In our last two studies, we saw how the religious leaders, most
of the people, and even His own family were rejecting Jesus’ credentials as the
Messiah. Matthew presents chapter 12 as
a major turning point in His ministry.
From this point on, He begins to use parables when preaching to the
crowds but to His disciples He explains Himself more fully. Our pericope at this point consists of the
first of many parables, the parable of the sower—sometimes called the parable
of the four soils.
What do we mean by a “parable?” They are short stories from everyday life
used to illustrate spiritual truths.
Since Jesus actually explains the meaning of the parable of the sower,
we will use His explanation to demonstrate how to understand others.
In vv. 1-9, we have the parable as Jesus spoke to the crowds
sitting on the beach by the sea of Galilee.
This particular area is still quite rural and the land bordering the Sea
of Galilee is mostly agricultural. We
can easily visualize a farmer sowing seeds nearby as Jesus tells His
story. We can see the rocky path trodden
down by the trade caravans that pass by.
We can see the birds swooping down from the nearby trees to gobble up
the seeds falling there. We may also see
the border areas with weeds blowing in the wind. And yet there are also areas of well-plowed
soil as the farmer makes his way along the furrows. It is easy to see why some of that seed will
not even sprout and others will not fare much better. Jesus describes four kinds of ground that the
seed lands on with a different result for each situation. The four areas with their stories are:
1) Along the
path the birds ate the seed,
2) On the rocky
ground with no soil, there was an initial sprouting but the plant withered in
the sun for lack of a root,
3) In the
weeds, the plants were choked, and
4) Other seeds
fell on good soil and produced grain of varying fruitfulness of 30 to 100
times.
The parable ended with an exhortation to those who “had
ears, let them hear.”
Before we try to leap to an understanding of the meaning of
this spiritual illustration, let’s see how Jesus explains it to His disciples
in vv. 10-17. First, notice that His
disciples wondered why Jesus didn’t just explain Himself upfront. He replied
that it was deliberate. His followers
were being given spiritual insights that those who rejected Him were missing
out on. These insights He called “the
secrets of the kingdom.” Notice that
these “secrets” (or “mysteries”) were given to all His followers—not just a few
initiates—and withheld from those who rejected what they had already received. This might not sound democratic, but
remember, these others were ones who had rejected what Jesus had already given
them. And as Jesus had taught in Matthew
7, beware of “casting your pearls before swine—lest they turn on you.” These parables contain spiritual truths that
those who have already written Jesus off might not only reject outright but
also twist to destroy Him. Later they will do this at His trial. Recall that Jesus had worked many miracles
and done much plain preaching about the kingdom of heaven being within reach and
what God wanted of them and they still rejected Him. There are people who may not have heard a
complete gospel presentation but they reject the parts they already know about
God as the creator, for instance (Romans 1).
They just don’t want to obey a God who expects something from them. So, parables were designed to teach those who
were teachable.
In this case, recall also what Jesus had warned them
concerning the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
He had told them that if they rejected the prophets and the preaching of
John the Baptist and the preaching of the Messiah and now the conviction of the
Holy Spirit, there are no more witnesses from heaven that will convince
them. The more we hear the voice of God
and reject what He is telling us, the harder our heart becomes and it is
finally so callused over that we eventually lose the capability to even
understand the predicament we are in. In
the case of Israel, the prophet Isaiah had forewarned the nation that this very
thing would happen to them (Isaiah 6:9-10).
On the other hand, the followers of Jesus trusted in Him and
clung to Him despite the rising public opposition. Their eyes and ears were called “blessed”
because they began to see and understood things relating to the kingdom of
heaven—things that even the prophets and the righteous of years gone by had
longed to gaze upon.
So, what did Jesus say the parable actually meant?
1)
The seed along the path that the birds ate up
illustrates what happens to “anyone” who hears the “word of the kingdom” but
doesn’t understand it. The birds
illustrate how “the evil one” snatches away the seed. The hard ground of the path illustrates that
this is the condition of this person’s heart.
2)
On the rocky ground with no soil, we have an
illustration of another type of person who hears the “word (of the kingdom)”
and apparently understands it—because there was an initial sprouting but the
plant. This person receives it “with
joy” (calm delight) but it doesn’t take root and eventually “falls away”
(stumbles) under persecution—because the plant “withered in the sun” for lack
of a root,
3)
In the weeds, is one who “hears the word” (of
the kingdom) but the plant is choked—meaning worldly things and material wealth
distracted from the message of the word and choked it and although it did not
die it was unfruitful.
4)
But other seeds fell on good soil which
illustrates ones who hear the “word” (of the kingdom) and understand it and
just as the plants here produced grain of varying frutfulness of 30 to 100
times so these will bear fruit accordingly.
Most commentators take this parable to apply to unbelievers
hearing the gospel (the word of the kingdom) and that the first three different
circumstances will ultimately have negative results although they might appear
to be believers at first.
Everyone agrees that the seed falling along the path refers
to persons that do not respond to the gospel because their heart is too
hardened. They would rather enjoy their
sin. They’ve already made up their
minds.
The seed falling on the good soil seems to be agreed upon
also that it refers to people wo receive the message of the gospel and become
faithful followers of Jesus although in varying degrees of usefulness.
Soil numbers two and three (Rocky and Weedy) seem to be
mostly viewed as different levels of the same thing—that to the casual observer
they appear to have become followers of Jesus but Rocky is gone within a few
days and Weedy might take a bit longer but eventually his true colors come out
also. A few might even say that one or both
start out following Christ but then change their minds and lose their
salvation. But notice Matthew says that
Rocky never has a root and Weedy does grow but is just unfruitful.
Rocky never has a root.
He is never connected to the vine – to borrow from Jesus’ illustration
of the vine in John 15. So, what about
the “joy”? This word is used to express
delight but apparently not enough delight to put down roots. This person hears the message and believes it
is true but does not actually trust the Savior enough to rely on Him alone. Jesus warned about people who would be
offended by Him and stumble.
But Weedy does put down roots but then allows other
distractions of life to crowd out “fruitfulness.” He grows some but is stunted and is
“unfruitful.” This seems to be parallel
to the believer in 1 Cor 3:15 who enters heaven with empty hands. All this person’s deeds are subjected to the
fire of the Bema which finds them to be wood, hay, and straw and burns them
up—Paul says this person is saved “but only as through fire.”
Four ways of seeing, hearing, understanding, and receiving
the Word of God are illustrated by this parable. Many people hear the message or even see it
lived out but the ones who understand it and receive it are the ones who are
truly blessed. Of these, some may
receive it but spend most of their lives distracted by wood, hay, and straw—by
things that choke out any fruitful living—things that distract us from truly
loving the Lord our God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. And others will have varying amounts of
fruitfulness.
It is perhaps simpler to just characterize everyone as
either “saints and ain’ts” – nothing in between. And ultimately, there are only those who
receive eternal life and those who don’t.
But, God is not satisfied with handing out “fire insurance.” He is looking for fruitfulness—changed
lives. And among those who reject
Christ, some are either fooling themselves or others; they are counterfeits
that eventually show their true colors.
So, Jesus is categorizing people exposed to the gospel into four
responses. Two of them reject the gospel
but one of them is not so obvious at first.
Two others believe the gospel but one of them you can barely tell. That this is so, we only have to reflect for
a moment. We may not be able to
distinguish Rocky from Weedy very easily—if at all—but by all means we ought to
reach out to them to encourage belief and growth in Jesus.
Here’s a question to ponder:
Which of these four kinds of soil represent your life? Others might not be able to tell but God
knows. He is always reaching out. He is the Sower who went forth to sow the
Word. And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us. He came to His own but His own
received Him not because they preferred the darkness (John 1). This same God spoke through Joshua as the
people stood on the brink of entering the Promised Land. He said, “Choose you this day whom you will
serve.” Joshua answered the challenge
saying, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
© 2018 Eric Thimell
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