As we have been going through this parable I really hope that you have begun to see how deep these words of Jesus are, and how relevant they are to us today. Isn’t it amazing that these words spoken by a Galilean carpenter more than 2000 years ago still speak directly into our lives today! The Bible is an extraordinary book, Jesus is God! Today as we wrap up this series on the parable of the soils we will have a look at the final type of soil, as Jesus calls is the good soil. Matthew 13v8: “…Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty…” and Matthew 13v23: “…As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” Let’s dig in and see what Jesus is saying.

Christian, are you the good soil? The image is simple, the seed that lands on good soil, grows up and produces a crop more than the seed itself. The one seed produces a whole harvest of other seeds! What are the criteria of this? Well Jesus says that the good soil is like the person who hears the word and understands it. This is a vital element to those who desire to be like this good soil, when we hear the message, or when we read the Bible, we must seek to understand it. Growing in God is like mining for gold, no one walks around and picks up gold off the ground, rather people work hard for it. Therefore, it must be with us, we should strive to know the message of God. We don’t ask others to chew our food for us so that we can just swallow it, so why do we expect others to just tell us what God wants from us without us putting in the hard work.

The big question that we must ask is; “In what way am I like this soil?” This soil produces fruit, the seed that was sown produces a harvest, are you producing fruit? The Biblical idea of salvation is that as Christians we are to be at work for God, wherever He has placed us. So then the question is, are you working to extend the Kingdom of God where you are. What have you done for God in this last year, how have you been deliberate in extending His Kingdom amongst the people you are in contact with. Remember that the reason we desire to do this is because Jesus has paid the price for our sins, and because of Him we have been forgiven by God, therefore we should seek to serve God in this way. Maybe this last wasn’t a good one for you spiritually, then seek to return to Him, and ask Him what He would have you to do for Him. Remember this one awesome fact, the small amount of time that you spend serving God this side of eternity can yield eternal rewards! Because of God’s love for us let’s serve Him with our lives.

Related Posts

1. Parable of the Sower – The Hard Soil
2. Parable of the Sower – The Thorny Soil
3. Parable of the Sower – The Rocky Soil

The third type of soil that the seed lands on is soil that is filled with thorns, Jesus said it like this; Matthew 13v7: “…Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them…” and then Jesus explains what it mean; Matthew13v22: “…As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful…” So what is Jesus teaching us here, let’s dig down and see.

This seed landed on soil that already had other seed in it, thorn seeds. As the good seed began to grow up, the thorns just took over, they used all the nutrients, they absorbed all the sunlight, and slowly the good seed began to whither and die. In this parable the thorns represent the things that the world offers us, money, status, fames, etc, etc. What happens to this plant can so easily happen to any one of us, whether we are rich or poor, satan loves to tempt us with the things of this world, to try and slowly draw us away from our relationship with Jesus. This is possibly one of the most difficult soils for us to see within ourselves, so lets ask; “In what way am I like this soil?”

Why is this so difficult for us to see happen to us? Primarily because it is something that happens slowly, and the way in which it happens. There is nothing wrong with having things in and of themselves, it isn’t sinful to be wealthy, fame isn’t evil, but it is our attitude towards these things that draw us away from Jesus.  The seed in the thorny soil is perhaps best illustrated by Jesus talking with the rich young ruler, check out Luke 18v18→23. This guy had it made, he was wealthy, he had status, he was famous, and he was religious; but he valued his wealth above his relationship with God, and at the end of the discussion he walked away sad.

What do you value the most, do you love Jesus more than you love your money, do you love Jesus more than you love your stuff, do you love Jesus more than anything else? The chances are that you said yes to this; then here is the question: What do you think about the most? Do you think more about other things than you do about Jesus? The Bible tells us that where our treasure is there our heart will be also. Are you the seed among the thorns; if Jesus asked you to give up all your stuff and follow Him, would you do it, or would you walk away sad?

Related Posts

1. Parable of the Sower – The Good Soil
2. Parable of the Sower – The Hard Soil
3. Parable of the Sower – The Rocky Soil

The second soil that the seed lands on in Jesus’ parable of the sower is the rocky soil. This is what Jesus said, recorded in Matthew 13v5+6:  “…Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away…” and the explanation of what this meant is found in Matthew 13v20+21: “…As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away…” Let’s dig in and see what this is all about.

So the seed lands in some soil that has loads of rocks in it, and the seed begins to grow but as it does the roots don’t go down very deep (because there’s rocks in the way) so instead of the plant trying to grow it’s roots deeper, it grows up higher. The plant looks like it is thriving, but then there is a hot dry spell, and the plant can’t get water through its roots, because they’re not deep enough to reach it, and the plant withers and dies.

Here is the question; “In what way am I like this soil?” I think that it is obvious that in this parable the plant is us, and the question must be asked then, how are we living. There was a quote that i heard once, something like: ‘As Christians we must always grow inward and downward, before we grow outward and upward…’ If you know the correct quote please leave a comment. However, the gist of it was exactly what Jesus is talking about here in this parable. When we heard the Gospel, and come to salvation, we need to spend time drawing near to God, and growing in Him. All too often people that have heard to Gospel go about radically changing their outward lives, they become more concerned about looking like a Christian, than they are about their relationship with Christ. How many people have you seen who looked like they were on fire for God, and now they are just like the rest of the world, we need to send our roots down deep!

Psalm 1v3 speaks directly to this, as Christians our inward relationship with Jesus is far more important than our outward appearance to the world. It is true that we need to live righteous lives in this world, but righteousness comes from relationship. Remember God is our Loving Father, not our stern headmaster! So now ask yourself the question, what are you more concerned about, how Christian you look to others, or how deep your relationship is with Jesus. Here is possibly the greatest test, how eager are you to spend time reading the Bible? Spending time alone with God in reading your Bible, is like sending your roots down, when the tough times come (scorching heat) you will be firmly fixed in Him.

Related Posts

1. Parable of the Sower – The Thorny Soil
2. Parable of the Sower – The Hard Soil
3. Parable of the Sower – The Good 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!

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1. Parable of the Sower – The Good Soil
2. Parable of the Sower – The Thorny Soil
3. Parable of the Sower – The Rocky Soil

Today we’re going to start looking at the parable of the sower, this is found in Matthew 13v1→9 with the explanation in 13v18→23, it’s also found in Mark 4v1→20, and Luke 8v4→15. We’ll be spending out time looking at Matthews gospel. For those who are not familiar with the parable of the sower, here is a quick run down of what its about (it’s obviously better if you go read the scriptures though). A farmer goes out to sow seed, and as he scatters the seed it falls on different types of soils (hard, rocky, thorny, and good soil). Each of these different soils produce a different crop from the same seed.

Here is the clue to understanding this parable; the farmer is the person who tells others the Gospel, the seed is the Gospel message, and the soils are different people that hear the message. This is a super important parable, because Jesus tells us (in Mark 4v13) that it is vital that we understand this parable if we want to understand any other of Jesus’ parables.  So let’s dig in!

There are two ways that you can read any parable of Jesus, either you read it as a “them” or you read it as a “me”. What i mean by this is that when we have a look at the parable of the sower we can either see the different soils as “…those other people out there who don’t want to receive the Gospel.” Or you can read it and ask yourself the question; “Which soil am I?” obviously there is a place for us to apply this parable to those outside of the Christ who have heard the Gospel, but i think that Jesus’ primary intention was that we would first apply it to ourselves. So that’s what i hope that we do as we spend the next few weeks having a look at the different soils within this parable.

The big question that you must ask yourself is this; “In what way am I like this soil?” This will require you to be honest with yourself, and to take a long hard look at where you are at spiritually. However, it is my prayer that through this parable, Jesus would meet us where we are at and begin to take us to where He wants us to be. Over the next few days, take some time out to read through the whole parable of the sower, maybe even try read through it in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Then next week we’re going to begin looking at the first type of soil.

Related Posts

1. Parable of the Sower – The Hard Soil
2. Parable of the Sower – The Good Soil
3. Parable of the Sower – The Thorny Soil