Kingdom of God. The audience is meant to not only hear what is said, but challenge themselves by the truth conveyed through the story. These parables illustrate truths about the Kingdom of God that the reader or listener must either accept or reject; they must decide whether they will be like the wise man who build his house on the rock of truth, or the foolish man who build his house on the sand of lies and unbelief. Jesus assumes a position of authority on matters pertaining to the Kingdom of God, not setting forth theories that may be proven or challenged, but rather teaching with authority the truth of this matter.

Commentator Grant Osborne sums up well the way in which different listeners may react to the parables of Jesus:

Matthew Exegetical Outline

For those who reject the presence of God in Jesus (as do the leaders of the Jews), the parable becomes a sign of sovereign judgment, further hardening their hearts. For those who are open (e.g., the crowds), the parable encounters and draws them to decision. For those who believe (i.e., the disciples), the parable teaches them further kingdom truths

Now, it is understandable why Matthew gives us the parable of the sower as the first real parable in a series that will extend through much of the book of Matthew. This, indeed, is a parable about the different kinds of listeners who will hear the teaching of the Kingdom of God, or the Gospel, and how they will respond to it. It is not as simple as some believe it and some don’t, but rather warns us that truth faith may not be present when someone accepts what is taught, and the genuine nature of that faith will prove itself in time, whereas those who believed only with a shallow faith or a belief that lacked devotion and discipleship to Christ. It stands as a warning for us that only those who persevere in the Christian life that bear fruit, and the implication is that only those who bear fruit are saved.

Four Kinds of Soil

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The progression of this parable moves from seed that produces no plant, to plants that produce no fruit, finally to plants that produce abundantly.

A Note on the Occasion of Jesus’ Preaching and the Gathering of Great Crowds

Jesus gets into a boat because of the great number of people following him. From here, out on the water, everyone is able to see Jesus and the water causes the sound of his voice to be further amplified.

The presence of great crowds fits the occasion of this parable. That Jesus’ is popular as a teacher and miracle worker is undeniable, but here Jesus communicates a sober and heart-searching truth: that following Jesus and agreeing with his message is not enough. One must be a disciple, a committed follower to the King of God’s Kingdom. The sad thing is that most of the crowd does not fit into this category, and indeed most people in churches today likely do not either. So in this parable, Jesus warns the listeners about the dangers of a half-hearted commitment to Christ.

The Seed on the Path

As the parable begins we are introduced to a sower sowing seed in a field, a very relatable illustration for Galilee where the soil was fertile and most people worked on farms. However it is not the sower, nor the seed, that are the focus of the parable, but rather the soil onto which the seed lands.

Does not Understand

First, the seed lands on the path rather than on tilled earth. These paths led through fields rather than around them, so this would often happen. When the earth is tilled, the seed is hidden in the soil which makes it difficult for pesky birds to come and eat it. But when it lands on a trodden down path, which represents a hard which is hard and un-receptive to the Gospel message, it does not take long for the seed to be eaten by these pests.

The lack of understanding here is not a lack of intellectual ability to comprehend the points Jesus is making, but rather it refers to a resistance to the truth due to hearts that are hardened against it.

Matthew 13:13 ESV

This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

These are those who have been dealt with in chapters 11-12, which focused on the resistance to the Good News of the Kingdom of God, particularly the religious leaders.

What is clear from the parable is that Satan controls these people, he blinds their minds to the truth of the Kingdom and so snatches away the Word so that it cannot be accepted. Satan is only able to do this, however, because of the hardness of heart in these hearers.

The Seed on Shallow Ground

Next, the sower sows seed on soil that looks fine on the surface, but underneath conditions are not suitable for growing a sustainable crop.

Receive it with Joy

A layer of limestone beneath the soil traps the water at the top, making it easy for young plants to germinate and grow quickly in the moist earth. Excitement at the moment of conversion is surely a wonderful thing to witness, but we should always be reminded that true faith is proven when it is tested.

The seed was usually sown during or right before rainy season.

It has no root

The sufferings and persecutions which Christ endured are expected for a disciple of Christ. These trials are put in our lives in God’s providence to test us and cause us to grow in our faith and commitment to Christ.

The water that was trapped by the layer of stone is all evaporated when the rainy season ends, and a hot and dry season follows it. When the roots of the young plants reach down, there is no moist earth, but only rock. So the plants are unable to grow and soon wither and die under the scorching sun.

Suffering to be expected in the Christian life.

These are often the kind of converts that seeker-sensitive evangelistic efforts produce. Since they attract people to something other than Christ, they are not willing to be worse off in this life for the sake of the glory of eternity.

A disciple’s willingness to suffer for the Kingdom shows their level of commitment just as an athletes willingness to undergo brutal training shows their commitment to success in the sport.

Discipleship without commitment will not last, and is not true conversion in the eyes of God.

The more we endure these difficult seasons in our life by faith in Christ, the more we become established in our faith and have confidence in the Spirit’s work in us.

James 1:2–4 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

To embrace the life of a disciple of Christ and the salvation he offers is to embrace a life of faithful suffering through which, if we endure, we are sanctified and ultimately come to glory.

Have you considered what difficulties you are willing to endure for the sake of Christ?

The Seed on Thorny Ground

The weeds in mind here are thorny bushes with deep roots, not easy to remove, and they suck up all the moisture and nutriants from the soil. Choke does not necessarily means damaging the plant directly, but rather robbing it of the nutrition and water it needs in order to carry out its purpose: to bear grain.

Here, water and nutrition in the soil symbolizes our desires and resources. What we have to give our energy towards and the motivation we have to carry out plans to fulfill our goals. The thorn bushes represent anything in this world that captures our motivation, and thus saps away the resources we have in pursuit of what may seem important now, but in light of eternity is worthless.

Joni Erickson Tada, a Christian writer paralyzed from the neck down since she was a teenager, has likely done more for the Kingdom of God than most of us. You may have few resources to spare in your life, you may have little time, energy, or money, but what is important here is do you view those resources as things to spend on the Kingdom or to make life in this world more comfortable and pleasant?

Grant Osborne:

Matthew Explanation of the Text

The true disciple does not allow the concerns of life to have precedence over following Jesus

The Greek word translated deceitfulness can also in some contexts mean delight, and so here there seems to be a double meaning, as the things of this world offer a deceitful pleasure that distracts the would-be disciple from giving up all for the Kingdom of God.

This ground we in the west have been especially prone to. We live in a land where even the poor can be picky about what they eat, and most of us would consider a smart phone a necessity of life. It is very easy for the deceitfulness of riches, presented to our wayward desires in advertisements and cultural expectations of a certain lifestyle, to choke out what really matters. Like the previous soil, these professing Christians live for the here and now. They are religious, and don’t necessarily fall away like in the previous example, but they are fruitless. In an eternal perspective, their life is meaningless because they contribute little or nothing to the Kingdom. They view riches, not as a means to support the work of the Kingdom, but as something to benefit themselves.

How easily we stray into this area. It is worth taking time to sit alone and objectively consider by your actions and thoughts what you live for. Certainly, you are religious. You go to church, contribute to the offering plate, and perhaps even pray and read your Bible on a regular basis, but there is no fruit that is the result of weeding out the things that sap away your energy, time, and motivation.

Remember that the riches of this world are deceitful. Do not trust your feelings or desires on this. Do not fall for the demonic teachings of the so-called prosperity Gospel, which encourages its followers to measure their faith by the number of thorny weeds that surround them. See these things for what they are. Handle riches carefully, as if you were handling a venomous viper. The Puritan Thomas Watson wisely said that riches are far more often a curse than a blessing from God. The Apostle Paul warns against false teachers who think of the Gospel as a means of worldly gain and what our attitude should be towards riches:

1 Timothy 6:5–10 ESV

and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

This doesn’t have to be money. Single Christians may idolize marriage and so may have the unique nutrients of a single Christian life stolen by that ambition, though the desire itself is not evil. It may be the desire for prestige and power, a desire for leisure and entertainment, or even a desire for intellectual knowledge which puffs up. Anything that distracts us from the pure life of a fruitful disciple must be handled with suspicion.

These weeds do not come out easily. Their roots are deep in our flesh and their branches are thorny and painful to pull. Again, sit down away from all distractions and ponder this question seriously: if Christ were to ask me to give up everything in my life, to lose everything and live the rest of my life with none of my current comforts, resources, or pleasures, what would I hold onto the most? What would I be the least willing to give up? Answer that question honestly with yourself, for God knows the answer, and you will know what you need to be most suspicious of in your life. Possibly, you may be convicted by the Spirit to pull that weed out, painful as it will be. The more painful, the more it needs to go because that is the weed that is sucking up your life.

Remember the words of Christ in Luke 9:23-25

Luke 9:23–25 ESV

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

This is not optional for a disciple, it is a necessity if we expect to inherit the Kingdom of God. There are no useless disciples in the Kingdom of Christ. Remember that you were created to be useful in the Kingdom and in the church. Eph 2:10

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Jesus is very clear that to follow him means to give our hearts away, reserving it for the King and his service. The resources we have are not truly ours, and so to spend them endlessly on things of this world is a form of corruption. We hate to see politicians using public funds for their own personal ends, and yet how often do we use the good gifts given to us by the King primarily for the comfort and satisfaction of the flesh?

A true disciple cannot live like this for long. A seed that does not bear fruit is as good as a weed in the church. Many Christian go from church to church trying to find one that will best serve their needs, but give little thought to their responsibility to bear fruit in that church for the Kingdom. Such people are leaches to the church, always taking but never providing a return on the investment of Christ’s grace. You will need to sacrifice, you will need to be patient and gracious, you will need to sow and work long and hard before you see the results of your labour. This is all part of the Christian life, and no one is an exception.

The Seed on Good Soil

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Finally we get to the seed that fell on good soil, symbolizing the hearts of true disciples. Their soil is deep because they are prepared for the dry seasons ahead. Their earth is tilled and soft so that Satan has no opportunity to snatch away the precious Gospel they have heard. They’ve weeded out everything in their life that would suck away the nutrients and water they will need in order to bear fruit for the Master. These, Christ says, bear much fruit.

Jesus describes these are those who hear the Gospel and understand it. These are the opposite of those described in Isaiah 6 which Jesus quoted back in verses 14-15. Again, understanding is holistic, they not only know the Gospel and profess faith in Christ, but they embrace all the implications of it and live as disciples. When one truly understand the Gospel of salvation by faith in Christ, there is only one response: discipleship. That is, a following after Christ, living as he lived, by faith in his grace and promises, knowing that the reward is soon to come.

What is this fruit? In a word, it is the fruit of daily forsaking the world and being conformed into the image of Christ. Such a life produces the works of Christ in many areas:

Regular repentance from sin.

Growth in knowledge in head, heart, and life of the glorious Gospel of Christ.

Pursuit of and attaining the precious fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22-24

Galatians 5:22–24 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Service in the church.

Evangelical witness in the world, both through our lifestyle and our proclamation of the Gospel.

Usefulness is not an optional part of the Christian life, in fact it is the very proof of the Spirit’s work in a believer. Let us all desire to bear fruit of every kind.

You will notice that not all the grain bears the same fruit: some 100, some 60, some 30. It is important for us to remember that not all believers are gifted the same. Some have small faith, some have great. Some have more gifts than others. Some are exposed to more instruction or have survived hardships that have bolstered their faith. All of us have the responsibility to bear all the fruit we can, but we should avoid two dangers.

First, let us be careful not to be judgemental towards believers who bear less fruit than we. We are all on a journey with our Lord, all of us have different gifts, and we have different measures of faith. We should encourage one another, but not burden each other with guilt if they do not bear what we think they should bear. Each Christian answers to Christ, and so let us set our focus on building one another up and having patience for those in a different stage of faith than we. As a church, we should exhort one another to bear fruit and question the claims of someone who does not bear fruit at all. But let us celebrate growth in one another, rather than condemn them for how far they have yet to grow.

Second, let us hold the fragile balance of pushing ourselves to greater and greater usefulness for the Kingdom, while at the same time avoiding the traps of guilt and shame for the progress we have yet to make. Love for Christ pushes on onward and puts our focus on the Kingdom and on the good of our fellow man and especially our fellow Christian, but shame puts our focus on ourselves and tends to dry up our roots rather than grow them.

Whoever Has Ears, Let Them Hear!

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Jesus ends the parable with the phrase whoever has ears, let them hear. This is a call to the crowd as Jesus places himself in the place of the sower. He has spread the seed and now he calls those who are spiritually discerning enough to respond to it.

Hear the Parable of the Sower: The Mysteries Behind the Parables are for Disciples

I also want to draw attention to the first word Jesus uses in verse 18: hear.

Jesus is speaking to his disciples, who indeed hear with understanding, unlike the crowds and unbelieving Pharisees. The meaning of this parable is for them that can understand the things of the Kingdom through Spirit-given insight.

The parables are for the people, but its meaning is for believers. The parable speaks of heavenly truths in an earthly way to those who are still worldly-minded, but the meaning is discerned by those who have the eyes to see and ears to hear and heart to understand their meaning, not intellectually only, but truly so that they turn and follow him.

I invite all of you to hear and understand the meaning of this parable. Calling yourself a Christian does not make you a Christian. Going to church, praying, and agreeing with all that the preacher says does not make you a Christian. Some reject the Gospel, some accept it but without commitment and abandon the faith when it gets hard. Some accept it, but are unable to follow through with their profession of faith because they love the things in this life more than the eternal glory of Christ. Some hear it, commit to it, follow it, and let it change their whole life. Those are the only ones who can truly be called disciples and are truly saved. Which one are you? Do you love Jesus? Do you believe he died for your sins? Do you believe he rose from the dead? That is great, but has that faith changed your life? Are you committed to following and loving our Lord even if it costs you everything? Consider carefully how much you are willing to lose in this life to gain what is eternal, what is permanent. Ask God to give you a heart of pure, rich soil so that you may bear much fruit and be considered worthy, by the grace of God, to enter into that Kingdom to which you have been called.