Untitled Sermon (2)

The Parable of the Sower, the Seed, and the Soils

(Matthew 13:1-13)

Christianity is based on and centers on the teachings of Jesus Christ. Our relationship with God is based on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The summary of our faith is in the words of Paul which he wrote in his letter to Corinthians chapter 15, 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

 Believers gather every Sunday to celebrate Christ’s victory over death, sin, and evil. The Bible is the Word of God and is central in believers' fellowship. As the text has been read today, we know that it’s about the most popular and wonderful parable Jesus ever taught. It is commonly known as the parable of the Sower, but when we read the parable carefully, we can conclude that it is more likely about the parable of the soils.

This parable was the first parable of Jesus Christ. The theme of the parable that I would like to suggest today is Our Response to Jesus Christ. Our main text for the lesson would be verse 11. The primary reason for choosing this passage is to aid us in identifying what kind of soil we have and what kind of soil we should be. Since this parable focuses on four types of soil, we would be able to distinguish our hearts in four different ways.

He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.”

Context of the Gospel and the Text

To understand the text, we need to read the author's mind. Matthew records Jesus’ ministry in two phases in his Gospel. The first phase takes place in Galilee, covering chapters 1-13, while the second part of his teaching occurs in Jerusalem from chapters 14-28. The overarching theme of the Gospel is the Kingdom of God.

Chapter 13 connects the first half of Jesus' Galilean ministry with the second half of Jesus' ministry in Jerusalem. It serves as a connecting bridge for the reader to understand who Jesus is and what he did.  Matthew dedicates chapter 13 to Jesus' teachings about the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, and it falls between the Sermon on the Mount and the Olivet Discourse. What is Parable? It is sufficient to say that Parables are earthly stories with heavenly meaning.

Chapters 12 and 13, as per the reading of the Gospel, happened on the same day. The Parable of the Soils is included in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This parable is one among those explained by Jesus himself. This chapter consists of eight parables. The parable of the Soils is about individual response towards the Kingdom of Heaven. There is a farmer who scatters the seed, and there are four types of soil.

The Staging of the Parable

Matthew provides a detailed account that on the day Jesus shared these parables, He was swamped all day. Earlier in Chapter 11, John the Baptist expressed his doubt about Jesus Christ when he sent his disciples to ask Jesus whether he was the one who was to come. Subsequently, in chapter 12, his authority was questioned by the Pharisees and the Scribes regarding Sabbath observance, healing on the Sabbath, not adhering to Sabbath practices, and allegations of association with Beelzebub. This happened in a Galilean synagogue. The accusations didn't catch Jesus off guard, but he warned them of their hardness of heart. Mark wrote, 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” (Mark 3:28-29)

 After this, Jesus left the synagogue where He was not accepted and then went to an open shore. He now begins to teach in the open air. His method and techniques shift from showing miracles and wonders towards parables and stories. A much profound manner of teaching of his time. This brings us two lessons. Firstly, the hardness of the heart can lead to the departure of the Spirit from the Churches, too. No wonder Paul wrote to the Church in Thessalonica, Do not quench the Spirit. (5:19). Secondly, when our methods and techniques don’t work, we need to change direction.

Matthew sets the scene: a large crowd gathered around Jesus as he spoke from a ship, surpassing previous audiences at the Sermon on the Mount and the synagogue. His popularity was at its peak, and many in the crowd were aware of earlier events in the synagogue. The overcrowding made Jesus use a ship instead of a boat. So, everybody could see him. After what happened in the synagogue, some people might be thinking that the hour has come when Jesus will proclaim loud and clear that he is the Messiah; some might be expecting that he is going to heal and perform miracles now; some might be hoping that he might be declaring civil war against the religious leaders. Ahh!!! But parable of the Sower…  it was at least expected… I mean, Jesus is in the Palestinian land, and everybody knew about the Sower and the seed.

The Explanation of the Parable

As easy as it seems to understand the parable, this parable points out the harsh realities of our lives. Apparently, Jesus saw a Sower sowing seed across the lake. Jesus pointed towards him, and the crowd saw what the Sower was doing. That’s how Jesus started teaching the crowd. Jesus' teaching started with the word Behold! which means directing someone’s attention towards something to look and ends in the phrase he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Here’s another lesson that our response towards Jesus should be one of seeing and listening. These are the two senses that should work vigilantly when we follow Christ.

The parable of the Sower assumes some familiarity with the agricultural methods of that time. The Sower is not carefully planting individual seeds neatly in a row within a well-shaped furrow. Instead, he is broadcasting seeds by the handful, resulting in some seeds falling in less suitable places than others. Jesus’s parable describes four different soil conditions where the seed lands. These four soil conditions represent four different types of listeners to the message about the kingdom.

The Sower went out and scattered the seed. The Sower was doing his routine work. He is not important to define, discuss, or elaborate. His work is just to scatter the seed. His style of scattering the seed does not matter. He is doing what he is expected and supposed to do. Jesus drew the attention of the crowd to what he was doing, not how he was doing or how he was looking. He was broadcasting the seed, and when he was doing the seed spread far and wide.

The seed is important. The seed is given importance first when it is scattered, secondly, when and where it fell, and thirdly, resulting in the harvest. The seed is the Word of God. The Seed is not described either. It is understood that the seed is pure and healthy. It needs no alteration, no edification, no enrichment, no fertilization. The seed is organic in nature. It grows on its own.

“…so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

The Soils The seed landed on four different types of soil: by the wayside, on stony ground, among thorns, and on fertile soil. We notice Jesus didn’t spend much time elaborating the parable itself, but he had a good time explaining why he is speaking in parables to the crowd now. The disciples were patient in getting the response from the Master. This rule applies to all the disciples of Jesus Christ. We should be patient when we ask something to God in Jesus’ name. Since Jesus explained these four grounds in detail upon being asked by the disciples, I would like to proceed with some thoughts only from the heart.

Jesus explains that the Sower is the preacher, the seed is the Word of God, and the soil is the heart of a man. Only one-fourth of the total seed yielded fruit. Three-quarters of the seed did not grow or bear any crops because of the nature of the soil. In simple words, the farmer was able to yield only twenty-five percent of the crop.

Why does this happen? Neither the parable nor the explanation tells us why it happened, but they do identify the source of the problem. This principle remains relevant today. For example, individuals may ask, "Why do humans suffer?" or "What causes social injustice?" While the Bible does not provide direct answers to these questions, it addresses and identifies sin as the underlying source of such problems. The result entirely depends on the reception of the word of God by the hearts of humans. The first three receptors are hard, shallow, and self-indulgent. The last one is good soil that bears fruit.

The heart is the receiver of the Word of God. It is the heart that produces the fruit. God does not force his grace on the people. It’s their decision. The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9

The problem lies in the heart. There’s nothing good that comes out of the heart. Our hearts are wretched and always in enmity against God and His Word. It is the heart that desires and then governs the body. It was the heart's desire that tempted the woman in Eden to know good and evil. It was the stiffness of heart that led the Israelites to complain and grumble against God in the Wilderness when He himself freed them from the land of slavery. It was the heart's desire that led David to sin against God when he committed adultery and murder.   Sometimes we just listen to the word of God, and it just swooshes away as soon as we go out from the Church. Sometimes we listen and accept the Word of God, but when it is tested, we feel discouraged and offended because its results are not according to our liking. Sometimes we accept the word of God, and we want to lure them into it with wealth and worldly desires, and the worldly desires overcome the word of God because of our deceitful hearts. It is always the heart that makes choices. God promises a new heart 26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

The heart of the text is verse 11. 11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. This verse is the diagnosis of all the soils and the explanation of the whole parable and the parables that follow. 

He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven … the mysteries here do not mean that there’s a secret or mysterious religion through which we can enter the kingdom of Heaven. Though this is one of the main reasons why so many religious institutions and gigantic people fail to understand the message of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus never meant this. Jesus never said, “I’ll take the wheel.” Jesus never said, “There is something deep in his words.” Jesus never demanded a secret society. Jesus simply means here that whatever was hidden and prophesied in the Old Testament has been brought into light and revealed by God, which cannot otherwise be perceived. Here, Jesus simply meant that the kingdom of Heaven is at hand and is revealed through teachings, healing, and exorcism, which could only be understood by those who have been given grace and who see Jesus as the fulfillment of all prophecies. The Pharisees, scribes, and leaders of the synagogue, and many among the crowd, missed the point.  The incarnate Word is not obvious. Only faith could recognize the Son of God in the lowly figure of Jesus Christ. That’s what Peter triumphally acknowledged: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Matthew 16:16. That’s what Martha declared even when she was mourning the death of his brother Lazarus, “…Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” John 10:27. That’s what we declare when we profess our faith that Jesus Christ came to save the sinners. He is the Son of God. This is the mystery that has been given to us. We are the custodians of our faith and His Word.

“…has been given to you, The Word is given to all. Jesus taught everyone during his ministry. Most of them heard his message, most of them heard and accepted, but very few heard, accepted, and understood. Here, Jesus is contrasting between his disciples and the multitude. The crowd was in huge numbers, but the disciples would hardly make one-third of the total. To this group, the grace has been given, not because of their merit and not because they were better than the rest of the crowd, but just because it was God’s favor. Grace is given, not earned. The invitation to the Kingdom of Heaven was open to all.

…but not to them”. As much as it hurts, it is a true and bitter reality that after listening to Jesus’ teachings, witnessing the miracles, healings, and exorcisms, the hard-hearted religious leaders, the shallow listeners, and the self-indulgent are forfeited to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus seems to shut the door for them. The reason is their choice, lack of acceptance, and surely having no understanding of what Jesus is and what he was doing. Oh! Jesus cannot be so rude to people. The Church loves to see Jesus kind-hearted, loving, polite, and taking the wheel. But we often forget that Jesus never said that. Jesus never promised a Christian life that is free from hardships, tests, and persecution. His invitation is open, but it comes with certain demands and requirements.

The parable alone, if not responded to by faith in Jesus, will not be enough. These are the seeds that fell on hard, shallow, or thorny ground. Without acceptance, which is faith, we can't come to the throne of God. Neither parable in its first place, nor the gospel, enforces or ensures faith of the hearer. But this is what is required to enter the kingdom of God.

The Implication of the Parable

The parable of the Sower, the Seed, and the Soils is intended and deeply rooted in the fact that it's not the Sower or the Seed that helps to yield the fruit. It is the response of the soil. The seed grows only if the soil is not hard, shallow, or thorny. Initially, this parable was intended for the religious leaders whose hearts were hardened, for those who had gathered in great multitudes but were unable to grasp and understand the true meaning of the gospel, and for those who simply wanted to see what Jesus’ next step was. But there was one soil that was deep, good, and fertile. The soil that accepted, absorbed, and allowed the seed to germinate produced a crop and yielded fruit. Those were Jesus' followers.

This parable alone and the Gospel itself cannot produce faith unless we are willing to accept it, understand it, and translate it into action. Faith requires action through grace. Faith does not easily come by. The context of the parable was enmity against Jesus. Religious leaders turned against him, and his family was worried about him; many people did not care about what was going on.  The disciples didn’t get what Jesus’ parable meant. But the key to the kingdom of Heaven is faith. Faith when things don’t work out. Faith when there is trouble and persecution, faith when the lust of the world and the desires of our hearts attract us, faith when the tide is against us, and faith that in Jesus we have become the righteousness of God.

Faith comes with a price. The price is the Cross. Jesus tells us the cost of discipleship: “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16:24.

 He distinguishes his disciples from those who were not by saying, “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:38.

Paul says, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptations, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” 1 Timothy 1:15

Lastly, the Sower. The Sower is not in control of where the seed was broadcast, scattered, or where it fell. He just scattered indiscriminately, trusting the Lord for the harvest. The Sower cannot control the Gospel of its effect. The Sower can only plan labor and hope for the seed that it grows, but he also knows that other forces are at work, too. He should neither be discouraged nor find options to work on the seed. The teachers, pastors, and church leaders should remember this thing that it is not them who make the seed grow, it is God’s spirit who enkindles the heart of the hearers. Paul wrote, “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Cor. 2:5)

Let us take this challenge with us today as we close this meditation, “What is our response to Jesus?”