This week’s reading: Matthew 13:1-23
Hi Friends,
Parables. Our reading for this week, and next week, will center on them. This week we will dig into the Parable of the Sower, and also talk about why Jesus often spoke this way to those who came to listen. There is a point and purpose to everything God does, and this is no exception. We are in Matthew chapter 13 verses 1 to 23. Now let’s hear how Jesus explains why He spoke in parables, then let’s work it out so we can understand the power behind what He is saying, as well as the parable itself:
“The disciples came to him and asked, ‘Why do you speak to the people in parables?’ He replied, ‘The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’” Mt 13:10-13 NIV
Use it or lose it. Our brain, like all the other muscles in our body, must be used, or else it will lose its capacity to work. Our brain will have a more challenging time trying to make connections between neurons so that we can create thoughts, remember important events, or even, regulate every process in our body, like our breathing and walking. I know you would agree that keeping our brains as healthy as we can, by exercising them often, is of vital importance if we truly want a fulfilling life. We must be intentional about working out our brains so that we can remain cognitively, as well as physically healthy. This requires time and effort on our part and the desire to live this life to the full. This is why Jesus spoke in parable, by the way. He was, and still is, trying to get us to exercise our Faith by intentionally, putting some time and effort into understanding what He is saying and how it can help us live a more healthy life here. See the analogy I am trying to explain here? Jesus often will say, “He who has ears, let him hear.” (v19 of our reading) He says this, not because He does not understand hearing is what ears do, but because there is a deeper meaning to what He is saying, and only those who truly WANT to know Him more, will seek to hear what He is saying. It is one thing to casually listen to a sermon, but a whole other level to take what you heard and go home and do some research and study and analyze and investigate and experiment and…and I hope you got the idea. Jesus is persuading us, moving us, prompting us, even urging and wooing us to want a deeper relationship with Him. He wants us to know Him as much as humanly possible, because the deeper our relationship with Him, the more goodness we will experience in this life, and the more of that goodness we will have to share with others too! If we do not use our ears to hear, we just might go deaf to the things of God. Parables have an awesome way of piquing our curiosity so we will want to know more…or not.
Go in deep. Have you ever heard a really good riddle and became consumed to find its answer? Similarly, much of this life is hidden from our casual understanding. Here Jesus calls the deeper purpose for this life we are living, “the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven.” Again as with riddles, if we really want to grasp the meaning of life, we must learn to hear with our ears, and not just superficially listen. My Friends, we cannot be casual about the way we live, and the choices we make, if we are going to live this Abundant Life. And the more we understand God and the way He designed this life to work, the more fulfilling ours will get. This is what Jesus is saying here. Why did He speak in parables? Because if those listening, and now us, really wanted to change their lives, then they would have pursued Jesus so that they could learn the deep things that lead to a more fulfilling life. We cannot be casual spectators in life, but we should be active participants to truly have, enjoy and share this Abundant Life Jesus came to give us. If we do not want to know God and His Word more deeply, then what He says, and the power behind it all, is lost to us. As Jesus says, the little we think we know, will turn out to be nothing at all, as this tiny, incomplete understanding will not enhance our lives, much less anyone else’s. There is no power to change us because we do not want the power required to change us. We can come to understand more and more of the Bible if we want to…I heard it said like this once, “You are as mature as you want to be.” In other words, if you really want more goodness in this life, then get to go to the next life, then you have to want to dig in deeper with Jesus. While greatly complex, God is not so complicated that we cannot come to understand Him. Jesus did not talk above anyone’s intellect. As a matter of fact, He used stories about worldly occurrences that they should understand. Things like farming, catching fish, being merchants and so on. The issue is, like I said above, there are deeper meanings to all that we go through in life, but we will only begin to see it, to learn to hear with our spiritual ears so we can begin to understand it all, if we want to know. And those who want to understand will be given more and more understanding. This makes sense because the more we mature, the more we will understand and be able to use it for our benefit, and the benefit of those around us. Those who have will be given more and those who have little, even that will be taken away. The question is: do you want to know more about God? This Parable of the Sower speaks exactly about this. We can read the actual parable in Matthew 13:3-8, Mark 4:3-8 and Luke 8:5-8. Today, we are going to focus on its interpretation which can be found in Matthew 13:19-23, Mark 4:14-20 and Luke 8:11-15. Hint: I am giving you all the verses so that you can choose to go in deeper too!
Different types of soil. So as Jesus explains, the “seed” in this parable is the Word of God, the Bible, Scripture. This is so appropriate because, it is only God and His Word that has the potential for life and can make that potential grow. We can hear God’s Word many ways, of course. We can read the Bible, hear a sermon, even listen to Christian music that is based on the Bible…many on the radio actually use Scripture as lyrics, if you are not aware. The point is, if what we are hearing is from God’s Word, then it is like a seed, full of possibilities to bring life and more fruit into fruition. So the Sower, that is Jesus, spreads the seed on different types of soil. With each soil, note that the seeds “fell on” them. When we listen to God’s Word, for the most part, we are the ones who choose whether we will listen passively or actively. I often encourage my students to take notes as I teach. Not because I think I am saying such profound things…although I do my best to teach what God has taught me…but because this is a more active way to get what is being taught. We can either be taught or caught. Either the teacher will say something that is very helpful and motivate us to want to research it further, or the Holy Spirit will catch our attention about something we have been struggling with or thinking about in our personal life that was sparked by what the teacher said. Anyway, my point is we must choose wether we will be an active participant in our interaction with God’s Word, or a passive, casual spectator who gets nothing good, or lasting, from our time in God’s Word. This is why there is a big difference on the impact of the Bible, it is not received with equal effect because some want to receive it, but way too many ignore it. Yes, God will move us, yet we must choose to respond…or not.
Seeds that fell on the Path. So the first type of soil that the seeds fall upon is along a path. This is not even a soil really, because it is so packed down from people traveling over it all the time because many walk upon it. Think a concrete walkway here. Can anything implant itself into that type of path? It is not tilled nor prepared to receive any seed, and so, Jesus tells us the birds come and take the seeds away. This, He explains, is someone who does not understand what is being said, nor do they care to understand. This person does not take God seriously, so they have ears that do not hear because they plug them up and don’t want to listen. Imagine a child sticking their fingers in there ears and saying, “Lalalalala… I can’t hear you… lalalalala…!” This person is fine with their own little world, where they are both lord and judge, and they don’t really want anyone messing with their personal kingdom. This can be an atheist, who does not even believe God is real. Or worse, it can be someone who does believe God is real, but really doesn’t want to know Him that deeply. Or even worse, someone who believes in God, but doesn’t know they can have a relationship with Him through Jesus. This was me before my Beckie fell into that first coma. I always knew God was real, but He was up there in Heaven, somewhere, and wasn’t a part of my daily life. Oh I knew where to find Him when I was desperate for His help, but other than praying for His blessings over me, I never knew I could have a more intense relationship with Him. And because I did not know, I never tried to know God’s Word, and never knew its priceless value. That was me, but by the Grace of God, not anymore! But to this, still ignorant person, God’s Word is not important, and so, the evil one is more than happy to take away any seeds this person may have come into contact with. This person is an easy target for the devil to deceive. Since they give Scripture no value, it is a quick job to take away the truth, getting this person to forget what they heard and just move on with life, unchanged by the power of God’s Love. Think of this soil of the path as “satanic opposition.” The devil does not want anyone to know the Bible or he just might lose souls to the Truth that sets us free!
Seeds that fell on Rocky Places. This next type of soil receives the seeds quickly but, since the soil is shallow, filled with rocks, the seeds cannot get rooted down deep, and so, when the heat comes, the plants die away. Jesus explains that, this person is a casual listener who does not allow the Word of God to penetrate deeply into their hearts, and so, it does not cause lasting change. When outside persecution and peer pressure come, this person denies their Faith and walks away from God. The interesting thing is that, if you are a true believer, persecution should come because you are being different than this fallen world. If we do not continue to grow spiritually, if we do not get rooted in God’s Love and Grace, then like a tree that has no root system, we will topple over and die. This person allows the comments of others to control and guide them instead of holding on to Jesus a bit tighter and trusting His Way is the right way. They will say things like, “Are you really going to follow that stuff? What are you a Jesus freak now?” The right answer to both of those is, “Yes, yes I am.” But this person quickly backs down to the badgering of others and turns away from the Faith that is just starting to grow. As a result, they never get to understand the peace and joy God freely offers to those who will stick with Him and mature in Christ. This person is happy to hear a good sermon and applaud, but they do not continue seeking the deeper meaning of it all, and so, there is no change in their heart. Again, when trials come because of this Faith, they are quick to drop it and act like the world. This person is only ok with “believing” when everything is going well. This person would not even think of following Jesus. So close, but yet so far.
Seeds that fell among the Thorns. The next soil type gets even closer to the truth, but the world gets in the way. The seeds fall onto any area where there are many thorns, many things that interfere with the seeds taking root and getting established in the soil below. The thorns choke any plant that starts to grow and it dies. Jesus says this person is more focused on their own, worldly kingdom than God’s Eternal Kingdom. Either the pleasures of this world or worrying about them all, take up all their time, energy and resources, so they do not use those to know God nor make Him known. The things that attempt to entice us into getting as much as we can OUT of the world, instead of giving as much as we can TO it btw, are much too great a temptation for this person. Once again, their own agenda is much more important to this person than God’s Truth. Their focus is this world, not God and the world to come. Two problems here: 1- wanting the creation, instead of the one Who created it all, will never lead to a fulfilling life, so worries will come. 2- When we worry, we are displaying our level of trust in God, or lack thereof. Focusing on the wealth and pleasures is this person trusting themselves to get the life they think they want. Worries is this person trying to get all those things all by themselves, then being anxious that they will not be able to sustain it all. They do not trust God to provide nor protect. I hope you can see how this is not the fulfilling life God desires, nor designed us to have. This person cannot produce fruit for God because they are much too focused on producing fruit for themselves…problem is any fruit that they might get, will quickly die off. Nothing is lasting apart from God.
Seeds that fell on Good Soil. The first three “soils” do not take God seriously. God is either ignored (path: too hard-hearted to care), just entertainment (rocks: no root) or this world is more important (thorns: kill the goodness). Ahhh, but that good soil that God has tilled and tilled and tilled some more. We grow and produce fruit for His Glory…and this is exactly what we were created for, so life gets fulfilling! This person is growing in Christ. This person is learning how to discern their thoughts so that their mind becomes more and more centered on what God says in His Word. This person is learning how to control their emotions so that they can stay in peace and be productive, no matter what is going on around them. This person is learning how to let go of their own will and desires, and trust God’s Plan for their lives. This person is seeking God and wanting to be transformed into the image of Jesus, as much as they can. This person is not only saved, but also being sanctified. This person also is learning that life is not about MMI! As a result, they are learning how to be a blessing, as well as learning to see and experience more of God’s blessings. Note all the “is learning”? This person is good soil because they are in the process of Sanctification. That means they understand that life does not always go smoothly, but they learn to roll with the punches. Even though this person is not perfect, they may have some rocks and thorns too, but none of those stop them from being fruitful. Actually, the way they see those rocks and thorns probably enhances their productiveness for the Kingdom of God, instead of killing them. The difficult things in life, this person sees as opportunities to grow. The mean people that come their way, this person sees as a chance to display the forgiveness of God. The losses, this person sees as a motivating factor to focus on the next life, and let go a little more of this temporary life. This person not only hears and is understanding God’s Word, but they put it into practice too. This person gets a harvest of all of God’s goodness, and has enough to share with those around them. This person declares, unashamed, “I am choosing to live for Jesus and I will follow Him wherever, whenever, and however He leads!” This person, my Friends, is the goal! May God continue to work with us to bring us to this amazing level of life!
Parables. They separate those who are willing to be taught from those who desire to willfully stay ignorant. To avoid the Cross from coming too quickly, parables kept the “secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven” hidden from nonchalant observers, from enthusiastic but poorly informed fans, and from outright antagonists. Jesus spoke this parable to help us learn which soil we are, and hopefully, encourage us to grow to become the good soil. Because God is so great, I have become hungry to know as much as I possibly can understand about His Word, His Way and His Wonderment. I call myself a “perpetual student,” which I kind of have to be if I am called to be a Bible teacher. But oh how I love to learn about God’s Word. The more I learn, the more I can teach. The more harvest I can have, because I am trusting God to make me the best soil I can be, the more produce I have to give to those around me. The question is: how important is God to you? Will you dismiss Him altogether? Will you allow the abusive words of others to keep you from Him? Will you allow the lure of worldly pleasures or the anxiety they can bring turn you away from Him? Or will you surrender everything- spirit, soul and body- to the God who created you, sustains you and loves you more than you can know this side of Heaven? It is our choice, and I hope you know which one I continue to choose. Won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
