13:1 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,1 let him hear.”
The Purpose of the 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.
The Parable of the Sower 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.222 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.”
Footnotes
[1]13:9Some manuscripts add here and in verse 43 to hear [2]13:21Or stumbles
13:1 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,1 let him hear.”
The Purpose of the 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.
The Parable of the Sower 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.222 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.”
Footnotes
[1]13:9Some manuscripts add here and in verse 43 to hear [2]13:21Or stumbles
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Joel Brooks:
If you have a bible, I invite you to turn to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. We are beginning our summer series in which we wanna go through the parables. This will actually last us all the way through August. We'll be looking at a different parable every week.
Joel Brooks:
And first parable we're gonna look at is the parable of the sower. And I chose this for, a number of reasons. The main reason being this, is I personally needed it. I needed to read and to study and to hear from the parable of the sower. Because predominantly what this story is about is listening to God, Drowning out the other voices and finding place in your heart where you give your time and your energy and your devotion to listening to God's word.
Joel Brooks:
Because that's something that I have needed. I don't know about you, but it sounds like, or it feels like you're being bombarded, with so many voices right now. I am being given so many things to read that if I were to try to read half of these things, it would take me the rest of my life to read. Just even after I made that video a couple of weeks ago, the response of that has been enormous. I've received many emails, thanking Redeemer and the stance that we've had.
Joel Brooks:
I've received other emails that have just had the heading angry at Redeemer. I've received, a number of emails saying that, if you read nothing else, read this. And, or I've received posts forwarded to me saying, I never post anything political, but this one thing here you need to be sure to read. I've been given all these books to read, articles to read. And then I've been asked to say things, to comment on things.
Joel Brooks:
Read this petition. Tell us if you agree with it. Read about this campaign. Tell us if you side with them or not. Read about, whatever it is.
Joel Brooks:
Tell me what you think about Chris Hodges. I've had people call and say, if you support Chris Hodges, you're no longer my friend. Or if you don't support Chris Hodges, you are no longer my friend. People wanting to hear from me, people sending all of these things for me to read, it's it's good for us, church, to stop and to remind ourselves of the voice that matters. To remind us of primarily who we go to, what words we go to to instruct our lives and where we find life.
Joel Brooks:
This parable is about that. The ending of the parable is gives away the beginning, what it's all about. If you have ears, let him hear. 2nd reason I wanted to preach on this parable is because Jesus, he teaches 40 different parables, and only on 2 of them does he actually give a detailed explanation of what it means. I wanted to make sure that I at least assigned myself those 2 parables, and I assigned the other pastors the rest.
Joel Brooks:
I I wanted to be clear on what these parables mean. And the final reason is this, the parable of the sower is the parable about how we are to read the parables. It's the key to unlocking all of the other parables. The parables are like a seed that come to us. And will they grow or will they not?
Joel Brooks:
And so let's read this parable. Matthew chapter 13 beginning in verse 1. The same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered around him so that he he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables saying, a sower went out to sow.
Joel Brooks:
And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil. And immediately, they sprung up, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.
Joel Brooks:
Other seeds fell among thorns, and thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some 60, some 30. He who has ears, let him hear. Go to verse 18. Hear then the parable of the sower.
Joel Brooks:
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and then tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 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. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it.
Joel Brooks:
He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundred fold, and another 60, and another 30. This is the word of the Lord. Pray with me. Lord, we pray that your word would fall to us like a seed. And so Spirit of God, you would prepare the soil of our hearts to receive that seed, so that it might grow and bear fruit.
Joel Brooks:
I pray that my words might fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But lord, may your words remain and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. So when Jesus went around teaching, he would often teach using parables.
Joel Brooks:
We might be tempted to call these illustrations, but we would be wrong. An illustration typically comes after a preacher has already done some teaching. He's already made a point. And in order to clarify that point, he then comes up with this illustration or this metaphor. But it's a way of anchoring in that teaching.
Joel Brooks:
But with Jesus here, stand often these parables are given with no teaching at all. They stand alone, often like a riddle. And more than not, when Jesus would teach, he would use really common imagery, very simple things to teach eternal truths. His stories were filled with images that people saw every day. Maybe things from nature or from an occupation.
Joel Brooks:
So he would talk about a mustard tree, or a fig tree, or a wedding, or a banquet, or a woman kneading dough, or perhaps he would talk about someone threshing wheat, or a sower sowing a seed. And the reason that Jesus would use such common imagery was so that every time after you left him, every time you would see that image, you'd be reminded of what he said. And you would begin to chew on his words once again, pondering them. Like a seed they would begin working in you. Everywhere you looked, you would be reminded of something eternal now.
Joel Brooks:
The parable that we have in front of us would have been a very common scene. It's of a sower just scattering seed. Something everybody had seen during this day. Today, if Jesus was teaching this, he might say something as mundane as this, a man sat down to write an email. And in this email, he wrote a church newsletter, which some just ignored.
Joel Brooks:
Some just glanced at. Some read it alongside something else that they were reading and eventually that other thing got more of their attention. But some some read that email carefully and it bore much fruit. He who has ears, let him hear. Jesus, he he talked about very simple things like this.
Jeffrey Heine:
But in order to
Joel Brooks:
get us thinking, thinking about the eternal, The parable of the sower that we have in front of us is about one of the most complicated parables that Jesus gives, and it is actually fairly simple. There's only 3 different elements to it. There's the sower. There's the seed. And there's the soils.
Joel Brooks:
So let's take time to look at each three of these elements. The sower. When Jesus was asked to explain this parable, he calls it the parable of the sower. I'm pretty sure this is the only parable that Jesus himself actually names, And the name is actually is is fairly significant. It's actually odd that he would call it the parable of the sower.
Joel Brooks:
You would expect him to call it the parable of the soils, because the soils are the only variable in the story. The sower doesn't change. The seed doesn't change. It's the soils that change. And so you would expect him to call this the parable of the soils, but he doesn't.
Joel Brooks:
It's the parable of the sower. Jesus himself, of course, is the sower, The one who brings to us the word of the kingdom. And Jesus wants us to know at the start of this that he is the center of this story. Jesus is always the main character. For from him and through him and to him are all things.
Joel Brooks:
Just as we looked at last week, there is a narrative or a story that is being told, and don't ever forget that Jesus is at the center of it. The most important part of this story is that Jesus comes, and he gives to us words that will result in life. Now, let's look at the seed. Jesus explains that the seed is the word of the kingdom. The seed was a common image that Jesus would use to describe both the word of the kingdom and the kingdom itself.
Joel Brooks:
He's gonna use this in the next parable. And then the one after that. And then the one after that. He'll say things like this in verse 31. The kingdom of heaven is like the grain of a mustard seed, in which a man took and he sowed in his field.
Joel Brooks:
It's the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown, it is larger than all the garden plants. And it becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. The kingdom of heaven and the word of the kingdom come to us like a seed. Seed like nature of the kingdom is important for us to understand, because I have found that most people outside of the church, most non Christians, when they describe Christianity, they don't think of Christianity like a seed. They think of Christianity as often as described as some philosophical set of ideas that someone might find helpful or maybe even therapeutic.
Joel Brooks:
Or perhaps they describe Christianity as a belief system in which you can, gain a set of morals. Or Christianity is a certain set of facts that somebody needs to believe about a man named Jesus. But Jesus says it's like a seed. A seed is a powerful new life that's packed into a small kernel. A powerful new life that's packed into a small kernel.
Joel Brooks:
A seed might be small, but it's organic. And organic power comes from this, and it grows. Jesus is teaching us something about the nature of the word of the kingdom of God. When the gospel came to us, it didn't just come to us in words. There was a power that came with it.
Joel Brooks:
A power. Yes, the gospel did, of course, come to us through words. Words had to be used. But along with those words, there was an organic power in it. Which is why Paul teaches us in 1st Corinthians 4 that the kingdom of god does not exist in words, but in power.
Joel Brooks:
Christianity is a power that comes into your life. But it's not a power like dynamite. It's not a power like TNT. It's it's not flashy. It's not explosive.
Joel Brooks:
It's a slow growing organic power resulting in new life. I'm actually gonna use a little illustration here. I I never use props, but can any of you actually see this in the back? If you can't, that's my point. Alright?
Joel Brooks:
This is a seed. It's a little cone. It's from the largest tree in the world, a giant sequoia in Sequoia National Forest. It comes from the largest tree there. The tree is over 20 stories tall.
Joel Brooks:
The tree is 38 feet in diameter, 52,000 cubic feet in that tree. And yet you look how it began. As the tiniest of seed, and actually the seed is is embedded deep within this cone. But you give it a couple 1000 years, the power in the seed grows and grows to become something so large. Paul said in Romans 116, he says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the what?
Joel Brooks:
It is the power. He he doesn't say I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it is a helpful philosophical construct. I'm not ashamed of the gospel because I find a useful set of facts in which I could base a certain morality. He says, I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power. It's the power, isn't it?
Joel Brooks:
It's the power of salvation. Jesus says that the word of the kingdom comes to us in a seed, which is a small kernel packed with organic power. So how do you know if you are a Christian or not? Well, there needs to be something in your life that you cannot explain apart from the power of God coming in and growing it in you. Perhaps you you couldn't forgive people before, but now a power has come into your life and now you can forgive.
Joel Brooks:
Perhaps you couldn't be generous before, but you were always holding on to your money, but now a new power has come in and set you free from those material things. Perhaps you were so angry before, but a power has come in and has given you love and forgiveness. It's an unexplained by the world power. Something inexplicable is happening in your life. We call that the word of the kingdom or the gospel coming in and power.
Joel Brooks:
And I would say that actually the slow growth is part of the power. If you if you were to get a hammer and you were to go outside your house to the sidewalk that's there, and you were to strike that sidewalk with your hand with a hammer, likely all you're going to hurt is your wrist. If you hurt if you, you know, as hard as you can you hit it, you might get a crack. But if you get a little acorn and you plant it right next to it and you wait 50 years, you get Crestwood. Alright?
Joel Brooks:
You you get nothing but sidewalks that have been broken up and ripped and they're distorted because there's an unbelievable power in there that's released over time. The gospel comes to like this, if it takes root, it will grow in power and bear fruit. So that's the seed. Let's look at the soils. We have 4 different types of soils, but really the difference between all of them is how much they allow the seed to penetrate.
Joel Brooks:
Each soil allows the seed a different level of penetration. The deeper the seed goes, the longer it lasts, and the more fruit it brings. I'm only gonna make a comment or 2 about each one of these soils, so much could be said about them, but these are the things that we chew on as we go. So just a comment or 2 about each. Let's look at the soil of the path.
Joel Brooks:
The first soil is described as a path. Jesus explains that the seed falling on a path is like someone who doesn't understand the word of the kingdom, and the devil comes in like a bird and just snatches that seed and goes off with it. So what is a path? Well, a a path is a place where people walk. The dirt of a path, its main task is receiving feet, not receiving seeds.
Joel Brooks:
A path receives the activity of people. It's not open to receiving what a sower actually has to offer it. A path says, why would you read your bible? Why would you read your bible when you can read about all the activity that is going on in this world? You can read everything you need to know in the latest newspaper.
Joel Brooks:
You can read about what everybody else is doing, what everybody else is saying, because those things are far more important than what someone said 2000 years ago. A path is hardened, and it finds its shape by receiving the masses. And so when the word of God falls on it, it can't even penetrate the rocky soil. Next, Jesus tells us about the seeds that fell on the rocky soil. This is the one who hears the Word of God, immediately receives it with joy, but has no roots.
Joel Brooks:
And when trials and persecution comes, this person immediately falls away. This is the quick start. You know the quick start, the one who just immediately jumps in, embraces it, I'm all in, and then they're gone in a week. There's not a lasting power there. This person here receives the person receives the gospel with with joy.
Joel Brooks:
They had a joyful conversion. And Jesus here, he's saying a joyful conversion is no indication of a Christian that will last. The rocky soil represents this person who makes this dramatic, immediate purely emotional decision to follow Jesus, But then they fall away. There's nothing wrong with having a dramatic emotional testimony. I mean, you know, we share testimonies all the time at Redeemer.
Joel Brooks:
And you know, you you hear you hear the stories about the, you know, the person who is living an open life of rebellion. Maybe a drug addict, maybe ran away from their home, maybe was about to jump off a bridge, and right before they did, the voice of the Lord comes down, completely changes them, and you're like my testimony is so boring. You you you want something like that. You want something big and dramatic. You want that type of conversion.
Joel Brooks:
But Jesus here, he's saying there's actually a danger in something like that. There's a danger that people can put their faith in their conversion and not their their faith in God himself. Their faith is dependent upon a feeling. Jesus here is saying, growing roots is what matters. Growing roots is how you get a faith that lasts.
Joel Brooks:
Over the years, I have noticed that often it's the most enthusiastic of converts that had the hardest time keeping the commands of Jesus. Because keeping the commands of Jesus is not nearly as fun as accepting the benefits of forgiveness or the benefits of gaining a church family. And so when persecution or trials come, they find they just cannot endure it. Let's look at the thorny soil. The thorny soil represents the one who hears the word of the kingdom, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke it out.
Joel Brooks:
So this soil here, it actually allows for a deeper level of penetration than than those other 2 which barely scrape the surface. This one allows for a deeper level of penetration which results in it actually growing. However, as it is growing, what we find is that there is something that has deeper roots in the soil. Something has deeper roots and it begins to choke the life out of the word. This is the person who knows the gospel, who can explain it, perhaps even defend the gospel, and is in many ways growing.
Joel Brooks:
Yet there's something in his or her heart that actually has found a deeper root. And the soils only got limited nutrients. A soil cannot support both of these things over time. At first it looks like it can because they're both growing up, but eventually whichever plant has the deeper roots is gonna win out. It's gonna gradually choke out the other plant.
Joel Brooks:
You can't help but hear Jesus' words, you cannot serve 2 masters. There can only be 1. You only have a limited time of inner time and a limited amount of energy. You can either give that to listening to God's word, deeply rooting yourself in God's word, or you can spend your time listening to everything else. Even something else that's good, I would say that's even gospel like can grow to a point where it chokes out the gospel.
Joel Brooks:
This soil is warning us here that if we allow some things to get entangled in the gospel, eventually, they will grow to replace the gospel. We've seen this played out through some of the most, liberal denominations we have within the Protestant church. I I won't name those denominations. You know who they are. Many of these denominations used to preach a clear gospel.
Joel Brooks:
Used to preach sermons centered on the word of God, but then they allowed some issues, something that was gospel like to get entangled with their message. And then over the years, it choked out the word of God. Happened gradually. And what we've seen in denominations, we have certainly seen with people. Theologian, pastor and an elder of a church in California, Dale Bruner, he's one of my favorite commentators and scholars and he writes by far, I believe the best commentary on the gospel of Matthew.
Joel Brooks:
That's a 2 part commentary. He wrote it 15 years ago. And he said this. He goes, the thorny soil often looks like issue centered Christianity, where your Christianity all of a sudden becomes about one issue. And it could be a variety of issues.
Joel Brooks:
You become anxious about this. This is the cares of the world. This is one of the anxieties. You become anxious about helping the poor. You could become anxious about fighting abortion.
Joel Brooks:
You could become anxious about ending racism. You can have a theological anxiety in which you're anxious that people come to know Calvinism. You're anxious that everybody learns to speak in tongues, it becomes the issue though for you. And you just keep feeding that one issue at the exclusion of everything else, And you begin to choke out the very gospel you believed. Not immediately, but over time.
Joel Brooks:
Eventually, you find that your identity is no longer in what Christ has done for you, but in all that you were doing supposedly for him. The final soil. The good soil. This is the one that hears the word of the kingdom. He receives it, and he allows the roots to go deep.
Joel Brooks:
This is the one who takes time to listen to the word of God. As a matter of fact, Jesus ends this parable with a plea to hear. If you have ears, please listen to this. He ends almost all of his parables this way. He who has ears, let him hear.
Joel Brooks:
Jesus is saying, above all else, listen to my words. Church, I've mentioned this at the start of this, but everything is vying for our attention. Many good things, many worthwhile things, but do not think for a moment that they share equal fit footing with the word of god. Those cannot be the primary things that shape us. We go to the Word of God and we hear His word and we receive His word and like a seed it grows into us and grows and bears fruit.
Joel Brooks:
God's word stands supreme. Think of the things in the past weeks, months years that have shaped the way that you spend money, shaped the way you think about your neighbor, shaped the ways you think about politics, shaped the ways you think about decorating your home, the way you view money, where did those influences primarily come from? Jesus is saying, be shaped in, by my word and allow it primacy in your life. And it will grow and bear fruit. It might not be flashy at first, but there is a power in it.
Joel Brooks:
Only one of these soils produces fruit. Fruit is the end goal of all of this. Obedience, joyful obedience to our Lord, I would say is the goal of all of this, but it comes from listening to his word. Pray with me, church. Father, we thank you for your word.
Joel Brooks:
It comes to us like a seed. It could be so easily overlooked. It could be by be seen as so unimportant. It could be seen as there's no real power in it. He who has ears, let him hear.
Joel Brooks:
May we receive your word and allow that power in our lives to grow and to grow and bear fruit, Joyful fruit, not just for us, but for this entire world. May we be a people shaped by your word. We pray this all in your name, Jesus. Amen.