Lesson 13 - Matt. 13:1-9, 18-23 - JESUS TEACHES IN PARABLES
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Matt. 12:38-45, we covered an episode in Jesus' ongoing conflict with the Pharisees, when after He had just completed performing two miracles, the Pharisees insisted that He perform a sign. We learned that a 'sign' is a miraculous event that displays a divine symbol or sign of a future event. Jesus refused, saying, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign"(12:38), which was a negative term describing all the unbelieving Jews of Israel and their Pharisee and scribe agitators who refused to believe Jesus' message. Instead, He told them to look at the sign of Jonah, saying that just as Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the great fish, "so will the Son of man spend three days and nights in the heart of the earth." (12:40), which was the first reference to His forthcoming death in Matthew's gospel. He told them that the evil Ninevites of old would condemn "this generation" at the judgment, because they had repented in response to Jonah's preaching while the people of Israel had not (12:41). Jesus then spoke a parabolically (though it's not listed as one of the 23 parables appearing in Matthew) about a demon returning to a house-a metaphor for Israel-only to find it completely unoccupied because it contained no superior power-a metaphor for the Spirit of God. Since it was such an ideal place, the demon invited seven more demons more evil than itself to inhabit the house with it. Jesus' main point in this these passages is that being neutral toward him is just as dangerous as complete unbelief. There's no middle ground-a person either accepts Jesus for who He claims to be or rejects Him. The "adulterous generation" of Jews in Jesus' time had heard His words and witnessed His many miracles, yet they obstinately refused to believe He was the Messiah. And even today there are people who have knowledge of Jesus, many of whom even attend church and go through the motions, but that isn't enough to save them. You must believe that Jesus is who He claims to be-the Son of God who died on a cross for your sins-and accept Him by faith alone as your Lord and Savior.
This week will be our final lesson this quarter in Matthew's gospel. Today's text, in Matt 13:1-9, 18-23, will focus the on the first of 23 of Jesus' teaching parables in Matthew. This particular parable is found in all three synoptic gospels. Mark's version (Mark 4:3-8) was the first to be written, and scholars think it's likely that both Matthew and Luke had access to Mark's version when they penned their own versions. Chapters 12 and 13 emphasize two dominant themes: (1) Jesus as the Son of God (which He is) and (2) The opposition of Jesus' enemies, who see Him as a threat to their way of life and are determined to see Him killed.
Read Matt. 13:2-2 - LARGE CROWDS GATHERED TO HIM
NOTE: Starting in Chapter 13, Jesus begins to speak in parables that only His disciples can understand. Remember that 'disciples' were not just the 12, but comprised a larger group who believed in Jesus and continued to follow him from place to place during His ministry. Jesus main purpose for teaching them parables was to help these disciples m to better comprehend events as they unfolded and to help prepare them not be discouraged by rejection.
Read Matt. 13:1-12 - LARGE CROWDS GATHER TO HIM
1 That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. 2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.
v. 1: "That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea." - "That day" tells us that this is still the same day as the events reported in Chapter 12. And "the sea" is the Sea of Galilee, which was a very prominent region in Jesus' earthly ministry.
v. 2: "And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach." Although "large crowds" gathered to hear Jesus, the text does not reveal anything about their relationship to Him. Jesus got in a boat, just offshore so the people could better hear him. Sitting down was the traditional posture of a Jewish teacher.
Read Matt. 13:3-9 - THE SOWER WENT OUT TO SOW
3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 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. 6 But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear."
v. 3a: "And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying," - The word "parable" is a compound word formed by the Greek preposition para (alongside of) and the verb ballein (to place or throw something). They are stories about ordinary things that are designed to illustrate and explain certain spiritual truths. While Jesus doesn't interpret the parable for the crowd, He will explain their meaning to His disciples later.
v. 3b: "Behold, the sower went out to sow;" - This is a very ordinary thing that farmers do.
v. 4: "and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up." - Seed was usually broadcast by hand as the sower walked through the field. The fields were small by today's standards, and the sowing was imprecise, so that some seeds would inevitably land in unproductive areas. It was completely natural that the birds, seeing many seeds scattered beside the hard-packed road, would rush in to speedily to pluck up their ration.
v. 5: "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. - Much of the land in Palestine consisted of a thin layers of soil over a rocky, limestone base. The rocks in shallow spots would absorb heat during the day then release it during the night, causing the seeds near them to germinate very rapidly.
v. 6: "But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away." - While the rocky soil had enough fertility to initiate seed growth, it wasn't enough to sustain the seeding once it began to grow. Once the hot sun rose high in the sky, the young plant's immature roots would suffer from a lack of moisture, and it would rapidly wither away and die.
v. 7: "Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out." - The borders of the field would typically be infested with thorns and other weeds. Farmers will tell you that weeds are one of the greatest threats to a good crop. In this example, the weed seeds would blow onto the freshly plowed ground invisible to the sower but ready to sprout and rapidly stifle the good seed. Weeds choke out good plants, not by growing up to smother them, but by robbing them of the water and nutrients they need to survive. They crop up like a silent enemy working behind the scenes.
v. 8: "And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." - The good seed yielded an amazingly bountiful crop. Bible historians say that a typical first-century harvest would normally have been seven-fold to ten-fold, so that a thirty to hundred-fold harvest would be utterly incredible-exceeding all expetations.
v. 9: "He who has ears, let him hear." - This was a common figure of speech that Jesus used when anything not easily understood was being said. We might translate it to say: You need to get rid of any distractions and pay very close attention to my words so you can understand what they mean.
Synopsis of skipped verses 10-17: After concluding the first section, Jesus' disciples came up to Him and asked why He was speaking in parables. We might say something like "Teacher, why are you talking in riddles? We don't get it." First, we need to remember that Jesus has been dealing with wide-spread rejection-despite His message and His miracles, the people, in general, refuse to accept Him as their Messiah king. In His explanation, Jesus told His disciples that they would be permitted to know "the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" (13:10), whereas, the crowds who had rejected Him would not. A 'mystery' is the revelation of a spiritual truth previously been hidden by God. The very fact that the 'kingdom' would have an interim period has been hidden until now. The parables were designed to describe the features of the kingdom during time when its king (Jesus) would be absent from them. In our modern vernacular, we call this 'the church age.' From prophecy we know that Jesus will return to earth to judge His enemies and to establish His kingdom (Rev. 19:11-21).
Read Matt. 13:18-23 - THE SOWER EXPLAINED
18 "Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20 The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."
v. 18: "Hear then the parable of the sower." - Here, Jesus gives the parable a title. Since Mark's gospel was the primary source for this parable, which had no title, it's likely that Matthew added it. The unbelieving crowds couldn't understand it, but Jesus will reveal the mystery to His disciples.
NOTE: The four soil types into which the seed was sown represented four differing types of reception people gave to Jesus' preaching about the kingdom; and these differing levels of reception have continued all the up to the present age.
v. 19a: "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it," - Jesus now compares the 'seed' to the "word of the kingdom." - Jesus uses words forcefully in His ministry, and commands His disciples to do likewise (and it includes us as well). Words, like seeds, seem like small things, but there is power hidden in them. In the same way that a growing seed can sometimes crack a rock, the word of God can fundamentally transform lives.
v. 19b: "the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart." - Even though the seed of God's Word is sewn in one's heart, it sometime fails to germinate because the person in whom it was sewn, like hard soil, failed to understand it. This failure left the seed (or word) open to Satan, who will quickly darken it-snatch it away-before there was any attempt to understand it.
v. 19c: "This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road." - This refers to first seeds sewn in the hard soil beside the road that the birds came quickly and snatched up.
v. 20: "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;" - The second type of seed, sewn on the "rocky places," represented people whose initial response was enthusiastic but not adequately rooted in the Word, so that they eventually withered away and died.
v. 21: "yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away." - This describes new believers (or maybe just new visitors) who come into the church with great joy and eagerness to learn and serve, but once they realize the true cost of discipleship, they whither and fall away. All of us have seen this happen, yes? And whether or not they were truly saved in first place is open to question.
v. 22: "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. " - This is the third seed, sewn among the "thorns" and weeds. This type of soil will yield nothing because before the seed can germinate, it's completely choked-out by the concerns of the world and it attractions. They are totally focused on the present life rather than the life to come.
v. 23: "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." - We might refer to fourth type, the "good soil," as the bottom line-what truly makes our efforts to spread the gospel worthwhile. Yes, we Christians have frequently wasted our breath trying to sew the seeds of Jesus' message on hard, rocky, and weed-infested ground. Yes, much of our efforts will never amount to anything. However, those wasted efforts really don't matter, because those who hear the Word and take it into their hearts and continue too live by it will go on produce an abundant harvest, "some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." Just as Christians receive various types of spiritual gifts, this verse simply explains that there are various levels of fruitfulness among those who seek to save others.
APPLICATION-Sowing and Reaping
All Christians are expected to sow the seed of God's word. Yet, while doing this, we need to be prepared for mixed results: Some, like the hard soil, will reject it. Some, like the rocky soil, will eagerly accept it at first only to fall away later. And some, like the good soil, will accept it, then begin to bear fruit, and become sowers of the word themselves-one seed becoming many-fold. While our job is to sow the seed freely and widely, it's God's job to make the seed germinate and prosper. We can't convince people that they need Jesus on an intellectual level. We must depend upon God to prepare their hearts.
