Matthew 13.1-9

Now we turn to a really interesting, fun, and difficult part of Matthew’s Gospel.  Chapter 13 starts the 3rd of the 5 discourses by Jesus throughout the book, but what sets this one apart is how Jesus preaches the whole sermon through parables.  Our first reaction with parables is usually to crack the code or decipher Jesus’ hidden meaning, and while that is not a bad thing and generally fun, I’m not going to try that so much today.  In fact, my point is going to be fairly simple since later on, Jesus explains this first parable (Matt 13:18-23).

So go ahead and read Matthew 13:1-9:

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

Can you imagine this scene?  Notice that verse 1 says that this was the same day as the events of chapter 12.  I would have been exhausted and ready to go home to watch football, but Jesus sees the crowd that has accumulated as a great opportunity to teach more about the kingdom.  And that’s what this chapter is precisely about:  the kingdom.  However, this first parable doesn’t mention kingdom at all.  Why is that?

Well, I believe Jesus is laying out this first parable to prepare his listeners for the parables ahead, the parables that deal more directly with the kingdom.  They start with phrases like, “the kingdom of heaven is like...” but this one famously starts, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.”  Indeed, Jesus is out to sow seed on this busy day in Galilee.

So Jesus has his audience stand in a natural amphitheater created by the coast of the Sea of Galilee and he gets in a boat and takes a seat, the normal posture of a teacher in that day.  He then tells them the Parable of the Sower, which could more aptly be titled the Parable of the Soils.  Without much explanation we see ourselves and our hearts in this parable.  We know the farmer, we know the seed, and we know the soils.  We know Jesus, we know the Word, and we know our hearts.  That’s the point:  we know our hearts.

That leads me to two simple questions for us today:  

First, is your heart ready for the Word Jesus has for  you in the rest of this sermon about the kingdom?  Examine your ears to make sure they’re ready to hear and your will to make sure  you’re ready to obey so that God can produce a crop in you.

Second, have you obeyed the Word already sown in  your heart?  You see, in that day, the farmer threw out the seed on the soil, then went back to plow it.  God has already thrown out seed in your heart and life and he’s wanting to cultivate it.  You know where the Spirit is working to move you to obey, but your heart resists like hard soil.  Let the Spirit break your hard soil, weed out your infested heart, and cultivate a life of fruitfulness in you.

As you journey through the rest of Jesus’ words in Matthew 13, ask the Lord for ears to hear what he has to say to you.  Then his seed will fall on that good, fertile soil producing a crop--hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.

Jeremy Hyde