Matthew 13:1-23
Key verse 23
. 23But the one
who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and
understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times
what was sown."
Introduction: Good
Morning! The other day (Friday) night I was reading a book at home. Suddenly a
loud noise was heard from our family room. You know, I had father’s inquisitive
interest on my children. So I went down to see what was happening. There Maryland was beating hard on Kansas.
Luke and his friends couldn’t handle the exhilarating joy in silence. Beating
is always fun—you know what I mean, not physically. Today I want to talk about beating down Satan. It is a secret.
But I will share with you today. It’s just you and me.
In this chapter is a
discourse of 7 parables. Jesus spoke
these parables with a clear and distinctive purpose: how the kingdom of God
grows at the present age. The most important one is today’s word—explaining
basic principles; seeds are scattered at random and a good soil produce 100,
60, 30 times of what was shown. Many want to be in the kingdom of God. But not
all of those who receive the seed of the kingdom enter the kingdom of God.
Through today’s word may God enlighten us how to bring the kingdom of God at
the present ages.
For clear understanding, I
divided into three parts; a. Jesus spoke in parables (1-9) b. the secret of the kingdom of God has been
given to you(10-18) c. the man who
hears the word and understand it.
A Jesus spoke in
parables (1-9)
Read v1-3. V1-31That same day
Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds
gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people
stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables,
saying:…
That same day was the day when
Pharisees called Jesus as the prince of Beelzebub, and demanded a sign from
heaven. This day marked a beginning of opposition from the religious leaders. From this point on, it was Jesus’ word
against the word of Pharisee’s false teaching. But as usual, large crowd came
to listen to Jesus’ word. But at this time, suddenly Jesus changed his teaching
method. He taught in parables.
Read v 3b –9 "A farmer went out to
sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the
path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places,
where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was
shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and
they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among
thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell
on good soil, where it produced a crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what
was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
In this parable, these things are clear; farmer saw the seeds at random.
Seed fell along the path, on rocky soil, among thorns and on good soil. Only
the seed fell on good soil produced a
crop—100, 60, 30 times. Who is the farmer, what is the seed, what are the
soils? What does the crop represent? Certainly Jesus did not talk about
farming. Why did Jesus teach in parables? All these questions are not answered.
Also his parable was ended with this word.
” He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” This indicates two things; true meaning was hidden to the
ordinary ears. And only those few who have special insight can understand this.
Jesus answered these questions in the next paragraph.
B. The secret of the
kingdom of God has been given to you(10-18)
No one understood the
parable. So the disciples asked Jesus why he spoke in parables.
V1111He replied, "The knowledge of the
secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
Here Jesus showed clear
intention to reveal the secret of the kingdom of God to his disciples and to
the crowd around him. But to them the secret will be hidden. Who are they? Certainly they were Pharisees and teachers
of the law who discredited the power of God in Jesus. They saw Jesus’ miracles.
They heard the message of truth. But they refused to accept Jesus and his
authority—the Son of God. Now open season is over. They were excluded from the
further truth. This is God’s judgment
to them—hidden from the truth of God, blinded from the truth of salvation.
There will be no recourse for them because they rejected the Son of God and His
authority. This rejection will bear a rejection from the Lord.
V12 12Whoever
has will be given more, and he will have abundance. Whoever does not have, even
what he has will be taken from him.
Whatever understanding he
has about God will be taken away from him. He will be bankrupt in his spiritual
assets. He will be deprived. They live and understand only in a spiritual
desert. The only fate of such a man is the fiery lake of burning sulfur,
eternal damnation. All this starts from one thing—rejecting Jesus as the Son of
God, the Savior; God saw this long before.
V1313This is
why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though
hearing, they do not hear or understand.
It was prophesied by Isaiah 6:9-10. Since they did not appreciate the message
of Jesus, further secret of the kingdom will be hidden from them.
Second when Jesus said, “you”, it referred to the group of people who
were working together with Jesus. The secret of the kingdom of God is only and
properly understood by the group of people who participate in the work of
Jesus. Without participating in the suffering of Jesus, the full understanding
of kingdom of God is almost impossible. Furthermore, the thing that Jesus
wanted to reveal was a secret. No one saw or heard before. No one could fathom
even the presence of such knowledge. This is the exclusive privilege that Jesus
disciples had.
V16-17 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears
because they hear. 17For I tell you the truth, many prophets and
righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what
you hear but did not hear it.
It is so precious because
it is exclusive in Jesus; it comes with clarity and fullness of power of the
kingdom of God. This was the purpose of
speaking in parables. Parables
have ability to carry secrets and deliver to certain people. As the power of
opposition grew, Jesus started to share the in-depth secret of the kingdom of
God with his followers. This secret sharing enrich the knowledge of his
followers about the kingdom of God, and build a hedge around his followers that
outsiders can not over come. It was his
way of enlarging the kingdom of God, and his way of discipleship. One day I saw
Missionary Sarah and Andrea going into the study room. Sarah was sharing a
secret with Andrea. Do you know what was the secret? I suppose not to tell the
secret. But I tell you today because I trust you. It was about the kingdom of
God. But don’t tell anyone that I told you. In-depth knowledge sharing builds
our relationship, build our ability to cope with Satan’s attack, and empower us
in heavenly realm. This is how Jesus fought the evil. Now let’s get to the secret.
C. The man who hears
the word and understand it(18-23)
Here Jesus explains the
true meaning of the parable of the sower.
Before we think over what the each soil means, I like to enlighten three
things in this parable through general observation.
1.
Today is the day of sowing.
This parable is about men
who hear the message of the kingdom of God and how or what he does with the
message. Through this we can conclude a few things—the kingdom of God came to
be by spreading the seed—the message of the kingdom of God. This is essential
and paramount for the kingdom of God to begin. Without spreading the seed,
there is no crop. Without the message of the kingdom of God, no one can believe
and no crop will be sown for the kingdom of God. This theme is the basic
foundation of the next two parables about the kingdom of God.( v24-32 parable of weed, parable of mustard seed.) Without spreading the
seed, the land is barren, no crop can be expected. In this sense the word from
Isaiah is very meaningful.
Isaiah 52 :7 How beautiful on
the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, .
Do you want much harvest—an
abundance of crop! Then spread the seed diligently, diligently. Matthew did not
say who the farmer was that spread the seeds. Certainly it is of God and from
God. But Jesus gave this explanation to the insiders—his disciples and those
who followed him closely. Spreading the seed is the way that brings God’s
kingdom to people. Now is the time to spread the message of the kingdom of God.
In this aspect I am very proud of what we are doing. I seldom see any churches
or groups do as much as we do—going to campus and speaking to many students of
the word of God. This spirit and understanding are built into our ministry and
our prayer and our lives. When I was listening to the testimony of Shepherdess
Mahima, I realized the secret of the fruitfulness of her shepherding—it is not
of some secret but it was her diligence in spreading seeds. Also Jesus implied
that the present age is the age of delivery, the ages of spreading the seeds.
This become clearer when we compare to the parables of the end of the time, in
chapter 21-22 of Matthew. Here, the end time—the time of harvesting event were
described. While in this chapter, seed was theme in the first three out of
seven parables. Who knows that one word I spoke to a student may bear 100 fold
crop? Often we are down hearted. It is because our mind is focused on the crop
while we are spreading seeds. How strange it is! While spreading seed, we are
looking for crop!
2. Sow the seed at random
as many as possible.
As the farmer spread the seed, some fell along the path or
on rocky places or among thorns, as well as on good soil. It is because the
message of the kingdom of God was spread at random, indiscriminately. The
primary goal is to sow the seed as many as possible. If we sow seed today
tomorrow we will harvest. If we do not sow seed today, we must do it tomorrow.
If not tomorrow we must do it the day after tomorrow. Why not today! Let’s sow
the seed today!
As we look into Jesus
explanation of the parable, there are four different kinds of men. Each of them
responds to the message of the kingdom of God differently. Only one of them is
a good soil that will mature to harvest a crop.
Let’s look at the first
one. v19When anyone hears
the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes
and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the
path.
Here is the seed fell
along the path. The soil was not prepared at all for seeding. The seed was
dangling around and one of the devils that was passing found and ate it up.
What is distinctive about this man of “along the path”? He does not
“understand” This man does not understand and has no desire to know it. Many
things have gone through his minds and the message of God is one of the many
that passed by. The message comes in one ear and out through the other ear. The
message of God was neglected. The Pharisees were like this man. Such men have
no chance. Such man have no understanding of what is God’s judgment, no
understanding of God’s righteousness, holiness. Such man does not have even a
glimpse of an idea about God. Satan won’t hesitate to take away the message of
the kingdom of God from him. What a pity it is! . I doubt there is any one like this among us. But if you get by
the message happily without understanding, it is a dangerous sign. If you don’t
have desire to know or do not make effort to understand, it is an ominous sign
to be an outsider!
Second v 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is
the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. . 21But
since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution
comes because of the word, he quickly falls away
This man understood the
importance of the message of the kingdom of God. He was joyful to know it and
might have made the decision to know more. But there is little to carry on this
decision. A large portion of his life and his mind are occupied by rocks. It
leaves only shallow soil and gives little room for its root.
What are the rocks that
occupy the lives of men? For some, it may be a strong desire for success—like
being a lawyer or a doctor, or a great businessman. For others, it might be a
strong passion for fun—traveling, biking, mountain climbing and
basketball. No room means no root.
Without a deep root, Sun becomes a scorching heat, Rainfall is a roaring flood
that uproots the tree. Financial strain is essential for spiritual growth—to
put the first priority on God and his kingdom. But it will be a disaster for
those who does not have deep root. Physical illness is a great chance to learn
the God of life. But it is either a deep trench of fatalism or a death penalty
for those who do not have deep root in the kingdom of God. Conflict in human relationship
is a source of learning to be a man of God, to grow to be a leader and
shepherd. But for those who does not have root, it is a sorrow and pain that
bears bitterness and loneliness. This
is the man of shallow commitment. This man doesn’t go anywhere. Sooner or later
he will surely fall away. Good human relationship may keep him a little longer.
No matter how good relationship we have with a man of shallow commitment, if he
does not have a root, he will fall away. It will be just a matter of time. Then
what is the root?
In my opinion it is what
we know and understand about Jesus death on the cross and his resurrection. The
apostle Paul wrote a letter to Corinth. In his first letter, he gave them
solutions for myriad of problems in the church. In the last section, he devoted
a whole chapter to explain Jesus’ suffering death and resurrection. Why? This
is the root of our faith. Here the
kingdom of God is open and understood fully. In this sense coming Easter conference
is important. This is the best occasion to know the cross and resurrection and
to lay a deep root in your faith.
Third soil v 22The one who received the seed that fell among
the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the
deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
The seed takes root and
starts to grow. But it never reaches to maturity because of the worries of this
life and deceitfulness of wealth. How can we characterize this man? This is the
man who has both the world and God together. He doesn’t want to let go either
of these. He feels that he is smart having the two and enjoying both. In the
world he pleases the people of the world. In the church, he tries to please
God. But he does not have the world; he does not have God either. Jesus said, “You cannot have two master, God
and money.” Though he may have some
understanding of the words of God, the half committed never come to the full
grip of the kingdom of God in its power and hope. He is blinded to the utmost
truth—the kingdom of God in its entirety. Discipling is never a consideration
for this man. He is busy to alleviate his anxiety and fear for life.
So far we talked about the
problem soils. All of them do not have full understanding of the kingdom of
God. Discipleship is neither a possibility nor a consideration for them.
The last one is the
good soil. As a whole we are the good soil because we harvest crops—though
often we might think we do not have enough crop. Then what makes a good soil?
V23But the one who received the seed that fell on
good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop,
yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
First, This is the man who
accepts the words of God and put trust in it. Through this he come to
understand the kingdom of God in its entirety. I don’t mean thorough. He
understand God’s Holiness, God’s judgment, God’s provision of salvation in
Christ—his suffering, death and resurrection and God’s call for the kingdom of
God. Understanding is the key to maturity and without maturity no one can
harvest a crop.
Second, He produces the crop.
His understanding is proven to be genuine through his life and effort in
producing crop—it may be 100, 60, 30. How could he do that while so many fall
short as we studied about the three soils.
He learns the words of
God—committing to know and understand not like the one fell along the path. It
requires time and effort; He does it in sacrifice of his other interests
He is not the one with
shallow commitment. He wants to put a deep root. To do so he does not hesitate
to dig out the rock if there is any.
He does not try to get
hold of the world. He dares to sacrifice the world he knows. He dares to put
his life on God’s word and his promise.
He is the one who dare to persevere to the end till he bears a crop.
This man of seed fell on
good soil produce a crop—100 time of what was sown. This was the primary goal
of this parable. Then what is the crop? If man is the seed sown on good soil,
the crop should be also be men—multiplying 100,60,30. One man receives the word
of the kingdom of God. Through him the kingdom of God grow among 100 people.
Jesus is talking about discipleship. It may be thought of something of
spiritual fruit—such as peace, joy, hope. But since it is expressed in numbers,
it is more appropriate to say that the kingdom of God grows to in the lives of
100 peoples. Discipleship is the
primary goal of the man of seed sown on good soil. Another word, Understanding of the kingdom of God and
discipleship are intricate partners each other. Jesus initiated this and he planted it in the twelve. It is
through discipleship. The twelve bore crop more than three thousands.
Discipleship is the way that the kingdom of God comes and grows and expands.
The power of the kingdom of God, the truth of the kingdom of God, the hope of
the kingdom of God is taught and learned and conveyed through
discipleship. Another word, true fruit
of the kingdom of God in one’s life is measured in discipling. Isn’t it scary
statement? Especially for those who never thought about feeding sheep or does
not have any sheep now? Do not worry for it will surely come to you in the
power of God. In this aspect I am the
poorest. For I do not have any sheep now except ones that I inherited and the
disciples I bore were very few comparing to others. But I firmly believe that
the kingdom of God in me will surely bear more crops.
To this man who
understands the kingdom of God, discipleship is how he keeps the kingdom of God
in and around him. It is the way of life as a child of the kingdom of God. We know that discipleship brings little
things of the world. But for him it brings an utmost joy and meaning and
happiness that culminate to the heavenly experience. He is the one who would
not exchange discipling for anything of this world.
He is the one in whom life
of heavenly kingdom flourishes so much—producing a crop 100 of what was sown.
As we see him we will forget all the sorrow and pains and hardships that sneak
into our heart as we sowed so many seeds without a crop. He is the one that
makes the life of a farmer worthy.
a. How does the kingdom of
God come to be at the present age? The present age is the time of confusion—the
message of the kingdom of God is viewed as one of the many ideas to the modern
man. At this situation Jesus gave
parables through which he shared the secret of the kingdom of God with his
disciples. This is the way he discipled. Discipleship is not a way of Christian
life, It is the way of Christian life, It is the way of having and
living in the kingdom of God at the present age.
b. Today we will sow seeds
and tomorrow we will harvest—a 100, 60 and 30 fold of what was sown.
c. Understanding and
having a full grip of the kingdom of God is the essence to persevere and to
disciple. The understanding comes by commitment, sacrifice, and dedication to
study the word of God and to persevere with it. Next week is the Easter
weekend. We will have Conference. The main topics of messages are on Jesus
suffering, death and resurrection. Like this man of the seed fell on good soil,
I want you to pour out your spirit and energy to learn the power of
resurrection so that you may have firm grip on the Kingdom of God and produce
crop. Again, understanding comes by commitment, sacrifice, and dedication to
study the word of God and to persevere with it.