The Sower

Chapter 13 marks a new teaching style for Jesus. For the past several months we have listened to Jesus’ teaching as he sat on the mountain, as he gave clear instruction on what living in His Kingdom looks like. Now, as we look at His parables, we will find Him later in His ministry. He has been teaching and healing, but still the Pharisees ask Him for a sign. Jesus takes them to the wood shed over this.

Matthew 12:39 NASB95

But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;

From this point forward he starts teaching in parables.

Parables

a) reveal the mysteries of the kingdom & Fulfill prophecy from Isaiah

are stories “thrown alongside” life to help explain something.

Jesus is painting word pictures. How do you describe something to someone…?

a) comparisons and use a lot of “like” statements. Describe a scene, golf course

b) Jesus is describing the Kingdom. Each parable is part of the painting that helps us to see the whole picture.

Turn to as we look at the first parable we find there. We have spent some time hearing the Sermon on the Mount, today we will hear some of His Sermon on the Sea.

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Matthew 13:1–9 NASB95

That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. “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. “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. “Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. “And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. “He who has ears, let him hear.”

The disciples asked Jesus why he was teaching this way? Jesus basically says, “Those who want to hear my message will understand and those who don’t will just hear little stories that don’t mean much to them.” Jesus doesn’t always explain His parables, but like the good teacher he was, He explained this first one so they would understand.

Look down to vs 18.

Matthew 13:18–23 NASB95

“Hear then the parable of the sower. “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. “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; 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. “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. “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.”

Introduction:

Most people today have no idea where their food comes from or what it takes to grow it. We pick over the fruit and vegetables looking for the perfect looking ones. When we read Jesus’ parables and he talks about farming or fishing, we need to stop for a moment and consider what that looked like.

Planting was different then. All the old growth was cleared away and the ground was not tilled at that point, so it all looked the same. You couldn’t tell if there were rocks or roots below the surface. Seed was thrown out on the ground and then it was worked into the soil. After that it was all about waiting on the rains and the growth. Planting was different but it was, and is still hard work.

I planted two garden boxes a couple of years ago in my back yard. I planted tomatoes, bell peppers, herbs, jalapenos and kale. My tomatoes never took off. The next year I worked on the soil and my plants did much better. It is all about the soil.

As Jesus teaches this large crowd he tells a parable that describes how the hearers in the crowd would receive his teaching.

The word of the kingdom is what is being sown.

a parable that describes how the hearers in the crowd would receive his teaching. The word of the kingdom is what is being sown. The focus is not on the sower or on the seed, but on the soil.

The focus is not on the sower or on the seed, but on the soil.

The Word of God Must be Sown Widely

a. Seed was sown on every available space of ground. Not all of it produced fruit.

Not all of it produced fruit.

A good farmer will use every available space to grow his crop. (Kansas and corn) In this parable Jesus shows seed sown in four different places and what happens to it.

Seed sown beside the way. 4

1. Footpath right in the middle of their fields. As they scattered the seed some would fall on the side of the path. and

2. Birds ate it right up. Easy pickings.

Seed sown in the rocky places. 5

1. Shallow, not much soil.

2. The plants would spring up very quickly.

Seed sown among the thorns. 7

The thorns are not an ideal place for this crop to grow either.

Seed sown in the good soil. 8

Jesus doesn’t elaborate on any of this at this point. Like one of those stories your English teacher would read and then ask, “What does this story mean?

So, Jesus tells them about this story and then He says,

Matthew 13:9 NASB95

“He who has ears, let him hear.”

“Those who are with me will get it.” Then the disciples look at Jesus and ask, “Can you help us with the first one?”

Not All of the Seed Sown Will be Successful

The problem isn’t the seed

The seed is good. It is God’s Word.

The problem is in the soil

where it is planted. Jesus gives four examples of what may happen when people are presented with the gospel.

Beside the road

The seed sown beside the road speaks of those who: v19

i. Do not receive the word, who turn their back on it.

It never has a chance to take root because of hard hearts.

This is nothing new. Pharaoh heard the word of God from Moses and because of his hard heart, it went no where.

Rejection opens you up to Satan’s control.

a. Because of this, the evil one snatches it away.

Satan will take advantage of a hard heart. It is not impossible for God’s Word to take hold, but Satan will take advantage and make it extremely difficult. He will whisper in your ear, “You don’t really believe this do you?” Like the birds, he will eat it up before it can take root.

The Rocky Places

The seed sown in the rocky places speaks of those who: v20

Receive the word with joy immediately upon hearing it.

1. This may be confusing, at first but We have all seen people who hear the gospel and they seem to be on fire until something happens that puts their faith to the test.

These are folks who have not had a conversion experience.

They are there for the excitement.

a. This happened in Jesus’ day and still in ours.

ii. When trouble comes, they turn away from the word. Fair-weather folks, in spite of the fact that Jesus, many times, warned of persecution.

This is faith that never took root.

Among the Thorns

c. The seed among the thorns is a picture of someone who: v22

Hears the word but the world drowns it out,

Wealth speaks louder than the word.

ii. Worry defeats the person and takes them away from the word.

Matthew 6:25 NASB95

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Matthew 6:25 NASB95

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

1.

Matthew 6:25–34 NASB95

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Don’t let the problems of life get in the way of the Word.

iii. Wealth is consuming and chokes out the word.

1. Cannot serve two masters.

Matthew 6:24 NASB95

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

2. Wealth is a deceptive pleasure. It easily can untrack your Christian walk.

Don’t let wealth get in the way of the Word.

iv. The problems of life cannot trump following Jesus.

1. Amazed when people fall away when problems come.

I am amazed when people fall away when problems come. This is the very time to draw near, not let the problems push us away.

This is the very time to draw near, not to let the problems push us away.

d. It can be discouraging to think about ¾ of the seed falling in places that it does not take root and grow, but God’s math is not like our math.

Some Seed Will be Wasted, but That Which Takes Root Will Multiply Greatly. V23

The good soil is the man who understands it.

i. He bears fruit continually. Remember, Jesus talked about His Kingdom people bearing fruit. Every good tree bears good fruit. I can drive around the neighborhood and see people who have orange or lemon trees and I am amazed when they start to put on fruit. One tree had so many oranges on it the owner had to take 2X4s and prop up the branches to keep them from breaking under the weight. I think this is the picture Jesus is painting when he talks about the seed that takes root in the good soil. he says:

ii. Multiple returns. 100, 60, 30.

Far outweighs the seed scattered in the other places.

True faith will lead others to Christ.

True faith will win others when they hear God’s Word. True faith will win others when they see us living out God’s Word in front of them. True faith will touch countless numbers of people, people you may never know you touched. 30, 60, 100 or more.

Conclusion:

· We do not know who will receive the Word of the Kingdom.

· We should scatter everywhere and trust God to do His work.

· It may be discouraging to see people not accept the gospel or turn away from God’s word, but we have to persist.

· Some will outright reject the gospel. They need to hear it anyway.

· Some will get excited, but excitement does not last.

· Jesus didn’t say, “Whoever is excited about me shall have eternal life.”

When God’s word takes root it will grow wildly. Scatter His seed everywhere. In every available spot.