Matthew 13:18-23

“Hear then the parable of the sower: 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. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 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. 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. 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.”

Jesus is at the beach, talking to a large crowd of people. He gives them one parable after another to help them understand and relate what he is saying to real life matters. It’s the classic illustrations that preachers continue to use today.

But the parable of the seeds has been very difficult for me to remember. There’s lots of seeds; I know that, and they get thrown in different places. And I remember the different places represent different types of people who hear the gospel (seed), and do with the gospel various things. Jesus spells out the parable quite clearly for us, in verses 18-23 of chapter 13.

There are four types of seeds:

1. Seeds that fell  the path (The birds ate the seeds)
2. Seeds that fell on the rocky ground (The lack of roots withered them away)
3. Seeds that fell among the thorns (The thorns choked the plants)
4. Seeds that fell on good soil (The seeds grew and were fruitful)

What do the seeds mean?

1. The gospel that falls where roots cannot grow (the path) is snatched away by sin too easily.
2. The gospel that falls where a little root can grow starts off well (the rocky ground), but as soon as hard times come, the person falls away.
3. The gospel that falls among thorns is where a person is choked out by the deceptions of the world being better than God’s desires.
4. The gospel that falls in a heart where roots can grow, grows and becomes fruitful.

What is the Application?

The great thing about what Jesus teached and preached was that the message wasn’t just for those in the crowd on the beach. His message has lasted the test of time and is applicable today as it was thousands of years ago. Not even instruction for how to get in contact with someone in the quickest manner 50 years ago is applicable to us today.

1. Many, many people hear the gospel. Many, many people hear really bad gospels, like the prosperity gospel, but still many, many people hear the good, true gospel that faith in Jesus’ saving grace is all you need to become a follower (that’s why ‘gospel’ means ‘good news’). But even still, people don’t understand the gospel. ‘Surely it’s not that easy?’ or ‘I just don’t believe it. It’s a fairy-tale’. Their hearts are hardened by the evil one working in their lives. Satan is like the plate compactor on their hearts, and it’s our job to pray that God will use us to break apart their hardness and soften their hearts, ready to received the seeds of Christ with good soil.
2. Some people that hear the gospel, hear the gospel. They may have been invited to church with a family member or were chatting to their friend about trials in their life that God was using to break open their hard heart; show them that they needed to turn their hard, dead heart into a living garden. They accept Jesus into their heart, but in the emotions of the moment, the roots don’t take hold, it’s just a really good feeling for the person. The tribulations may come days later, or even years, but when they come, it’s like nothing new ever happened. We can’t see the state of people’s hearts, and it’s not our place to judge others and make assumptions that their heart is rocky, not good soil. But it does go to show the importance of as soon as roots begin to form, we need to help the person learn how to get a handle on the rocks; show them how to grow the roots deeper and break the rocks down to dust and throw some good soil in there to really become a thriving, fruitful person.
3. Then comes the hardest area to grow seeds in; the thorny ground. Weeds are everywhere, and even soil that seemed once good soil can have weeds grow in it that takeover the person’s life. People that begin to see weeds growing in their lives, or where cares, addictions, selfish thoughts become more prevalent than God, need to go back to God and seek his de-weeding in their lives, before the weeds become to big they choke out the good plants and roots. When the plants are strong and healthy, a little root next to it is easy enough to handle, but for a new plant, weeds are threatening and hard to deal with. Just like the rocky ground new Christians (and long time Christians for that matter) need to learn to deal with their rocks, weeded Christians need to learn to deal with their weeds and learn that, although it’s harder, growing in God is ultimately much more fruitful than growing in thorny weeds.
4. Good soil and deep roots. Plenty of water, sunlight and fertilizer. Protection from pests. That’s what plants need. All of that care and love comes from God. Me, as a plant, even in Good soil, will die if I’m in a dark, dry caterpillar enclosure. We need to constantly seek out God for growth, and God will grow us. When the trials comes, we need to ask the gardener for help. We want to, I want to, get to the point where no matter what happens, even if the sun disappears and the water dries up, nothing’s going to destroy me, because my roots are so deep in the knowledge and love of God.

I am God’s plant, not my own plant. God has planted me on this earth to be fruitful and multiply. Am I doing that at the moment? Or am I more interested in letting the weeds grow around me, and not worrying about how deep my roots grow?

Let’s be planting seeds everywhere, but to do that we need to have strong enough roots to effectively bare fruit.