Jesus Sowing In My Life - Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

 

Jesus Sowing In My Life

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

 

Introduction: Several gardeners in our church. Gardeners speak the same language when we speak of gardens. Let me give you an example, If I asked a gardiner, like Brother Harry if he was having any problems with “squash bugs” this year. He would know exactly what I was talking about and would probably fill me in for several minutes on just how much of a problem squash bugs were that year. He would also probably know that squash bugs get their name for two reasons, first because they eat up your squash plants and secondly because the best way to deal with a squash but is to get to bricks and squash them between them. They are that tough and you want revenge. Today we will be looking at Matthew 13 and the parable of the Sower. Jesus used parables in the way gardeners talk about gardening or mechanics talk about cars, or hunters talk about guns. He was speaking the truth in the same language as those who were listening to Him. When he talked of sowing the seed they didn’t need any explanations they knew exactly what He was talking about.

Background

So, today we will listen as the Lord tells this, one of His most famous parables in Matthew 13. The same parable is also found in Mark 4 and Luke 8. This teaching takes place in the 2nd year of Jesus public ministry. The ministry of Christ while He was on the earth can be seen in three stages, that roughly correspond with the years he preached and ministered. The first year is the year of obscurity or preparation, the 2nd the year of popularity and the 3rd  the year of opposition. The Parable of the Sower takes place during the 2nd year at the beginning of the year of popularity. Jesus would have been about 32 years old as he preached this message and his disciples probably younger.

The parable of the Sower is part of a large group of parables taught that day and Jesus taught them just after the scribes and Pharisees had accused Jesus of doing miracles by the power of Satan in Matthew 12:22-24 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Then later that same day perhaps they asked Him for a sign in Matthew 12:38-39 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

Jesus condemns them for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which cannot be forgiven and then he also condemns those seeking a sign, telling them they are evil and adulterous generation. Now blasphemy against the Holy Spirit isn’t possible today, the so called unpardonable sin. It’s not possible because Jesus is not on the earth doing the miracles that only He could do, and the Pharisees are not here seeing those miracles, know that they are being done by the power of the Spirit of God and then contributing them to Satan. That is unforgiveable, but its not possible today as those people and events are not taking place today. The second condemnation Jesus pronounced that day, is not only possible it is even more widespread today than it was back in Jesus time upon the earth. We walk by faith not by sight, God’s word says. If you seek after signs and miracles to believe, then Jesus says that is evil and adulterous. Instead of giving them a sign, on the day we are talking about, Jesus gave them parables. Isn’t that interesting.  

Matthew 13:3 And he spake many things unto them in parables…

Of all the ways and styles of teaching in the Bible, Jesus used parables more than any other manner of speech to teach truth to his disciple and to separate the believers from the pretenders.

When the disciples asked Jesus why he spoke to the crowds in parables, he told them in, Matthew 13:10-17 Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

How did a parable separate disciples and seekers from pretenders and hypocrites? It came down to this simple act, if you heard a parable and did not understand it, as most people then and now would not, then a true disciple would go to the Lord and seek understanding. Those who were only pretenders would not take the time to understand or they would walk away. Seeking the Lord and His truth is what makes you a disciple. In the same way that simply hearing a sermon does not make you a child of God.  

Disciples spend as much time with the Lord as they can and they are always seeking answers from and about God’s word. Pretenders and pew fillers just go through the motions.

The parable of the Sower or the parable of the Soil

Matthew 13:3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:  6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:  8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.  9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 

Wayside Soil - Matthew 13:3-4

 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

What Is A Parable?

Before we can grasp the meaning of the Lord’s parable in Matthew 13, we need to understand what a parable is.

The parable was a very familiar teaching device in Jesus’ day. He did not invent it, but he so perfected it that no one else but Jesus comes to mind when we talk about parables. 

AT Robertson’s New Testament Word Pictures tells us that the parable is a transliteration of the Greek word, paraballô. It means to place alongside for measurement or comparison like a yardstick. It is an objective illustration of spiritual or moral truth.

A simpler definition is “A parable is an earthly story that tells heavenly truth.”

Matthew 13 contains the largest collection of Jesus parables and perhaps His most famous, the Sower and the Seed. It may be that more people in the world have heard the parable of the Prodigal Son but both stand out as true masterpieces of literature and examples of parables. The Sower and the Seed has the more classic form of a parable while the Prodigal Son, with its emotional relationship of the son to his father is more in a story form.

Rules For Interpreting A Parable: Now along with a definition of a parable we need to know the rules for interpreting them.

Rule 1: Never make a parable walk on all fours. A parable is meant to teach only one point, one truth, don’t get lost in the details.

Rule 2: Interpret according to context. Who is speaking, why, who is the audience, what is the time period.

Rule 3: Interpret according to proper time frame. Is this a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven, the church age, the second coming or a parable teaching a general truth.

The main point, the central truth, of Matthew 13:1-9 is not who is saved or not saved but the kinds of reception in people’s hearts to the Word of God, to truth to the Gospel during the church age. It is to prepare the disciples, then and us now, of what to expect doing our work for the Kingdom of God.

Jesus began with the wayside soil or heart.

Wayside Soil

Matthew 13:4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

He explained the parable to the disciples in Matthew 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

 “Wayside soil” is the ground that has been compressed and hardened by the walking to and from in the field.

Because of the hard soil the seed falling on it cannot penetrate and take root. Jesus said, the wicked one comes and snatches it away.

For us wayside soil is a description of a wayside soul.

Wayside Soul

A wayside soul or heart is one that has been compressed and hardened by the busyness and stress of life. It has been compacted by circumstances, difficulties or the pain and suffering that come with living in a sin filled world under control of Satan. When this soul hears the Gospel, the Word or experiences the kindness of God’s touch it does not respond.

These hearts cannot see how the Word of God can have any affect upon their life's situation, their life is too hard to be fixed by simplistic principles of an ancient book or by the story of a man who lived thousands of years ago.

The stresses of job, family, finances, troubles result in a life that won’t let God’s Word penetrate to their heart. It can’t begin to root and then Satan like an evil black crow swoops in and snatches away the seed.

The man who asked Christ how to earn eternal life

Jesus encountered a wayside heart in Mark 10: 21-22 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

What a terrible, eternal sadness, to know that Jesus loved him, but his possessions had hardened his heart and even the love of Jesus could not penetrate that hardness.

Transition:

The first soil, or first heart is hardened by the stress of life and the sin of this world. The truth of the Gospel cannot penetrate and then Satan makes sure it is soon snatched away. Let’s move on, to the Stony soil, and its not what you and I think of as stony or rocky ground.

Stony Soil - Matthew 13:5-6

Matthew 13:5-6 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

Matthew 13:20-21
 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Stony Soil

The sower, who is Jesus, broadcasts the good news. The word broadcast is now associated with radio, TV and shows on the internet, but it comes from the way seed was sown in ancient days. A farmer would plant his field in wheat or barley by walking through that field with a bag tied round his shoulder, take a handful of seeds and “broad cast” throw them widely, broadly out onto the soil of the field.

 When the truth, the gospel, is broadcast in this second example, it falls on “stony places.” This is shallow soil that has a rocky ledge underneath that fertile soil on top. The seeds that fall in this soil, spring up quickly before the other seeds have germinated, because the sun is heating the rock underneath this portion of the field. As Jesus says “they anon,” at once, immediately, with joy they accept the truth.

But Jesus says it is not what it seems because the truth can’t take root in this heart. And because there is no deep root, when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by they fall away. The phrase by and by is actually one word and it is the same word euthys which was translated anon, at once, earlier. When trouble comes then these hearts, these people immediately fall away, just as fast as they received the word it withers away.

Stony Soul

This is a person’s heart with no depth and without that depth the roots of the word of God cannot grow. When the disciples then, and you and I today, spread the truth of Jesus Christ, we will encounter people just like this, who jump at the first mention of salvation, or forgiveness, or fellowship with a church. Today there are people responding to Christian Praise concerts with a little bit of the Bible thrown in so they can call it church. There are so called churches in our area that feature the Bible as told by Star Wars or Church with a rodeo arena on the side. People get excited but there is no depth in their life for the truth to take deep root.

This person seems to immediately and joyfully accept Christ, but they won’t grow or mature as disciples. They may very well be saved, I hope and pray that they are, but if they are, then their relationship with the Lord is stunted and shallow. It is weak and a weak connect to Christ will not get through the difficult, tough times that come in the lives of a disciple of Jesus.

These are people who don't care to go deep into God’s Word. They refuse to be challenged. They avoid risk. They avoid stepping out in real faith upon God. They are truly the definition of a nominal Christians, Christians in name only. My close friend Larry Jones used to call them “professing Christians but functioning Atheists.” They say they are believers but they live like moral atheists.

The word of truth, which begins with the Gospel, by its very nature is meant to take root in us and thereby change us.

Listen to Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:16-19  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.

You don’t get to grow to that stage of Christian maturity, without a commitment to the deep things of God and His Word. This is the purpose of the truth of God, to take root in my heart, to grow downward and outward. The Gospel is planted in us that we would grow in the love and knowledge of Jesus.

The Stony Heart of Demas - 2 Timothy 4:10

Paul writes to Timothy and says, Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica;

Can you imagine over the last 2000 years every time someone reads 2 Timothy they read of the weak, shallow, unfaithful Demas, who forsook Paul and chose the world? Was Demas saved? I don’t know and neither do you, we can’t tell from this passage, but we can tell that in this instance Demas had no depth and he withered when Paul and the Lord needed him. We may think, “I’m sure glad Paul didn’t write that about me.” But how sobering to realize that our deeds are recorded in heaven, and we will be rewarded or suffer loss according to what we have done. According to how deep the Gospel took root and grew in us.

There are 2 heart soils left, thorny and fertile.

Thorny Soil - Matthew 13:7, 22

Matthew 13:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

Matthew 13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

Thorny Soil

Thorny soil is soil that is on the fringe of the field, away from the center of the field and the working of the sower. Because it is in the field, it is fertile soil, but because it is on the outer portion of the field it also crowded with weeds and thorns so that it cannot bring forth fruit. The truth that falls there is starved and stunted by the weeds that crowd it out.

Thorny Soul

These are hearts away from the care and protection of God's will and the fellowship of the Lord’s church.

Thorny hearts are fond of the lushness and variety of the world. They don't wish to live the strict, strait and narrow life. They believe they can stay at the edges of Christianity and have a foot or, in this case, a root in both worlds.

Yet by allowing the weeds of the world to grow in their hearts, the word of God, the truth is choked out or stunted, unable to bring forth fruit.

John the last apostle wrote in his epistle 1 John 2:14-16 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever

Samson's Life

To me, Samson was an example of a thorny soil heart. I believe he was God's own but so in love with the world’s pleasures and sin that God had to let the world strip and destroy him before he cried out, Judges 16:28 “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God.”

What a terrible missed opportunity. To have the potential to be a great hero for God but instead wind up being “what could have been.” So also are those who stay of the fringes of their relationship with God. What could have been if only they would have been closer to the sower.

The Lord saved the best till last. It is time for the good soil and just look at what Jesus say can happen in the good soil.

Good Soil - Matthew 13:8, 23

Matthew 13:8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Matthew 13:23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Good Soil

This is the rich, fertile soil of the heart that has been lovingly worked deeply and thereby enriched by the care and attention of the sower. This is good soil because it has been turned over, plowed deep and worked often.

Now when the seeds of truth are planted in this rich earth, the purpose of our creation and the purpose of our salvation can take place. The plant that grows from the good soil, the good deeply worked heart, brings forth and abundance of fruit. Jesus says thirty times, or sixty times or even 100 times over.

Good Soul

This soul, this heart is one that is worked by the master husbandman, the master gardener. This heart is plowed deeply by God’s Word and it will bear the marks of the master’s furrow, but unlike the heart hardened by the world and its sin, it is broken-up not todden down. It then receives the Word and in the Word is life. Life for today and life eternal.

Worked by the Father This is very much like what Jesus said in his final talk with the disciple before He was crucified. Look in John 15:1-2 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

This purged, trimmed, worked heart draws its nourishment through Jesus Christ, the living Word of God.

Nourished by the Jesus the Word John 15:4-6 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered;..

This good heart seeks the refreshing of the Holy Spirit. As water is to the soil so the Holy Spirit of God is to our thirsty soul.

Watered by the Spirit John 16:13-14 when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine and shall shew it unto you.

Conclusion

The Lesson of the Sower and the Seed

The parable of the sower speaks not so much of who is lost or saved as it does of our hearts and our willingness to be touched and used of God. We as disciple must understand that we will encounter all these times of heart soils as we act in the authority of the Great Sower Jesus Christ through the Great Commission sew the see and make disciples. Don’t be discouraged by the hard hearts, don’t feel betrayed by the stony hearts, don’t feel forsaken by the thorny hearts because when the seed of the Gospel finds one good heart. It is worth it all. Nor is it our calling to judge the hearts around us. Our calling is to broad cast the truth. Shout out the Gospel or whisper to one with a broken heart. Jesus has called us to step into the field of the world and there to spread the glorious goodness of the Gospel. Let’s do it. Broadcast on Facebook, Twitter or any other channel of communication. Broadcast it to our new movers. Broadcast it those who come to Trunk or Treat, or Resurrection Sunday or our Christmas Services. Broadcast it with a tract, a pen or a prayer for those hurting. Step into the field and spread the truth of God’s Word. That is what this parable is about.

But there is also another lesson here because Jesus said “he who has an ear let him hear.” This parable also applies to us any individual who hears it, as well a church.

This parable makes us look inside as ask, “What kind of soil is my heart? Has it been made hard by sin, sorrow or stress of this world? Have I been hurt by someone or something and my heart is now hardened against the word of God? Or is my heart shallow, and I won’t let the word take root and grow in me?  Or is my heart crowded with the weeds of this world and possessions and the pleasures are distracting me from the truth of God? 

The only thing that can change our hard hearts, our shallow lives and our choked spirits is for them to be broken-up by the Sower, Jesus Christ. Am I willing to let Him work in my heart?

The Prodigal Son’s Heart.

I mentioned that the two best known parable of the Lord are the sower and the Prodigal son and as I thought about the parable of the Sower and its different hearts. The thought struck me that the prodigal son is an example of one of the hearts that needed to be turned over and broken so that he would return to the love of his father. You remember the story.

Here is the return of the son after his hard heart has been broken.

Luke 15:20-24 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.

If you’re here today and your heart is hard, or your life crowded by the world’s distraction or you just know its time to take deeper root in your relationship with God then know He is watching and waiting, willing to forgive and to bless you with truth that you may have a fruitful and full life now and eternal life when this one is ended.