Matthew 13 - The parable of the Sower and the Seeds - The Key To All Others

Verses 1-9: The Parable of the Sower

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, 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 produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

• Jesus gives the "interpretation" below... let's look at that for a moment.
  • Along the path (way side) - hard, compressed.
  • Rocky ground - shallow, cluttered.
  • Thorny ground - worldly, carnal.
  • Good ground - (it is not described) In many ways, the good soil is only good because it doesn't have the any of the problems of the 'bad' soils.
• Pick one soil, and give an illustration of what that soil might look like in our culture
• Can hard soil become soft? Can stony soil be cleared? Can weedy riddled soil be made clean? Can you come up with an example of how God plows, tends, softens and clears the soil of our heart?
• I would ask, what kind of special ears, do we need, to hear and understand this parable?

Verses 10-17: The Purpose of Parables

10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “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 the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: 

“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
    and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15 For this people's heart has grown dull,
    and with their ears they can barely hear,
    and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
    and hear 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. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Verses 18-23: The Parable of the Sower (Four Soils) Explained

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 what was sown along the path. 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 he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

This parable is explained here by Jesus. Here, we can take what He gives us in terms of the symbolic representation of each element of the parable.

• Who (or what) would you say is the "main" character/focus of the parable of the Sower?
• What is the main differentiator between the four soils?
• What does Jesus say the "soil" represents?
• In this parable, the seed is the "word of the kingdom", I would offer that the word of the kingdom is equivalent to saying the Word of God. The kingdom is God's kingdom, and it's citizens are citizens of Heaven.

Verses 24-30: The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

Verses 31-33: The Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven

31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” 

• lots of instances where "birds of the air", has a negative connotation. Gen 15:11, Deut 28:26, 1 Sam 17:44,46, 1 Kings 14:11
• Let's read Daniel 4:10-28 as background and context for Jesus use of these elements...
• Note: Ezekiel 31:1-18 is another similar OT story to this.
• Is there a any consistency, thematically, between Daniel's and Ezekiel's stories and Jesus parable?

33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

• Don't despise small beginnings (Zech 4:10).
• Exodus 12:15 Get the leaven out of your houses...
• Leviticus 2:11 No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.
• Leviticus 6:17 It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering.
• (Curious in addition to the offering of unleavened bread) Leviticus 7:13 Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.
• (Jesus words) Matthew 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
• 1 Corinthians 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
• Galatians 5:7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 5:8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. 5:9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

Verses 34-35: Interlude

34 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: 

“I will open my mouth in parables;
    I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”

Verses 36-42: The Explanation of the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

• Does this parable make you uncomfortable? If so, why?
• Is there anything in this parable that you find encouraging?

Verse 44: The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Here's a hypothetical scenario, of how this might take place. A man was living in Israel, before the time of the exile to Babylon. He had a family and gained great wealth. Back then, they didn't have the concept of banks or even safe deposit boxes, so the man took a portion of his wealth (maybe some precious gems or gold coins) and wrapped them up and put them in a box, and went out to a field behind his house. He stepped off 20 paces to the west of a big oak tree, and buried the treasure. Then, all Israel, including this man and his family were carried off to Babylon. In Babylon, the man told his children about the buried treasure. After many years, the captivity ended and this man's children's, children returned to Israel, having been told the story and the directions to the buried treasure. They went there, but that home and field had a new owner. The children went to the new owner and tried to buy the land, and the new owner told them to go away. But they were persistent, and finally, made the man an offer he couldn't refuse, so he sold them the land. They went and dug up the treasure.

• Was what they did wrong?
• How does this relate to God redeeming us and paying for us?

Verses 45-46: The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

• What would you say is the main point of this parable?
• Is anything about this parable encouraging to you?
• Trivia about pearls, in the Jewish culture: a pearl is an 'unclean' or unkosher gem. Jew's did not usually own pearls. But, since they were precious, the Jews considered it ok to traffic in them as gems.
  Think about this:
  • Consider a pearl's home; quite often, the sea/ocean/waters is used in scripture to represent the 'nations'. Those in Noah's day were judged by the 'waters'.
  • How does a pearl get it's start? A grain of sand causes an irritation to the oyster.
  • What is the process called, by which a pearl grows? "accretion" - the process of growth or increase, typically by the gradual accumulation of additional layers or matter.

Verses 47-49: The Parable of the Net

47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

• Our Christian faith is inter-national. In other words, God is gathering his elect out of all the nations of the world.
• We sing the song in Sunday School, Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world...
• We quote John 3:13 for God so loved the world that He gave is only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
• We ofthen forget that John 3:18-20 talks about that separating the evil from the righteous: 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Verses 51-52: New and Old Treasures

51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

• Jesus infers here that his disciples will be given understanding as if, they had received the same training that the scribes had received. We have a teacher, he is the Holy Spirit
• But also, think about the very beginning of our faith. It is a fact that God reveals to us our need for the Saviour (that would be news to the Jewish scribes)
• But also think about the fact that the Jews received and still receive to this very day, the foundational revelation that the Law came through Moses, but that the new treasure is for those who have a heart to receive it; that Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ. The foundation that the Jews receive is the Law itself; and it's purpose and function is to bring conviction of sin, which is meant to cause us to flee from the wrath to come, to the safety of the Saviour.

Verses 53-58: Jesus Rejected in Nazareth

53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54 and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.