Matthew 13:1-9/18-30 (compare Mark 4:1-9/13-20, Luke 8:4-8/11-15)
Matthew's gospel tells us that Jesus left the house at which He was staying to sit by the seashore. If I were to listen to my imagination, I would think it was to sit alone and spend some time with the father in prayer; the scriptures however do not tell us the reason why.
On other occasions when we see Jesus go to have some solitary time, it often gets interrupted by scores of people who came to listen to his wisdom, to get healed, or even to get another free meal. On this occasion, it isn't much different. He was by the seashore when a multitude of people came and gathered around Him. Again, Jesus sets an example for us by putting others before Himself. He began to teach the people; "Behold, the sower went out to sow…"
In His lesson for that day, Jesus outlined four basic types of soil into which seed is planted;
1) The wayside, just off the beaten path, where the seed gets eaten by birds.
2) In stony ground, where the earth is shallow, and no root develops.
3) Among thorns, where the crops get choked out by weeds.
4) In good soil, where there is plentiful harvest.
When the lesson was done, the disciples came to ask why Jesus didn't speak plainly to the people. His response is summed up in verse 15. When the message of the kingdom of God is spoken, there is ultimately one response which counts, that we would "understand with our hearts and turn". It is important to note that when the scriptures speak of hearing with our minds, it means little more than being able to store details, facts, and/or figures in our grey matter. On the other hand, when one understands with their hearts, it means that message is understood with one's whole being. It becomes something that the mind accepts, and the rest can both believe and attempt to live on a practical level. Let me give you an example to which many of you might relate. Ask people at random about whom Jesus is and you'll get a number of responses, both positive and negative. One particular response you'd get would be this; "Jesus is the guy who died for our sins". At this you may even be willing to extend a hand of Christian familialship to that person, but explore a little deeper and you'll find that this isn't much more than a parroting of something they may have heard a number of times. It is the correct answer, but only on paper. Let me explain. Every person on the face of the earth has sinned (Rom3:23), that means that God has established laws which all humanity must abide by, yet every single person ever to exist has broken those laws. There is not even one person, save Jesus Christ, who has lived a life completely void of transgressing those laws. When we break those laws the repercussion is judgement. On paper, we could conclude that Jesus is indeed the Godman who died to pay the consequences for sin; we would be correct much the same way 1+1=2 would be correct on paper. Unless, however, we have an experience of Godly sorrow and guilt because it was just as much my sin which put him there as anyone else's, the innocent and righteous suffering on our individual behalf, we truly have missed the point. The gospel message must not be some cold hard fact, but it is living and active. It is something which must affect every aspect of each our individual lives. This is why Jesus spoke in parable, that those who were hard of heart would not understand the simplicity of the message, lest they see, hear, understand, and repent of their sinful ways. Love without truth is merely sentimentality, but truth without love breeds judgement.
Jesus then went on to explain the meaning of this parable. What he was warning the people of were the responses to the truth he embodied.
1) The message of God will at times be received as mere facts which in turn do not have any true consequences on people's lives. They may even understand the concepts, but will chalk them up to being another idea in the plethora of information and theories today, not understanding the personal impact their sin has. This is head knowledge. The evangelist, out of the four soils mentioned, has a definite roll to play in this one for which he can and will be held accountable. When we speak, we must use words easy to understand (1Cor 14:9, Rom 10:14-17). Jesus taught that if we cannot understand the natural things, than we will certainly not understand the spiritual either (Jn 3:12), which makes it necessary to mention that the Holy Spirit is ultimately the one who does the convicting of sin (Jn 16:8), and not us. Note that the seed falls just off the path. Jesus, on his own authority, claimed that he was the way to eternity with God (Jn 14:6). We must also judge ourselves (2Cor 13:1-5), is or has Jesus become someone we know about, having memorized information about Him, or is He someone we know personally and intimately (Mt 7:22-23)? (Note the obvious reference-He also taught that there is a narrow path which leads to life, and a wide path leading to destruction (Mt 7:13-14)).
2) The shallow ground signifies those who receive the truth personally, but with an emotional response, not much more than an infatuation. Christ is the root and foundation (1Cor3:11, Rom 11:18) which grounds us as believers. Without an intimacy with Him, it will be very easy to walk away at the first sign of trouble. Trouble is something that we must expect as believers, as all who desire to live Godly lives in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2Ti 3:12). We must remember that a servant is not greater than his master (Mt 10:24), if Jesus suffered at the hands of men, it is reasonable and should be expected we will suffer likewise.
3) The greatest commandment is to love God with our mind, heart, soul, and strength (Mk 12:30). I don't believe that it's a stretch to say, conversely, that not loving God with our all is the greatest sin. Between Matthew 13 and its parallel in Mark 4, the Lord taught that anything which is placed in priority in our lives above Him will destroy our ability in Him to be fruitful. One of the reasons we have been redeemed is to bear fruit (Jn15:16) and perform good works (Eph 2:8-10). When we love riches, prestige, popularity, muscular builds, or even the best toothpick collections more than God, we have set ourselves up to fail the Christian life. We cannot serve two masters (Mt 6:24). We must walk amidst distraction, trial, and temptation as believers, but it's when we persevere with strength and fortitude that we will obtain the prize.
4) Lastly, we come to the good soil. Contrasted against the other three, we see the type of person characterized who has a heart and mind understanding, a foundation and intimacy with the Lord, and is walking in perseverance. Note the correlation here with the greatest commandment. In scripture, understanding with the heart includes the mind, which we are to love the Lord with. We must love the Lord with all our soul, which includes the deepest most intimate and eternal parts of our personhood. We must persevere as believers showing our strength and effort to love the Lord, even when we are deceived into believing all is against us. If we do all these, if we are the good soil, we are promised that we will produce fruit, thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times over. Our character will change as we are conformed no longer to the image of this world, showing inward fruit. We will love even our enemies, defend orphans and widows, feed the poor, and forgive those that may have done nothing but harm to us continually. We will make an effort to abide in the word, hiding it in our hearts. We will preach the Gospel spreading the seed of its message. We will be used by God to help birth new believers into His family.
Reading this, and hopefully understanding it, I want to challenge you with the word of God. We are to judge a tree by its fruit (Mt 7:15-20). We are also to daily judge ourselves to see if we really are in the faith (2Cor 13:1-5). With these verses in the forefront of our minds, and knowing that the Lord saved us to do good works, I must ask if there is enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian. I realize that growth requires time, but if we are not bearing fruit of some sort, than we must question where our allegiances really lie, accepting the truth as the God of the universe sends the response.
Grace and peace,
Arron Bergeron.