THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER
(Rocky Soil / Shallow Faith - January 29, 2023)
Series Big Idea: "Receiving God's truth and following Christ will produce kingdom fruit"
Sermon Big Idea: “Jesus compares receiving the good news to planting seeds on rocky soil"
Key Scripture (Matthew 13:18-23)
An earthly story with a heavenly meaning. The word “parable” comes from two Greek words that mean to “throw alongside.” It is an illustration that makes a comparison between a known truth and an unknown truth, throwing them alongside each other.1 That is how we defined a parable last week. Remember, Jesus often spoke in parables, but it was not always to make the things He was saying clearer for the hearers, such as in the case of the parable of the sower.
In this parable, Jesus said to imagine a sower who sows. Some of this man's seed fell on the hard path, and the birds ate it. This is the ground we talked about last week. The message of Christ is never able to take hold in this person's life because they choose not to understand. They may understand in the literal sense what Jesus' massage is, but they refuse to accept that truth.
In this passage, other seeds dropped on rocky ground with little soil and grew quickly. As this plant grew, the sun scorched it and killed it. Some seeds dropped among the thorns. The thorns strangled them. Finally, some seeds fell on good ground and produced a big crop. Some 100, 60, and 30 times. Jesus said, “anyone who has ears to hear should listen.” Then He explains to His disciples what He meant by the parable.
(Matthew 13:18-23)
“You, then, listen to the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path. 20 And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 21 Yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived. When pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does bear fruit and yields: some 100, some 60, some 30 times what was sown.”
People's reactions to Jesus and His message are represented by the four kinds of soil. The first three are those who reject Jesus (Matthew 7:26–27) and those who falsely pretend to be his disciples (Matthew 7:15–23; 10:35–39).2 These types of soil are unfruitful. Only the last type is fruitful. The seed was Jesus' message about the kingdom's arrival in Him and how to take part in it.3 It’s the Gospel. The seed is not what is in question here, it is the soil. In other words, the people who hear the message about Christ.
The parable and explanation both focus on the rocky soil (Matthew 13:5–6) because of their 2 different reactions to the truth. At first, because of the encouraging circumstances, this person accepts enthusiastically. The cost of committing to Christ at this point is still not clear. So, their commitment is shallow. One commentator says it like this, “We might say that the truly committed “pay their dues up front,” but the marginally committed cancel their membership when payment comes due.4 But as they soon realize trouble, "tribulation," or "persecution" that comes because of the Word is the price of following the Messiah. This person deviated from the truth as fast as he committed.
Conclusion:
What kind of hearer are you? What kind of soil are you? The gospel is clear. Jesus died to save the world from their sin. He didn’t come to make us happy. He didn’t come to make us rich. He didn’t come to make us comfortable. He came to reconcile humanity back to Himself. Take inventory of your life. Are you good soil where the gospel can take root and grow?
Pastor Beaver's thoughts and ideas are inspired by:
Holman Christian Standard Bible
English Standard Version Bible
King James Version Bible
Christian Standard Bible
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