Matthew 13:1–9
1That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. 2And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.
3And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5“Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6“But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7“Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8“And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9“He who has ears, let him hear.”
Focused Thinking:
What is the context?
Jesus left the synagogue and began to teach outdoors.
Jesus left those opposed to him and reached out to the responsive people.
Jesus began teaching a series of parables about the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus used parables to get listeners to think.
Parables are short stories that use familiar scenes and everyday objects and relationships to explain spiritual truths.
- A parable compares something unfamiliar with something familiar.
- A parable compels listeners to discover truth.
Parables hid the truth from those who had already closed their minds.
Matthew 13:1–23 focuses on the parable of the sower and the soil about the receptivity of the gospel.
Matthew 13:24–35 focuses on three “little power” parables about the weeds, seeds, and leaven.
Matthew 13:44–50 focuses on three “end time” parables about the treasure in a field, the pearl, and the net.
In this parable:
- the farmer represents Jesus,
- the soil represents Israel,
- and the seed represents the proclamation of the kingdom.
The parable shows the contrast between the results of acceptance and rejection of the gospel message.
What is the difference between farming then and farming now?
Farmers sowed by hand, not by machine.
No matter how skillful, no farmer could keep some of his seed from falling by the wayside, from being scattered among rocks and thorns or from being carried off by the wind.
How did the farmer deal with this problem?
The farmer would throw the seed liberally, and enough would fall on good ground to ensure a good harvest. The yield depended on the condition of the soil where the seed fell.
The variable wasn’t the farmer or the seed; the only variable was the soil where the seed fell.
Personal Application:
Highpoint needs to scatter as much seed as possible.
- We need to export our teaching as much as possible.
- We need to export our teaching via people and places.
- We need to export our teaching via technology.
What areas in Memphis are beside the road?
What areas in Memphis are on the rocky places?
What areas in Memphis are among the thorns?
What areas in Memphis are good soil?
We won’t know until we scatter the seed and evaluate what happens.
We can’t always evaluate what other churches have done and whether or not they yielded a crop. With Jesus the farmer and the seed is the same and the only difference is the soil, but that isn’t always the same today with churches. Some churches are better equipped to cultivate different types of soil and to change bad soil to good soil.
What is good soil for Highpoint right now?
Overton High School is good soil.
Freedom Extreme (CR) is good soil.
Single Parents are good soil.
De-churched are good soil.
Un-churched are good soil.
- The majority of churched haven’t been good soil for us.
- There is a newer generation of churched that “get it.”
Imperfect.tv is good soil.
The possibilities are unlimited.
- How much seed can we scatter when a video goes viral?
- How much seed can we scatter with “Going Public” stories?
- How much seed can we scatter with “A Better Story” videos?
Focused Thinking:
What happens to the seeds of the Word of God?
1) Some seeds fell beside the road (13:3–4).
- The birds came and ate them up.
- Beside the road represents the hardness of the heart.
2) Other seeds fell on the rocky places (13:5–6).
- Where they did not have much soil.
- Immediately they sprang up.
- Because they had no depth of soil.
- But when the sun had risen.
- They were scorched.
- Because they had no root.
- They withered away.
- Rocky soils represents hearers who lack depth.
3) Other seeds fell among the thorns (13:7).
- The thorns came up and choked them out.
- Among the thorns represents hearers who have a lot of stuff competing for their hearts affection and their mind’s attention.
4) Other seeds fell on the good soil (13:8–9).
- And yielded a crop.
- Some a hundredfold, some sixty and some thirty.
- A farmer would be happy indeed to see his crop multiply even ten times. Thirty, sixty or a hundred would be an incredible yield, for it would mean even more seed to plant and harvest in the coming year.
- The good soil represents those who are ready to repent and believe, ready to go public, ready to grow in Christ.
9“He who has ears, let him hear.”
Some people in the crowd were only curious about Jesus; a few were looking for evidence to use against him; others truly wanted to learn and grow.
Jesus’ words were for the honest seekers. Those who honestly seek God will have spiritual hearing.
Interactive Prayer:
Father, give us favor in the spreading and sowing of your Word. I pray that the seeds of our teaching will fall on good soil throughout this city. Father, give us favor in reaching the unreached. Give us favor in reaching the imperfect, the unchurched and the de-churched. Father, give us favor reaching people of diversity.
Give us the ability to truly make a difference in this city. Father, give us the vision, the resources and the leadership to have multiple campuses. Give us the ability to truly reach all different types of people. I pray that the common denominator will be Your love for us and our love for You.
Father, imprint the vision of “Love Works” upon the hearts of our people. Cause them to truly get it. I pray that the teaching and vision of loving God, loving people and making disciples will become the focus of our lives. Father, cause the Holy Spirit to do what we cannot do and bring about godly sorrow that leads to a repentance without regret. Father, cause the Spirit to move in such a way that we will let go of our idols and replace our idols with You. Father, move strongly upon us. We cannot do it by ourselves. We will not voluntarily give up our idolatrous loves unless You move upon our hearts and minds. Father, cause the Holy Spirit to break through our resistance and have complete reign and freedom in our lives.
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