Welcome back to our series called “In Parables”. We are dissecting and applying principles from some amazing short stories that Jesus told those who followed him. As we follow Jesus, these stories still ring true for our lives and we would be wise to slow down and think about our own lives through the lens of these timeless truths. So today, we are diving into a parable that Jesus’ disciples ask for clarification on and he pulls back the curtain on the deeper meaning of the parable. With no other parable does Jesus do this, so he thought it valuable enough to slow down and so should we. The Parable of the Sower (Read the full parable here → Matthew 13:3-9) THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER 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.’” Matthew 13:3-9 At the outset, I think it is interesting to note that the sower sows the seed almost indiscriminately. He doesn’t skip the hard soil and only plant where he already knows it’ll grow. He just sows, everywhere, generously, and lets the soil reveal what it actually is. The same is true about our world and the hearts of men. God has revealed himself to every single one of us. As it says in Romans chapter one: 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Romans 1:19-20 In God’s sovereignty, he allows the “seed” to be scattered where he knows it will not grow and that is not a blight upon the seed but rather upon the soil. It is a testimony against the condition of the hearer not upon the power of the Word. THE KEY PARABLE 10 “And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, ‘To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”Mark 4:10-12 Before Jesus explains the parable, he tells them plainly why he teaches this way at all. The secret of the kingdom has been given to them. For everyone else, it stays wrapped in parables, seen but not perceived, heard but not understood. This isn’t Jesus being difficult. He is describing reality in that some truths can only be received when God opens the eyes of the one who will receive them. Then, in the account of this parable in the Gospel of Mark, he goes further than that in this moment, further than he does with any other parable. 13 “And he said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word.’”Mark 4:13-14 Instead of answering their question, he asks them one back. If you don’t understand this parable, how will you understand any of the others? Jesus is telling us the Sower isn’t just one parable among many. The principle of this parable is the one that unlocks understanding the rest of them. Think about why that would be true. Every other parable Jesus told assumes something about the person hearing it. The prodigal son, the good Samaritan, the unforgiving servant, each one hits differently depending on the condition of the heart receiving them. Before you can understand any story Jesus tells, you have to understand what kind of soil you actually are. I think that’s why he explains this one in greater detail. It’s not just a parable about hearing. It’s the parable about how you hear everything else. So let’s look at the different types of soil. THE PATH 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."Matthew 13:19 Hard ground. Seed never even gets in. This is a man who hears something true and it just bounces off. No understanding, no wrestling with it, nothing. And the enemy doesn’t even have to work hard here. He just snatches it before it has a chance to sink in at all. ROCKY GROUND 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.”Matthew 13:20-21 This is the man who gets excited fast. Emotional response, immediate joy, looks like real growth right out of the gate. But there’s no depth underneath it. When tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he falls away immediately. This soil looks the most promising early on, and that’s exactly what makes it dangerous. You can’t tell it apart from good soil in the beginning. In my experience as a pastor, I have seen this happen so many times. People come to church, raise their hand for salvation, “pray a prayer”, and it looks legitimate. But then life gets hard, they run into something unexpected and boom…they ghost the very community of people they said they were all in with. It honestly is the most confusing one to discern. THE THORNS 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.”Matthew 13:22 In this soil, the seed actually grows. It just never gets to finish, because it’s competing the whole time with worry, ambition, comfort, the deceitfulness of riches. Nobody watching this man’s life from the outside would call him unfaithful. He’s in church, he’s raising his kids, he’s building a career. His life is just too crowded to bear anything else. When your faith becomes a nice add-on to your already full life, this is what happens. The current patterns of our life MUST give way to the Gospel of Jesus. The truth we have received should change our priorities, calendar, and bank statement. If we receive the Word of God and nothing changes, we need to ask ourselves if we really have received it at all. THE GOOD SOIL 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."Matthew 13:23 This is the goal, right? This is what we want when we think about our spiritual walk. Notice the word Jesus uses here. Understands. Not just hears, not just feels something, understands. That’s what separates good soil from rocky ground. Short term growth may be encouraging to see at first, but it is depth of comprehension and receptivity that leads to sustained fruitfulness. And this fruitfulness is abounding and producing even more fruit…100, 60, and 30 fold. WHAT’S YOUR SOIL? Our tendency at this point is to immediately go into analysis mode. We will either talk ourselves into thinking we are the good soil and it’s all those other people that are the other three, or we will justify our actions or pattern of life and excuse ourselves from the weightiness of the question that this parable causes. But we cannot ask this question in isolation. Mainly because we can’t truly know the depth of our own depravity. 9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”Jeremiah 17:9-10 Your own heart will lie to you about your own heart. That’s a big issue. You can convince yourself you’re good soil because you show up, because you know the right answers, because from the outside your life looks fruitful. But the Lord is the one who searches the heart. He’s the one who actually knows whether what’s growing in you is real fruit or just the appearance of it. That should push you to actually ask him. Not just examine yourself and trust your own conclusion, ask the Holy Spirit to search you and show you the truth, even if it’s not what you want to hear. This isn’t a question you’re equipped to answer honestly by yourself. It’s a question you have to bring to God and ask him to help you answer. And once he shows you, don’t waste it managing the image instead of dealing with the ground. If he shows you a hardened place, ask him to break it up. If he shows you shallow places with no root, ask him to deepen them. If he shows you thorns choking something out, ask him to clear them, even if clearing them is uncomfortable and costly. THIS WEEK So this week, spend some intentional time to ask the Holy Spirit, “What kind of soil am I right now?” Then take a concrete action step to confront it. Share it with your spouse or a trusted friend. Someone who will speak truth into your life and hold you accountable to do something with what God shows you. Let’s be men who are good soil! Want more content like this? 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