Matthew 13

Significantly Jesus did not speak of any “mysteries” concerning the Kingdom of heaven until the nation had made its decision concerning Him. That decision was made by the leaders when they attributed His divine power of Satan. Maybe this is why Jesus stop going to their synagogues. We find Jesus moving more and more out into the open air, where the common people hear him gladly. ember we were at the park, people came our of their homes to hear a word.

Parable Greek works means To throw alongside.

The use of Parables teaches not only the lesson of the individual parable, but also the importance of thinking about spiritual things.

The truth thrown alongside another truth, we need more truth.

1st of 7 parables in this chapter.

The emphasis in the story is in the results of the sowing.

The seeds fell on 4 kinds of soul.

Along the path V/v 4

on rocky places V/v 5

among thorns V/v 7

and on good soil V/v 8

The asked Jesus a question, if you don’t ask you won’t know. Those who have ears

Mark 4:10–12 ESV

10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that “ ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’ ”

Luke 8:9–10 ESV

9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’

They asked because they notices it was different, so the asked to get an understanding.

Matthew 7:29

Matt 11:26-30

Why Jesus choose to teach with parables.

Jesus was tried of preaching to Religious people. Sitting down was a sign that Jesus was about to teach. Discipleship, is not preaching, you don;t become a disciple from preaching, It’s in the teaching. Town to town village to village preaching and teaching in their synagogues, now he is outside the church and getting the most results and the most miracles. From s

He gave 3 reasons

He was communicating in order to reveal truth to his disciples Matt.13:11-12a The Lord said he was making the known the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven. The word “secrets” is translated mysteries. This term In the New Testament referred t Truths not revealed in the Old Testament. But now made known to those instructed. They are an instruments of revelation. To those who were hungry.

Second, Jesus spoke in parables to hide the truth from unbelievers. People who were too LAZY to look it up!! The secrets of the kingdom would be given to the disciples, but would be hidden from the religious leaders!! Who rejected Jesus. Mat. 13:11 V/v 12 even states that the things that they did know would be taken away. It would no longer be clear to them. Jesus always had a crowed, but would take his disciple off to the side to explain to them the truth of his word. If you been in church for any period of time, and you know everything then you stay at home and let us who have questions try to figure this thing out. He who has ears let them hear. Nothing wrong with having questions. The problem is that you claim you love the Lord, you claim you want to live a better life, you say you want better for your children, but you don’t have any questions. Its like praying your whole life to win the lottery and and never buy a ticket. You want better, but you can’t do better, if you don’t understand what better is. The church wants to do better, but she don’t understand the instruction, she had the playbook but don’t understand the x’s and o’s. The blind can’t lead the blind.

Parables were spur toward decision. The Kingdom can not be understood from outside. Matt. 16:17 Peter knew something nobody else saw. Jesus said bless are you. Peter had an OH NOW I SEE moment. He had faith, and he wanted to know who Jesus really was, the bible says that flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. But it comes only with a thirst for relationship, thirsty for righteousness. He says then you will be filled.

Third, He spoke in parables in order to fulfil Isaiah 6:9-10. As Isaiah began his ministry, God told him that people would not comprehend his message. There is a difference between hearing and comprehending. You show up to church and you hear a word, but do you comprehend.

In order to live it out yourself.

In order to show someone else.

Jesus disciples heard the word, the same truths as the as the national leaders, but their response was entirely different. They saw and believed; the leaders saw and rejected. Since the leaders turned from light, they had been given, God gave them no additional light. Remember Rev. 2: 2-11.

He compared the 4 results of sowing to 4 responses to the the KINGDOM message.

The message was preached by John, Jesus and the apostles.

The word. Seed sown on the path.

Some hear the word, but don’t understand the word. The devil, the evil one. Snatches away that misunderstood word. The word that can’t do you no good, cause you don’t even understand. The evil one still want let it just sit in the ground. 1 John 5:19. Matt. 13:38-39. Think of it this way. The path is like the middle row, no matter how long you have bee farming, no matter your technique some of the seeds will fall on the ground. And because the seed is not covered by the soil, because the seed is not protected by the soil, because the seed is not secured under the soil. Then the birds, and any thing else like the water of the wind will blow it away. But Jesus explained that its not the birds, the enemy wants this seed. So the result

Fell into stony ground.

This does not mean that they are planted on a rock rode. The bedrock came to close to the surface, with the result that the seed had no dept of soil. Not enough soil to sustain growth.

immediately these seeds sprouted up, the bedrock kept the soil warn and encouraged rapid growth. But it had no depth of soil there was no future for any plant in this position.

We don’t just want to be planted in good ground, we want to be planted and bring forth fruit.

Here I see the people who come to church, just cause. Everything is not perfect but you are okay with it right where you are. You come to church, you and the church are on good terms, you even give a little, you may serve on a ministry team. But that it. You are in the soil but you just are sitting there looking good. You look like health crop, but that’s just it you look good. No fruit. Nobody can get you to do anything else but what you want to do. You will even go above and beyond but only on your terms or your idea.

When the Sun rose.

This is not to be taken literally: the sun rises everyday. So this is not the next day that the sun came up. But hot days earl in the life of the plant.This scorched and withered the plant’s roots. The previous verse said they had no depth of soil, this one says they had no roots. But the result is still the same. Both seeds look good at first, but soon wither away. Without the seed having the right amount of soil and no roots can not develop and plants with defective roots are not equipped to stand hot weather. They wither away.

What does wither away look like today?

V/v 7 Lodged where thorny bushes grew.

This plant was sturdy, robust plants, not easily to be defeated in the struggles for life. The good seed found intense competition for the nourishment in the soil, and the thorny plants were too strong. They choked out the new plant by preventing them from getting the nourishment they needed.

Question to Ask yourself at the end of the message. Decision time.

So those who hear with faith ask themselves a series of questions as the story progresses. ‘Has the word bounced off me, like seed off the hard track that traverses the field? Has it begun to grow in me, so that I could face pressure, laughter from business associates, expulsion from kosher circles? And our children are growing up now. We must not be so ascetic; it’s not fair on the kids. We must be a bit more like everyone else, with the cares, the riches and the pleasures of life! Or am I just a very ordinary church member, but in my small corner producing some fruit, albeit only thirtyfold? Maybe God has given me a rather wider ministry and I can see growth sixtyfold? Maybe he has put me in responsible leadership; does he see hundredfold growth in me?’

Those were the sorts of questions the original hearers and readers of the parables would have been asking themselves. The Sower is the same. The seed is the same. The different results depend on the soils, how we respond to the Sower and his seed. What fruit we produce will depend entirely on that. In this first parable we have a reflection of what was happening in the mission of Jesus, and the varied responses to which it drove the hearers. The parable is a mirror: it shows people where they stand. It is held up to the faces of Jesus’ hearers. It was held up to Matthew’s readers. And it is no less challenging today.

The Message of Matthew The Parable of the Soils (13:1–9, 18–23): What Is Your Response Now?

So those who hear with faith ask themselves a series of questions as the story progresses. ‘Has the word bounced off me, like seed off the hard track that traverses the field? Has it begun to grow in me, so that I could face pressure, laughter from business associates, expulsion from kosher circles? And our children are growing up now. We must not be so ascetic; it’s not fair on the kids. We must be a bit more like everyone else, with the cares, the riches and the pleasures of life! Or am I just a very ordinary church member, but in my small corner producing some fruit, albeit only thirtyfold? Maybe God has given me a rather wider ministry and I can see growth sixtyfold? Maybe he has put me in responsible leadership; does he see hundredfold growth in me?’

Those were the sorts of questions the original hearers and readers of the parables would have been asking themselves. The Sower is the same. The seed is the same. The different results depend on the soils, how we respond to the Sower and his seed. What fruit we produce will depend entirely on that. In this first parable we have a reflection of what was happening in the mission of Jesus, and the varied responses to which it drove the hearers. The parable is a mirror: it shows people where they stand. It is held up to the faces of Jesus’ hearers. It was held up to Matthew’s readers. And it is no less challenging today.

The parable of the weeds in the wheat (13:24–30, 36–43): why does evil