Matthew 13:1-23: The Sower, the Seed, and the Soil

Introduction

If you have your Bibles turn to Matthew chapter 13, verses 1 through 23.

Well now, after more than a year (of course with some breaks in there) we have finally made it to the first parable of Jesus in the book of Matthew and we’ll be seeing them a lot more regularly moving forward. Most of us have some familiarity with the parables of Jesus, no matter how long or short we have been coming to church.

The parables of Jesus have become so popular that they are used throughout everyday secular conversations. Each of us have heard the phrase “the prodigal son returns” or “a good Samaritan” in places that certainly are not our church gatherings.

But what actually is a parable? Should we read them a specific way? Why is Jesus so known for using them? And what is this kingdom of heaven that Jesus keeps talking about?

Before we begin reading today’s passage, let’s take a moment to answer the first two questions and we will answer the other two before we are dismissed from our gathering.

What is a parable?

A practical story that communicates a spiritual truth

Usually framed as a simile (“this thing is like this thing”, “the kingdom of Heaven is like...”)

How should we read parables?

Listen as if you were one of the original hearers

Look to the context to determine who Jesus was speaking to!

This helps us to understand the parable rightly

Look for the main point

Don’t get lost in the minor details of the story

That’s a quick way to miss the entire point of the parable (which is what the Pharisees did)

Let the truth change your own perspective

Don’t be so stuck on what you’ve always thought and believed if Jesus’ teachings actually come against your long-held perspectives

If you refuse to allow the teachings of Jesus to change your mind, can you truly be called a follower of Jesus, a Christian, who is represented in Heaven by him?

Let the words of the Messiah change your perspective, and shape you into his image.

So without further ado, let’s read Matthew 13 together this morning.

Matthew 13:1–9 ESV

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

The Parable Told

In those first words, we see something that should draw our attention, “that same day.”

Though we are starting a new chapter in Matthew that does not mean that this is separated from chapters 11 and 12. Over the past two months we have studied the different reactions to Jesus that have come about. We have particularly seen the hostility and rejection of Jesus’ Jewish opponents, but we have also seen Jesus offering himself to the weary and burdened (11:28) and His identity of the suffering servant from the prophet Isaiah who will bring justice (12:18).

And now, in chapter 13, Jesus offers some teachings about those reactions and why they happen this way.

So then, what happened on the same day as Jesus tells this parable?

Well, we can trace it back to Chapter 12 verse 22, when the demon oppressed man came to Jesus and was delivered, then Jesus was immediately accused by the Pharisees of being in league with the prince of demons himself!

And then Jesus lectured them for 15 verses about how their hypocrisy, leading them to respond by asking him for a sign that he really is the Messiah. Which Jesus responds to by lecturing them again.

And then chapter 12 ends with a seemingly bizarre interaction with Jesus’ mother and brothers trying to get through the crowd to speak with him while he is teaching, but then Jesus seemingly disowns his family, saying that his brothers, sisters, and mother are “those who do the will of the Father in Heaven.”

So what is the context for this passage then? That same day...

What a busy day!

The crowds were getting bigger and bigger so Jesus went out to the shore and the crowds followed him. So Jesus climbs into a boat and begins what is known as the Third Discourse or third teaching) of Matthew. So we had the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5-7 and the Mission Discourse in chapter 10, and now we have a series of 7 parables in Chapter 13 that continue this theme of people’s reactions to Jesus from chapters 11 and 12.

And Jesus starts by telling what is known as the parable of the Sower, but could probably be better called the parable of the fields.

A sower sowed seeds and those seeds fell onto four different kinds of earth

First, the hard path where birds came and ate the seeds

Second, the rocky, shallow soil that allowed the seeds to spring up, but then quickly die in the sun

Third, is the thorny, weedy soil where the seeds were choked out

and Fourth, the good soil that produced fruit up to a hundred times what was planted.

Now, you might be wanting an interpretation for this parable, and you’re not alone because the disciples wanted the same thing, and it is coming, but not quite yet. Because first, they ask Jesus a question, which Jesus gives a difficult answer to.

Let’s continue reading in verse 10.

The Purpose of Parables

Matthew 13:10–17 (ESV)

10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 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. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

“ ‘ “You will indeed hear but never understand,

and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,

and with their ears they can barely hear,

and their eyes they have closed,

lest they should see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

and turn, and I would heal them.’

16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

So now we come to see the answers to our next two questions from the very beginning.

Why did Jesus speak in Parables?

Jesus was revealing truth to those who were willing to believe him - evidence of God’s mercy

He did not have to reveal truth to those who were willing to believe him. Each person is sinful, rebellious against God, and is separated from him.

We all deserve his wrath, but in his mercy he reveals truth to those who are willing to believe him

He also was concealing truth to those who denied the obvious - evidence of God’s judgement

For those who still deny the truth, even after being confronted with it head-on, the parables are a judgement, that in their hard-heartedness, their ears and eyes will remain closed.

And this leads us to some really important verses to understand in this passage. In verses 11 and 12 we read

Matthew 13:11–12 ESV

11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

This is not about financial prosperity! This is not even about some sort of spiritual prosperity where one person can get more “anointed” than others!

This is about those who want to be made right with God, those who have no desire to do so, and God’s sovereign will to grant to some that knowledge and to others the closing of their ears and hearts!

Then in verses 14-15 Jesus explains that all of this was foretold in the Prophet Isaiah! and that if people would just be willing to open their eyes and ears to see and hear, and turn to him, He would heal them!

But instead, their hearts have become hardened.

So, to the ones who know some of the secrets of the kingdom of Heaven, beginning with the knowledge that Jesus is God in flesh, more knowledge of the will of God will be given to them. So that they may turn and repent of their sin and be made more and more righteous, to stand before the Heavenly Father unashamed at the end of days.

To the ones who doesn’t have any understanding of the secrets of Heaven (as much as they may look like they have them!), they will be given nothing more. And, in fact, they will lose what little they have. And what is the little they have? The appearance of wisdom and righteousness. That too will be taken from them because they are rejecting the very source of wisdom and righteousness and life.

Matthew–Luke (Comment) ESVEC

Unbelievers choose to harden their hearts, but Jesus punishes their unbelief by hiding himself and hardening them. For the Gospel writers, divine sovereignty and human responsibility are compatible. Still, Jesus’ primary goal is to bless his disciples, that they may see things that “many prophets and righteous people longed to see” (Matt. 13:16–17).

So then, our last question needs to be answered as we continue through this chapter, because the parables are almost exclusively about this one thing. And what is that? The Kingdom of Heaven.

What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

The redemptive rule and reign of God in Jesus

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A present reality: the King is here and the kingdom is advancing!

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A future realization: the King is coming back, and His Kingdom will one day be complete!

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Jesus then finishes this interaction with his disciples in verse 18-23 by explaining the parable to them.

The Parable’s Explanation

Matthew 13:18–23 (ESV)

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 what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

The Sower

Who is the sower then? It is not primarily us.

Many people have taught this parable primarily as an evangelism strategy.

That’s the way I was taught.

That’s the way my wife was taught.

That’s probably the way you were taught.

But if that was the case, wouldn’t this have belonged back in chapter 10 when Jesus was sending out his disciples as missionaries?

This is why it is important to read and preach the Bible verse by verse and not jumping around to our verses of the day.

What was happening the same day that Jesus told the parable?

He was seeing a bunch of different reactions to himself and his message.

Jesus is the sower going out to cast seed in this parable. Not us.

Jesus is the only one who ultimately is sowing seed even today!

When we are faithful Christians who proclaim the Gospel message to the lost, we are being the hands, the feet, the mouth, the body of Christ!

So then, we can certainly read this parable for understanding why some do not respond to the Gospel message when we proclaim it, but that is a secondary purpose of the parable.

If we are reading the parables as the original audience would have heard it, then we must remember that many of them saw first-hand Jesus’ battle with the Pharisees and that Jesus was not primarily using this parable as an example for his followers to use for evangelism.

HE was using it to explain why not everyone will accept him, and why others who appear to accept him will fall away.

We are not the point of the story, Jesus is.

The Seed

So what is the seed that Jesus is casting?

The Seed is the Gospel Message that the Kingdom of Heaven has been opened to sinful humanity.

That if we would see and hear what Jesus is saying, and turn away from our sin and toward Christ, that is the meaning of the word “repent”, then we will be saved from the coming judgement on us for our wickedness. That Jesus himself, bore the sin of all who would believe him and follow him on the cross and suffered the judgement for them! That we can be redeemed to God, even though we have no business going before him! We have been invited into the Kingdom of Heaven, the very family of God itself through our Elder Brother, Jesus! We must simply trust him and turn from wickedness to experience this Kingdom.

This is the seed being sown!

The Soil

But what happens to that seed? It falls on different soils and though the seed is the same, results will vary depending on the soil.

The Hardened Path

Those who have hardened their hearts to Jesus and his message are the hardened path. They will hear the gospel message, but the seed will not take root, because their hearts are hardened against it.

They will close their eyes and ears and will view the Gospel as something dangerous to them.

And in a way, it is.

The Gospel threatens our sinfulness, and our sinfulness brings many kinds of pleasures to us.

And all of those pleasures are threatened when we hear Jesus calling us to reject them and turn to him.

The Hardened Path is clearly not a Christian soil.

The Rocky Soil

The Rocky Soil then is those who hear the Gospel message and seem to respond quickly and with great joy! But the roots are shallow, and when hardships come, they do not have the strength to endure because they never actually rooted themselves in Christ.

These are the ones who are spiritual enthusiasts, they probably have gone to the altar many times, each time promising they will follow Christ truly, but ultimately when difficulty arises and they are faced with the choice of dying to themselves, whether that be physically in persecution or spiritually in killing sin, they wither away.

They are not nearly as dedicated as they think they are.

Matthew–Luke (Comment)

Klyne Snodgrass points out, “People can receive the word with joy and still be guilty of hardness of heart.” Perhaps they expect the kingdom to bring psychological or economic benefits. But that person’s faith links him not to God but to created things. This hearer endures when skies are fair but falters when “tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word” (Matt. 13:20–21). The Greek for “falls away” in verse 21 is skandalizō, which often means to take offense: this listener abandons the faith, perhaps thinking he was duped by a religion that promised peace and prosperity but instead brought trouble. At any rate, he did not expect tribulation and quit when it came.

The Thorny Soil

Similarly, we also have the thorny soil, who responds to the gospel with apparent fruit, but it is proven over time that their supposed love for gospel, is suffocated out by their love for the world.

Where the rocky soil turns away because of difficult circumstances, the thorny soil turns away because of supposedly good circumstances.

The thorny soil is the person who wants God, but also wants sexual pleasures outside of God’s ordination for marriage. It is the person who ties up all their investments in earthly things so that they have nothing to invest in the work of the Kingdom. It is the person who seeks to make a name for themselves and only uses Christ so far as he can help them get further in life.

While the hardened path is clearly not a Christian soil, the rocky and thorny soils are not Christian soils either. And yet we try to excuse people whose hearts are clearly rocky or thorny, saying that they are just “backslidden” or “carnal Christians.

We are far too quick to call people Christians. In the Great Awakening of the 1700’s, there was a traveling evangelist by the name of George Whitefield and he was once asked how many people were saved at his evangelistic meetings. He responded, “We will see in a few years.” He understood that being saved by Christ is not something that can be proven quickly. It takes time

We have lightened the qualifications that Jesus put on people. We hold to the truth that it is faith alone that saves us, but then we ignore the twin truth that faith saves us to do good works! James covers this very thing in his epistle. He says in 2:19-20

James 2:19–20 ESV

19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

Jesus does not leave room for a middle ground where you like Jesus, but you do not follow him. He consistently says that those who are not for him, are against him.

And to the person who believes the right things about God and yet do not do his will, in what company does James say that leaves you?

With the demons!

And so why do we hold so strongly to claiming that people are Christians when their actions have shown otherwise for a very long time, whether that be family, friends, church members, or politicians?

We comfort ourselves with a 30 second prayer that someone prayed or a baptism that happened one time, but every other piece of evidence in their lives shows us that we should be proclaiming the gospel message to them hoping it takes root, because otherwise they are lost!

We take comfort in trivial things and offer a false assurance when they actually need to be discipled and evangelized and told to repent of their sin! And we don’t want to have to do that because it is uncomfortable. But for the sake of their eternal souls, we must!

It is so dangerous to convince people to make an emotion filled decision that does not count the cost of following Christ because we then offer false assurance of salvation because of that decision with zero follow up.

As we said last week, evangelism without discipleship is dangerous.

The Fertile Soil

Different levels of fruitfulness, 30, 60, 100 times the planting!

ALL of these are far more than expected! 10 times was considered God’s blessing on a harvest!

The Lord gives different levels of fruitfulness, but it is still evident fruitfulness.

Taking it Home:

There is no such thing as half-hearted following of Christ.

Jesus never left that open to us. He never intended to.

The soil of someone’s heart can be tilled.

Peter at one point showed some evidence of rocky soil by denying Christ three times, but when Jesus appeared before him after the resurrection, what did Jesus ask him? Do you love me?

He asked him this three times as a way to allow Peter to take back his earlier triple denial. And what was Jesus’ instruction to Peter, as Peter affirmed his love for Christ? Feed My Lambs

Through prayer, faithful evangelism and discipleship, and a consistent witness of the power of the Holy Spirit to renew lives, we can see rocky and thorny soil cleared out. We can even see hardened soil made fertile.

But it takes hard, painful labor on the part of Christians. The lord certainly does supernaturally work in their hearts to bring them to himself, but he invites us into the work.

Will we be faithful under-sowers to the Great Sower himself? Will we cast the Gospel seed? Will we faithfully labor in the difficult fields to see the work of God in bringing the harvest?

Or will we sit back and rest? Content in our pleasures...

Let’s Pray

Time of Response

Song of Response

Assurance of Pardon

John 6:37–40 ESV

37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”