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Matthew Chapter 13 The Sower

by Paul George  
8/08/2008 / Bible Studies

Matthew 13:1-52

The sea shore parables marked the beginning of a change in the public ministry of Jesus and His method of teaching. The change in the public ministry of Jesus begins with His invitation to the weary and heavy laden to come to Him and He will give them rest and the invitation to take on His yoke and learn from Him (Matthew 11:28-29).

The reason for the change in Jesus' method of teaching is the Pharisees' response to Jesus healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:14). Aware of the Pharisees plan to kill Him, Jesus leaves the synagogue and many followed Him and He healed them all (Matthew 12:15). From this statement by Matthew it appears those who followed Jesus when He left the synagogue were the sick, diseased, blind, mute, deaf, demon-possessed, and those who had brought those who needed the healing touch and words of Jesus.

According to Matthew's account of the sea shore parables, Jesus was in a house near the Sea of Galilee when a demon-possessed man was brought to Jesus; when Jesus healed the man the Pharisees' accused Him of using the power of Beelzebub to cast out demons. Following the accusation and Jesus' response to the accusation, His response to the scribes and Pharisees seeking a sign from Him, and the announcement of a changed relationship between Jesus and His disciples (Matthew 12:25-50) Jesus leaves the house and is sitting by the sea when a large crowd gathers on the shore. Matthew does not tell us who is among the crowd but He does give us some vital information that should enable us to understand what is happening.

In Matthew chapter eleven verse fifteen we are told Jesus withdrew from the synagogue. Jesus leaving the synagogue implies a separation from the Pharisees and the people in the synagogue. In Matthew chapter thirteen verse two Matthew tells us Jesus got into a boat. Jesus getting into the boat implies a separation from the crowd. In verse three we are told Jesus spoke many things to the crowd in parables.

Verse three of Matthew chapter thirteen marked a new and distinct method of teaching by Jesus. Prior to verse three whenever Jesus spoke to the people, He used figures of speech easily understood. Prior to verse three there is no record in Matthew's Gospel of Jesus using parables in His teaching and preaching. He used allusions and illustrations, but no parables.

Why is Jesus now using parables in His teaching? A parable, when it is left unexplained, is a riddle that cannot be understood. When the people refused to listen to what they could have understood, Jesus began to speak in riddles so that they could not understand. However, to those who believed, He explained every single detail of what He said.

When the disciples asked Jesus why He was speaking to the people in parables, He told the disciples that it has not been given to the crowd to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but it has been given to them to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are truths that have remained hidden from the foundation of the world.

Here is the good news, those who have entered into the relationship with Jesus revealed in Matthew chapter twelve verse forty-nine and fifty are given the ability to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. According to chapter thirteen and verse twelve the ability to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven is a growing process. The process begins with the sowing of the seed. Here is the bad news; those to whom the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven have been revealed what has been revealed will be taken from them.

In verse thirteen, Jesus explains why He is speaking to the crowd in parables; note what Jesus said, "seeing they don't see, and hearing, they don't hear, neither do they understand" (WEB). While this may sound like a paradox; when Jesus said seeing they do not see, He was referring to the miracles He performed that were evidence of the presence of the King and His kingdom in their midst and what they have heard Him say about the kingdom of heaven and the means for entering the kingdom of heaven.

In verse fourteen, Jesus tells the disciples the prophecy recorded in Isaiah chapter six verses nine and ten is being fulfilled.

Isaiah chapter six verses nine and ten refers to Isaiah's ministry that would result in increased hardening of the hearts of the people. What is happening during the ministry of Jesus; the same thing that happened during the ministry of Isaiah. What is happening in the twenty-first century; the same thing that happened during the ministry of Jesus.

The Parable of the Sower

Note Jesus does not begin the parable with the phrase, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to."

There is a reason why Jesus does not open this parable with the phrase, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to." Jesus is comparing Himself to a farmer who has left the farm house and gone out into the field to sow seed. We can take this to another level, we can compare the disciples to a farmer who has left the farm house and gone into the field to sow seed. The disciples have left their jobs and families to go out into the world to sow seed. We can take this to a third level; every man and woman who has been called into the ministry can be compared to a farmer who has left the farm house and gone into the field to sow seed. The seed Jesus sowed, the seed the disciples will sow, and the seed we should be sowing today is the Word of God.

In verse ten the disciples asked Jesus, why is He speaking to the crowd in parables. In His answer Jesus tells the disciples it has been given to them to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but it has not been given to the crowd on the shore. The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are truths that have been hidden from the foundation of the world. Although there may be a hint or two in the Old Testament concerning these mysteries, they were not fully revealed in the Old Testament, note what Jesus told the disciples in verse seventeen, "For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn't see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn't hear them" (WEB).

The reason why it has not been given to the crowd on the shore to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven is answered by Jesus in verse thirteen. The miracles of Jesus were the evidence necessary to prove Jesus was the Promised Messiah. The crowds and the religious leaders of Israel saw the miracles of Jesus and they ignored the evidence in the miracles that Jesus was the Messiah. They heard the words spoken by Jesus concerning the coming of the King and the kingdom and the requirements for entering the kingdom and ignored what Jesus revealed about the King and His kingdom.

Note what Jesus said in verse twelve, "whoever doesn't have, from him will be taken away even that which he has" (WEB). Here is a reference to what Jesus said in verse eleven, that it has not been given to the crowd to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven. As we already know it was not given to the crowd to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven because seeing they have not seen, and hearing they have not heard, now we are told what they have received will be taken from them.

The road side soil represents the hearer of the Word of God who is unresponsive. In the Old Testament the unresponsive to the Word of God is referred to as the stiff-necked. The stiff-necked hearer of the Word of God is not only unresponsive in his heart there is no sorrow over sins committed, no feelings of guilt, and no desire to know about the things of God. His heart is filled with evil thoughts and ungodly activities. He hates knowledge, despises wisdom, and says there is no God. There is no desire to hear the Word of God.

Jesus said; when the seed falls on the road side soil the birds of the air eat them. The birds of the air represent the activity of Satan and his demonic host.

The rocky places in the field represent those who hear the Word of God and respond to the Word of God. However, their response is superficial. There is a positive response. The Word of God is received with great joy. It is an enthusiastic response. It is an emotional response. The source of the response is the promise of joy and happiness. It is the promise you can be whatever you want to be and all you need to do is accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. However, there is something missing in the source of the response. Missing in the promise is demand to take up one's cross and follow Jesus. In the promise of joy and happiness converts are not confronted with the real source of the problems in their lives; sin. They are not confronted with the need to repent and turning from their evil and wicked ways.

What happens to those who are represented by the rocky soil? Jesus said; when the sun rises, because they have no root, they wither away. The sun represents affliction or persecution that comes into the life of the followers of Jesus and because there is no true repentance the superficial falls back into the condition he was in.

The first effects of the Word of God upon the heart of the sinner are not peace and joy, but regret and sorrow. Almost everything connected with modern evangelistic effort should produce this type of hearer. The modern trend, the singing, the preacher's appeals to the emotions, and the demand for visible and quick results, produces nothing but superficial returns. The poor deluded soul leaves with a false peace and joy that endures for a while. They come so near to the kingdom of God only to fall away.

The half-hearted is receptive and responsive but the influences of the world and the deceit of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. The lusts of other things entering in (Mark 4:9) and the pleasures of this life (Luke 8:14) are represented by the thorns.

In this parable, Jesus has told us why the sown seed can be unproductive, why the preaching of the Word does not produce a spiritual harvest in all who hear it. First there is the natural hardness of man's heart and the opposition of Satan; second, the superficiality of the flesh; third, the attractions and distractions of the world. These are the things which produce barrenness, and they are recorded for our learning and warning and what the servants of Christ can expect, and who will oppose their labors, Satan, the flesh, and the world.

Finally there is the whole-hearted, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." Note, if you will, when Jesus defined the whole-hearted, the good-ground hearer, He did not say this is he in whom a Divine work of grace has been wrought, or whose heart has been made receptive by the operation of the Holy Spirit. It is true, that this must precede, any sinner receiving the Word so that he becomes fruitful. However, Jesus is addressing human responsibility. Jesus is making known that the hearer of the Word must seek the grace to do what he must do if he is to be fruitful. To be fruitful the Word of God must be received in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with perseverance (Luke 8:15). The condition of fruitfulness is an unprejudiced mind and an open heart.

If there were only one grain of wheat left in the world today, and it was lost, the efforts of man could not reproduce it. The same holds true with the Word of God. If it were taken from us, no knowledge and wisdom of man could replace it. Then let us value, love, and. study the Word of God.

If we have learned, anything from this parable it should be the simple fact the emphasis is upon the response to the Word of God. The personality of the sower and the method of sowing are of secondary importance. A little child may drop a seed as effectively as an adult may, the wind may carry it, and accomplish as much as though an angel had planted it. Everyone, not only preachers can be a sower.

There is a great deal of rocky ground in this world. There are many thorns in each of our lives that need plucked up if there is to be more room for fruit.

Finally, there needs to be much prayer for understanding, patience, and hiding of the Word in our hearts so that we shall keep it. Some people claim it is not necessary to seek the meaning of every detail in our Lord's parables; we should be content with discovering only its general significance. This is contrary to Jesus' example. In His interpretation, He left nothing uncovered. This shows us we need to carefully study and prayerfully meditate upon every jot and title of the Word of God lest it is taken from us.

When the Jewish people rejected Jesus as their King, they also rejected the Kingdom that God had repeatedly promised He would give them. Despite the rejection, God is still holding to His promise that Israel shall one day have a Kingdom ruled by their Messiah. One of the most wonderful things about God is that we can always be sure that He will keep His promises.

Not all those professing Christians are true believers. There are people who are superficially attached to Jesus yet do not submit to His lordship. There are people who appear to be doing miraculous works for the Lord, but Jesus will tell them to depart from Him.

Will the entire world receive the Word of God and every part of the field produce fruit? Will the seed spring up and bear a universal harvest, so that not a single grain of it is lost? Jesus said the greater part of the seed produces no fruit, so that no worldwide conquests by the Gospel or the Christianizing of the world are to be expected. Nor is there any hint that, as the age progressed, there would be any change, and that later sowers would meet with greater success, or that the wayside, stony, and thorny ground hearers would cease to exist or rarely be found. Instead Jesus warns that instead of showing an increase, there would be a marked decrease; He said, which also bears fruit, and brings forth, some an hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty (verse 23). These words are too plain to be misunderstood. Look into the world, into our nation, into our cities and towns and the local churches. What do you see? The history of the last twenty centuries has witnessed the fulfillment of Christ's prediction; only a fractional percentage in any land, city or village has responded to the Gospel.

Retired pastor,Church of the Nazarene

Author of web site Exploring God's Word

www.thewordofgodonline.net

New American Standard Bible

King James Version

The World English Bible

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