Matthew 13:1-9 - The Parable of the Sower
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9He who has ears, let him hear."In case anyone wants to read the following discourse between Christ and His disciples (something I whole-heartedly encourage because it's great stuff!), here's a link to the entire surrounding section of Matthew for this parable - Matthew 13:1-23.
I'll refrain from commenting here in the post, but please check the comments below and join in on the discussion!
5 comments:
I love this if for no other reason than it ends with one of my favorite cryptic Jesus statements: "He who has ears, let him hear."
Awesome!
This is, I believe (but could be wrong), the first big parable Jesus has quoted in the Bible and it's a doozy. Right afterward, He is approached by His disciples who ask Him why He talks that way to everyone. Maybe they're used to hearing this kind of stuff or maybe they're just as confused as they think everyone else must be...
Jesus takes this opportunity to explain not only why He speaks in parables, but also what this specific parable means. Does He do that with all His parables?
Since the message He's trying to reveal is at least partially explained, is there anything else for us to learn? I don't have my study Bible with me, so I'll claim ignorance, but I'll look into all my questions and see what everyone else has to contribute.
I am sure you are correct about this being the first parable in Matthew. All the things that Jesus has already said have been said directly, mainly about behavior and attitude. Now Jesus starts to explain his vision of the Kingdom. He has already mentioned it a few times, including praying for it in the Lord's Prayer. The crowds had lapped up the Beatitudes, which seem so strange to us, but they weren't ready for the Kingdom?
Good question... His vision for the kingdom is so huge that He needed to get away from the literal and use something like a parable to drive the point home. Using direct language would have missed the opportunity for people to understand His message in a personal way that can only be attained by using such colorful and vibrant metaphors. The lesson must have been pretty important. I guess these people were primed by the Beatitudes and he was now opening them up for a much bigger message... at least those who had ears. :D
Another point that always amazed me - Is Christ so popular at this point that He has to get into a boat and leave the shore to effectively address everyone? Pretty inventive of Him to get the best vantage point like that. Maybe He was also putting Himself against a backdrop that brought people (and His message) into a setting with which they were very familiar: Fishing. That also has all kinds of cool connotations with Christianity.
So we all know He was trying to point out that many people may hear His message, but only some will bear its fruit. Or is that what He's saying here?
And what do the birds, rocky ground, scorching sun, and thorns, represent? Are they anything specific or just "bad things" in general?
The disciples were confused about the use of parables, but they had been used in other parts of the bible. My instinct is that it is because the Kingdom is the Kingdom of the heart and not a kingdom of the head.
There are also the verses that follow this parable where He explains what it all means. It turns out that He does explain exactly what is meant by all the difference types of infertile ground. Great stuff.
So I guess we're fairly clear on what is meant by the parable itself. Since we have modern perspective, maybe this one seems a little more obvious than it did when it was originally delivered. The text surrounding it is maybe even more fascinating. But then so much of what Jesus says in the Bible needs to be taken in context. That's what Revrin Rick has struggling with over the last couple of days. What a great follow up.
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