The Gospel in the Soils
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Introduction
Introduction
We are walking through a series this summer called The Gospel in the Gospels
We began this series by looking at a handful of interactions Jesus had with the people around him.
How Jesus presented the Gospel is very different than how we present the Gospel in our world.
Some of this is because He was God in the flesh. Certainly that is not something we can duplicate.
However, in His presentation of the Gospel, we see a few realities that we must consider in our own understanding of the Gospel.
The Gospel calls for Lordship
Kurios vs Doulos
If a person would not submit to Jesus as Lord, they were not a follower.
We often encourage people to make Jesus the Lord of their lives.
This is partially true, but also misleading.
Jesus is Lord. There is no making Him anything.
There is only our recognition of His Lordship and submission to that truth.
Submitting to Jesus as Lord requires a substantial amount of faith
If Jesus is Lord:
He determines your path, you don’t
He determines your identity, you don’t
He determines your value, you don’t
Our lives are not our own. They are now His and are to be submitted to Him for His glory, not ours.
Also, the person must recognize their need for a savior
This comes in two parts
First, I am a sinner
Second, He is the Savior
If a person cannot or will not acknowledge their sin, they walked away from Jesus unchanged.
They may be good people, righteous people (in the eyes of others), they may be religious people.
But they all walked away from the Gospel.
One might think we are presenting a Gospel that sounds a lot like work
But I believe what the Bible says in Ephesians
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
not by works, so that no one can boast.
But I also believe the verse immediately following this one
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
He created us to do good works.
Good as defined by God, not us.
This implies submission and Lordship
We often separate Faith and Works on opposite sides of the spectrum
They ought not be separated
Faith and Works work hand in hand
Faith initiates works.
This is all very important as we look at today’s passage.
Read Matthew 13:1-23
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.
Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.
Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:
When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.
But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Pray
Pray
Main Topic
Main Topic
This is a really interesting passage
Usually when this passage is preached, it is done by skipping that uncomfortable middle section. We read verses 1-10, then skip to verse 18 and finish the passage.
We are not going to do that today.
That middle passage presents a very important and very hard lesson about the Gospel that we need to hear.
I want to talk through this parable
The first part, then the last part.
Jesus presents us with some very important truths about the Gospel that we need to consider.
When we conclude, we will take those truths and apply them to the middle portion, as well as to the interactions Jesus had with the people in our last few weeks.
Before we dive into this passage, I want to talk about a parable
A parable is a story Jesus would tell, using everyday examples of life, then tying Spiritual truth to the story.
For us, it is great because we can see the Spiritual truth in action and it becomes visual, not just academic.
However, we must be warned that a parable has limits.
It is easy to take a parable and stretch it into conclusions the parable didn’t conclude
For example, if we were to look at today’s parable and started defining the types of fruit the plants produce and stretch into the planting methods of the farmer, we are going beyond what the parable says.
We must look at the intended purpose of the parable and play within the boundaries of truth that it shares.
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.
Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.
The context of this parable is interesting and important
In Matthew 12, Jesus is presented with a man who is possessed by a demon.
Jesus casts the demon out and the Pharisees say, “You cast the demon out with the power of Satan”
Jesus says, “Why would Satan cast out a demon? That makes no sense. It would be undoing the work he is trying to do. A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Then they said, “Well show us a sign that proves that you are of God and not of Satan.”
Jesus said, “I will only show you the sign of Jonah.”
Jonah was a prophet sent by God to a bunch of sinners.
Jonah had a really bad attitude. As you know, he was even swallowed by a big fish.
Eventually, Jonah did the bare minimum of what God asked, and he did it with a really poor attitude.
Then all of these sinners repented and restored a relationship with God.
Jonah was angry with them and with God because these people were sinners.
But what have we learned about the Gospel?
This part of the Gospel is the heart of God.
He responds to sinners who recognize their sin and wish to repent.
Jesus told the Pharisees that they would see sinners entering the Kingdom of Heaven ahead of them.
That was the sign of Jonah.
It was a condemnation that they knew exactly what He was saying.
Jesus then goes on to tell this story. A story about the heart of people who are presented with the truth.
The Parable
Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Jesus tells this story.
Everyone had to be looking at each other wondering, “Why is He saying this?”
It seems pretty clear from reading the text that not many people were understanding what Jesus was communicating in the parable.
They would have been familiar with the sowing of seeds in the fields. There were many fields around Israel.
The picture is vivid
A sower was throwing seed in his field
The sower would have a pouch slung over his shoulder and he would broadcast the seed over a range of ground.
Why would a sower throw seed on the ground
The audience would be very familiar with this idea
You plant seed in order to harvest a crop
Some of the seed lands on the path
The path was likely a compressed, packed path of dirt. They didn’t have nice concrete roads in their fields. It was all different variations of dirt.
The seed that landed on the path didn’t penetrate into the soil. It sat on top.
The birds came and it became a bird feeder!
There would be no crop produced on the path
Next, some of the seed landed on the rocky soil
The seed quickly took root There wasn’t much soil there, but the seed took root and it sprang to life quickly.
But the sun came out and the plant didn’t have a root system, so it withered and died.
Next, some of the seed landed on soil with weeds in it
The plant grew with the weeds, but the weeds stole nutrients from the plant. It grew, but it was never fruitful and did not produce a crop of anything.
Last, some of the seed landed on the good soil.
It penetrated the dirt and sprang to life.
The plant grew, matured, and produced a crop
Some of the plants produced a crop 30 times what was sown
Some of the plants produced a crop 60 times what was sown
Some of the plants produced a crop 100 times what was sown.
Now, the farmer appears to have a few enemies to his crops.
The birds
The sun & rocks
The weeds
Then Jesus said, “Let he who has ears, let him hear.”
An interesting way to end this parable.
Jesus is saying, I am telling you something, so you have to listen between the lines.
The disciples then ask, “Why do you speak in parables?”
We will get into this discussion in a minute.
First, we will look at the interpretation of the parable.
The Meaning of the Parable
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:
When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
We can now begin to put some pieces together in this puzzle.
The seed that is being sown is the message about the Kingdom of God.
Jesus was here to share that message. As he spoke, he saw the results of all of these types of soils.
The message didn’t change for anyone. The response was not the type of message or its presentation.
The difference in people’s response to the message was their hearts.
The different type of soil is representative of the condition of the heart of the hearers of the message
But before we dive too deeply into this passage, I want to make sure we do not take this parable too far in a direction it was never intended to go
This is a message about the Kingdom of God
We need to know what this is.
The Kingdom of God
There is a King in the Kingdom of God
There are people in the Kingdom of God and there are people that are not in the Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God is not forced upon us. Rather, we may choose to be a part of the Kingdom of God
Contrast to the Kingdom of this world
Here is the Good News! You and I can be a part of the Kingdom of God!
Do you know why we call that good news?
It is the Gospel
The Gospel is the good news that we can have a restored relationship with the God and creator of this world
In order to be a part of that Kingdom, Jesus has shown us:
We must have faith in Him
We must acknowledge our Sin
We must look to Him as savior
We must submit to Him as Lord or King.
Do you see how this language of Lordship parallels with the royal language of the Kingdom of God?
So when we look at a parable about the Kingdom of God, we know the Gospel will be involved.
The Gospel is the doorway to the Kingdom
And the Kingdom in this world is everywhere that Jesus is King.
Back to the passage
When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
There are those who hear the message about the Kingdom, the Gospel.
They do not understand it.
I want you to know this word “understand” is not that they are not capable
The Greek word in this usage implies that they would not even CONSIDER the message.
Their hearts are not neutral, rather they are in opposition to the Gospel. They do not want it.
They have hard hearts
If someone opposes the Gospel, will they ever find the Kingdom of God?
No. Is it because God excluded them? No.
The seed is the same seed, the Gospel is the same Gospel for all.
The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.
But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Some of the seed falls on rocky soil
This is a person who hears the message that Salvation is available for them!
This is good news!
This is much how I view the Rich Young Ruler that we studied a few weeks ago
He heard that in Jesus he could find eternal life.
He couldn’t find eternal life in the law.
He craved it. He wanted it. He needed it.
But did he follow Jesus?
No, ultimately, He rejected the Gospel and walked away sad.
The Gospel is good news! But it is a life changing and transformational message.
If you fear persecution and struggles, and give up the Gospel for peace, rather than finding peace within the Gospel, then the Gospel has not been received within you.
The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Similarly to the rocks, this person hears the message about the Kingdom of God. They don’t reject the message. In fact, they add that message to a whole bunch of other stuff in their lives.
I don’t think we can appropriately understand the weeds without understanding the Kingdom
If you want to be a part of the Kingdom, then you must submit to the King. King Jesus.
This is a person who has not submitted to the King.
They have remained submitted to the things of this world.
God doesn’t lead them. Their lives lead them.
They do not walk a life of faith. They walk a life of balance and in doing so, the Gospel never matures into submission.
God does not ask for foliage. He wants fruit.
But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
The seed falling on the good soil is the heart of someone who hears the Gospel and UNDERSTANDS it.
Remember the person who does not UNDERSTAND? What was the parallel word there?
It isn’t that this person is smarter than the other person. They don’t have an additional IQ point that enables them to understand the Gospel
They consider the Gospel and what it means for them.
After considering, they choose to step out in faith and submit Jesus the Lord of their life.
A submitted heart bears the fruit of the seed planted within it.
It does not produce what the soil wants to produce.
It produces what the seed determines for it to produce.
That seed uses the heart of the surrendered person and produces a crop for the Kingdom of God.
This is all about the condition of the soil
This is not about “How do I remove the weeds in my life?” This is not about “How do I dig up the rocks in my life?”
This is about, “Is Jesus the unquestioned Lord of your life?”
We will submit to the birds, or the rocks, or the weeds or Jesus.
We will submit to Satan, our fear of what others think, our worries and wealth, or we will submit to Jesus.
Which soil reflects the Kingdom of God?
Only one. The good soil. The surrendered heart.
Every other soil had a submission and Lordship issue.
Here is the hard truth of this passage:
If Jesus is not your King, you are not in the Kingdom.
This brings us back around to those hard lines in the middle of this passage.
Seeing the Soil in Real Life
The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
The disciples asked Jesus, “Why do you speak in parables?” “Why don’t you just speak plainly?”
Jesus says, “Because the things that are not known about the Kingdom, I am making known to you, but not to them.”
Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
This is a really important verse here.
It sounds kinda rude. But I want to break this down.
Whoever has…has what?
Think about this. All of the soils got the Gospel, this is not talking about the Gospel.
So whoever has what?
If you have it, you will get more.
If you don’t have it, you will lose even the small amount you may have.
It sounds like a riddle.
What is the variable in this parable?
It is the heart
There are those who have a heart of good soil. And there are those who do not have a heart that is willing to surrender to Jesus.
If you have the heart of good soil, what you have —A receptive heart— will grow into more places in your life where the Gospel will transform.
If you do not have a heart of good soil, even if you have the seed, even if you have the message of the Gospel, it will result in nothing. There will be no fruit. You will lose it all.
This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
Jesus gives the disciples the answer to the question.
I speak in parables because they can see, but they don’t see. They are not deaf and they can hear my words, but the do not hear or understand.
Jesus then points to a prophecy about them that says exactly that.
The parables were a point to show them that they will not understand the Gospel.
We might ask the question “Why?” at this point.
Jesus directly answers this question
For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’
Their heart, the soil, has become calloused—hard.
What do we know about the hard soil? The Gospel will never penetrate it.
They hardly hear, they have willfully closed their eyes.
Do you remember last week with the story of the blind man?
They willfully chose not to believe it was a miracle. Everything they tried to discredit the miracle backfired right in their faces. Still, with all of the evidence pointing to Jesus being exactly who he said He was, they chose not to believe.
Can we conclude that they willfully closed their eyes? yes.
If they had a different soil, a soft heart rather than a hard heart, a humility to listen and learn, rather than pride.
Humility over arrogance.
All of this implies what? The Gospel is the same message. Their hearts are the problem.
Otherwise
If your heart was not like this… you might see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, understand with your heart and be healed.
What prevented all of this?
A hard heart.
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
He says, you are blessed. Your hearts want to surrender.
I said, “Follow me” and you followed.
These guys didn’t follow perfectly. But their hearts were surrendered to Jesus. That was the baseline.
There is a fallacy that somehow the presentation model will bring a heart to surrender. The gospel is the gospel. The heart is what needs to change.
Why pray for our friends who are lost? We don’t pray that the Gospel will somehow combo up and reach their heart. We pray that their heart would change and consider the Gospel, what it means and surrender to Jesus.