The Parable of the Sower is
found in Matthew 13:3-23; Mark 4:1-20 and Luke 8:4-15.
I will be using the
Matthew account.
At this point in our Lord’s
ministry He began speaking to the people in parables. Have you ever wondered
why? The disciples did. At first He was speaking plainly, and then all of a
sudden He starts speaking in parables. Beginning at verse ten we read,
“And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You
speak to them in parables?”
Jesus responded by saying, “… To you it has been granted to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he
will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be
taken away from him.
Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while
seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they
understand.
In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being
fulfilled, which says,
‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;
You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
For the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes,
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your
ears, because they hear.
For truly I say to you that many prophets and
righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what
you hear, and did not hear it.”
In Jesus’ first message to
the people, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) He spoke plainly, and the
people came to hear Him. After a while though, the people started coming for a
different reason. They came not so much to listen, but to be healed from
physical ailments. They were not interested in their spiritual well-being, but
were totally engrossed in their physical well-being.
The signs Jesus performed
were primarily to fulfil prophecy as proof that He, Jesus, was the prophesied
Messiah they had been waiting for. The Gospel message was the real meat, but
they wanted to nibble on the fat of life. They were more interested in the
healing of the flesh and other miracles, than the miracle of saving faith.
Therefore, to get them to think harder about what He was saying, He spoke in
parables. Those who were really interested would hear with their ears (notice
verse nine), while the others, the majority, would drift away.
Notice how Jesus’ preaching
is the exact opposite of what we see today. He chose to cull out the fat, while
most ministers today are out to fill the pews and the offering plates. Most
ministers today choose to entertain, but Jesus chose to preach the Word of the
Gospel.
Jesus spoke of the Gospel of
the kingdom of Heaven, which is what His true followers have been proclaiming
for the last two thousand years. This is the gospel of victory in Jesus Christ;
i.e. victory over sin, victory over life’s hurdles, victory over self-induced
problems, victory over death and the grave. This is God’s grace personified in
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and bestowed on all who will come to Him in
simple child-like faith, trusting Him with a repentant heart and a willing
soul.
The Gospel says we are lost
and need to be saved. It proclaims and condemns our sins, then offers
forgiveness and fellowship. It is the Good News of eternal blessings with our
Savior and Lord, and Godly comfort in a world that is no longer our own.
So Jesus spoke to them in
parables. Those who were really interested in hearing the message of Truth
would hear. The others would go on their way.
In this first parable, it is
important to understand that the four types of soil are not four different
types of people. The four different types
of soils are four different conditions of the heart, when the seed is sown.
The seed of course is referring to the Word of God.
One final note is that the
sower could be any Christian who is sowing the seeds of the Gospel. The seed
can be sown by preaching, teaching, books, articles, personal witnessing
through various means, etc. The garden is the field and the field is white unto
harvest. (John 4:35)
“Behold, the sower went out to sow;”
Beside The Road
“and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and
the birds came and ate them up.”
Jesus explains in verse
nineteen that the birds are representative of Satan, the evil one. As the
Gospel seed is sown in this heart it finds a calloused heart worn down and
uninterested in the things of God. This heart dwells upon material things and
is interested only in self (humanism). It is so calloused and self-absorbed it
could be anything from liberalistic to atheistic in its attitude.
The path is hardened.
Therefore the seed falls only on the surface and takes no root. The birds of
the air, the evil one, find the seed to be ‘easy picking.’ The ones possessing
this heart may claim to be a Christian, but the church is like a lodge or
country club to them. They may even stray off into other “isms” or cults. The
seed is rejected.
Rocky Places
“Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not
have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of
soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no
root, they withered away.”
This heart provides no soil
of any depth, and therefore the seed takes no root and withers under the hot
sun. Impulsiveness drives this heart. This heart resides in a person who may be
a church member, but emotionalism is the master. It is all show and no depth,
full of fire but no heat. It rides high on emotions, but wallows in despair
when troubles come. It is on the front row when being entertained, but would
rather be absent than sit through another ‘boring’ sermon. The seed is
rejected.
Among The Thorns
“Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up
and choked them out.”
Some try to imply or even say
that the sowing among the thorns refers to weak Christians. That simply is not
so. First of all, the type of soil is
the condition of the heart upon being presented the seed (which is the Word
of God). This is referring to another unbelieving heart, a shallow heart that
chokes out the seed. The seed is the subject matter, and it is the seed that is
being choked out.
This heart is concerned only
with the cares of this world, and is busy, busy, busy. It lives for the job,
the family, pleasures, money, bills, illness, and all else that the world
presents. The cares of the world are much more important than any spiritual
matter. This heart is restless, going from one thing to another. Therefore, the
Word, the seed, is choked out.
Notice in verse twenty two
that Jesus says ‘it’ (the Word) becomes unfruitful. He does not say the man is unfruitful. He says the seed, the Word, is unfruitful. Again, the seed is rejected.
On The Good Soil
“And others fell on good soil and yielded a crop, some
a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
This soil is receptive to the
seed when it is sown. Its responsiveness shows in the deeper, rich soil that
provides a home for the seed to take root, germinate and grow, producing a
crop.
This is the soil where we
will find different levels of Christian maturity. The seed that fell on good
soil produced a true Christian whose heart (soil) was ready for the Gospel and
accepted it.
Christians are at different
levels of Christian growth. The heart of one Christian may produce hundred fold
crops, while others maybe produce sixty or thirty, or even ten, or forty, or
seventy. The point is that not all our crops will be the same.
What is the ‘crop’ referring
to? The crop is simply the life we live as unto the Lord while upon this earth.
The seed sown beside the road, on the rocky places, and among the thorns was rejected,
and no crop of any kind was produced. Only
the seed sown on the good soil can produce a crop.
Recap
“He who has ears, let him hear.”
A heart (soil) that is
callous, impulsive or shallow will not accept the Word (seed). Only the
receptive heart (soil) will accept the Word (seed). Only the receptive heart
can and will produce a crop.
My wife and I grow vegetables
in a small, backyard garden plot in a sub-division. Compared to the farms in
the area, I can assure you our crop is very small. In our Christian lives, we
also produce a crop. For some the crop will be small. Some will produce medium crops,
and yet others will produce large crops.
Before we became a Christian,
it is entirely possible that our heart, at
the time the seed was being sown, was like the soil on the roadside, or the
rocky places, or among the thorns, or even all three, but on that day we were saved, our heart was like the good soil,
and we accepted by faith what God provided by His grace.
The heart beside the road
will be calloused and not understand. The seed will be snatched away. (Seed
rejected)
The heart on the rocky places
will impulsively reach for it, but the seed is ultimately rejected because
there is no root. (Seed rejected)
The heart among the thorns is
so wrapped up in the things of the world; it (the seed, the Word) is
unfruitful. (Seed rejected)
The heart on the good soil
hears the Word and understands it, and it (the seed, the Word) produces a crop.
(Seed accepted)
When we, as Christians, sow the
seed, let us allow God the Holy Spirit to worry about the condition of the
soil.
Conclusion
What did Jesus mean in verses
eleven and twelve when He said?
“To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. “For whoever
has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever
does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”
The seed of Truth about one’s
need for Jesus Christ is being presented. It is falling on hearts (soils) that
are calloused, worn down, uninterested, concerned about material things,
interested only in self, impulsive, emotionally controlled, shallow, wrapped up
in the cares of the world, too busy, restless, and last but not least, some
hearts will have receptive soils that call upon the Lord to be saved.
Those not receptive, have the
Truth in their grasp, but let it slip from their fingers because of the
condition of their hearts (their soil). Therefore, those who do not have (the
Truth), even that will be taken away because the heart is not receptive to the
Truth. “…whoever does not have, even what
he has shall be taken away from him.”
However, those who have
accepted the Truth will be granted even more. They will be granted to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. They will grow in Christian knowledge and
maturity as one grows from an infant to an adult. Some will produce a
hundredfold crop, some sixty, and some thirty (Matthew 13:8, 23). “For whoever has, to him more shall be
given, and he will have an abundance.”
What condition is your heart
today? Is it like the soil beside the road, or perhaps the rocky places, or
even that among the thorns, or is it a heart of good soil that is open and
ready to receive the seed of God’s Word, the Truth of the Gospel? Only you can
decide?
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
