August 2nd 2020
Jesus Is The Sower Of Good Seed, And Satan Is The Sower Of Weeds!
Matthew 13:23 (NIV) Part 1 of 2
But 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."
Over the next two weeks the commentaries will be based on two parables, and how Jesus translated the meaning of these parables to His disciples, which is now us, if we accept the honor of trying to spread God’s Word to any who may need to hear it! The first of Christ’s parables is the Parable of the Sower. The second, complementing it, will be The Parable of the Weeds.
First it seems important to hear from Jesus as to why He is preaching to these people by using parables. The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For 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. Matthew 13:10-17. Trying to set the stage here for this incident where Jesus tells this parable to a large crowd that has come to hear Him preach.
The Parable of the Sower Matthew 13:2-9. Jesus explains the parable Matthew 13:18-23:
In this commentary I have left the verse numbers on for possible reference to that verse in context.
2 Such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
19 When 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.
We see this type of non-commitment of people who have heard the Word, but did not take time to study the Word of God to understand what it really means, thus when they have questions arise, they cannot answer them, and they lose heart and fall away!
5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
Some people hear the Word and initially believe what they hear, but when someone in their family or a friend questions them about this belief, they shy away from trying to find an answer for such questions, and they just give up on this opportunity. We see this a lot in the young Christians who ask good questions of their parents or friends, but they receive no answers, because most professing Christians do not know the correct answers.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
22 The 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.
In this country of wealth and freedom most people form cliques and associate with people who commonly cheat their way through life and seek first the wealth of the earth, and never spend much time seeking a godly lifestyle. Satan has influenced this world to follow him instead of God, and many of us just do not know what is happening to our immortal souls. Most people think they are good enough to go to heaven when they die, thus they do not need Jesus Christ or any other god or gods.
8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
23 But 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."
Finally, there are those who hear the Word of God, and believe what they have heard. They study the Bible and try to lead a good life because they try to emulate Jesus Christ. Such people are happy down deep in their souls, and they always want to share their faith with others. Mainly because they have come to believe that their faith has saved their immortal soul, but only because of what Jesus did in their stead. They believe and know that when they die to this mortal life, Jesus will come and take them to where He is for eternity. What a wonderful thing to know!
Now for the summation of this attempt to understand Jesus’ parables, and to better understand what a person’s worldview will dictate where their immortal soul will end up when they die in this mortal cursed world. This is the most important objective of living in this mortal cursed world. Some people do not believe there is a God, and when they die their immortal soul will be separated from God forever. Most people on this earth today do not believe at Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that only He holds the secret of living for all eternity with God the Father in heaven!
For Jesus told us all that He is the Way the only Way for mankind to be saved. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.”
9 “He who has ears, let him hear." (Matthew 13:9).
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Matthew 13:23 (NIV) Part 1 of 2
But 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."
Over the next two weeks the commentaries will be based on two parables, and how Jesus translated the meaning of these parables to His disciples, which is now us, if we accept the honor of trying to spread God’s Word to any who may need to hear it! The first of Christ’s parables is the Parable of the Sower. The second, complementing it, will be The Parable of the Weeds.
First it seems important to hear from Jesus as to why He is preaching to these people by using parables. The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For 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. Matthew 13:10-17. Trying to set the stage here for this incident where Jesus tells this parable to a large crowd that has come to hear Him preach.
The Parable of the Sower Matthew 13:2-9. Jesus explains the parable Matthew 13:18-23:
In this commentary I have left the verse numbers on for possible reference to that verse in context.
2 Such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
19 When 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.
We see this type of non-commitment of people who have heard the Word, but did not take time to study the Word of God to understand what it really means, thus when they have questions arise, they cannot answer them, and they lose heart and fall away!
5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
Some people hear the Word and initially believe what they hear, but when someone in their family or a friend questions them about this belief, they shy away from trying to find an answer for such questions, and they just give up on this opportunity. We see this a lot in the young Christians who ask good questions of their parents or friends, but they receive no answers, because most professing Christians do not know the correct answers.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
22 The 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.
In this country of wealth and freedom most people form cliques and associate with people who commonly cheat their way through life and seek first the wealth of the earth, and never spend much time seeking a godly lifestyle. Satan has influenced this world to follow him instead of God, and many of us just do not know what is happening to our immortal souls. Most people think they are good enough to go to heaven when they die, thus they do not need Jesus Christ or any other god or gods.
8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
23 But 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."
Finally, there are those who hear the Word of God, and believe what they have heard. They study the Bible and try to lead a good life because they try to emulate Jesus Christ. Such people are happy down deep in their souls, and they always want to share their faith with others. Mainly because they have come to believe that their faith has saved their immortal soul, but only because of what Jesus did in their stead. They believe and know that when they die to this mortal life, Jesus will come and take them to where He is for eternity. What a wonderful thing to know!
Now for the summation of this attempt to understand Jesus’ parables, and to better understand what a person’s worldview will dictate where their immortal soul will end up when they die in this mortal cursed world. This is the most important objective of living in this mortal cursed world. Some people do not believe there is a God, and when they die their immortal soul will be separated from God forever. Most people on this earth today do not believe at Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that only He holds the secret of living for all eternity with God the Father in heaven!
For Jesus told us all that He is the Way the only Way for mankind to be saved. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.”
9 “He who has ears, let him hear." (Matthew 13:9).
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak