The Parable of the Sower

Matthew 13:1-8 “That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 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, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Jesus spoke in parables. Parables a stories that are told with meanings deeper than what they appear. The reason Jesus told parables was to teach those who had their spiritual eyes open. (Not this spiritual crap that we see nowadays, but the spirituality that is revealed by God) Those who were of the world would not understand the meaning. They would just hear a story. Those who were spiritually in-tune would be able to understand the real meaning behind Jesus’s teachings. He had to explain things from time to time as even we must do some digging nowadays, but those who were on the right track would know that there was more to the story than what met the normal eye.

This parable is about sharing the gospel. The gospel demands a response. Every time you share the gospel, a person must react to it, and they all react differently. Here is the four responses.

The Seed by the Wayside: People who hear the gospel but do not understand it. They should have questions if they do not understand, but these people are indifferent. They could care less whether they understand the gospel or not. They are too busy. They do not want to slow down, pay attention, and receive the offer that God has brought them. In a field that is plowed and cultivated this would be like throwing your seed onto the road nearby where travels could run it over, or birds could easily pick it up. There people sit in church from time to time, they are witnessed to, but they never take it in.

The Seed in Stony Places: These people hear the gospel, and they receive it with a smile. They claim to make a profession, they may even change their lives a little, but when the hard times come they throw their faith away. This could be a temporary faith situation. Say someone is in the hospital, and they are facing a pretty rough diagnosis. They hear the gospel and they believe that is their ticket out. Or if they are taking a plane ride and they need a little faith to keep them sane while they are flying, but once they touch ground they never think about Jesus, but the very next time they go back up in a plane its time to call on Him. This is temporary faith. It is not true. Often times we will see our friends have a spiritual moment in the church, maybe live a good life for a little while, and then go completely off the deep end. People make mistakes, but people with the Holy Spirit inside of them are compelled to change their ways. People who have shallow roots are blown away when life becomes difficult. In the cultivated field, this would be the rocky ground on the sides between the roads and the good soil. Places there plans can grow, but the roots cannot go very far. This is why they dry up and whither away. People who hear the gospel, like what it has to offer, but never let it sink in very far are never rooted. They may know some answers, they may go to the local church, but the gospel is not at work in their lives.

The Seed in the Thorns: These are the people who hear the gospel, understand the gospel, but they want nothing to do with it. God’s word brings people to a crossroads. Are you going to continue down the path that you are on, or are you going to follow His way. His way will call you to drop a lot of things in your life. Things that may be fun in the moment, but bring ruin in the long run. God wants you to live the happiest, healthiest, most moral life that you can and be the best person that you can be. If you follow His word, this is the person that you will become. But the seed in the thorns hears the gospel and decides that they do not want to give up their way of life. They believe that what they are pursuing is more valuable than a Christ filled life. So they choose to ignore Him. They love the world far too much to change their lives for Christ. To me this would be the worst response possible. To truly grasp the offer, but willingly reject it for the life you currently lead. In the cultivated field this is the random weed that grew alongside the plant, and ended up choking it out as they grew. You cannot have two masters. You will end up loving one, and hating the other. These people chose to love their world over Christ’s.

The Seed on Good Soil: The final response is the only positive one. This is the person who heard the gospel, loved it, accepted it, and turned their lives around. These people weighed the options, and they chose the life that God had laid out for them. They might have had questions, but they sought out the answer. Then they applied the answer to their lives. Difficult times fell upon them, but they stood firm in their faithfulness to Christ. The love of the world is not found in them. immoral opportunities for gain presented themselves, but they refused. Opportunities to feed their flesh were offered, but they denied it and chased after Christ. These people took God by the hand, and they never looked back.

This person is the only plant who’s seed grew and took root. No matter what came, it did not fall. Eventually this plant matured and it produced it’s own seed. Some produced 100 fold, some 60 fold, and some 30, but they all produced. There is absolutely no account of a Christian producing 0% fruit. If you are saved, you will have fruit. Fruit is not always seeing someone saved. Fruits can be love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Love= Do you love people? Not just your friends and you family, but people as a whole? Do you disagree with their sins, but deep down want them to be saved and live a Christ filled life? That is the measure of love

Joy= Does following God bring you joy?

Patience= Are you being very patient with those who are not treating you very kindly?

Kindness= Are you genuinely kind to people? Does you face scream “Get away from me!”? Are you a breath of fresh air, or do you suffocate people with your attitude?

Goodness= Do people revere you as good? Do people think of you as the salt of the earth, or just salty?

Faithfulness= Are you faithful to God during the tough times? No on pays attention to faithfulness while the sun is shining. How are you when things become difficult?

Gentleness= Are you meek? Lowly? Humble? Is your speech kind and soothing, inviting and calm? Or are you brash and standoffish? Do you attract people to you and to Christ with your behavior, or do you repel them?

Self-Control= Do you keep your actions in check? We have the capability through the Spirit to have the fruits mentioned above, but if we allow our flesh to win out, then we deny the spirit and quench our fruit. Self Control must be displayed if we expect to bear fruit in this flesh seeking world.

Always seek to do what is good, and what is right over what is easy and what satisfies our desire.

But this parable is about spreading the gospel. If you plant wheat, wheat will grow. If you plant and apple seed, you will get an apple tree. Pumpkin seeds yield pumpkins, corn yields corn, soybeans bring soybean… you get the point. When you are saved, someone planted the gospel seed within your heart. Sometimes it sprouts quickly, and sometimes it take a little cultivation to grow, but it eventually will grow and when it matures it will produce its own seeds. If you leave nature to itself it will still cast its seeds. Dandelions cast their seeds into the wind, fruit trees send their seeds with their fruits either through the guts of animals or as they rot on the ground, various burrs latch onto animal fur and clothing to hitch a ride to a new destination, but whatever plant it may be it produces its fruit to replicate life.

You are no different as a Christian. If you are saved, you have the story. It is your sole purpose to grow, mature, and sow your seed into this world. Know that it will not always be received. Sometimes seeds try to take root in undesirable places, and nothing will produce. But then you get that one. That one little seed that takes hold, and flourishes. Then they grow and they start sowing seeds as well. We are in it for the one. One at a time. Plant, Grow, Replicate. That is the way God intended it.