Matthew 13:1-23
Welcome back to the heart
of Matthew’s gospel. Last Sunday Carl showed us the chiastic structure of this
book, pointing out how the series of ideas in the first half of the book are
reflected in the second half in reverse order. This structure reinforces
important points and creates a particular focus on the midpoint of the chiasm, the
very center of the text and its key theme. So, the end of chapter 12 and the
whole of chapter 13 are what Carl labeled in his outline as “Boom!” – the focus
of the chiasm that encompasses the entire book.
At the end of chapter 12,
which we looked at last time, Jesus asks an important question about his mother
and brothers: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” He was in a house,
while his family was waiting outside, wanting to speak to him, it says. The
assumption in that culture was that family deserved special treatment. Family
is important to us as well, but in societies around the world that are more
honor-shame oriented, the ideas of preserving family honor and fulfilling
family obligations are some of the most powerful motivators of a person’s
behavior. One’s extended family provides one’s identity to a very great extent.
Individuals do not have the freedom to choose their own identity, as so many
people try to do in America. That is why, for example, the book of Acts records
entire households converting to Christianity at once. Such decisions may not
have been considered on an individual basis. This is also why in many places in
the world today an individualistic approach to evangelism, encouraging one
person to make a decision for Christ, is less effective than trying to reach
entire extended families or even communities. Sometimes God does want a person
to stand up against the opposition of their family in following Jesus, but
sometimes he works it out for entire families to proceed together toward right
relationship with him.
In any case, when Jesus
asks the question, “Who are my mother and brothers?” he was shaking the
foundation of Jewish worldview. He was not disparaging family but he was
redefining it, in particular the family of God. He was making the point that
the family that one is physically born into is less important than being born
again into the family of God. The Jews had blurred this distinction. They
thought they were automatically part of God’s family because they were Jews,
his chosen people. But Jesus says that “whoever does the will of my Father in
heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus does not mention following the Jewish law. He, in effect, opens the way for anyone to become part of God’s family, to have that as their new identity, a new place to belong. In chapter 13 he talks a lot about the kingdom of heaven, another way of describing this new community and new identity for his followers to be a part of, as they acknowledge his lordship and the fellowship of all believers. Being able to join this universal family is part of the “Boom!” that Carl identified last time. This is an amazing work and blessing of the Holy Spirit, making us heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, as Paul describes in Romans 8, sharing in both his sufferings and his glory. “You who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” That’s Paul in Ephesians 2. Everyone everywhere is invited to be part of this family. This was yet another part of Jesus’ message that would seem radical to his audience.
So with that as our
introduction, let’s turn to the first half of chapter 13. What else do we find
here at the chiastic center of Matthew’s gospel message?
That same day Jesus
went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered
around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people
stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A
farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering
the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell
on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because
the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and
they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which
grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it
produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever
has ears, let them hear.” – Matthew 13:1-9
Jesus went out of the
house. Inside the house he had talked about family, the blessing of fellowship
with God and with each other. Now that he is outside, he addresses the whole
world. The crowd that gathers presses in on him, so he sits in a boat on the
lake so that everyone can hear better. He uses agricultural metaphors that
would have been very familiar to his hearers. They could relate to this story
and would remember it, even if they did not immediately understand why Jesus
told it. Perhaps they would have pondered the yield rates that Jesus proposed.
A crop one hundred times greater than what was sown would have been considered
very good in those days. Jesus wanted his hearers to think about what they knew
about farming but then to think beyond that and wrestle with the deeper meaning
and application of the parable. But his disciples were skeptical of this
approach. They probably thought it would be better for Jesus to just say what
he meant.
The disciples came to
him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
He replied, “Because
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 they will have
an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from
them. This is why I speak to them in parables:
In them is fulfilled the prophecy
of Isaiah:
We have to cooperate with
the Holy Spirit in understanding the word of God. It is not something that we
will be able to “figure out” on an intellectual basis. Spiritual truths are
spiritually discerned. As it says in 1 Corinthians 2:14: “The person without
the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but
considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are
discerned only through the Spirit.” Jesus did speak very plainly at times, but
at other times he said some very obscure things that the best theological minds
have puzzled over to this day. We have to approach the word of God with
humility and look to the Holy Spirit to help us understand it. We need to
remember that the thing that really matters is not that we can satisfy our
rational minds but that we can apply God’s truth to our lives. Understanding is
intimately tied to obedience. If we are not willing to act on what we know, we
will not be able to gain deeper insight.
What was special about the
disciples, that they were entrusted with “the knowledge of the secrets of the
kingdom of heaven”? They had agreed to follow Jesus. They had made that
commitment. They would receive more and more, in abundance. What was wrong with
the Pharisees, who thought they knew all about the kingdom of God? They were
rejecting the Holy Spirit. They were closing their eyes to the new things that
Jesus wanted to show them. Therefore they would lose their ability to
understand. Even what they had would be taken from them, as it says here. This
is the consequence of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the unforgiveable sin
that Carl explained again last time.
This passage reminds me of
the dwarfs in The Last Battle (by CS Lewis) who had come into the glorious new
Narnia but thought they were still stuck in a dark, dirty stable. Lucy and the
others tried to convince them to look around and see the sky and the trees and
the flowers. But all they thought they were looking at was the dark and filth
of the stable. Even Aslan came and set them a glorious feast, which they began
to eat but then said was just hay and old turnips and dirty water.
But very soon every
Dwarf began suspecting that every other Dwarf had found something nicer than he
had, and they started grabbing and snatching, and went on to quarrelling, till
in a few minutes there was a free fight and all the good food was smeared on
their faces and clothes or trodden under foot. But when at last they sat down
to nurse their black eyes and their bleeding noses, they all said:
“Well, at any rate there’s no Humbug
here. We haven’t let anyone take us in. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs.”
“You see,” said Aslan. “They will not
let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is
only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being
taken in that they cannot be taken out.”
The Pharisees who rejected
Jesus were also in the prison of their own minds, so afraid of being taken in
that they could not be taken out. Jesus did not intend to confuse people with
his parables. What he wanted to do was separate out those who were serious
about taking a step of faith to follow him from those who were mere spectators
or critics. Those who were not open to the Holy Spirit bringing his word to life
in their hearts would come away thinking that he was speaking triviality, nonsense,
or – at times – blasphemy. Understanding comes by faith and is contingent on
submission and obedience. If we are willing to submit to Jesus in what we do
understand, we can take a step of obedience, which will increase our faith and
result in even greater understanding of what God’s will is. But if our
understanding of God’s word just remains “head knowledge” and we don’t act on
what we know then this cycle is broken, and even what we think we understand
becomes meaningless.
But blessed are your
eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you,
many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not
see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. – Matthew 13:16-17
The disciples were in the
privileged position of being able to see the fulfillment of thousands of years
of prophecy: Jesus as the true revelation of God the Father, the eternal king
for David’s throne, the means by which the offspring of Abraham would bless all
the nations of the earth. Hebrews 11 has a long list of Old Testament
characters who lived by faith, but it says at the end that “none of them
received what had been promised.” Their faith looked forward to the coming of
the Messiah who would bring salvation and make us all part of his family
together.
Jesus goes on to explain
the meaning of the parable that he just told. It’s called the parable of the
sower, but the focus is actually on the four types of soil that the seed falls
on.
“Listen then to what
the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the
message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil
one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed
sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who
hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root,
they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the
word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to
someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness
of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on
good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the
one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was
sown.” – Matthew 13:18-23
Jesus explains that the
seed represents the message of the kingdom. He does not identify himself as the
sower, presumably because he knew that countless others would be involved in
spreading this message around the world. The first type of soil that the seed
falls on is the beaten-down surface of the path, next to or even cutting across
the field. It represents those who hear the message but do not understand it.
They may understand the meaning of the words. They might even recognize how it
all fits together and be able to repeat that back. But they don’t see or are
not willing to accept how it applies to them. They are not open to responding
in obedience, as I discussed earlier. Satan snatches away the word before it
has any effect on them.
The second type of soil is
rocky soil that allows the seed to sprout, but it cannot hold enough moisture
to sustain the young plants. They dry up in the sun and die. The word in this
case is understood, and the person receives it as good news but makes only a
superficial commitment. When trouble comes, they decide it is too difficult to
continue in obedience, and they abandon that commitment, meaning that the word has
no opportunity to bear fruit in their lives.
The third type of soil
allows the growth process to continue a little further. The plants do establish
themselves, but they are choked by the thorns and made unfruitful. The effect
of the word is choked out by the worries of this life and deceitfulness of
wealth. The person is distracted from their obedience, as their mind is
consumed with other matters. This is not a conscious turning away – the person
may hardly be aware that it is happening. Why is wealth deceitful? It’s because
it makes false promises, and it hides its true effect. Wealth is associated
with security, ease, comfort, and sometimes with power and prestige. These seem
like fine things on the surface, but a focus on increasing wealth or a reliance
on the benefits of wealth can very easily push God out of the picture. That is
why Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. It is a sobering thought,
considering how well-off all of us are compared to so much of the world’s
population.
The fourth type of soil is
good soil, where the word can take deep root, flourish to maturity, and produce
an abundant harvest. The word will go out from that person and affect the lives
of many others. The numerical increase is often thought of in terms of one
person coming to the Lord and then reaching out to others who will in turn
become witnesses and reach still more with the gospel message. This type of
multiplication can result in vast numbers coming into the kingdom in a
relatively short time. Following this interpretation, this parable can be
thought of as a description of the response of unbelievers to hearing the
gospel for the first time. Some will not understand it or take it to heart, so
it will have no effect on them. Others will pray to accept Jesus but then turn
away when others oppose this. Others will make a commitment but then get
distracted and not follow up with steps to grow in their faith. But still
others will begin witnessing to those around them and reproduce themselves as
believers.
This is certainly a valid
interpretation, and I imagine you have heard many sermons explaining the
parable of the sower this way. Addressed to believers, then, it becomes merely
advice as to the types of responses one might expect in sharing one’s faith.
However, I believe this little story can also exhort us as believers in our response to the word of God as it is
sown into our own lives day by day. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make
every word personal to each of us every time we encounter it. That makes this
parable quite “meta,” to use a modern slang word. We need to decide how to
respond to a word about various responses to the word.
Lisa and I are currently
reading a book together called “Sacred Marriage,” by Gary Thomas. I would
highly recommend it, by the way. His basic premise is that God’s fundamental
goal for the marriage relationship is holiness, not happiness. It’s good advice
against the selfishness that naturally pervades so many marriages. Our culture
just assumes that our spouse is supposed to make us happy, and if they don’t
that divorce is a good option. But God wants marriage to reflect the
self-sacrifice, vulnerability, and faithfulness of his relationship with us. Hence
the title “Sacred Marriage.” In a chapter on perseverance the author taps the
metaphor of the four soils as an illustration of different marriage
trajectories. In particular, the second reflects the common tendency to want to
give up when trouble comes and the third the unwitting acceptance of
distractions that can choke the life out of one’s marriage. Research shows that
money causes more marital conflict than any other factor, so in that sense the
“deceitfulness of wealth” contributes to the breakup of many marriages. The
author suggests that persevering, with an eternal perspective, will allow a
couple to have a fruitful marriage, to yield the harvest that God desires.
What should the parable of
the sower mean to you today? How is the word of God coming to me and to you and
what soil is it landing on in our hearts? The word can come to us from the
Bible, as we read it and meditate on it. It can come to us through other
people. Sometimes the Holy Spirit can impress something on us directly that we
need to respond to.
As a thought comes, for
example, “love your enemies,” how do we respond? Do we dismiss it out of hand:
I don’t have any enemies! Maybe Satan is snatching that seed from a packed-down
path in our heart. We refuse to even consider how that word, “love your
enemies,” might apply to us. Or maybe we do think about it prayerfully and
realize that there is a resentment or broken relationship that we should attend
to. We approach the person, but then they get angry about the same old things,
and we are taken aback. What do we do now? Do we let the word wither among the
rocks and give up? Or do we dig deeper into the promises of God, putting down
strong roots into his unfailing love, and resolve to keep loving the unlovable
person. Or perhaps we don’t even get around to talking to the other person at
all. We put it on our to-do list but then get busy or distracted or worried
about something else. There are so many ways for the seed of the word to get
choked out and made unfruitful. Nonetheless, we have God’s wonderful promise
that if we do let the word grow in good soil within us, as we commit to and
persist in following it, that it will yield a harvest beyond our human
expectations. God is the one to do this miraculous work, taking the seed of the
word planted in us and through our testimony making it come alive for many
other people. This is Paul’s admonition in Colossians 3:
Let the message of
Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with
all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing
to God with gratitude in your hearts. – Colossians 3:16
Dwelling richly implies
fruitfulness as a result of a long-term engagement with the word of God. It
requires an active response. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly. We
can teach and admonish one another not just with the spoken word but also
through music, as we sing to God with gratitude in our hearts. We should all
keep that in mind as we sing together during worship time. What is the message
of the kingdom that God wants to communicate to us through those songs? What
kind of soil will it find in our hearts? Because we are emotional as well as
rational creatures there are times when a song can touch us deeply in ways that
prose will not. What brings the word to life in you? The heartbeat of my life
is to worship in your light. As we sang that today, I realized what a glorious
prospect that is and how often I fall short of that.
Living a life of praise
and worship, remembering to acknowledge God as we go through our day, is
actually a spiritual discipline. There are others: prayer, Bible study,
observing a Sabbath, and so on. Spiritual disciplines, even if they are
followed as a routine, help produce the kind of deep, fertile soil in our
hearts that will allow the word to take deep root and become part of the fabric
of who we are. This will strengthen us for the storms that will eventually come
– or the blazing sun that dries up plants with shallow roots. A few months ago
I visited a young couple serving in a very challenging location in Central
Asia. I asked them what advice they would give to someone else considering a
similar posting. They said that the best preparation they had was to establish
spiritual disciplines before taking on the stresses and crises of such a
location and lifestyle. They realized what would happen if their hearts had too
much rocky soil. The word would be unproductive in the face of trouble or
persecution, just as our parable teaches.
The word of God, the
message of the kingdom, is therefore the “Boom!” at the center of Matthew. We
will look at the other 6 parables in this chapter next time. They all begin,
“The kingdom of heaven is like…” Let’s pray that that these messages take deep
root in our hearts and yield a rich harvest of righteousness. Let’s also
consider right now how God would like to apply today’s message in each of our
lives. I don’t want this word to be snatched away by the birds or choked out by
the thorns of other distractions or concerns before the Holy Spirit has a
chance to make it personal for each of us. So we’ll have a few moments of
silence to do our individual business with God before I close in prayer. Let’s
ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to each of us the types of soil in our hearts and
where the word needs to take deeper root to produce the harvest of
righteousness that God desires.
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