Kingdom Parables Pt 1:The Sower

 

March 13, 2022                                          NOTES NOT EDITED

The Kingdom Parables, Part 1
The Sower
Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23

SIS – The mission of the church is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ far and wide with the expectation of a great harvest.

I want to thank Brother Rob for helping us understand the similarities and differences between a biblical parable and other literary methods of expression like allegory and fable. I just want to reenforce what Brother Rob has said and put up a caution sign as we roll down the road of these Kingdom Parables, keeping in mind the basic understanding that a parable is an “earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” 

EXCURSIS:  The danger in interpreting the parables of Jesus is to “put more into them than the Lord intended.”  This was a major flaw in the biblical scholarship of the first three centuries.  Augustine and the Parable of the Good Samaritan is one such example.  In part Augustine gave this interpretation: (Questions on the Gospels (2.19).  The italicized words are the Bible text. The bold text is Augustine’s allegorical interpretation.

“A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho; Adam himself is meant; Jerusalem is the heavenly city of peace, from whose blessedness Adam fell; Jericho means the moon, and signifies our mortality, because it is born, waxes, wanes, and dies. Thieves are the devil and his angels. Who stripped him, namely; of his immortality; and beat him, by persuading him to sin; and left him half-dead, because in so far as man can understand and know God, he lives, but in so far as he is wasted and oppressed by sin, he is dead; he is therefore called half-dead.” 

Here is a good place to lay down a solid ground rule for interpreting Scripture in general, especially figurative or poetic portions.  Here is the principle:  a text has only one proper interpretation but could have multiple applications.  A corollary, or associative principle to this would be:  in order for an application to be valid it must arise from a the proper interpretation which would agree with all other Scriptures.

For example, take the verse by Paul that says, “For all things are lawful unto me but not everything is beneficial” (1Cor. 6:12).  The first phrase, “all things are lawful,” is considered a “Corinthian Slogan” arising out of a misunderstanding of grace versus the Law.  Paul turns that slogan on it’s head to focus on what is “beneficial” or godly.  The focus is not on the first clause but on the second. Many have used this verse to justify “smoking, drinking, watching improper R-rated movies, or even viewing pornography, among many other questionable behaviors.”  This is a wholly wrong application of this verse because it arises out of an improper understanding.

Now, even with these interpretive caution sign erected with blinking lights, we can move through these Kingdom Parables to interpret them and extract from them principles for fulfilling our mission as a church, and as individual believers.  it needs to be said that often there are many “applications” one can draw from any text, but the applications to life must arise “from” the “text in context.”  

In each parable we will look for the “main idea” and work from there.

Reading of the text:  Matthew 13:1-9

As we read through this “introductory Kingdom Parable” two elements show up that run through the whole of the parables.  First, they have a prophetic overtone. That is, they have eternity as a backdrop. You see this prophetic movement from chapter 11.  Chapter 11 shows the “unresponsive nation” (v 16).  Chapter 12 highlights the growing hostility between the kingdoms of this world living and the kingdom of God. (See 12:14). These chapters set up how the Kingdom will operate in the Lord’s absence.  His authority through the Church,  “tying up the strong man” (12:29) foreshadows the victory of Jesus upon the cross.  This inaugurates the Kingdom that is now at work.  Evil is not “unbridled,” but it must be battled. These texts also anticipate the “final victory” upon Christ’s return.

The second theme running through the Kingdom Parables is that the present kingdom is a “hybrid.” Each Kingdom Parable has some measure of a “mixture of true and false members.” The Kingdom will not be “pure” until sin is finally vanguished after the Milennium. We see this with the different soils in today’s parable, as well as the Wheat and Tares in another parable.

EXCURSIS:  The grouping of the parables seems to be intentional.  Scholars differ on how they should be grouped. The grouping affects the interpretation to some degree.  I see these grouped as 1, 3, 2, 1.  The first parable is introductory and the last has a concluding note to it. The first is an overview of the Church Mission.  Next three . . . operation. Next two . . . the glorious nature.  Last . . . Final Judgment. 

Now, let’s get into the Introductory Parable:  The Sower.  It outlines the mission of the church from the departure of the Lord until His return.   

1.  The Beginning: The Mission Explained

2.  The Middle:  The Challenges Outlined

3.  The End: The Harvest Promised

1.  The Beginning: The Mission Explained (v3)

v1:  “He went out of the house”

v2:  Pushing out onto the sea (lake) probably provided great acoustics to amplify the voice of Jesus to the crowds on the sloping hill.

v3  Hallmarks of a parable: they are real life stories.  An important aspect of the parable is missed by most translations, definite article,

 

n  “THE SEED” (ton logon) seed represents the Word of God (Mk 4:14 specifically)

Application:  not have many “missions,” but only one mission

SCRIPTURE:  "Preach the Word!" (2 Timothy 4:2) 

ILLUS:  Charles Swindoll comments, “News articles may inform us. Novels may inspire us. Poetry may enrapture us. But only the living, active Word of God can transform us.” [Charles Swindoll, p. 73]

EXCURSIS:  A dramatic example of the Bible’s divine ability to transform men and women involved the famous Mutiny on the “Bounty.” Following their rebellion against the notorious Captain Bligh, nine mutineers, along with the Tahatian men and women who accompanied them, found their way to Pitcairn Island, a tiny dot in the South Pacific only two miles long and a mile wide. Ten years later, drink and fighting had left only one man alive—John Adams. Eleven women and 23 children made up the rest of the Island’s population.

So far this is the familiar story made famous in the book and motion picture. But the rest of the story is even more remarkable. About this time, Adams came across the “Bounty’s” Bible in the bottom of an old chest. He began to read it, and the divine power of God’s Word reached into the heart of that hardened murderer on a tiny volcanic speck in the vast Pacific Ocean—and changed his life forever. The peace and love that Adams found in the Bible entirely replaced the old life of quarreling, brawling, and liquor. He began to teach the children from the Bible until every person on the island had experienced the same amazing change that he had found. Today, with a population of slightly less than 100, nearly every person on Pitcairn Island is a Christian.

There are many agencies that have a mission of feeding the hungry.  There are many agencies that have a mission of clothing the naked.

There are many agencies that have a mission of visiting But, it is the church to which the King left the solemn mission

2.  The Middle—The Challenges Outlined (4-7)

Don’t expect “sowing the seed” to be an easy task in our world.

1.  The First Problem:  “Hard (Hostile Hearts)” (v 4)

Matthew 13:4 (CSB)  As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.

Each soil represents a response to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

BACKGROUND:  Paths through grain fields. Birds eating seed are called the “Evil One” in verse 19.  Birds are often associated with evil in the Bible, and in other literature as well.  Clearly hear the birds are evil as Jesus states it plainly.

We were established as a Christian nation less than three short centuries ago. We are not even remotely like a Christian nation anymore.  The “Birds of the Evil One” are everywhere ready to snatch the gospel from the hearts of men, women, and children before it can take root.  The amount of attacks on Christianity has increased more and more as each year passes. Christianity used to be the default position of our collective mindset as a nation.  Not anymore.

George Washington:  “It is impossible to rightly govern a people
without God and the Bible.” Yet, the Supreme Court ruled in 1963 that Bible which was read devotedly at the start of each school day was kicked out in by the Supreme Court in Engel v. Vitale.

Jefferson Memorial in Washington that reads in part:

"God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.

If the heavy-handed mandates of Governors and non-elected officials during Covid showed us anything, it showed us that these career politicians believe our rights come “from the government” and not as a “gift from God.” With the threat of arrests from police, jail time, and heavy fines, the government shut down our churches (or, in our case tried to shut us down) and told us we could not sing praises to God.  Yet, hypocritically, abortion clinics and liguor stores stayed ope while protesters were shouting death to America. 

The soil of our culture into which we, the Church, must sow the seed of the gospel is often very hard and hostile to the gospel.

2.  Our second challenge:  Shallow Hearts (v 5)

Matthew 13:5 (CSB)  ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep.

BACKGROUND:  Thin limestone beneath a mossy covering.

What’s killing the church today?  Not just the hostility of our culture but the “apathy” of our culture, ESPECIALLY our churches.  This includes the culture of many churches where religion is a thin veneer masquerading as real faith.

Two contributing factors to this “shallowness”. 1.  A Casual Attitude toward sin. If it is talked about at all, it is relegated to some need that a good “self-help guru” help us fulfill, or some “simple mistake” that we can absolve with a dose of religion.  2.  The Compartmentalizing of our Christian Lives. We live two lives.  One in the church and one in the world which has led to “too much world in the church and not enough church in the world.”  We hang up our “faith” on a hook as we walk out of the sanctuary and don’t pick it up again until we come back.

I read somewhere this week in regard to “stony ground hearers” that it is much easier to begin a thing than to finish.  The writer went on to say, “a famous evangelist pointed out that it takes about a 5% effort to win a man to Christ, and a 95% effort to keep him in Christ and growing into a maturity in the church.”

So many Christians I’ve met in church over the years have been like 4^th of July fireworks – a lot of pop and fizzle followed by dead silence.

Many people even in this small gathering go home from church on Sunday and do not pick up their Bible to read it until they go to church the next Sunday? 

For some . . . faith is like trying to water ski in a mud puddle.  This will barely get them wet, let alone get them into heaven. 

Are these people “saved?”  I cannot say for sure because it is not the main issue in this parable.  I can say this:  “if it walks like a duck . . .

If your church experience leaves you looking more like a wilted piece of lettuce than a vine full of fruit, . . . . reevaluate whether you really heard the truth and really responded.

3.  The third challenge:  Thorny Hearts (v7)

Matthew 13:7 (CSB)  ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it.

The question often arises, as I mentioned earlier:  “Are these church people who have a choked-out life but are real Christians?” No.  None of the first three “soils” or “hearts” result in True Christianity.  This is the consensus of all the scholars I’ve read.  Again, I cannot say with any certainty who is saved and who is not.  The proof of a true Christian is not simply a “profession” of faith but a “passionate practice” of faith.  A profession of faith without works that support it is called, “dead faith” by James (Jam. 2:26).

A “Thorny Heart” is a defeated, Devil-ravaged, worldly existence pursuing the shiny trinkets and cheap treasures of the world.  These are folks that truly recognize the value of what the gospel offers, but just love what the world offers . . . more!  These are people who constantly water the weeds of life and wonder why there are never any flowers in their garden. The cares of the world do not refer to those common troubles and distractions in life common to all men.  The cares here refer to the “enticing pleasures of life,” or the pursuit of “good things” rather than “good character.”

***** According to the results of the study, Americans are so busy and on-the-go, they only have four hours and 26 minutes of free time a week, with four in ten Americans saying they actually have less.

The survey, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of H&R Block, also revealed that 59 percent of Americans say keeping their life organized with everything they have going on right now is a big struggle. Even though the average American is currently putting off 14 things, over one in five Americans (21 percent) say they are actually putting off 20 or more tasks (copied). *****

Many, many people are letting the busy-ness of life, choke out any meaningful participation in the business of the Kingdom.  And, that includes perhaps more than anyothers, the pastors of Am. Churches.

Here’s the whole point about the “different soils.”  Look back at vs 9:

“Anyone who has ears should listen.” 

Am. Christians just aren’t listening! This is an imperative of command “You better listen!”  It is not enough just to “have seed scattered into our lives, but we need to let it take deep root and bear the fruit of our devotion to God.

Our one mission is to “sow the seed of the gospel” . . . period!  This mission will be met with many and varied challenges because of the many and varied hearts of those exposed to the gospel message

Yet, our mission will be fruitful because in THE END we see

3.  The Harvest Promised—Open Hearts (V 8)

This is the primary lesson of this parable.  The mission of the church is to spread the gospel far and wide with the expectation that at least some will fall on the fertile ground of the hearts of God’s elect and bring forth a harvest of “thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold!”

God’s Kindgom WILL COME, on earth as it IS IN HEAVEN.  The King is absent now, but His authority rests with the church. 

God has promised us that if we sow the seed of His Word faithfully, our reward will manifested in a great harvest of souls—not all will heed the message, but the few will bring a great harvest.

(Is 55:10)  ¹⁰ For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, ¹¹ so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.”

God’s Promise.  Our work today brings joy tomorrow:  Rev. 7:9

⁹ After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands.

Our part in the Mission is to  sow the seed far and wide (broadcast sowing.” It is God’s part to “guarantee a great harvest.”

My question for us today is two-fold: 

1)  Are we listening but not really “hearing” God’s Word? 

2)  Are we, as a church, actively sowing the Word of God into our community with the expectation of a great harvest?

We must open our ears to God’s Word or we will face sure and terrible judgment just like the parable warns:  eaten by birds, withered by the sun, or choked by the thorns.

Let’s determine to be “good seed falling upon good soil.”  Let’s BE more for the Kingdom of God; GO more for the Kingdom of God; and GIVE more for the Kingdom of God!