The Parable of the SowerMy Understanding: Skipping down to verse 18 first, we read: “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom…” Then we read about four responses to this message. So, first off, I believe it is important to understand what the “message of the kingdom” entails. We know that the Gospel of John begins by telling us about that message. The Word is Jesus Christ. He was in the beginning. He was with God and he is God. He created all things and without him nothing was made that has been made. He is life and he is the Light of men. He was in the world and he came among his own, yet the world did not recognize him, and his own did not receive and accept him for who he is. He became human flesh and made his dwelling among mankind. Those who saw him and who witnessed him in the flesh saw his glory, “the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 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. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Philippians 2 continues this description of Jesus Christ by telling us that he was in “very nature God,” yet he willingly left his throne in heaven, he made himself nothing, he was made in human likeness and he took on a servant role. He humbled himself and became obedient to death on a cross for our sins so that we could go free. Hebrews also continues this description of Jesus Christ when the writer of Hebrews states that Jesus Christ is our high priest, who is able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses because he was tempted in every way that we are tempted, yet without sin. Jesus had to be made like us in every way so that he might become our merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, so that he could be the perfect Lamb sacrifice for our sins and redeem us back for God. “Because he suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (2:18).
John the Baptist was the forerunner for Jesus Christ. His mission was to prepare the way for Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry and for the ministry of salvation from sin that was to be provided through Jesus’ death and resurrection. John the Baptist preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matt. 3:2). Jesus also preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matt. 4:17). The “kingdom of heaven” is to be understood, thus, as the Messianic kingdom rule and reign of Jesus Christ, beginning with his earthly ministry, in all his teachings, through his death and resurrection - in order to provide us with salvation from our sins - throughout the life of the church - through which his ministry on the earth continues - and eventually culminating in his return and him setting up his kingdom reign on the earth for 1,000 years, as well as in his rule as God the Son, King and Lord for all eternity. Jesus Christ was, thus, the embodiment of the kingdom of God.
The prerequisite that Jesus Christ and John the Baptist taught for entry into this kingdom was repentance, i.e. turning from our sin and turning to faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. In other words, this is a radical life change of heart, mind, attitude, behavior and lifestyle. Jesus Christ often emphasized the need for an obedient relationship to him for entry into the kingdom of heaven (see Matt. 7:20-22). Jesus said that if anyone was to come after him, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Jesus. He said that if we live to save our own lives, we will lose them, but if we lose our lives for the sake of Jesus Christ, then we will find our lives.
The New Testament continues this teaching by letting us know that coming to faith in Jesus Christ means dying to our old way of life and it means being resurrected to a new way of life, transformed by the mighty working of the Holy Spirit within us. Becoming a Christian is not a decision to join a social organization, a club, or a church denomination. It is not a decision to clean up our old lives and to try to live better lives. We can’t clean up the old life. When we receive Jesus Christ, it means abandoning our former lives, and it means getting a whole new life and a whole new identity, way of living, thinking, behaving, etc. And, it means leaving our sin behind us and walking in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, returning now to Matthew 13:18-23, what I have just described above is the “message of the kingdom” to which four classifications of people responded. The first response mentioned is of someone who heard the message but did not understand it, and the evil one came and snatched away what was sown (the seed of the gospel) in his heart so that it never took hold. In vv. 11-15, Jesus explained that there were people who could physically see and they could physically hear the message of the gospel, but they didn’t really hear and they didn’t understand, because their hearts were hard and calloused to the gospel message. Yet, it is not just this first responder who experienced hardness of heart.
The next responder is one who received the message with joy, but he had no root, i.e. he had an emotional experience, but he did not really have that radical change of heart and mind that only the working of the Holy Spirit of God can do in the life of an individual. He was not grounded in Christ or in his word. Perhaps he listened to a false gospel message that told him repentance and obedience were not necessary for salvation, and that Jesus would be pleased with him no matter what he did, but that if he “believed” in Jesus, he would have the hope of eternal life in heaven. Perhaps that sounded like a good idea to him, but he didn’t really have the knowledge and understanding of what it meant to truly become a disciple of Jesus Christ, so when the emotion of the experience wore off, and the reality of what he had signed up for sunk in, i.e. persecution and trouble, he jumped ship.
The third responder is one who received the word, but the worries and cares of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth, possessions, men and man-made idols choked out the word of God from his heart and so it did not bear fruit. James is real clear on this subject. He said that if we say we have faith, but our lives do not bear fruit that such faith exists, then our faith is non-existent, i.e. it is dead. So, all three of these responders heard the word. They all had a response, from not understanding and so letting it go in one ear and out the other, to receiving the message with joy but it never really taking root in the person’s life, perhaps due to a false gospel being preached, and to one who heard the word, but the things of this world and this earthly life choked out what he heard. They all had ears to hear, but they were still not truly hearing and receiving what they had heard to where it took root and bore fruit in their lives.
The fourth responder, nonetheless, is one who genuinely believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He hears the true gospel message (including repentance and obedience), and he understands what he is signing up for. So, he makes that decision to have Jesus Christ truly transform his life and to make him a new creature, not just a cleaned up version of the old person. He is willing to take up his cross daily and to follow the Lord and to lose his life for the sake of knowing Jesus Christ so that he can gain eternal life with God in his heavenly kingdom, which begins at the moment that he/she, by the grace of the Lord Jesus working transformation in his heart, repents of his sin and makes the conscious decision to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in full obedience from this point on. Then, he is able to bear fruit in his life in keeping with repentance and with genuine obedient faith to our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you have believed in a false gospel message, and you are relying upon a decision you made at an altar, one day, to get you into heaven, think again. There is a reason Jesus told this parable in combination with the quote from the OT about being ever hearing but not understanding, ever seeing, but not perceiving, because of harden hearts to the truth of the gospel. There are many professing Christians whose hearts are hardened to the truth of the gospel message because they are believing a lie someone told them. And, one day Jesus Christ is going to say, “I never knew you!” Please, don’t rely upon a “sinner’s prayer” to get you into God’s eternal kingdom. Jesus taught repentance and obedience for entry into his kingdom. Believe what he said. Don’t let the truth of the gospel message get choked out of your life because it is easier to believe a lie than to believe the truth. Make a decision today to repent (turn from sin) and to allow the Holy Spirit to radically transform your life through and through to where you truly become someone else who is sold out for Jesus Christ.
By Your Grace / An Original Work / June 27, 2011
Speak Your words to my heart,
Let Your grace and love impart.
Be to me all I need
To love and serve Christ my King;
To love and serve Christ my King.
Change my heart; be like You;
Let me love and serve in truth.
Guide my steps ev’ry day,
As I bow my knees and pray;
As I bow my knees and pray.
Love You, Lord. You love me.
You died so that I’d go free
From my sin; pure within;
By Your grace I’m saved from sin;
By Your grace I’m saved from sin.
Invite You in my heart;
Now I have a brand new start.
Repented of my sin,
So that I’d be cleansed within;
So that I’d be cleansed within.
Live for You ev’ry day,
List’ning to the words you say.
Make You Lord of my heart;
Be Your witness, grace impart;
Be Your witness, grace impart.
Obey Your ev’ry word;
Do the things I’ve seen and heard.
Your word, Lord, in me burns,
While I wait for Your return;
While I wait for Your return.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
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