Parable of the Sower – The Hard Soil
The first of the soils that Jesus speaks about in the parable of the sower is the hard soil, Jesus begins the parable by speaking about the hard soil, or the seed that fell on the path. Matthew 13v4: And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. And then the explanation is found in Matthew 13v19: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. Let’s dig in and have a look at this type of soil.
The illustration is a simple one for us to understand, the farmer scattered the seed and some of it landed on a path, since the ground was very hard (because it was a path and people walked over it all the time), the seed could not penetrate the soil. So the seed is just laying on top of the path exposed to the world, and as it’s laying there some birds swoop down and snatch up the seed and eat it.
Jesus then goes on to say that the hard soil is like people who don’t understand the message that they heard, and the birds are like the “evil one” or satan (Mark 4v15). Just as the birds snatched the seed off of the hard soil, so satan snatches the message from those who hear it. Now the big question; “In what way am I like this soil?”
You’re a Christian, right? How often has it happened to you that you’ve sat through an entire sermon, or a talk, maybe you even followed along in your Bible and everything; but half an hour after it’s finished you cannot remember what it was about? I have to confess, that I often do that; this is exactly what Jesus is talking about here, we have heard the message, but in our haste satan has snatched it away from us, and we leave there no different than when we arrived!
However, what about the other aspect of this, Jesus also mentions that the people that this happens to didn’t understand the message. This is super convicting for those of us who prepare talks, or even for those of us who take the opportunity to just tell others about Jesus. We have to try our hardest to ensure that the way in which we communicate the message is understandable. We have to talk to those that are hearing in a way that they will understand. Why do you think that there are so few teens in so many churches? They came once or twice, and the sermon went straight over their head, they never understood it, because we spoke in a way that they don’t understand. It is our responsibility to know where our hearers are at, and speak to them where they are at. We have to present the timeless message in a relevant context, otherwise we’ll have more fruit speaking to the trees!
