Matthew 13.1-23 Sermon prepared for Grace Fellowship Church July 27, 2008
Today we will look at the parable of the Seed, from Matthew 13.1-23. In this, the foundational parable that Jesus tells, we'll see his most fundamental explanation of the Kingdom of God. And we will see five aspects of God's Kingdom within this parable. These five characteristics, by the way, can be very helpful at looking at all Jesus' parabolic statements and actions. May the Lord enlighten our eyes and guide our understanding as we look at this parable's explanation of catholicity, mystery, actuality, hostility, and response.
First, let's read the parable together. I'll intersperse a few comments that might help direct us.
See the context in which Jesus is speaking. He's outside with a large crowd. He's been telling them many things that we don't know about. And he tells them the parable.
Matthew 13
The Parable of the Sower
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
Now notice that it would be difficult to interpret this parable. We hear what Jesus said and we automatically say, "So what's the point?" The hearers didn't have the rest of what we have. This is why the disciples had to ask Jesus a question.
10The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
11He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
" 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15For 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.' 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For 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.
We read this last week. Notice that Jesus is talking now just to his disciples, not the big crowd. And while he encourages them about their asking and their hearing, he states the fact that most people just aren't going to receive the things of God. Jesus' speaking in parables doesn't make matters easier for those who are listening. It makes matters more difficult. So while we don't want to hide anything from people, we want to realize that Jesus' teaching is mystery. Mystery is difficult to understand. That's what it is.
Now Jesus goes ahead and tells the disciples what the parable means. Let's read on.
18"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When 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. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The 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. 23But 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."
Now let's be sure we recognize the characters in this parable. First off, there's someone who plants the Word of God all over the place. He is not someone who is mentioned as receiving the Word, but the one who is sending the Word. This can be none other than God the Father.
Though Matthew is writing this down before John's Gospel was written, there can be no doubt that the Holy Spirit knew Jesus as the incarnate Word of God, who was before the foundation of the world, through whom all things are made, and who came to bring light to the world. The seed, then, is the Word of God. And when we talk about that, let us talk about the Word of God through the same eyes John used when writing the first chapter of his Gospel. The Word of God isn't the Bible. And it certainly isn't a tract that uses a few Bible verses to tell someone how to be a Christian. The Word of God is bigger than that. The Word of God is Jesus Christ himself.
Now let's begin looking at the five aspects of parabolic teaching in order. The first one is catholicity.
Catholicity means "pertaining to the whole." Many people have at one time or another memorized the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed, both of which confess that there is "one holy catholic and apostolic Church." The word "catholic" there doesn't refer to the specific Roman church which has taken that description as part of their name. It refers to one "universal" church. And in this parable we see catholicity.
To whom does the Father give the Son? Let's look at the terrain. He ends up on the road, among the thorns, among the rocks, and in good soil. The Father plants the whole field. There is no area in this parable that he does not plant. Jesus is in fact the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1.29, 1.36) and who is the sufficient sacrifice not only for our sins but for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2.2).
Last week we looked at the idea of whether God was "enough God" for our salvation. In this parable, there is certainly enough Jesus for salvation for anyone anywhere at any time. The Father has planted the Son in the world. And he is everywhere.
The second of our parabolic aspects is mystery.
We're all familiar with the idea of a mystery. If you know Nate the Great, you know that any mystery can be solved if there are enough pancakes. Maybe your interest in mysteries runs deeper and you have watched Hercule Poirot solve mysteries using his little grey cells. Or maybe you have dealt with the mystery of the missing keys this very morning before managing to turn on your car. There are all sorts of mysteries in this world. And in the parables of Jesus there are many mysteries.
Specifically, where is the Word of God? Where is the seed? I planted some seeds in my garden some time ago. I would be very hard pressed to find them again. Until they germinated, and maybe for a while afterward, it might be theoretically possible to find them. But once they are in the ground, they are hidden and eventually they cease to be recognized as seeds, being replaced by plants.
God's kingdom is mysterious by nature. It doesn't arrive in the mailbox with a big notice saying "This is God's kingdom, sent to you by the Holy Spirit." If you receive something like that, throw it into your paper shredder right away. God's kingdom doesn't work that way. It's more, well, left-handed. It arrives often without our knowing it. It uses means that are not the means we'd pick. Think about that question. "What must I do to be saved?" Well, umm, Jesus already took care of that. Do you believe? Think about the way God seals salvation through baptism into his own name – this is a work of God, not of man. Think about the way God feeds his people around his table – according to his plan, not our invention. Think about God's use of the foolishness of preaching a substitutionary death, something that doesn't seem it would work, but is God's wisdom and God's power to salvation for everyone who believes (Rom. 1.15).
This is a mystery. The seed is in the ground. We don't see it. But it's there. And it's doing its own work.
The third of our parabolic features, after catholicity and mystery is actuality. This one is easy to understand, but a little harder to grasp when we think about it.
The farmer is actually planting the seed. And it's actual seed. He isn't thinking about planting seed. And he isn't deciding to plant seed. He's putting it in the ground. And it's seed. It isn't some fake representation of seed. It isn't something which is potentially seed. It is real. If he's planting barley, it's barley seed. If he's planting carrots, it is carrot seeds. It doesn't matter. It's real planting and real seeds.
The Word of God is actually planted in the world. It doesn't depend on us. It doesn't depend on our missionaries. The living Word of God is already here. God has planted the field. We who are believers have some duties, but this parable is not about those duties. Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, is already planted in our homes, in our families, in our communities, in our workplaces – he's there. If we have a job to do it is to point him out, resolving some of the mystery. But he's already there.
The earth belongs to the Lord. All of it. He's there. There is no place in heaven or on earth that is not full of the presence of God. The fact that he is rejected does not mean that he is not there. Let me repeat that. The fact that he is rejected does not mean he is not there. The fact that his wrath will be poured out on a person or place does not mean he is not there. Quite the contrary, it means he is there.
This brings us straight to our fourth parabolic element, hostility. Who is hostile in this parable? Let's start by asking who recognizes the seed, the Word, the Son? In this parable, only the Father and Satan, who is represented by the birds, recognize the Son. The Father, obviously, is not hostile to the Son. But Satan is.
How does Satan's power in opposition to the Son work? We can see it here in the birds. They recognize the seed. They attempt to devour the seed. But as anyone who has ever had a bird feeder realizes, the birds manage to do a fair amount of planting of seeds. They receive nourishment but they also scatter some of the seed and plant it near where they are feeding. For that matter, birds will eat seeds and then manage to plant them in other places where they go. This parable, then, may even picture Satan acting as an agent of God to redistribute the Word and make more fruitful soil.
Consider for a moment how Satan's "right-handed" power seems to work in this world. He arouses opposition to Christians in Jerusalem which spreads them throughout the Mediterranean world proclaiming the Gospel. He has Paul imprisoned and chained to guards who later end up on different assignments and take the Gospel throughout Europe and even to Britain. And the crowning glory of how Satan's power works is when he arouses opposition to Jesus and gets people to decide it would be a good idea to put him to death in a way which, incidentally, fulfills all sorts of prophecies.
Is Satan evil? Yes, no doubt about it. But is he able to bring the Gospel to destruction? Not in any way. His attempts are foiled at almost every turn.
So, we've looked at catholicity, mystery, actuality, and hostility. We have one remaining aspect of parabolic teaching to see, and that is response.
At some point in this parable Jesus shifts gears. Notice that he first talks about the seed, the Word, scattered everywhere. But then all of a sudden he is talking about "those" on the rocks, in the weeds, in the good ground. It would appear that Jesus has introduced another element to this parable, that of the germinated seed, and that this would be the Christian.
See how Jesus has given us every imaginable type of response to the Gospel? Let's look at these in order.
Some people, confronted with the Gospel, never have a chance. They are hard. Could they be made soft? Certainly, nothing is too difficult for God. But they are hard and for whatever reason, God knows, they are not penetrated by the Gospel. Satan recognizes the Gospel and steals it from their lives. These people will not see Christ. They will not hear and receive the Word. Their end will be destruction. They have been in the presence of Christ, since he is spread throughout this world, and they will be left according to their own desire, which is to reject Christ. Since we do not know who is what type of soil, our job remains the same – to try to make this mystery of Christ known to them.
Some people, confronted with the Gospel, receive Christ. They are in Christ. But again, for the reason that we do not know but that God knows, the Gospel does not bear fruit in their life. The Word works. Jesus works. The seed germinates. But the plant does not have the opportunity to grow to maturity and to bear fruit. Do I need to point out at this point that I'm not a Calvinist? I haven't made a secret of that around GFC or anywhere, but people are still surprised when I tell them that. I'm not a Calvinist. But it's all right. Really. As I understand it, Calvinists will make the assumption that these people were never believers. But I think that is an unwarranted attempt to protect the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints at the expense of a fair and straightforward reading of this passage. It is clear that these are living plants and that they die. So what is our job as Christians? First off, we do our normal job by seeking to reveal the mystery of Christ in this world. How about those rocks? If we see things which will cause young believers to stumble, will be harmful to them, if we are able, we should try to remove those hindrances. Do we see someone who believes in Christ and is becoming trapped in unrealistic expectations about the nature of salvation? We want to help that person as much as we are able. We want to remove the rocks whenever we can. Do we see our government and society doing things which can serve as stumbling blocks for Christians? Maybe we can lobby our government officials, maybe we can be involved in the community, trying to make it safer for people to be nurtured in their faith. Can we do it successfully all the time? No. Some rocks we won't recognize. Some rocks are hidden. Some people go seeking out the rocks so as to stumble over them. We don't know why, but it probably has a lot to do with the sinful nature. But we do what we can.
What's the next soil? The ground with weeds. Big nasty weeds that choke out faith. Again, I'm still not a Calvinist. These people in the weeds are real believers whose lives are choked by cares. Can we help them? Sure, sometimes. Sometimes pulling up the weed uproots the plant we try to save. Sometimes leaving the weed allows the plant to be choked. We can try what we are able to do. Probably the greatest thing when trying to minister to someone who is being choked by the cares of life is to remind the person of the nourishment of Christ. Jesus has obtained life for us. It is not of ourselves. It is not dependent on our will or our decision, but according to God's will (John 1.12-13). As we make known the mystery of Jesus Christ and salvation through belief on him, we encourage people. We strengthen them in their faith. We nourish that faith that God has given them. We act as a means of grace. They may end up choking out the weeds that were trying to choke them.
Now, maybe you have tried ministering to people, young Christians who are in trouble. Maybe you have tried and want to say you have failed. Maybe that person who was confessing Christ went and pulled the trigger. Maybe the person you were nurturing in Christ has walked away from the faith and rejected any relationship with you. Maybe you are wondering if you were acting rightly in what you tried to do to minister to this person. Maybe you are discouraged and wonder if you were really serving Jesus. Maybe you think it's better to do nothing. Let me encourage you. The Holy Spirit who lives in you will work through you. He will take your weakness and make it into his strength. He will take your failing and use it to accomplish his purpose. And that purpose may be partially to drive you to repentance and partially to show the person you were trying to minister to that Christians are not really all the way like their great and mighty Lord. God will not work in vain. He will accomplish his purpose despite our weakness, despite our failure. Pray, confess your sins, and receive God's forgivenss and grace. He will continue to work in and through you as long as you are in this world He has created and redeemed to himself.
We turn to the last soil. I wish everyone were good soil. I wish the whole world were good soil. I pray that God will plow up those rocks, eradicate those weeds, knock the hard packed path apart and make the whole world good, arable land. But he hasn't done it. We don't know why. But that's just the way he works. See how the Word sown in the good soil accomplishes its purpose, just like it did in all the other situations. It is not wasted anywhere. And it grows not because the soil is good, but because it is God's Word. The plants – Christians – are fruitful because they happen to be good soil. And they are good soil not because of anything inherently different from any other soil, certainly not because of their own effort, there is no room for boasting. But they happen to be right for the Word when the Word comes upon them. And the Word brings forth plants which bear fruit. Are we all going to bear the same fruit at the same rate of production? No. See how some bears a 30, some a 60, and some a 100 fold crop. None is condemned for producing a smaller crop. None is praised for producing a bigger crop. They are right there with each other. And obedient believers, like plants, have really nothing to do with the kind of crop they produce. They are just different from each other.
As we see our own fruit and look at other people's fruit, let us not be jealous. Let us be thankful that the Lord is blessing us and our neighbors with fruit.
In closing, I'd like to remind us once again of the passage we read earlier in Galatians. This may help us understand some of the characteristics of the believer on the rocks, in the weeds, and in the good ground. Look at the works of the flesh. See what happens when we work? We bring forth our own kind of fruit. And what kind of fruit is it? It isn't the kind of fruit that glorifies God. It eventually separates us from God and condemns us. But what kind of fruit does the Spirit bring forth? There we go. It's of God, not of our own efforts. The difference between the believer who is choked and the one who is fruitful for God is just this kind of difference. If we try to use our right handed power and accomplish things for God, we will go astray. But if we believe, trust in the Lord, and allow him to nourish us according to his plan and in his time, we will become fruitful, bringing forth the kind of character which is pleasing to God. Isn't this a wonderful mystery? The more we try to do the fruit of the Spirit, the less we will be able to do it. The more we don't try to do the fruit of the Spirit but simply trust in the Lord, the more we will end up bringing forth fruit.
Lord, give us eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart to understand, so we may turn, repent of our ways, and simply believe the Gospel, the power of God to salvation.
Amen.
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