House Church

The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-21, 22, 23)

The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-21, 22, 23)

  1. That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake.
  2. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.
  3. And he told them many things in parables, saying:
  4. Listen! A sower went out to sow.
  5. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.  Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.
  6. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.
  7. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
  8. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
  9. Let anyone with ears listen!
  10. ’Then the disciples came and asked him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’
  11. He answered, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
  12. For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.
    • What they HAVE is “spiritual wisdom”, those who have NOTHING have “no faith”.
  13. The reason I speak to them in parables is that “seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.”
    • This little verse may have at least three points to consider.  First, veiled truth is told to those who do not want to hear it.  Second, a powerful message goes forth but it does no harm if ignored.  Third, if it sets men thinking, it can bring them to faith.  Jesus must speak and move in veiled ways, much like many authors through the centuries wrote their fiction in the form of roman à clef in order to speak the truth in deadly times.
  14. With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:“You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive.
    • Isaiah’s words are not a command but a prediction of what the people will do.
  15. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn—and I would heal them.”
  16. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
    • Those people in our lives who taken for granted, who exhibit trust and kindness and forgiveness, they are our eyes and our ears, but we don’t see or listen.  We believe that our selfish sense is what is important even as we descend from happiness and distance ourselves from humanity, civility.
  17. Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.
  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 is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path.
    • The birds that came and ate the seed that was sown on the footpath represent the evil one who comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart?  Is the evil one the devil or anyone, including self, who steals from the heart for selfish reasons?
  20. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
  21. yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.
    • The rocky ground represents the person who can hear and see and receives joy but has no depth of devotion.  The sun represents trouble or persecution that rises when wisdom is awakened.  Without depth of understanding, commitment to patience and wisdom, and strength to endure pain, even good news will rationalized and forgotten.
  22. WHAT WAS SOWN AMONG BRIERS IS THE MAN WHO HEARS THE MESSAGE BUT THEN WORLDLY ANXIETY AND THE LURE OF MONEY CHOKE IT OFF.  SUCH A ONE PRODUCES NO YIELD.
    • The company we keep or pursue can amount to briers that choke us of yield while giving us the impression of bounty.  The perils of this world and also its luxuries powerfully choke us of the ability to be a planting and a product of wonderful growth and harvest.
  23. BUT WHAT WAS SOWN ON GOOD SOIL IS THE MAN WHO HEARS THE MESSAGE AND TAKES IT IN.  HE IT IS WHO BEARS A YIELD OF A HUNDRED- OR SIXTY- OR THIRTY-FOLD.
    • It is a mature person, no matter the age, who recognizes the good seed landing in the good soil and then grows.  Life’s opportunities and natural potential are constantly availed to us and we need to recognize the shallow paths we may be walking, the tangled briers stalking us, the rocky ground we choose to tread, and the fertile deltas that we may pass.

This parable presents double meaning to me.  The seed here represents God’s message but to me the seed could represent many things.  In addition to God’s message, it could also represent, growth of both good and evil.  Winning and losing, life and death, marriage and divorce, benefit or crime.  All acts in life have within them and outside them opportunities, possibilities, and potential for moving forward on various paths.  Winning a game might justify an opportunity to rest.  Losing could inspire examination and strengthening one’s skill.  One’s life is a solid block of opportunity.  Another’s death might allow for sculpting an unfinished legacy.  A marriage might be a new beginning in happiness or the continuing of old family tradition of misery.  Every mutual financial endeavor potentially hold’s mutual benefit or individual crime.  Making the most of life’s fallen seeds depends on one’s outlook and another’s guidance.