The Life of Christ: His Parables

The nature of parables is that they are stories that cause you to stop and consider. They are stories, drawing on images from the everyday world of his listeners. They are about fishermen, tax collectors, husbands, tenants, landowners, farmers, brides, and grooms. And they are images that cause you to stop and really think them through. Though it is true that parables teach things in a deep and more memorable way, they also take a lot more thought to come to. If you’re not willing to work hard, you won’t be able to understand it. No pain no gain. So why does Jesus teach these deep truths in the parables?

To reveal the nature of the kingdom, well Jesus shows us straightforwardly why. He says in … Jesus says, “hey I am teaching the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. I am teaching about the nature of the kingdom. I am opening it up to teach what it looks like. I am revealing it, shining a spotlight on it.” Now, the nature of the kingdom is this.

Separating the good from the bad: Those who are in the kingdom will hear that and their heart is softened. But those who are outside will hear it and their heart will be hardened. Does Jesus know that his teaching will harden those outside the kingdom? Yes. Does Jesus know that the same teaching will soften those inside the kingdom? Yes. Jesus is going to teach the nature of truth, and he knows that it will separate out the wheat from the chaff.

Parable of the Sower: Now, in Matthew’s gospel, the headspring, the fount from which all of this flows together is the parable of the sower. This is the most important parable in the gospel of Matthew. And because the gospel of Matthew has more parables than any of the other gospels, we might say this is one of the most important, if not the most important, parables in teh entire bible. This is why this is one of two parables that Jesus interprets for us. The rest he expects us to get right. But he really wants us to understand it, so he tells us how to understand the parable.

Every other parable comes back to this. In fact, I believe, every other parable in Matthew’s gospel comes back to the parable of the sower. You might think of the parable like the opening score for a movie, which all teh rest of the music in teh movie pulls from and develops. And so what I’d like to do is walk through the parable, and then show a little bit of how it connects with some of the different parables in Matthew’s gospel. We won’t connect all the parables today, but I think by the end you will see that these different parables pull on and develop out of this parable of the sower.

The Son of Man as the Sower

A sower went out to sow: The setting of the parable is of a farmer who goes out to sow. So immediately he is drawing on an image that should really connect well with those near him. This is an agricultural society. They know, “oh okay, a sower goes out to sow.” They can connect to this. And this is an image you should be able to relate to. Because you and I drive through farm fields every day. We go by farms all the time. So think about this, there is something about the image of dirty, wet, moist soil, and plants growing, and weeds coming up, that is like the kingdom of God.

So, who is the sower representing? Who is the person who is sowing the Word? Interestingly enough, Jesus doesn’t tell us in this parable. But, he will tell us in a similar parable that the one who sows the seed of the kingdom is the Master and his servants. I think it is fair to assume that is the identity of the sower. The shower is Christ himself working through his church, on mission to spread the gospel, to bring the lost home.

The parable of the lost sheep in develops this idea. The sower in the parable is Christ working through his servants to spread the gospel. He is on a mission to spread his seed across the face of the whole earth.

What does it look like today? Well today, Christ works through the same way. Every time that we gather together and sing his praises and read his word and take communion. Every time I stand up at this pulpit, what is happening? We together as a church are sowing the seeds of the kingdom. We are cultivating the plants of Christ. We are trying to help those fertile shoots grow up and produce fruit. Every time you go and share the gospel with your friends and family, every time you open up your Bible, you are planting the word of the kingdom.

But all is not well. Because the plant does not always take root. In fact, there are three kinds of resistance in this parable.

The First Seed: Resistance from the Devil

This is the description of the first seed, that, “as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.” So the first kind of the soil falls on ground that is hardened and ripe for the birds to come and eat them. Because the soil is hardened, the birds easily snatch away the seeds. When I was a child, I used to go visit my grandparents in Northern California. And my grandfather would put out bird seed every morning. But I distinctly remember that blue jays would come and try to take up that seed that was laid down for others. ANd my grandfather would run out trying to chase off the blue jays. Well, that is what happens here, the birds come and they try to snatch up the seed so that it cannot grow.

And Jesus, as he is interpreting this says, in … So, Jesus says, do you want to know what this says, well it says that like a bird comes and snatches up the seed that does not fall into the earth, so Satan comes and snatches the Word away from those whose hearts are hardened. Satan knows where exactly to look for the seed that comes to the hardened heart. This is the person who is hardened to the Word of God. Who gets bored with it. This is the person who has no patience for it. This is the person who has no eagerness for it. This is the person who never takes the time to consider whether or not the gospel is true. This is the person who is immediately repulsed by God’s word.

We might line up this soil with the parable of the wicked tenants in … Their hearts were so hardened that they could not receive the Word of God. Instead, they shake their fists at God. And though Satan is not clearly mentioned in this parable, we see his fingerprints everywhere throughout this parable. This person is obvious, he is easy to spot, easy to see.

But there are more subtle resistances ahead.

The Second Seed: Resistance from the Flesh

Jesus describes the second soil as it falls in the rocky soil in . This soil appears to be genuine on the outside. It quickly spurts up, because there is not much space to put down weeds. But when the sun rose, it was scorched because there was no root and the plant withered away. When I was a child, I used to go climb and hike in the granite mountains of Northern Arizona. And in these granite rocks, sometimes you will have these crevices that fill up with soil. And plants will start growing in that crevice. But it is rare for the plant to last any amount of time and you can pull a giant weed out with no problem. Why? Because it has no root and it cannot withstand the pressures of the wild.

So what does this soil represent? This soil represents the one who “hears the word and immediately receives it with joy…” This is the disciple who it appears has this great testimony. He apparently got saved. Maybe he got baptized or walked down the aisle. But “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.” When he goes through hardship, his so called faith flickers. When he goes through hardship, he has no root, and so he withers. This is the person who wants to Christ savior but not Lord. This is the person who loves the idea of God’s forgiveness, but not Christ’s discipleship. This is the person who cannot reckon with the demands of Christ, and they wither away. They like the idea of Christ, but they don’t like the call of Christ. They might call themselves Christians, but their life has very little in it which makes them look like a Christian.

We see a similar lesson in the parable of the net in … The false believer will be separated from the true. This will happen at the end of time, and it happens all the time now. This is similar to what says… Not everyone who calls themselves a Christian is one. An initial emotional reaction is not an indicator that their faith is genuine. The faith that lasts, the faith that has root is the faith that is true.

1 John 2:15 SBLGNT

Μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε τὸν κόσμον μηδὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κόσμον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν αὐτῷ·

But there is one more kind of bad soil

The Third Seed: Resistance from the World

There is one more kind of bad soil. It is the soil of the thorns. Jesus describes this soil this way in … This is the kind of soil that already has competing plants in its soil. There is no room for any other plants, because they are covered with the thorns of the world. The point is this. That the soil is already sustaining too many plants to fit any more. There is no room for anything else. The thorns take up too much sunlight. The thorns take up the soil’s nutrients. So when the seed is put down, if it shoots up at all, which all do not necessarily, they do not produce fruit.

Jesus interprets himself in … The cares fo the world and the deceitfulness of riches keep the word from ever producing fruit in their heart. This is the person who hears the gospel, but they care about everything else more. this is the person who will give Jesus everything but his heart. This is the person who goes to church unless something better comes up. This is the person who cares about loves their job just a little too much, who loves their family just a little too much, who look for excuses not to engage with God’s word. Who love the fellowship you find in church, but who don’t like the Bible. These are the people who maybe call themselves Christian, but Christ has to compete for a place in their hearts.

We see an example of this in Jesus teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus tells this parable about a wise builder and a foolish builder in . This bad soil is the soil that prioritizes everything else above Jesus Christ and who makes Jesus compete for a place in their soul. They might call themselves a Christian, but they have no need for Christ himself.

The Fourth Seed: The Genuine Disciple

However, the climax of this parable is found in . The seed finds the good soil. The seed implants itself. And it has grown up tall, and it produces fruit. So some of you know, I like to ride my bike out towards Frankton sometimes. And when I ride out towards Frankton, there is hardened ground where nothing grows. And there is forested areas where there are no crops. And there are rocky areas where maybe some plants grow, but they don’t have root. But all of those things serve to magnify the bounty of the crop.

This is exactly the kind of person that Jesus says is the true disciple. He says this in … So this person hears the gospel. And we’re supposed to understand this in contrast to all three of the other kinds of fruit.

First, it is soft, and not hard. If you look at the first kind of soil, it was on the path. A footpath is hardened and dry and water runs off it. But good soil is tilled. The heart of the true disciple is soft. It hears God’s word. It understands God’s word. It loves God’s Word. It absorbs it. It can’t get enough of it.

Second, it is endures to produce fruit. You can tell if faith is genuine, if it is true, if it is sincere, if it has depth, if it produces fruit. It is not that our good deeds earn salvation. That is a free gift of God. But someone who has really received salvation produces fruit.

Third, it treasures Christ. Listen true disciples continually look for ways in which something in their life is choking out Christ. But true disciples, true soil, looks for things that would compete with the crops. Why do farmers clear a field when they’re trying to plant crops? Because those things will compete with what they’re trying to plant. True disciples clear the field in their lives of things that would compete with Christ.

So the vast majority of the parables in the gospel of Matthew compare true disciples and false disciples. But the one that really sticks out is the parable of the two sons in … True disciples love Christ, they have depth, it is soft. And this is (Big idea) what Jesus’ parables are for, to show us the nature of a true disciple. Jesus parables in Matthew are meant to teach you what a true disciple looks like. Do you want to know what a true disciple is? Read his parables.

There are many churches that are built on the first three kinds of soil. That is taking bad soil, thorny soil, and rocky soil. ANd the reason for that is because it is a lot harder to build a church out of the fourth kind of soil. THe fourth kind of soil takes time. It takes work. It is patient. It’s slow work. It’s hard work. But it lasts, and it reproduces. And that’s the kind of chruch that pleases God.

What should we learn from this?

Ask, “Which kind of soil are you?” So let me ask you this, what kind of disciple are you? What kind of soil are you? Are you resisting and rejecting the Word of God like the first soil? Are you the second kind of soil, the kind of soil that calls yourself the Christian but has no fruit? Or are you teh third kind of soil? The soil that has so many other kinds of things in your life that there is no room for Jesus? Or are you the fourth kind of soil. The soil that loves Jesus and seeks him and hungers for him and endures and produces fruit? says that we should test ourselves to see if we really are in teh fiath. We should test ourselves to see what kind of soil we are.

What if I am the fourth soil? maybe you say, “Well, I mean, I look at my life, and I think I am teh fourth soil. I mean, I’m not bragging. But as I look at my life, I think that I desire the Scriptures more than I used. I love Christ’s Word. I’m more patient than I used to be. I believe more than I used to. I find myself reflecting on teh gospel.” And here’s what you do if you are the fourth kind of soil.

Worship: You worship. Because God has gone out into the country and brought you home. And you can rest in God’s promises, because you have been saved by Christ. And he has rescued you. And he has called you. He has given up everything to bring you home. He has caught you up in his arms and he will not let you go.

If you are not the fourth kind of soil, you are not a true disciple. You might call yourself a Christian like a dog thinks he is a human, but you are not a true Christian. My mom has a saying, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” Listen, if you cannot point to your life and look to specific things and say, “This is fruit.” or “This is endurance.” or “This is an eagerness to hear God’s word.” or “This is clearing the fields in my life to plant Christ,” listen, if you cannot do that, then you are not a true Christian. And it might be the most gracious thing that God can do in your life this morning to tell you that your faith is not real, your faith is not genuine, you are not a true Christian. But, and hear me say this, you can be. You can be a Christian. You can reach out to Christ and grab hold of him. You can pray and ask him to save you right now in this second. And maybe this is why God has you here this morning. Maybe GOd has you listening to this pew paying attention at this very second so that you might see that you are not deep soil, you are soil filled with thorns, you are hardened. And maybe God is showing you that right now because he wants you to reach out and grab hold of Christ by faith and to grasp him and to ask him to be your savior.

What if I am the fourth soil? But maybe you say, “Well, I mean, I look at my life, and I think I am teh fourth soil. I mean, I’m not bragging. But as I look at my life, I think that I desire the Scriptures more than I used. I love Christ’s Word. I’m more patient than I used to be. I believe more than I used to. I find myself reflecting on teh gospel.” And here’s what you do if you are the fourth kind of soil.

What kind of soil are you?

Conclusion

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