PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM – THE FIRST - THE SOWER OR RATHER THE SOIL – Part 1 of 7
THE INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES
We are going to study the seven parables Jesus spoke to the people. Matthew states the setting for these – {{Matthew 13:1-2 “On that day Jesus WENT OUT OF THE HOUSE and was sitting by the sea, and great multitudes gathered to Him so that He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole multitude was standing on the beach.”}}
It appears that the first 4 parables were spoken to the multitude with Jesus in the boat so He could address them. After those 4 He went again into the house – {{Matthew 13:36 Then He left the multitudes and WENT INTO THE HOUSE and His disciples came to Him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”}} The last three parables are special and in a different class, though still belonging to the parables of the Kingdom.
Matthew is the only Gospel to use the terms “the Kingdom of Heaven,” and “the Gospel of the Kingdom.” Matthew is the Gospel of the King. MARK is the Gospel of the Servant. LUKE is the Gospel of the Son of Man and John is the Gospel of the Son of God (and God the Son).
Matthew presents Jesus as the King of the Jews and is a very Jewish Gospel. We must recognise that. It is the Holy Spirit’s direction. That is why you have the teaching on the end of the age and the Jewish saints in the Tribulation, and the Second Coming, all that in Chapters 24 and 25. We do more on that later when we present the last three parables sometime in the future, God willing.
As Matthew is writing his Gospel with a Jewish outlook it is fitting that all seven parables are covered since they outline the prophetic timeframe in operation throughout this age. The Jews are vitally interconnected with God’s timetable, so it is fitting that these parables, with associated teachings, be presented in his gospel in their completion. Jesus is spelling out the history of this age from the sowing of the gospel seed in the beginning to certain of the events that are to be situated at the ending (consummation) of the age.
Luke is presenting his gospel to the members of the church as a Gentile, so divine inspiration led him not to include any of the other six parables. He features the Sower because the truth extracted from it is applicable to the preaching of the word in every age and generation. It applied in Noah’s time, in Elijah’s time; true also for Jesus, Paul, our time, and in the coming Great Tribulation preaching. This parable therefore is presented as the great discernment into all gospel preaching and the sum of resultant responses.
THE FIRST OF THESE KINGDOM PARABLES – THE SOWER
There is a most important reason why this parable stands as the first one, because it lays down principles for the entire preaching of God’s message, both in the Church age and in the seven year Tribulation. The remaining 6 parables would be disjoint if not connected with the Sower.
The scripture for the Sower is this – {{Matthew 13:3-4 “He spoke many things to them in parables saying, “Behold, THE SOWER WENT OUT TO SOW, and as he sowed, some seeds FELL BESIDE THE ROAD, and the birds came and ate them up.”}}
{{Matthew 13:5-6 “Others FELL UPON 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.”}}
{{Matthew 13:7 “Others FELL AMONG THE THORNS and the thorns came up and choked them out,”}}
{{Matthew 13:8-9 “and others FELL ON THE GOOD SOIL and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”}}
The sketches of sowers done by illustrators are not far off the mark of historical fact. All sowing was done by hand, the seed being in a bag attached to the sower or in a container he carried. There was an art in being able to broadcast the seed correctly so it fell evenly distributed with all the ground being covered properly. The sower had to sow at the PREMIUM TIME, i.e. The soil was properly prepared and the expectation of the first rains was at hand.
His seed had to be of the BEST QUALITY. There are parts of the world where the best of the harvest is eaten and the inferior seed is retained for next year’s planting. The sower in the parable operates on a different principle. He was no one in particular, no famous person, no chief city personality, just a person gifted in that area and skilled through experience.
Verse 4 onwards. Then the Lord mentioned THE PLACES where the broadcast seed finished. FIRSTLY a quantity ended up on the road or beside it. This walkway was well used, the surface as hard as rock, dusty and dry. The consequence was inevitable - the seed was ground up as sandal after sandal masticated it, or it became a delightful gift for the pigeons, sparrows and other birds, and eagerly devoured.
SECONDLY some seeds finished up in rocky soil. The surface looked good but appearances are deceptive. The soil was very shallow and the base was rock. Matthew says it had no depth and Luke says it had no moisture. Depthless soil never has any moisture-retention qualities so both descriptions complement each other. The seed germinated quickly because it had added heat, being on a rocky base, but the roots found no sustenance, nowhere to go, so in the heat of the sun it withered away unable to tap into any source of moisture.
THIRDLY another batch of seed fell into the most promising ground but the sower was unaware that lurking in that place was a diversity of thorns, prickle plants, thistles, imitation wheat, or burrs. Everything grew up together and as demands on growing space increased the thorns gained the ascendency resulting in a fruitless harvest as all potential was smothered and choked.
FOURTHLY some seed (most we hope) landed in the well-prepared soil and finding conditions correct with depth, moisture and the absence of weeds it grew up into a pleasing crop. The yield was so satisfying that there was a multiply factor of 30, 60 and 100 times. Luke uses only one hundredfold and that is what positive expectation would be wanting. Well done thou good and faithful sower!
NOW FOR THE DEEPER INSIGHT
That was how the crowd heard the parable and individual imaginations would have aided in individual interpretation and understanding. Jesus called out to them, {{“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”}} They had heard Him all right: physically - He demands a level of comprehension, but that understanding is a spiritual one, and that was the problem. The natural man shuns eternal realities and resists any attempts by the Holy Spirit to turn to God.
Comprehension requires positive action and the action needed from them was OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD demonstrated in the production of much fruit and increase in righteousness even to a hundredfold. There is plenty of hearing in the world, plenty of ear-flapping, but in spiritual things, little understanding.
Jesus knew His word was largely dismissed, trampled down along the pathways of life. It was misconstrued because ears were directed to other sources. Very few responded and He had already made reference to that – {{Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those who enter by it, for the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it.”}}
Not stealing anything from the next parable yet, the following verse covers that one (and the sower as well) – {{Matthew 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”}}
THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN – VERSES 9-11
{{Matthew 13:9-11 “He who has ears, let him hear.” The disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” and He answered and said to them, “To you it has been granted to know THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, but to them it has not been granted”}}
VERSES 9 – 10
Curiosity must have gripped the disciples for later they questioned Jesus about the parable’s meaning. I think it is clear that the disciples did not understand the meaning of the Sower parable and asked why Jesus spoke to THE CROWD in parables (verse 19), but what they really wanted to know was why the Lord spoke to THE DISCIPLES as well, in parables. Luke states it more clearly – {{Luke 8:10 and He said, “To you it has been granted to know THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD, but to the rest it is in parables in order that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.”}}
This parable is only one of two that evoked such a response from them and they have become the only parables with attached interpretations. The other is the Tares, the second of the Kingdom parables. Were they really interested in such a homely story or was this opportunity taken so the universal Church could learn how to present the gospel better to the lost? It was all under the control of the Holy Spirit who leads in a magnificent way.
The reply given in verse 10/11 delineates the hearers into two groups. This line of demarcation separates the disciples from all the rest. In fact it continues to separate the believers from the lost who are not interested in such things. His own were to be the ones who understood what the Lord was saying, granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. We don’t know how the full revelation of this was accomplished other than in the two recorded expositions - the Sower and the Tares - but perhaps the Lord taught them at another time or enlightenment came upon them after the Holy Spirit had been given.
As for the general populace they would not have the parables explained, and indeed it would seem, no parable whatever would be explained to them. The teachings, and applications underlying them would remain a mystery so they would not see or understand. Here we have a difficulty. The ending of verse 11 is rather mean on face value, but Jesus never turned away a genuine request from one who was needy or wanted to know more. What seems a denial of fairness to the crowd must not be considered as such. When faced with difficulties like this, the passage must be taken in context and aligned with other passages so a lopsided appreciation does not develop.
Firstly, in full focus must be the heart of the Lord. These following verse sections or summaries will help clarify that point.
• • He is not willing that any should perish. (John 3:16).
• • {{Luke 19:10 “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”}}
• • God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son ... that whosoever ... may not perish. BUT HIS INVITATION TO THE WORLD IS THIS ONE – {{John 5:40 “and you are unwilling to come to Me that you may have life.”}} AND this one too – (Matthew 11:28-30).
THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE PARABLE AND THE EXPLANATION
{{Matthew 13:11-15 and He answered and said to them, “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 shall more be given and he shall 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, and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive, for THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them,’}}
Having established the fact that God’s love reaches to all, what then does it mean, {{“seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand?”}} This expression, and similar suggestions of it is common in the Old Testament prophets.
Jesus is revealing the true blindness and deafness that was prevalent in the nation. Eyes they had, but they could not see; ears they had, but they could not hear. And their hearts were dull also. Physical eyes see but spiritual eyes don’t perceive. Physical ears hear but spiritual ears can’t comprehend. The hearts of the crowd are so set they can not be turned from their irresolute condition. They will observe His miracles and hear His messages but they won’t see or hear, i.e. they won’t see the Man or the message behind what they see or hear. The evidence of God is before them in Person, but they just can not see it. They are spiritually blind as they live in spiritual darkness.
Matthew quotes a prophecy from Isaiah as a record against the people and declares its fulfillment: {{Matthew 13:14-15 And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, “You will keep on hearing but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing but will not perceive; for the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them.”}}
This we can’t miss! What is significant in those verses is what Jesus said about the attitude of the people. Passively it can be said that the people’s ears and the people’s eyes have become undiscerning, BUT what Jesus said is that actively, the people HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES. That is a deliberate choice, a willful rejection of the truth and of the message of the truth.
This is the problem with all humankind. It is not a matter that they can’t hear or have little interest in hearing – they DON’T WANT to hear. They rebel against it. In our generation people become hateful if the gospel is presented to them. Such is the power of wickedness in our days. There is a growing hatred of God and this can be shown in the hatred and persecution of God’s children. It is very prevalent in my nation, especially from the Federal Government.
The Lord’s preaching with its striving, challenge and pleading fell on sightless eyes and deaf ears and had about as much impact with the people as Isaiah’s had in his day. (Isaiah 6:9-10). Isaiah’s message to them was to keep listening and keep looking but it would eventually bring insensitive hearts, dull ears and dim eyes because the word of God will either break up the hard heart, or render it harder. They are the only two options. Neutrality is not a factor. People claim neutrality but in fact they have sided one way or the other. Those who claim they have an open mind to religion, are not with Christ, so they are against Him. Jesus stated, {{Luke 11:23 “HE WHO IS NOT WITH ME IS AGAINST ME; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.”}}
That will end Part 1 of the Parable of the Sower. It continues in the next message.
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