“WHAT’S UP WITH THE PARABLES, JESUS?”
Matthew 13:3-23
INTRODUCTION: In verse 10 the disciples asked Jesus why he spoke to the people in parables. A parable is like an allegory or a fable-a practical story that illustrates a moral or spiritual concept. Jesus hadn’t really used parables in his teaching before now. He had used metaphors like telling his followers they were salt and light and things like that but now he goes into this mode of teaching to a fuller extent. We’re about to see why.
1) Jesus used parables to see who was serious. (11-15) on the surface it might look like Jesus didn’t want these people to understand. But that’s not the case. It wasn’t that Jesus didn’t want people to understand, he was just illustrating the unfortunate reality-some people didn’t want to understand-their hearts had become hard and they have chosen to close their eyes to the truth.
Jesus using parables may have seemed like a confusing tactic but in reality it is a useful way to teach. When we’re learning about something new it can help if it’s likened to something already familiar to us. When Jesus spoke in parables, he used things and situations that would’ve been familiar to the people he was speaking to. They may not have made the connections to the spiritual comparisons until it was further explained but when it was explained, having the illustration would’ve made it more understandable to them.
But that’s just it-did they want to know? Did they want to understand? Understanding belongs to those who want to understand. I guarantee he had their attention and interest. You typically will gain a person’s interest when you’re telling a story. And if you leave them hanging the ones who are locked-in will want to know more.
I believe that’s what Jesus was doing. He was weeding out who would be serious vs. those who weren’t. Who would come up to him later and ask, “Would you explain what you meant back there?” The ones interested would ask questions; they would gain clarification. The ones who were really disinterested would walk away like, “I have no idea what this guy’s talking about. He’s a looney; I’m outta here.”
That’s what he’s illustrating in verse 12. Jesus is saying, “For the one who has the desire to know, more knowledge and understanding will be given to him. However, for the one who doesn’t want to know, the words that he has heard will be lost.”
What about us? When we read scripture and we come across something we don’t understand are we passive about it or are we intrigued? Sometimes the interest is there but the understanding isn’t-that’s different. We’re not going to understand everything about the bible straight out of the gate. We could spend the rest of our lives studying the bible and at the end there will no doubt still be things we don’t completely grasp.
That’s one of the things that make the bible so interesting. As we progress along the way in our spiritual walk we understand things more. We can’t eat meat while we’re still a baby. But the important thing is that we maintain interest. If we get frustrated because we don’t understand something we will be tempted to put it down and walk away from it. If we are bored with the bible we will put it down and walk away from it. The bible is not boring. Some parts may be more interesting than others but the bible is far from boring.
You may be here and you’re not a follower of Jesus but you’ve read the bible a few times. You may have gotten frustrated thinking, “This might as well be written in Chinese because I don’t understand a word of it.” Or perhaps you’ve been to church a few times. And you tried listening to what the preacher was saying but all you heard was Charlie Brown’s teacher. Don’t give up; don’t plug your ears or close your eyes. Don’t harden your heart toward Jesus’ words; don’t turn off the voice of truth.
The bible can be hard to understand but if we have the desire to understand God will reveal the truth to us and help us to understand it. I encourage you to talk to me or John and we will try to help you to understand. We may even use a parable or two. Understanding the truth is open to those who want it.
2) We are privileged to know what we know. (16-17) Jesus wanted the disciples to know that they were blessed to be seeing Jesus and hearing what he was telling them. Jesus made sure they knew that the prophets and other righteous men longed for the fulfillment of prophecy but it didn’t happen in their lifetime. The disciples were the recipients of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. It’s not that the disciples were more deserving; it’s just that it all had to be done in accordance with God’s timing. The disciples were the beneficiaries of having close fellowship with the Messiah. They were privy to being told things that no one else had been told; the secret things that have been kept hidden until now.
Matt. 13:34-35, “Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.” It was quite a privilege for the disciples to have the words and explanations for things that had been hidden from the world for thousands of years.
And we have even a greater privilege because we have the written words so we can access them and study them whenever we want. Do we consider having access to the word of God a privilege? Do we really get the fact that when we open the bible we are reading the words of God? Is the bible a cherished possession of ours? You’ll see people in other countries weep for joy when they are given a bible-it is so precious to them. Here in America we don’t have that problem. The bible isn’t illegal here. The bible isn’t in short supply here-you can go to the dollar store and pick-up a bible. That’s great but that could also work against us as far as not appreciating it as much as we should. It’s a privilege to have access to the thoughts of the almighty creator of the universe.
3) What’s the condition of our soil?
• Is it hard-packed? (4, 19). When fields were plowed there would be paths in between the furloughs. This ground was hard-packed due to so much travel. So the birds could easily come and snatch up those seeds because they would be laying on the surface.
Spiritually this represents the person who hears the word but their heart is hard and therefore it does not penetrate. They don’t understand because they don’t try to understand; they dismiss it before trying to process it. And their hard-heartedness makes it easy for Satan to come and snatch it away.
What makes our soil hard-packed? Things like pride and past hurts. When I hear a truth that hits a nerve or challenges my beliefs my pride will not allow me to process it and see if it holds true; I’ll just quickly dismiss it. If I’ve been hurt in the past by what I perceive to be God letting me down or having a bad church experience then when I hear about God or church I’ll shut down and refuse to receive the seeds of truth that were shared with me.
My hard-heartedness can also be the result of sin; more specifically-my refusal to give up sin. I don’t want to hear the truth because I’m being challenged to give up my life that involves things that I don’t want to stop doing. If my soil stays hard-packed, if I allow my heart to stay hard, then Satan will always be able to steal the seeds.
• Is it shallow? (5-6, 20-21). Rocky ground does not mean it was littered with rocks; it was actually a thin layer of ground that covered a bed of limestone rock. This soil would be shallow, sometimes only a few inches deep and therefore not able to allow any deep roots to grow. It would germinate quickly but since the ground was shallow the root would not find any nourishment because it would reach the limestone so quickly. And with the heat of the sun on a malnourished plant it would soon wither and die.
Spiritually this represents the person who does receive the word, with great joy in fact. It starts to take root but there is still a hardness there that doesn’t allow the word to get very far. This can happen when we have a purely emotional response to the gospel. We hear about salvation and going to heaven and escaping hell and we are overjoyed. We hear about the blessings of God and the promises of God and we get excited and we want every bit of it. But we didn’t consider the hardships, the sufferings or the persecutions that come with being a follower of Jesus. And when they come we are blindsided. We conclude that it’s not what we thought and we say, “This isn’t what I signed up for” and we break ties and bail.
Col. 2:7 says we need to be rooted in Christ and built up in Christ; being strengthened in the faith. The effect of the word will be short-lived when our soil is shallow.
• Is it thorny? (7, 22) The thorny ground was tricky. It starts out fine, even produces plants, but over time the thorns and weeds get so big they choke the life out of the plant and it dies. This represents the person who starts out well. The word has taken root and found some nourishment and started producing results. But, over time, the healthy plant is overshadowed by the worries of life’s situations and the deceitfulness of wealth.
When worry starts taking over we are focused on the problem instead of the solution. When I get caught up in worry I believe the lie that God isn’t bigger and stronger than this situation I’m facing. And when the worries of life take over the word that was planted in me shrivels up and dies.
When I am taken captive by materialism the spiritual life in me is overpowered by the allurement of worldly things. It starts out small but in its deceitfulness it grows and grows until it completely chokes the word right out of us altogether.
Do we have the passion we once had for the things of God or has that fire dwindled? Do we find ourselves spending more and more time with hobbies and projects and work while our time of devotion and study and prayer barely exists anymore? Is our soil filled with thorns?
• Is it good? (8-9, 23) Good soil is needed to produce a good crop. Good soil is soft so the seed can sink in. Our hearts need to be soft so the word can sink in. You need to till the soil, break it up so it can be ready for planting. We need to come to a place of brokenness so we can see our need for God and be willing to receive his word.
Good soil is rich with nutrients that help the seed to germinate and grow. Things like humility, faith and desire are nutrients we need if the word is going to germinate and grow inside of us.
If our soil is good we’ll be teachable. We won’t be argumentative or resistant to the truth. We will not be combative when someone tries to speak truth into our lives. We will not ignore or choose to stay in denial about the truth.
If our soil is good the word will not only germinate and grow but it will also produce fruit. That’s how you can know if your soil is good when it produce things in your life like love, joy peace, patience kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness and self-control.
And 2nd Pet. 1:8 says that if we possess these qualities in increasing measure they will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive. It will be easier for people to accept the word we plant in them when they see the fruit of righteousness in our lives.
If our soil is good it will show. If we want to be well nourished and thriving then we need to have good, healthy soil so that the spiritual seeds can do their work in us.
