The Parable of the Sower
Matthew 13:18 - 23
Jan 30, 2011
Today I want to start down the path of looking into the parables. I want us to look at the parables to the best of our ability from the one that is telling the parables, Jesus Christ instead of simply looking at them from our view point as we so often do. I think if we can try to start to see things from the parable tellers’ point of view, we will not only understand the parable better, we will also come to understand the motive behind Jesus actions.
Depending on which Bible translation you have the heading for Matthew 13:3 – 9 & 18 – 23 will have many different headings such as;
Parable of the Soils; New King James Version
A Story About a Farmer; Gods Word
A Story About Planting Seed; New Century Version
Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed; New Living Translation
The Parable of the Sower; Holman Christian Standard Parable; English Standard Version; New International Version
This parable has four basic parts to it; The Sower, The Seed, The Soil, The Response. In most sermons that I have heard are focused on the final two parts, The Soil and The Response. Now I am not saying this is wrong in any means as this is what Jesus himself focus’ on as the emphasis in this parable, but is there more? I think if we look deeper, we will find that there is more.
Before we go deeper into this message let’s deal with the surface objective the final two, The Soil and The Response.
For anybody that has been going to church for any length of time understands the aspects of the four types of soil but for those that have not had the opportunity to have heard this parable before lest take a quick tour of the parable that Jesus told.
Jesus tells this parable as he sits on the front of a boat and there are hundreds of people gathered before him. Imagine if you will a man up on the hillside planting his crop. You can almost see Jesus, say to the people, “Look over there and see the man as he plants his crop. Look as he scatters the seeds over the ground from his sack, notice where the seeds are landing. Some are landing on the wayside (pathway) and some are landing among the stones. Look a few of the seeds just landed in those thorns over there and then sees the seed that is landing in the fertile ground.”
He went on to explain; “We all know that the all seed the farmer is sowing will not all grow and be fruitful. Look at the seed that has landed on the wayside, the birds are already starting to gather and eat it up. The seed that has landed among the stones has some immediate protection from the birds, but the soil is so shallow and hard that it won’t be able to get a good root system going. Then the seeds that landed among the thorns, there is abundant soil, but the thorns are so thick that they will end up choking the life out of the tender shoots, by absorbing the water as their roots are deeper and they stand so much taller that they will soon prevent any light from getting to it, but the seed that landed on the open and fertile soil oh what an opportunity for it. Some of that seed will grow and produce a bounty. Some of this individual seeds will end up producing thirty, sixty or in some cases a hundred seeds themselves.”
At this point in the parable the disciples ask Jesus why He was speaking in parables and asked Him to clarify Himself.
**Asking for clarification is not wrong. Asking simply proves the desire to know more. For it is only by asking that you get the answers.
Matthew 7:7-8
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Jesus turns from attention getting to attention training.
Depending on your translation, will depend on how strong this next training session becomes. The older versions will start verse 18 with Hear Ye or Hearken while others start with Therefore or Listen. The Greek translation starts with the imperative ἀκούω akouō
ἀκούω (pf ἀκήκοα, aor pass ptc ἀκουσθείς) a hear: 24.52 b be able to hear: 24.58 c receive news: 33.212 d pay attention to: 31.56 e obey: 36.14 f understand: 32.1 g hear legal case: 56.13 ἀκούω: units ἀκοῇ ἀκούω listen carefully 24.63
Louw-Nida

 The seed quickly becomes “The Word of the Kingdom” in this training session. Jesus is now setting the stage of this parable. It was laid out in the simple parable of the farmer on the hillside, but in this group setting He is in reality talking to four different groups of people or types of soil and the results, thus the main focus of most sermons
The question today lies in; “How am I hearing this parable?”
Wayside or Pathway             Matthew 13:4
4While he was planting, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it all up.
There is some today that are like the pathway and are only hearing the vibrations of the words spoken in this message today for they are not truly listening to what is being spoken. For what ever reason their hearts have been truly hardened to the word of the Kingdom of Heaven, much like the pathway that goes through a field, so as soon as the words are spoken the birds of the devil’s flock swoop in and snatch up the hope that lies within those words.
Individuals like this may seem to be very religious, showing up at church on a regular basis but despite all the good news placed in their life, they are still void of life.
Stony or Rocky Soil              Matthew 13:5-6        
5 Some seed fell on rocky ground, where there wasn’t much dirt. That seed grew very fast, because the ground was not deep. 6 But when the sun rose, the plants dried up, because they did not have deep roots.

Then there may be some hearing these words today that have this hard nature about them and rough nature much like rocky soil. This type of an individual is willing to listen to The Word of The Kingdom and allow it to be planted in the cracked soil but it soon dies out.
This individual is one who listens with their emotions. Something will be send in a sermon or in a gathering and they get hooked because of the excitement. This brings forth a quick burst of excitement but as soon as what got them excited fades so does their excitement for the Kingdom. They never get a chance to set root in the gospel and find the nutrition is available.
Thorny Soil                Matthew 13:7
7 Some other seed fell among thorny weeds, which grew and choked the good plants.
There is then someone hearing these words today that are growing in the thorny ground. These kinds of individuals have been versed or had the seed of the Kingdom of God take hold. It means that the seed has had the opportunity to not just germinate, but has sprouted roots and even has begun to grow, but their lifestyle does not allow it to mature.
This kind of individual has a mind that is prone to wander easily. They get caught up easily in the cares of this world; they are pre-occupied with the pettiness and cares of the world. As long as this overwhelming concern for what is in the world trumps their desire for the Kingdom of God, they have this divided heart.
This is the individual that Jesus describes in Matthew 6:24
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
As long as one is divided he will have this emptiness within him that neither the world nor God can fill.
Good Soil                   Matthew 13:8
8 Some other seed fell on good ground where it grew and produced a crop. Some plants made a hundred times more, some made sixty times more, and some made thirty times more.
Then there is the individual that is hearing this that Jesus described as “The Good Soil.” This individual is one that is stead fast in their faith. This seed is no longer on the soil as in that of the pathway, nor is it just in the cracks of soil as that of the stony ground, nor is its growth restricted like that of the thorny ground, but it is bursting forth upwards out and away from the ground.
If you noticed not all the plants yielded the same amount of grain? This type of growth is not uncommon, ask anyone that has driven past any field or raised any kind of garden, you will notice that the plants on the outer edge of the planted area will generally be smaller in stature and thus produce less unless special care is taken to stimulate growth.
Christian growth is very similar plant growth and it is based on one very important factor, Nutrition.  The plant will bear fruit based on the amount of nutrients that it takes in.
What is Christian Nutrients?
Prayer, Bible Study, Sunday school, Personal Study and Christian Fellowship.
This has been the theme behind most sermons like this for years and as I said it is not wrong for this is what Jesus said the parable was all about, or was it?
As we read this we see this parable as what the word of God does in each individual as the word of God is given to them. Those outside on the fringes like the pathway or the stony ground don’t think too much about The Kingdom of God and what it really holds for them as the hope is so quickly taken away that they never get to taste it. Those in the thorny ground get a glimmer of what The Kingdom of God holds, but it is not enough to outweigh what the world is offering.
Then to those of us that have come to understand and in varying degrees what the kingdom has to offer we respond based on that knowledge, but the question is how do we show that thirty, sixty or hundred fold increase?
I think that this is the parable behind the parable.
Let’s go back and see where Jesus started this parable.
Jesus tells this parable as he sits on the front of a boat and there are hundreds of people gathered before him. Imagine if you will a man up on the hillside planting his crop. You can almost see Jesus, say to the people, “Look over there and see the man as he plants his crop. Look as he scatters the seeds over the ground from his sack, notice where the seeds are landing. Some are landing on the wayside (pathway) and some are landing among the stones. Look a few of the seeds just landed in those thorns over there and then see the seed that is landing in the fertile ground.”
This parable started with a man planting seeds on a hill side and we quickly come to the conclusion that the man spreading this gospel message is Jesus and right you would be, or are we?
John 14:12
12 I tell you the truth, whoever believes in me will do the same things that I do. Those who believe will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Matthew 28:19 - 20
19 So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age.”
The spreading of the Good News of The Kingdom of God started with Jesus. The first seeds had to come from the original farmer, the original Sower, but it cannot stop there or there are no more future crops.
Christian growth is not based so much on what we take in as far as the nutrients, Christian growth is based on how much we give away. Now a prudent farmer is not going to deliberately throw good seed on a pathway, rocky or thorny ground, but in order to get as much seed onto all the good soil, the seed must be scattered wide and far.
The growth of The Kingdom of God is done by the scattering of seed. The seed was first spread by the Son of Man on a hillside to many different soils. Are you going to be like the first three and do nothing with it or are you going to take it and continue to spread it around.
As Jesus said at the close of the parable in Matthew 13:9
9 Anyone who has ears should listen! (akouō)”