Parables
“The parable of the Sower”
The Parable of the Sower
Matt 13:1-23
[Read Matt 13:1-17]
In a manner of speaking, this parable really ought to have been the first one we looked at as we engage with this series on the parables.
You have just heard (again for many no doubt), the Parable of Sower.
And for many, you will no doubt recall what each of the different soils stand for.
But let’s just suspend that knowledge for a moment. Because a very important thing happens in the telling of this parable.
After Jesus finished telling the parable to the whole crowd – the parable ends.
That’s it.
End of story.
It ends with the challenge “Let anyone with ears listen!”
Do you understand it?
Maybe or maybe not.
Did you “hear” it?
Maybe or maybe not?
At the time the disciples didn’t.
So they draw aside to Jesus and ask “what did all that mean?!”
And but for that question – we might not have the rest of what follows.
But it is this moment when the disciples come to Jesus privately, that we can eavesdrop on, and hear Jesus’ answer.
It is an answer that affects every one of us.
[Read Matt 13:10-17]
A question…
Why did Jesus speak in parables?
The immediate answer is often because we recognise the universal appeal of parables. It makes it easy for people to understand.
Everyone loves a story!!
However – when the disciples asked Jesus the question, His response was essentially so that people would not understand!!
Here in Matthew He says “because” they do not understand; in Mark it is “so that” they will not understand.
Put simply – and as harsh as it sounds – Jesus says He teaches in parables because in and of itself it is a form of judgment.
NT Wright comments that one of the functions of parables is that when we get the point we make a judgement upon ourselves.
There are those who will not hear because they are closed off to the message of Christ.
They are not in the place to perceive the coming kingdom.
To understand the message which prophets and the righteous of generations had longed to hear.
Their hearts are hard, their eyes are closed, their ears are deaf.
“Wow!” you might be thinking.
“Tough message for those poor folks by the sea”.
Remember this though – the Gospel of Matthew was written for a church. The message contained here was now being directed at believers.
“Tough message for us”.
Essentially, Jesus’ answer to the question “Why do you speak in parables?” is “So that some people will not understand.”
Now this thought might do violence to your image of Jesus and what the Good News is all about, and the kingdom of God.
Yet a reality is being described here.
Hearts can be very hard and unyielding. Even in the presence of great grace, great insight, and great love.
Hearts can be very hard and unyielding to the call of God to “repent because the Kingdom of Heaven is near”.
And in one sense – the hardened heart is further turned from God through the telling of the parables.
Their resistance to the message of God is further intensified.
In one way – as one commentator puts it – the parables operate at the level of a riddle.
Whether you “get it” says a lot.
[Read Matt 13:18-23]
So where are you?
Further explanation of the four soils is not really necessary.
The conditions are quite clear.
Satanic opposition snatches the Word from your heart.
Persecution and hardship cause the Word to whither in your life.
The cares of the world and lure of wealth choke the Word in your life.
Or a receptive and understanding heart resulting in obvious results in your life.
And to take in Jesus’ reason as to why He even speaks in parables, there is a question to answer before you consider trying to place yourself in this parable:
Do you “hear” and “see” that this parable is describing you?
In the very telling of this parable we are faced with divine judgement.
Our response to it indicates whether we are those whom “listen but do not understand; and look but do not perceive”.
Remember – this is the question to consider before you even seek to place yourself in this parable.
Do you “hear” and “see” that this parable is describing you?
The hardness of our heart is not determined by which soil we relate to – it is determined by whether we even understand the parable in the first place!
By whether we even entertain the notion that it describes “my life”.
Then, and only then, are we able to consider which soil best describes your response to the Kingdom of God.
So – do you listen and understand?
Do you see and perceive?
If so – which soil best describes your life?
Have you been attacked spiritually? Or wilted under the pressure of trouble on account that you’re a Christian? Distracted and lured by cares of the world and wealth?
Or are you producing abundant fruit?
So many questions!!
What to do!!
This whole incident starts with Jesus leaving the house and teaching by the sea with a great crowd.
It finishes – and there is enough in the text to reasonable suppose this – back in the house with just the disciples.
With the disciples breaking away from the crowd and drawing near to Jesus.
Having considered our response to the parable – it is the place where each of us needs to go.
To hear the message of the Kingdom…
This passage from Isaiah…
The one Jesus says is fulfilled…
…it comes from a very interesting place in Isaiah.
It comes from a place where a man also broke ranks from the crowd, and drew near to God to hear His word.
And his life was changed.
He was no saint.
In fact – I wonder if the passage from Isaiah actually pretty much described his state of heart.
The man in question is Isaiah himself. And what happened to him is a great illustration (700 years before) of the very thing Jesus was teaching and warning about here.
Listen to the incident and where the words from Isaiah that Jesus quotes, fits.
[Read Isaiah 6:1-10]
Is it any accident that Jesus draws on this incident to explain why He uses parables?
Is it any accident that in the midst of a parable about the forces and issues of life that call us away from the kingdom, He uses a passage of scripture about calling someone towards the Kingdom?
Isaiah sees the vision of the King and his life by comparison.
He makes a break from the crowd and draws near to God crying out in remorse and confession and his sin and guilt is dealt with.
He responds to the call of God and is commissioned to preach the message given to him by God.
A message fulfilled in the time of Jesus. A message which still has relevance and impact with us today.
Where do we fit?
We have this message of divine judgement sitting there.
The message which explains (maybe for you) your response to the Parable of the Sower and all parables.
Dependent on your response to this parable – whether you “hear” and “see” – break from the crowd.
Leave those by the “sea”; those whom have lives bereft because of spiritual opposition; those who have given up because the Christian is too tough; those who have been distracted and seduced by the cares of the world and its wealth…
…break from the crowd and draw near to Jesus…
…to this message of judgement and say with Isaiah “I am a person of unclean lips, someone who has listened but not understood; seen but not perceived.”
Draw near as Isaiah did with that vision in the temple of the Almighty God…
Draw near to Him now speaks by the sea; and now in the house; Who walks with us…
…and speaks in parables.
And know the gift of His forgiveness and empowerment.
Say with Isaiah – “Here am I. Send me”.
Send me back to those who lives are ravaged by satanic opposition; trouble and persecution; dull with anxiety and wealth…
Send me that I might bring forth fruit 30, 60, 100 fold.
Presented By: Rev. Geoff New