Behold, the sower went out to sow...

Matthew 13:1-23 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. ² And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

³ And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴ and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. ⁶ But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. ⁸ And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.”

¹⁰ And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. ¹² For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; ¹⁵ For the heart of this people has become dull, With their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes, Otherwise they would see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.’

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷ For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and 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 has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. ²⁰ The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. ²² And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²³ And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

As believers sometimes it is difficult for us to understand how those in the world can hear or read scripture and not be changed by it, or how they can see in creation the awesome evidence of God the creator, but not acknowledge Him.  In today’s text Jesus says:      In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; ¹⁵ For the heart of this people has become dull, With their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes, Otherwise they would see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.’

The heart of this people has become dull. What was true in Isaiah’s day and true in Jesus day, is true in our day also. God judges and speaks to the heart of man. The things of God cannot be fully understood or comprehended by human understanding or reasoning. That which is finite cannot comprehend that which is infinite. That which is flesh and blood cannot fully comprehend that which is spiritual.

1 Corinthians 1:18-27 says:     For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

²⁰ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ²² For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men…²⁷ but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise…

In John 4:23-24, Jesus says:  "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."        To worship God in spirit and truth we must know Him in spirit and truth.     1 Corinthians 2:14 says:   The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.          So it is only through the Spirit that we have understanding.

Our words, to those without the Holy Spirit, seem like foolishness even though we know them to be truth. In John 16:8, Jesus says this about the Holy Spirit:  “when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment”  That being said, let us as believers see and hear the parable of the sower and its application for us and the world.

If we will look back into our own lives we will probably see times when we too were some of the unfruitful seed. We may have heard the encouraging or convicting word of God at one time or perhaps many times but because our heart was dull we did not receive or comprehend it. The enemy  snatched it away and we continued living without change. We also may have been that seed that fell in the rocky places. We may have heard the good news of the kingdom of God and received it with joy, yet because of the hardness of our heart the word could not establish a root of truth in our lives and at the first sign of difficulty or affliction we fell away. We may have been like the seed that fell among the thorns. Try as we might we could not produce fruit in our lives because we focused on the things of the world, the deceitfulness and riches, the materialism and self satisfaction the world promotes. We may have been or perhaps may be represented by any one of these types of soil. I pray that through the power and revelation of the Holy Spirit, each believer will become the good soil God intends.  That each one will be, like the man in today’s text,     “who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

As believers we also need to understand the value of every human life.    The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) While it is only by the Holy Spirit that the world can know and understand, can receive the truth of God’s word, His love and the good news of His kingdom, we are called as believers to sow the seed. We also need not to judge the condition of the soil, the hearts of men. Rather we should faithfully nurture the seed which has been sown, watering the soil in love with the living water of Christ. If we ourselves are good soil, we should give of ourselves and spread that good soil over the rocky places, the hard hearts of hurt people where the word is trying to take root. We should help to cut back the thorns of the deceitfulness of the world from the lives of others where the seed has sprung up, being careful not to harm the precious life that has grown but removing only what hinders its growth.  

“He who has ears, let him hear.”   Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, thank You for Your faithful loving kindness demonstrated in my life by Your continued sowing of the seed of Your word into me. Thank You that though my heart was dull and hard, You continued to sow Your word and Your truth. Thank You for sending other along the path of my life to water and nurture what had been sown. May I, like You and like others be faithful to sow, to water and to nurture in the lives of others. May my life which once was all of the unfruitful soil, truly become the good soil You desire and may You through my life bring forth fruit for the kingdom, thirty, sixty or one hundred fold.     Amen.