Matthew 13:10-23 - Parable of the sower

13:1-9

“The same day”, the same day as the dispute over the Sabbath, the same day as he has been accused of using demonic power. Jesus got into a boat and spoke to the people. Speaking from a boat on the lake would allow his voice to carry better. Despite the Pharisees the people still wanted to hear Jesus. He spoke to them in parables and told them the now famous parable of the sower. The key point for them was “whoever has ears, let them hear”. If God enables us to believe and understand what Jesus says we must make the most of it.

13:10-17

The disciple wondered why he didn't use a more direct form of teaching. Jesus quotes from Isaiah 6:9,10. When Matthew used Isaiah to explain what Jesus was doing he was following the method that Jesus used. The religious leaders would never understand because their hearts had become calloused. He finishes by telling the disciples that they are blessed because they could see and hear. It is a truly blessed thing to be able to understand the words of Jesus. 

13:18,19

Jesus now explains to the disciples what the parable of the sower meant. So in order to have ears that hear and eyes that see we need Jesus, it is not dependent upon our own abilities. So when people hear but do not understand Satan comes and snatches the message away. They discard the message. Note that it was “sown in their hearts”, the message needs to go deeper, it need some response from us.

13:20-23

Some receive the message with joy. So outwardly there seems to be a great response, but in reality there is no depth, the message has not taken root. So when trouble or persecution comes they fade away. The third group are those who do hear the word and it does take root, but gets crowded out by the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. These things choke the word, and so it is unfruitful. All this seems pretty miserable, but then there is the seed that falls on good soil. These are people who hear the message and do understand it. Such people produce abundant fruit. 

We can look at this parable as a tale of what happens to the word, or we have all seen the range of responses that Jesus talks about. Or we can look at it in terms of the nature of the person hearing the word, and making sure that we seek to understand things properly and deeply, not at a shallow level, and that we are wary of things crowding out the word of God.