Seeds and Weeds
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 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.’But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:1-23
Every word written in the Bible is about the Kingdom of God. People had gathered to hear Jesus tell about this kingdom from which He came and to which He would return. In this Sunday’s text Jesus is using parables to help His disciples better understand the truths of this Kingdom.
Everybody likes a fight and there was a huge one going on between Jesus and His opponents, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And when He bested them, this made them angrier so they conspired to get rid of Him. So this was a mixed crowd that gathered to follow the fight. It was so large that Jesus got into a boat and from the shore of the Sea of Galilee He preached about this Kingdom as they sat or stood on the hillside. He tells them a parable about a sower. Who knows, there might have been one somewhere on the distant hillside sowing. A pouch hung over his shoulder and he would reach into the pouch, gather a handful of seeds and then spread them out on the ground as evenly as possible.
No one would ever succeed at farming today using those methods. As the methods of farming have changed, so have the methods of spreading the good news about the coming of the Kingdom of God. Today farmers prepare good ground to plant their seed. There are still a number of factors that play into whether or not that seed will bear fruit. The methods for spreading the Word of God have changed. Churches are organized to spread the good news. Elsewhere it is done on YouTube, Facebook, Podcasts, websites and newsletters. The situation remains the same; some will fall on “good ground,” other seeds won’t. Some will hear, others won’t.
In the in-between verses Matthew 13:10-17, not included in this Sunday’s text, Jesus explains why this is so. It has to do with the reason why He taught using parables. In today’s text His disciples asked Him why He switched to using parables. The disciples didn’t request an interpretation of the parables; they just asked why He used parables. And this was His reply.
“Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see;though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. Matthew 13:11-14
It sounds a bit like Gnosticism but it is not. Jesus is saying that the secrets of the kingdom are given to some and not others. Immediately we are drawn into the doctrine of election. Do we choose God or does God choose us? Paul says that God tells us that He “predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” Ephesians 1:5 According to this verse, the basis of our being chosen has nothing to do with us but is solely based on the will of God.
How then does preaching, whether in children’s sermons, ministries to youth, Sunday school or congregational sermons, or all Bible studies for that matter, fit into the notion of predestination? The answer is found in Jesus’s answer in verse 11. When asked why He taught in parable He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Matthew 13:11 Hmmm, it sounds like something here is predetermined.
A careful look at the words “have been given to us,” leads us to see that something has been offered. Here is where faith enters into the picture. What is faith? According to the Word of God faith is the receiving of what God has already done for us. The basic truth upon which faith is ignited is realizing the full gamut of what God offers us. He has created us. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:3 He enters into our fallen lives for the purpose of redeeming us, saving us. Christ’s coming to earth personalizes God. He thinks; He feels; He can speak. Finally, He has restored to us the joys of salvation by giving to us His Spirit, yes His Spirit, that we again may live with Him and each other sharing the joys and hopes of the Kingdom which He is preparing for us.
This is the faith that bears fruit. For faith to bear fruit in the 21st century, we must come to grips with what God has given to us. The knowledge that faith gives us is that all the knowledge we have been given serves God. It doesn’t take much of a mind to come to realize that the results of humanities sufferings result from the sin in mankind that refuses to accept truth. Christ Jesus came into the world to restore truth to its rightful perspective. When we repent of our sins as John the Baptist sternly tells us to do, we then make room for Christ to enter into our lives. In so doing we freely accept the life that God has prepared for us—a life that is already given to us in Jesus Christ.
Sometimes we look to another part of Scripture to increase our faith in what God has done for us. The 13th chapter of John takes us to the upper room where Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. He did so with the knowledge That the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; John 13:3
Imperfect as we are as sinners we like to tell God what to do. Peter is a good example. With a basin of water and a towel thrown over His shoulder, Jesus sets about washing the feet of His disciples as a jester of His all-encompassing power. Wouldn’t you know it, Peters says, Then wash my hands, and head as well. Lord, not just my feet!” John 13:9 What Jesus was trying to show His disciples is that through His upcoming crucifixion “you disciples [have already been made clean] but not all of you.” John 13:10 Judas was not clean.
What does unclean mean here? I believe it has to do with the way we fail to see God. Adam and Eve knew God. They acknowledged him as their Lord. They obeyed Him. They were told not to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Their eating it reshaped mankind’s future. Mankind became godlike. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”Genesis 3:5 From then on they attempted to determine good and evil on their own. The unclean mind of Judas, which he inherited from his first parents, led him to become godlike, even though through Christ, the mind of God had been revealed to him.
Whereas for the eleven other disciples their salvation had come to them through the One who called them to follow Him and to abandon their godless lives. That change abruptly took place for the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. It takes place in every believer in that same way. When we accept Christ according to His Word, we are given the path to a saving faith parabolic ally. What is not seen is made visible to us. Through faith we are given to see what knowledge cannot provide.
This is a faith which is given to us. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 So the reason Jesus spoke this way to His disciples, then, and in the ages to come is that His disciples might know through faith that they are the chosen ones because everything has been accomplished for them throughout the future; their salvation has been established for them. As one commentary puts it, When you hear the words, “Dear hearers of the Word of God,” God has already accomplished in preaching, in the sacraments, in the hymn singing, in the praying, in the reading of the Word all that is required of a believer to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.
Oh, you who are highly favored by God, hear what God’s Word promises you. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.Matthew 13:12
After a poor harvest, the farmer said, “God will always supply me with what I need.”
“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
