Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
See also Mar 4:13-20; Luk 8:11-15. Hear ye, therefore, the parable of the sower. That is, hear the explanation or the spiritual meaning of the narrative given before. Mark adds Mar 4:13, Know ye not this parable? And how, then, shall ye know all parables? By which it seems that the Saviour regarded this as one of the simplest and plainest of the parables, and gave an explanation of it that they might understand the general principles of interpreting others.
Mat 13:19
When any one heareth … – The seed represents the word of God communicated in any manner to the minds of people – by the Scriptures, by preaching, by acts of Providence, or by the direct influences of the Holy Spirit.
Then cometh the wicked one – That is, Satan Mar 4:15, or the devil Luk 8:12 – the one eminently wicked, the accuser, the tempter.
He is represented by the fowls that came and picked up the seed by the way-side. The gospel is preached to people hardened in sin. It makes no impression. It lies like seed on the hard path; it is easily taken away, and never suffered to take root.
Mat 13:20, Mat 13:21
But he that received the seed into stony places – Jesus explains this as denoting those who hear the gospel; who are caught with it as something new or pleasing; who profess to be greatly delighted with it, and who are full of zeal for it.
Yet they have no root in themselves. They are not true Christians. Their hearts are not changed. They have not seen their guilt and danger, and the true excellency of Christ. They are not really attached to the gospel; and when they are tried and persecution comes, they fall – as the rootless grain withers before the scorching rays of the noonday sun.
Anon – Quickly, or readily.
With joy receiveth it – They are under deep distress for sin; they are apprehensive of danger; they hear the offer of mercy, and they seem to themselves to embrace the gospel. It offers them peace, pardon, salvation, and religion assumes for a time a lovely aspect. They imagine that they are pardoned, and they have a temporary peace and joy. Their anxieties subside. Their fears are gone. They are for a time happy. The mere subsiding of anxious feeling from any cause will make the mind for a time happy. They have only to imagine, therefore, that their sins are forgiven, to produce a certain kind of peace and joy. But there is no ground of permanent joy, as there is in true pardon, and soon their joy subsides, and all evidence of piety disappears. There is no strength of principle to resist temptation; there is no real love of the Saviour; and in times of trial and persecution they show that they have no true religion, and fall away.
By and by – Mark, Immediately. That is, it soon occurs, or this is an effect which may be expected soon to follow.
Is offended – Stumbles or falls, for this is the meaning of the word offend in the New Testament. See the notes at Mat 5:29. Persecution and trial are placed in his path, and he falls as he would over a stumbling-block. He has no strength of principle – no real confidence in God – no true religion. Mere excited animal feeling is all that he ever had, and that is not sufficient to sustain him when the trial comes.
Mat 13:22
He also that received seed among the thorns – These represent the cares, the anxieties, and the deceitful lure of riches, or the way in which a desire to be rich deceives people.
They take the time and attention. They do not leave opportunity to examine the state of the soul. Besides, riches allure, and promise what they do not yield. They promise to make us happy; but, when gained, they do not do it. The soul is not satisfied. There is the same desire to possess more wealth. And to this there is no end but death. In doing it there is every temptation to be dishonest, to cheat, to take advantage of others, to oppress others, and to wring their hard earnings from the poor. Every evil passion is therefore cherished by the love of gain; and it is no wonder that the word is choked, and every good feeling destroyed, by this execrable love of gold. See the notes at 1Ti 6:7-11. How many, O how many, thus foolishly drown themselves in destruction and perdition! How many more might reach heaven, if it were not for this deep-seated love of that which fills the mind with care, deceives the soul, and finally leaves it naked, and guilty, and lost!
Mat 13:23
Into good ground – Those whose hearts are prepared by grace to receive it honestly, and to give it full opportunity to grow.
In a rich and mellow soil – in a heart that submits itself to the full influence of truth, unchecked by cares and anxieties; under the showers and summer suns of divine grace; with the heart spread open, like a broad, luxuriant field, to the rays of the morning and to evening dews, the gospel takes deep root and grows; it has full room, and then and there only shows what it is.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mark addeth a little check he gave them, Mar 4:13, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? Luke saith, The parable is this, that is, My meaning in and by the parable was this. You, seeing that you cannot satisfy yourselves, as the most that heard me, hearing a sound of words without understanding what they meant, and seeing that to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and seeing that you see, God hath opened your eyes and ears to spiritual mysteries.
Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower: my true sense and meaning in this parable, my scope in it, was to show you the different effects which the word of God preached hath upon mens hearts, and the reasons of that difference.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. That is, the interpretation of the parable; for they had heard the parable before, and had desired an explanation of it; which, though not mentioned by Matthew, is, by the other evangelists, Mr 4:10, Lu 8:9 and since it was given to them to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, therefore Christ calls upon them to attend unto, and hear, so as to understand the spiritual meaning of this parable. Mark relates, that he moreover said to his disciples at this time, “know ye not this parable?” Do ye not understand the meaning of it, so easy to be taken in? them as it were reproving for their dulness of hearing, notwithstanding the grace given them, and the advantages they enjoyed: “how then will ye know all parables?” all that he had delivered, or was about to deliver at this time, or should hereafter; which were of more difficult interpretation, and not so easy to be understood as this.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Hear then ye the parable ( ). Jesus has given in 13:13 one reason for his use of parables, the condemnation which the Pharisees have brought on themselves by their spiritual dulness: “Therefore I speak to them in parables” ( ). He can go on preaching the mysteries of the kingdom without their comprehending what he is saying, but he is anxious that the disciples really get personal knowledge (, verse 11) of these same mysteries. So he explains in detail what he means to teach by the Parable of the Sower. He appeals to them (note position of ) to listen as he explains.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Hear ye therefore,” (humeis oun akousate) “You all therefore give heed to,” or listen cautiously to, the definitive explanation and meaning of the present and future of the church.
2) “The parable of the sower.” (ten parabolen tou speiranatos) “The parable of the one who sowed,” or the parable of the sower, was an all-embracing “Kingdom of heaven,” parable to be used as a basis of interpretation of the six “Kingdom of heaven” mystery parables that followed, Mat 13:10-11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
According to Matthew and Luke, Christ explains the parable to his disciples simply, and unaccompanied by a reproof; but according to Mark, he indirectly blames them for being slow of apprehension, because those who were to be the teachers of all did not run before others. (194) The general truth conveyed is, that the doctrine of the Gospel, when it is scattered like seed, (195) is not everywhere fruitful; because it does not always meet with a fertile and well cultivated soil. He enumerates four kinds of hearers: the first of which do not receive the seed; (196) the second appear, indeed, to receive it, (197) but in such a manner that it does not take deep root; in the third, the corn is choked; (198) and so there remains a fourth part, which produces fruit. Not that one hearer only out of four, or ten out of forty, embrace the doctrine, and yield fruit; for Christ did not intend here to fix down an exact number, or to arrange the persons, of whom he speaks, in equal divisions; and, indeed, where the word is sown, the produce of faith is not always alike, but is sometimes more abundant, and at other times more scanty. He only intended to warn us, that, in many persons, the seed of life is lost on account of various defects, in consequence of which it is either destroyed immediately, or it withers, or it gradually degenerates. That we may derive the greater advantage from this warning, we ought to bear in mind, that he makes no mention of despisers who openly reject the word of God, but describes those only in whom there is some appearance of docility. But if the greater part of such men perish, what shall become of the rest of the world, by whom the doctrine of salvation is openly rejected? I now come down to each class.
(194) “ Ne passent autrement les autres pour leur monstrer le chemin;”— “did not go beyond others to show them the road.”
(195) “ Estant espandue ca et la comme le b1e qu’on iette en terre;”— “being scattered here and there, like the corn which is thrown into the earth.”
(196) “ Desquels les premiers ne retienent pas la semence en leurs coeurs pour germer;” — “the first of which do not retain the seed in their hearts so as to spring up.”
(197) “ Les seconds semblent bien l’avoir gardee iusques a venir a germer;” — “the second appear to have kept it till it came to spring up.”
(198) “ Aux troisiemes, le ble estant en herbe est estouffe;” — “in the third, the corn, while yet in the blade, is choked.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES
Mat. 13:19. Which received seed.That was sown (R. V.). A change in the figure quite common among Orientals. It should have been: This is he in whose case the seed was sown by the wayside (Meyer). But there is a deeper meaning in this change. The loss of the seed becomes in reality the loss of ones own life, just as the seed sown on good soil, so to speak, becomes identified with our personality (Lange). See Mat. 13:23, R.V.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Mat. 13:18-23
The art of hearing.We have before us here the Saviours own explanation (Mat. 13:18) of the first of His parables at this time. And we find, appropriately enough, that the subject of it is the subject of hearing. There are three wrong waysthere is only one right wayof hearing the word. That, in brief, is what His explanation amounts to. The consideration of the three wrong ways will make the consideration of the one right way a comparatively easy proceeding.
I. The first wrong way of hearing may be described as hardly hearing at all. It is hearing without understanding (Mat. 13:19). It is hearing the sound only, and not the sense. To such a hearer it matters little what message is sent him. He takes in as muchor rather as littlewhatever is said. He is well represented, therefore, by that wayside soil which is trodden so hard that the seed which falls on it cannot enter into it. Just so is it of such a hearer, and of the truth which he hears. When all has been said, the truth in question remains outside of his mind. Naturally, therefore, the result of such hearing is just nothing at all. No seed that only lies on the surface can germinate or increase. It cannot even take the first step in that vital direction. It can only lie there till one of the birds of the air carries it off, and devours it. Even so of that truth, by whomsoever spoken, which does not even enter the mind. Not only, in that condition, can it then do nothing at all; there are influences at work which will soon take away its chance of doing anything in the future (end of Mat. 13:19).
II. The second wrong way of hearing may be described as only hearing in part. It is not in this case, as in the previous one, that nothing at all is received. On the contrary a good dealand that straightwayand even with joy.is received (Mat. 13:20). But it is not so received for all that, but that a good deal more is left out. As it were the pleasant side of the message of the kingdom, the peace it offers, the hope it sets forth, the glory it promises are appreciated in full. But the sterner and less alluring side of the question, the probability of persecution or tribulation arising because of the word, is not considered as it should be, if considered at all. When this comes about, therefore, as come it must, such a hearer is not prepared for such a stumbling-block in his way. The first consequence is that he is as quickly displeased now (end of Mat. 13:21 R.V. straightway) as he had been quickly pleased at the first. And the consequence of that is, that he goes back again wholly from such good as he had. Precisely as happens, in short, where the seed of the sower falls upon one of those rocky places where there is no deepness of earth (Mat. 13:4-5). The only thing quicker than the subsequent growth of that seed is its still later decay. And the only relic it leaves is a withered blade (Mat. 13:6), which tells of what had been hoped at one time.
III. The third wrong way of hearing may be described as that of not hearing in truth. It is indeed, receiving the word, but it is also receiving together with it that which is inconsistent therewith. Rather, perhaps, it is not making sufficient room for it by previously casting all such other things out. When the seed of the sower falls into soil in which the thorns (Mat. 13:7; Mat. 13:22)the thorns that ought not to be thereare there in germ, if not in anything more, that seems to describe exactly the kind of thing that is meant. Really, in such soil, there is not room enough for that seed. It cannot possibly grow there as it should. Precisely so, is it too, with the hearer who does indeed receive the word of God into his heart; but only to find there such things as the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches ready to grow by its side. Not even the word of God in such a case, can do what it should. It does effect indeedeven soa good deal for a time. Such a hearer of the word becomes also a doer of it to a certain extent. In this case there would appear to be even the setting of fruit. But not anything more. Not the growth of itnot the ripening of itnot the full corn in the ear (Mar. 4:28). Even the power of the word cannot do this in that pre-occupied soil. There are rival powers there which choke even its powers, and cause it to become unfruitful at last (end Mat. 13:22).
IV. From these wrong ways of hearing it should be easy now to put together the right way.The right way is one which escapes the evils of each of these three. It is to hear the sense as well as the sound. It is to hear the whole and not only a part. It is to hear in sincerity, and not in any way in pretence. Also we see, thus, by what results the right way may be known. Not mere sterility, as a matter of coursenor yet withered blades only, however abundantnor yet abortive fruit only, however advancedprove the ground to be good. Nothing proves this except the actual presence of something to be reaped. Not however, that this something, be it observed in conclusion, must always be of the most. This seems the comforting lesson with which the parable ends. There are some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred-fold in return. Of course, this last, to all true hearts, will be far away best. Of course this most will be desired most by every one who hears rightly. But even the less in this field of the kingdom, will not be set on one side. True fruit means true life, even if not in greatest abundance. True obedience means true hearing, even if there might have been more. She hath done what she could (Mar. 14:8).
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(18) Hear ye therefore.The ye is emphatic. The interpretation which is withheld from others is given to you.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower It was important for the disciples and for us, that the first and some others of the parables should be explained, in order to furnish the key, not only to them but to other parables.
The parable of the sower divides the hearers of the Gospel into four classes. 1. The mere unintelligent hearer, who hears but receives not. 2. The shallow hearer, whose emotions are superficially touched, but whose heart is still hard. 3. The hearer whose heart is fully right, but is at last conquered by outer temptation. 4. The persevering and fruitful receiver of the word. Of the four classes, alas! only one can be saved.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Hear you then the parable of the sower.”
Note first how Jesus focuses attention on the sower without actually explaining who the sower is. He leaves each person to recognise who the sower is for themselves. This is typical of His way of only indirectly calling attention to Himself. But as we discover in Mat 13:19 He makes clear that it is certainly someone who is proclaiming the Kingly Rule of Heaven, and this in turn associates it with the triumph of righteousness (Mat 6:33). The sower goes forward to produce righteousness and establish the Kingly Rule of Heaven.
In the Old Testament Scriptures we find a similar picture of the sowing of righteousness. In Pro 11:18 we are told, ‘he who sows righteousness has a sure reward.’ So any mention of a sower would raise this idea to mind.
The thought of the sower going forth to sow would also remind many of His listeners of Hosea’s description, which clearly has the day of deliverance in mind. It describes how Israel were to achieve the coming promised day of righteousness when righteousness would be poured on them (Hos 10:12). They were to ‘Sow to yourselves in righteousness’. But how would they sow to themselves in righteousness? By themselves responding to and listening to godly sowers who would preach among them the message of righteousness. They could choose to do so (or choose not to do so). For God provided prophets in all eras but it was they who decided whom they would listen to. And once they chose to hear the message of righteousness it would then result in the raining of righteousness among them. ‘Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, until he come and rain righteousness upon you’ (Hos 10:12). In other words ‘listen to your prophets as they sow and respond to them’.
On hearing of the sower many of His listeners would remember these words. They would thus recognise in the idea of the sower going forth one who was to call to repentance the whole of Israel. For ‘sowing righteousness’ for Israel would be by their encouraging their representatives to sow righteousness to them, so producing a righteous nation. Thus when John ‘came in the way of righteousness’ (Mat 21:32) he was sowing righteousness. And they would see this as something that would especially occur in the future through the activity of the coming Messiah. He too would come sowing righteousness. In the context of the Kingly Rule of Heaven, and of the Old Testament, to be ‘the sower’ was therefore a Messianic claim.
It is true that the implication in Hosea appears at first to us to be a direct appeal to Israel as individuals, but that is because we apply things individually and personally. That is not, however, how Israel would have seen it. In their eyes the way that they would sow righteousness to themselves would be by raising up righteous leaders and teachers, who arose with their support, whose sowing of righteousness would then produce righteousness in them. And the most important to be involved in this would be the King acting on their behalf, for he was ‘the breath of their nostrils’. When they had a righteous king who ‘did what was right in the eyes of the Lord’ righteousness would follow. So they would expect that such a sowing of righteousness would occur when in the final days God’s righteousness and salvation was revealed (Isa 56:1). The future King would come sowing righteousness. And in terms of Isaiah that would point to the Redeemer who would come bringing righteousness and salvation (Isa 59:20 with 16). The Sower would be the One Who began the process by sowing righteousness.
There is a similar picture connecting sowing with the establishment of the Kingly Rule in Psa 126:5-6, where the thought is of deliverance of the exiles in triumph preparatory to God’s Kingly Rule. ‘Those who sow in tears will reap in joy. Though he go forth on his way weeping, bearing forth the seed, he will come again with joy, bringing his sheaves with him.’ To Israel the sowing of seed through suffering prophets is to result in deliverance.
So when ‘the sower went forth to sow’ their minds, if they were enlightened, should immediately have turned towards one who went forth preaching righteousness, and in view of Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingly Rule of Heaven, to One Who proclaimed the Kingly Rule of Heaven.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Interpretation of the Parable of the Sowing Of The Seed (13:18-23).
As we look at this interpretation we will note how perfectly it fits the words of the parable without being over-allegoristic. It is simple, straightforward and telling, with its background in Scripture. There is no good reason for doubting that we have the immediate words of Jesus. It is as much noteworthy for what it does not say as for what it does say. It does not, for example, define the sower. Because it was in a context where Jesus was speaking it did not need to do so. All knew Who the sower was. The question was what He had to say.
Analysis.
a
b “When any one hears the word of the kingly rule, and does not understand it, then comes the evil one, and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is he who was sown by the way side” (Mat 13:19).
c “And he who was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles” (Mat 13:20-21).
b “And he who was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, and the care of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful” (Mat 13:22).
a “And he who was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it; who truly bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Mat 13:23).
Note that in ‘a’ the parable is about the sower, and in the parallel we have described what the sower is out to achieve. In ‘b’ we have one reason for failure where the words has no impact at all, and we have the same in the parallel. Centrally in ‘c’ are those who make a quick profession and equally quickly fall away when some difficulty arises.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The interpretation of the parable:
v. 18. Hear ye, therefore, the parable of the sower.
v. 19. When any one heareth the Word of the Kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the Wicked One, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart: this is he which received seed by the wayside,
v. 20. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the Word, and anon with joy receiveth it.
v. 21. Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while; for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the Word, by and by he is offended.
v. 22. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the Word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and he becometh unfruitful.
v. 23. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the Word and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He sets His disciples apart: Ye therefore hear, and, in hearing, learn the lesson. The seed that is sown in the Kingdom and for the purpose of winning for the Kingdom, is always the same, the Word of God, just as He is the same that does the sowing, either personally, as in the days of His earthly career, or through His servants, as at the present time. But there are also four different kinds of soil in spiritual matters. Some there are (and it is true of all that act in the same way) that pay fleeting attention to the Message of the Kingdom. They have somehow come into contact with the Church, some phase of church-work has struck their fancy. But there is no understanding, they literally do not take it into their hearts and minds, the Word never becomes a real factor in their lives. In this case the Evil One, Satan, has little difficulty in snatching away the truth which they have just barely grasped with their intellect, 2Ti 4:4; 2Th 2:11. “To us it does not seem a dangerous matter to hear the Word of God, and yet not keep it; those that do it we regard as bad, inattentive people and think it is natural that they hear the sermon and still forget it. But Christ judges differently here and says: The devil takes the Word out of the heart of the people. Therefore, if thou seest a person who permits himself to be talked to and preached to as to a log, and the whole matter amounts to as much as if one strikes into water,… then think nothing else than that the devil has sat down in his heart and snatches the seed, the Word of God, away, that he does not believe and is not saved.”
Another class of people that are temporary Christians are characterized by the eagerness and apparent joy with which they accept the Word. Their avidity for instruction is sometimes almost embarrassing. But they are quick, emotional, shallow natures. Their faith, though genuine, is not rooted deeply enough to withstand disappointment, especially tribulation, suspicion, hatred, enmity, and the resulting open or hidden persecution on account of the Word. Their rapid acceptance of the Word is equaled only by their hasty offense when they are asked to suffer for the sake of Christ. They want the crown, but not the cross. Not much different is the case of another class, whose members are said to hear the Word, probably with at least an intellectual acceptance. Their hearts have not properly been cleared of the roots of worldly cares and desires. They are not sincere toward the Word, do not use it to purify their hearts. The cares and worries of this world, the love and the desire of riches, fill their hearts and engross their attention. There is no real Christianity in their souls.
Only the fourth class of hearers present soil ready for a crop and fruit hat is well-pleasing to the Lord. They are they who hear and heed the Word in fine and good hearts. In this instance the soil of the hearts has been well prepared by the plowing of the Law, which incidentally weeded out all earthly love and care of this world, all selfishness and self-righteousness. Then the Master has sowed His good seed, the Gospel of His mercy. He also sends the fountains of His grace and the sun of His righteousness. And, behold, there is good fruit, though the measure depends upon differences of gifts, of disposition, and of the capacity for receiving and spreading the kingdom of God.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 13:18 f. ] emphatic, as in Mat 13:16 .
] for it is with you precisely as has been said in Mat 13:16 .
] not: understand (de Wette), but: hear , attend to the parable, that is, with a view to see the meaning that it is intended to convey.
, . . .] an anacoluthon. The evangelist had perhaps intended to write:
, from the heart of every one that hears without understanding, the wicked one , and so on; but, from the circumstance of the coming in the way, he was led to break off the construction with which he had set out. Bornemann in the Stud. u. Krit . 1849, p. 107.
. . .] the preaching of the Messianic kingdom , Mat 4:23 , Mat 24:14 ; Act 1:3 ; Act 28:31 .
] understands , not: attends to it , which is grammatically and contextually ( ) wrong (in answer to Beza, Grotius). Mark and Luke say nothing whatever here about the not understanding; it does not appear to have been found in the collection of our Lord’s sayings ( ), but to have been added to the original narrative by way of explanation (Ewald), its adoption being now rendered further necessary owing to the turn given to the sentence by , which latter would otherwise be out of place. The explanation given in this addition happens, however, to be correct; for the word that is not understood , that is, not appropriated through the understanding, lies on the surface of the heart without being incorporated with the inner life, and therefore, in presence of the devil’s temptations, is the more liable to be forgotten again, and cast away, so that faith fails to take possession of the heart (Rom 10:10 ).
, . . .] a cutting short of a similitude before it is fully worked out, that is not uncommon owing to the liveliness of the Oriental imagination. Not the man, but the truth taught, is . What is meant is to this effect: This is he in whose case the seed was sown upon the road. Others (Euth. Zigabenus, Erasmus, Beza, Erasmus Schmid, Maldonatus, Grotius, Bengel, Rosenmller, Kuinoel) interpret: This is he who was sown upon the road. Paulus and Vater refer to . Neither of the explanations harmonizes with Mat 13:20 ; Mat 13:22-23 . That the loss of the seed is tantamount to the loss of one’s own life, though not stated in so many words (Lange), is implied in the nature of the case.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1361
THE SOWER
Mat 13:18. Hear ye the parable of the sower.
THE word of God, by whomsoever delivered, makes a different impression on different people. When our Lord himself preached, his discourses did not carry conviction to all: nor did his Apostles find that all would receive the truths declared by them. Thus, in this day, there is a great diversity of effect produced among the hearers of the Gospel. Our Lord foretold that this would be the case in all ages of the Church. He compared the word of his kingdom to seed cast into different soils; and the fruits resulting from it, to the various produce of the different grounds. In unfolding the parable of the Sower, we shall be led to notice,
I.
The way-side hearers
There are two things wherein careless hearers resemble seed fallen by the way-side;
They hear the word without understanding
[They attend upon the ordinances merely in a customary manner. They do not go to hear with a view to obtain benefit to their souls. Their minds are occupied about something they have seen or done, or are meditating some new plans of business or pleasure. Thus, though they hear the word, they scarcely give it any attention, or attend merely to the style of composition and manner of delivery. No wonder then that they obtain no solid views of divine truth.]
They lose it without regret
[Satan is more concerned with them than they are at all aware of. Like the fowls of the air, he hovers round them to catch away the seed. The word is no sooner uttered, than he turns their attention from it; nor is it difficult for him, by suggesting other thoughts, to accomplish his purpose. He well knows that, if they truly believe the word, they will be saved by it; and that, if they hear it with attention and candour, they cannot but believe it. Hence he labours incessantly to divert their minds from it. If, after all, some scattered truths remain upon the mind, they are speedily trodden down by the incidental occurrences of the day.]
These, it is to be feared, are by far the most numerous class of hearers. But there are some to whom the word seems not to come in vain:
II.
The stony-ground hearers
These, though equally hard as to their hearts, differ widely from the former
They embrace the word gladly
[Their affections, like a thin coat of earth upon a rock, receive the word. The novelty of it, and their hope of an interest in it, delights their mind. They are moved at the sufferings of Christ, or the promises of the Gospel, as they would be at any good news, or pathetic story. Immediately they begin to make a profession of religion, and seem to surpass many who have been longer instructed in the way.]
But they renounce it again speedily
[They never were deeply convinced of sin, nor felt their need of Christ. They embraced the Gospel, without ever seriously counting the cost. Ere long, they find that they have to endure persecution for the words sake: this, like the sun in its brightness, penetrates through the surface of their affections, and burns up the seed, which was never rooted in their understanding and will; then they renounce their profession as speedily as they had taken it up, and either secretly decline from the society to which they were attached, or openly proclaim the disgust, with which their late pretensions have inspired them.]
Nor are these the only persons who disappoint the hopes of the sower:
III.
The thorny-ground hearers
These are a class who more nearly resemble that of true Christians; but though their profession is more specious, their end is not more happy.
They maintain a religious character to the end
[They do not disregard the word like the way-side hearers, or cast away their profession like those of the stony ground. They maintain, for the most part, an uniform regard to the Gospel; they associate with the people of God in preference to all others; they worship God in their closet and family, as well as in the public assembly; nor do they live in any practices which are grossly inconsistent with their character.]
But the fruit which they produce is not of a perfect kind
[They were never thoroughly purged from the thorns which were natural to the soil. The cares or pleasures of this world still continue to corrode their hearts. There is always something which they desire more than real holiness. Thus the nutriment of the soil is withdrawn by noxious roots, and the influences of the air and sun obstructed by surrounding branches. Hence their fruit is never properly matured and ripened. Their confessions want that tenderness of spirit that argues them sincere; their prayers, that holy importunity, which alone ensures success; their praises, that love and fervour, which alone can make them acceptable. The whole obedience of their lives is destitute of that divine energy, which results from the operation of Gods Spirit.]
The seed however that is sown is not wholly unproductive
IV.
The good-ground hearers
There is a most essential difference between these and the preceding characters
They receive the word with humility
[All the other characters have the soil itself depraved; but these receive the word into honest and good hearts. Not that their hearts are altogether free from human depravity; but they have an upright intention and desire to profit. They neither cavil at the word, nor endeavour to pervert its meaning. They wish to be instructed by it, and to fulfil whatever it requires. In hearing it, they apply it as the word of God addressed to their souls, and they (which is not said respecting any of the others) understand it. They see its import, taste its sweetness, and embrace it as suited to their case.]
They improve it with diligence
[They are careful to bring forth the fruits of righteousness. Not that all of them accomplish their wishes in an equal degree. Splendid talents, extensive influence, or favourable occasions may enable some to distinguish themselves from others. On the other hand; poverty and seclusion may cause the light of others to be more obscured. Degrees of grace too, like a kindlier climate and a richer soil, make an abundant difference in degrees of fruitfulness. Some, like St. Paul, have no delight but in adoring and serving God: they burn with love, not towards their friends only, but their most cruel enemies; and all their tempers, wishes, thoughts, are cast into the mould of the Gospel. Others, though less eminent, are filled with zeal in their Masters cause: if they be not borne as on seraphs wings, they run eagerly as in a race; and, though labouring under some infirmities, they bear much of their Saviours image. Nor are they who are least fruitful satisfied with their attainment: they uniformly conflict with sin, and long to be holy as God is holy.]
Address
[Let us hear this parable, not to judge others, but ourselves. Let us examine to which of the foregoing classes we belong: What has been the disposition with which we have heard the word? What the benefits we have received from the preached Gospel? Have we laboured to treasure up the truth of God in our hearts? Has it overpowered the corrupt desires which would obstruct its growth? And are we rising daily beyond the form, to the life and power of godliness? Surely neither Christ nor any faithful sower of the word will account his toil repaid if he see not this fruit of his labours. Let us not then be satisfied with being almost, and not altogether, Christians. If the word produce not, its full effect, it will convey no benefit at all. If it destroy not the noxious weeds, the weeds will certainly destroy it. If it be not a savour of life unto life, it will be of death unto death. Whatever profession men may make, none but the good-ground hearers will be saved at last. Let us now then guard against the devices of our great enemy. Let us watch that he take not the seed out of our hearts. Let us harrow it in, as it were, by meditation and prayer: and, however fruitful we have been, let us labour to abound more and more [Note: The observations made in this Discourse being almost wholly confined to the parable itself, it may suffice to refer to that. See Mat 13:3-8; Mat 13:18-23. Mar 4:3-8; Mar 4:14-20. Luk 8:4-15. The words marked with inverted commas allude particularly to the parable.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
Ver. 18. Hear ye therefore the parable, &c. ] The disciples had asked him concerning the multitude, Mat 13:10 ; “Why speakest thou to them in parables?” They pretended that the multitude understood him not, and therefore he should do well to show them the meaning. They were ashamed, belike, to bewray their own ignorance, but our Saviour calls to them also to hear the parable explained. We are all willing to make the best of our own case, to hide our crooked legs with long garments, &c. Nature need not be taught to tell her own tale.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
18 23. ] INTERPRETATION OF THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. Mar 4:10-20 . Luk 8:9-18 . Both of them incorporate with the answer of our Lord to the request of the disciples, much of our last section.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
18. ] , in the sense of the verse before hear the true meaning of, ‘ hear in your hearts .’ With regard to the parable itself, we may remark that its great leading idea is that , according to which the grace of God, and the receptivity of it by man, work ever together in bringing forth fruit. The seed is one and the same every where and to all: but seed does not spring up without earth, nor does earth bring forth without seed; and the success or failure of the seed is the consequence of the adaptation to its reception, or otherwise, of the spot on which it falls. But of course, on the other hand, as the enquiry, ‘Why is this ground rich, and that barren?’ leads us up into the creative arrangements of God, so a similar enquiry in the spiritual interpretation would lead us into the inscrutable and sovereign arrangements of Him who ‘preventeth us that we may have a good will, and worketh with us when we have that will’ (Art. X. of the Church of England). See, on the whole, my Sermons before the University of Cambridge, February, 1858.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 13:18-23 . Interpretation of the Sower (Mar 4:14-20 ; Luk 8:11-15 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mat 13:18 . , emphatic, ye privileged ones. referring to the happiness on which they have been congratulated.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mat 13:18 . . .: not, hear it over again, but, what it means. , aorist, of the man who sowed in the story just told.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 13:18-23
18″Hear then the parable of the sower. 19When 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 the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
Mat 13:18-23 Jesus’ interpretation of this parable was given to the disciples privately.
Mat 13:19 “the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart” In the parallel in Mar 4:15 he is called Satan (see Special Topic at Mat 4:5). 2Co 4:4 describes his work among men. It is surprising that the evil one appears so often in these parables (cf. Mat 13:25; Mat 13:28; Mat 13:39). Jesus asserted the presence of a personal force of evil who is out to thwart God’s will for both nations and individuals. There is a veiled reference in these parables to the three enemies of man: (1) Satan (cf. Mat 13:19; Eph 2:2); (2) the world system (cf. Mat 13:22; Eph 2:2); and (3) mankind’s fallen nature (cf. Eph 2:3).
Mat 13:20 “the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy” This was obviously a superficial response to Jesus and His message as the context shows. True salvation is an initial response of repentance and faith followed by an ongoing response of repentance and faith. There are many in the visible Church who use Christian words, attend Christian meetings, and read the Christian Bible, but do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (cf. Mat 7:21-23; 2 Peter 2).
Mat 13:21-22 “but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away” Christlikeness in attitude and lifestyle is evidence of a valid profession (cf. the books of 1 John. and James). An initial response, even when exuberant, is not always permanent or valid. See SPECIAL TOPIC: APOSTASY (APHISTMI) at Mat 7:21.
The NT speaks often of those who heard having turned way.
1. no root, Mat 13:21; Mar 4:17; Luk 8:13
2. fall away, Mat 24:10
3. do not abide, Joh 15:6
4. gone astray, 1Ti 1:9; 1Ti 6:21; 2Ti 2:18
5. shipwreck, 1Ti 1:19
6. fall away, 1Ti 4:1
7. apostasy, 2Th 2:3
8. falling away, Heb 3:12
9. fall away, Heb 6:6
10. turn away, 2Pe 2:20-22
Christianity is a relationship which must be maintained! It involves an initial response (i.e., Joh 1:12; Romans 4), a continuing response (James and 1 John), and a faithful conclusion (Hebrews 11)!
Mat 13:22 “deceitfulness of wealth” See Special Topic: Wealth at Mat 6:24.
Mat 13:23 “it becomes unfruitful” Bearing fruit is the evidence of genuine conversion and not just an emotional initial decision! Christianity is not one high moment but a life of discipleship.
Manfred T. Brauch, Abusing Scripture: the Consequences of Misreading the Bible, p. 106, has an interesting comment.
” In warning against false prophets, Jesus taught that they would be known by the fruit they bore (Mat 7:15-16). That is, our character, our deepest values and beliefs, are ultimately revealed in the life that we live (Mat 7:17-20; Luk 6:43-45). Therefore, participation in the sphere of God’s reign is neither guaranteed nor secured by the confession of Jesus as Lord; rather, only those who embody God’s will in their lives are children of the kingdom (Mat 7:21; Luk 6:46-48). In his interpretation of the parable of the sower (Mat 13:18-23; Mar 4:13-29; Luk 8:11-15), Jesus asserted that neither the hearing nor the receiving of “the word of the kingdom” is sufficient. Only those who bear the fruit of its presence in their lives are revealed as those who truly grasp its deepest significance (Mat 13:23), accept it (Mar 4:20) and “hold it fast in an honest and good heart” (Luk 8:15).”
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
18-23.] INTERPRETATION OF THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. Mar 4:10-20. Luk 8:9-18. Both of them incorporate with the answer of our Lord to the request of the disciples, much of our last section.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 13:18. , you) in contradistinction to the people.- , of the Sower) i.e. so called from the Sower.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mat 13:11, Mat 13:12, Mar 4:14-20
Reciprocal: Mat 13:4 – the way Mat 21:33 – Hear Luk 8:5 – sower Luk 8:9 – What 1Co 3:9 – ye are God’s
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The Parables of Matthew Thirteen
Mat 13:1-8, Mat 13:18-23
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
We have decided to present to you one phase of the parable of the sower, the seed that fell by the wayside,
1. The wayside stands for those whose hearts are hardened by sin. In every field there are places which become paths or roads which have been trodden down and made hard. These places, of course, are impervious, and the seed thrown upon them never really enters into the ground. Alas, alas, that there are so many hearts today which seem to be described by “the way side”!
Will you join me in seeking to discover how hearts that were so tender in childhood, may become so hardened against the Word of God?
(1) We believe that a continual rejection of the truth steels the heart against the truth. Every time a sermon is heard and refused the heart is calloused. God’s Word cuts not only to life, but also to death. When the heart opens to the truth, it vivifies, and strengthens, and illumines the heart. When the heart is closed to it, it seems to stiffen, and stifle, and shut up the heart.
(2) Continuing in sin hardens the heart. The conscience that is not followed and obeyed, becomes a conscience that is seared. Herod once heard John gladly, and he did many things. In those days Herod must have been very near to salvation. Herod, however, refused John’s call and chose to continue in sin. The result was that Herod could, without flinching, order the death of John the Baptist and have his head brought before him in a charger.
2. The birds stand for the children of the wicked one, who come and pick up the seed which falls by the wayside. It is not difficult for these birds to enrich themselves by hardened hearts. No scratching is necessary; no turning over of the soil, for the seed lies exposed on the hard surface of the wayside.
The Lord Jesus said in Mat 13:19, “When any one heareth the Word of the Kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.”
Satan and his emissaries are adepts in catching up the seed. No one ever passes from death unto life without Satan’s most strenuous opposition. There are a thousand things all around us to keep men from being saved. When, however, the Holy Spirit docs get a chance to enter a heart, Satan is there to hinder. In Second Corinthians we read: “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
I. THE SEED AND THE STONY PLACES (Mat 13:5-6; Mat 13:20-21)
1. The stony places. These places are those where there is not much earth. To be sure, the stones have been there for a long while, and there is some soil which covers them, but there is not much soil.
These places represent hearts which have no root in themselves. There is an outward appearance of the reception of the Word. There seems, at first, to be no resistance to the truth. In fact, this heart receiveth it with joy. The friends go away from the meeting where the seed was sown very happy over the fact that so-and-so confessed the Lord. However, though there is for a while a seeming obedience to Christ, and a seeming love and trust, yet that obedience, that love, soon disappears because there is no depth of soil.
2. The sun soon arises and the growth is burned and scorched and withered away. There may have been a rather exuberant upward shoot of the plants, because there could be but little downward grip by the roots.
The roots could not take hold upon this heart because the heart was not deeply plowed. There was no depth of conviction. We have always said that people soon fall away from a seeming salvation. The way to find out whether the salvation is real and genuine, is to wait until the sun arises. Then, if there is no real rootage of the Gospel, the outward profession will wither away.
3. What the sun typifies. When Christ, in Mat 13:21, explained this, He said: “When tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the Word, by and by he is offended.” Just so. Some people will believe in Jesus, so far as we can tell, but it is not long until they fall by the way because they have no deep convictions of truth and no real depths of love, which will be able to withstand the hot suns of tribulation and of persecution. How it grieves the heart of the pastor when, by and by, he sees this one and that one offended and dropping out. God has said: “Ye did run well; who did hinder you?” However, these “for a season” Christians never survive the throes of persecution and temptation. They do not survive because their Christianity was not deep and genuine.
II. THE SEED WHICH FELL AMONG THORNS (Mat 13:7; Mat 13:22)
1. Good soil stands for a heart that seems open to the Word of God, the Heavenly seed. However, if it is just as open to thorns and thistles, it is impossible for a real Christian life.
Should we not remember that Christ said that no man can serve two masters, for either he will hold to the one, and despise the other, or else he will love the one and hate the other, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” This ground that is described as filled with thorns is good soil, in a way. It is a soil where the seed would have grown, and would have borne fruit had it not been for the fact that it had also received the thorns.
2. The thorns stand for the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. Luke’s Gospel adds, the “pleasures of this life.” There you are. Our churches today are more or less filled with those who received the truth, where the thorns are growing. They want to serve Christ. They want to know His Word, but they are so filled with the cares of this life, with their love of money, and with their desire for pleasure, that the Word of God, which they hear, is choked, and they become unfruitful.
III. THE GOOD-GROUND HEARER (Mat 13:8; Mat 13:23)
1. Only one out of four who hear the Word is called the good-ground hearer; and, even among the good-ground hearers, we observe that some of them bear only thirtyfold, others sixty, and only some a hundred.
The good-ground hearer is described as the one who heareth the Word and understandeth it. He knows the truth and the truth makes him free. The expression “understandeth it,” goes deep. It does not mean merely that he knows the truth concerning salvation, but he knows the truth of the resurrection, and of the Second Coming.
The seed which is sown is more than the blessed Calvary story. It includes the glorious resurrection story, and the wonderful Advent story. If you want to discover the meaning of the word “Gospel,” you will find it in 1Co 15:1-58 : “The Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”
We pause a moment. This verse is much in line with the four classes of seed in Mat 13:1-58; at least it emphasizes that saving faith is a faith that not only receives the truth, but that stands in that truth and keeps in memory its message.
The Spirit next tells us, in 1Co 15:1-58, what the Gospel is in these words: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
After this, the Spirit gives us the story not only of the resurrection of Christ, but of the resurrection of saints at His coming.
Thus, we have before us the seed, even the Gospel, which is sown in the good ground, and which is received into understanding hearts, and which beareth fruit.
IV. THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SEED AND THE TARES (Mat 13:24-29)
Our Lord now gives us a parable somewhat similar to that of the sower, yet distinct in this: that there are two kinds of seed being sown. The ground is the same, but the seeds are different.
1. The good seed. The good seed is beyond any doubt the Word of God, or, it may be, the Word of God in the hearts of His saints, There are indeed some who teach that the parable of the sower which we have just been discussing, as given by our Lord in Matthew, not so much discusses the effect of the seed on the soil, as the effect of the soil on the seed. In this I concur. The parable evidently does carry that truth.
Now, in this second parable, the good seed is the same as in the first parable.
2. The tares. The tares were sown by an enemy. They are altogether distinct from the good seed in their fruitage. However, they look very much the same in their early growth. The good seed are the children of the Kingdom. The tares are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels.
This parable presents a very solemn and yet a true picture of conditions during the whole age, which is now fast ripening into a disappointing harvest, in this the end of the age.
We must all grant that God has His ministers, and so also does Satan. God’s ministers are sowing the good seed, God’s Word, in the children of the Kingdom. The devil’s ministers are sowing false doctrine in the children of the wicked one. Both of these have their testimony, and in very many things, to the natural eye, the seeds are similar.
We preach righteousness; and Satan’s ministers preach righteousness. We have true godliness, and Satan’s ministers have a form of godliness. It takes a spiritually instructed vision to discern between the false and the true.
The harvest is the thing that will tell the story. At the end of the age, the tares will be gathered and burned in the fire; but the children of the Kingdom will enter into eternal life.
V. THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED (Mat 13:31-32)
1. We have now a peculiar and specified kind of seed. Thus far we have dealt with the good seed and the tares. Now the Lord is going to bring in the good seed under a specified description. The mustard seed is the least of all seeds.
We would not say that the story of Christ crucified, risen, and coming again, implanted in the hearts of human beings, is the least of all seeds from a Divine reckoning. However, from a human reckoning, it is even so.
Little did anyone ever dream in the days of Christ that the seed which He sowed, in the words He uttered, and the works He wrought, would ever have become so great in its power, and so wide in its sweep.
2. The greatest among herbs. Here is exactly what we just suggested the least of all seeds becomes so great that it overtowers all the other trees in the field. Thus has the Church grown, and thus has the truth spread.
Under the command of our Lord, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature,” the testimony has gone on and on until it has girded the globe, while multitudes of worshipers gather from time to time to magnify the Lord.
3. The birds of the air. We now come to a sad phase of the march of the Gospel. In the parable of the tares of the field we saw the sowing of the enemy; and we also saw the true wheat and the tares growing together until the harvest, at the end of the age.
Now, in the great growth of the mustard seed, we find the birds of the air coming to lodge in its tree. If you will return to the parable of the seed that fell by the wayside, you will find that the fowls came and devoured them up. We take it that the birds in Mat 13:4, and in Mat 13:32; that is, in both parables, are the same. They are the wicked one, and the children of the wicked one. Every one of us must admit that, in the Church of today, the glorious Church, the Church that overshadows the world with its power and its spread, the wicked one has come to dwelt in the vast numbers of his unregenerate church members.
VI. THE PARABLE OF THE LEAVEN (Mat 13:33)
1. The three measures of meal. The meal in this parable still carries the thought of the seed. This time, however, it is the seed ground up, and prepared for food.
Jesus Christ Himself is described in the Word as the Bread that came down from Heaven. It was He who said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The seed, ground up into meal, may, therefore, still be likened unto the Word of God, but unto the Word as our food.
It is written: “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” We are commended in the Bible to the Word of God which is able to build us up. Thus, it is clearly established that the meal is the seed sent to the mill; it still represents the Word.
2. The leaven. The leaven in our parable stands for false doctrine. In the story of the mustard seed, and the herb wherein the birds of the air lodged, we saw how the wicked ones entered into the church. Now, we are seeing how their entrance has affected the church, which is the pillar and ground of the truth. They have brought into the meal a leaven which has leavened the whole lump. The word “leaven” always means false doctrine. It was of this that Christ spoke when He said: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees,” “of the leaven of Herod.”
What is the revelation of present-day church life when it is set down by the side of this parable? It is simply this: false doctrine has permeated the whole church. The church is divided into various denominations which center around distinctive conceptions of truth, although there is but one truth. In each of these divisions, there are those who have entered in who have not the truth. It is even as the Holy Ghost wrote that the apostasy would come, and the apostasy has come.
You can believe anything you want to or believe nothing, and still be a welcomed member in most of the large denominations, and in many of the world’s largest churches.
VII. THE PARABLE OF THE TREASURE AND OF THE PEARL (Mat 13:44-46)
1. The treasure hid in the field. To us this parable sets forth the story of the Children of Israel. They are God’s treasure hid in the field: “The which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.”
Israel is a people whose treasures and callings are all earthly. They are the people who will inherit the land. They are the people over whom Christ will reign on David’s throne as the King of all kings, and the Lord of lords.
In order to obtain them Jesus Christ must redeem the earth from the hands of the enemy.
2. The pearl of great price. Here we have the merchant man who is Jesus Christ, and He is seeking goodly pearls. The goodly pearls are the saints, but the saints in one Body, the Church. Our Lord sells all that He has to buy that pearl, that Church. Have we not read that He loved the Church and gave Himself for it? Have we not read that Christ hath redeemed us; that is, bought us back, not with silver and gold, nor with corruptible things, but with the precious Blood of Jesus? Surely we are the pearl which He hath bought, and which He bought at the sacrifice of His Blood.
It is utter folly to say that Christ is the pearl in this parable, and that we sold all we had and bought Him. Such a statement spoils the Gospel of grace. Were all the realms of nature ours, all the silver, all the gold, we could not buy Him; neither could we buy redemption. Eternal life is the gift of God, and it is not for sale. He could, however, buy us, and according to Rev 5:9 He did buy us: “For Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy Blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”
AN ILLUSTRATION
D. L. Moody used to tell the story of a second century Christian martyr. He was brought before the king who demanded that he give up Christ and Christianity. But the man spurned the proposition. The king said:
“If you do not renounce Christ I will banish you.”
The man smiled, and answered, “You can’t banish me from Christ, for He says He will never leave me nor forsake me.”
The king became angry and said, “Well, I will confiscate your property.”
But the man replied, “My treasures are laid up on high; you cannot get them.”
The king became still angrier, and said, “I will kill you.”
“Why,” said the man, “I have been dead forty years; I have been dead to the world, and my life is hid with Christ in God, and you cannot touch it.”
Is the faith of the Christian Church today that strong? Is there that steadfastness in its life? Christ is coming. Will He find faith when He comes?
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
3:18
This verse invites the disciples to listen and they will hear the inner meaning of some of the “mysteries” that had not been told even to the prophets.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 13:18. Hear ye therefore. Hear, in your hearts, ye who are so highly favored, the true meaning of these parables. Our Lords explanation is to guide us in the interpretation of other parables. He does not say: it teaches this general principle, nor does He give a significance to all the objects and actions which may be linked with sowing in a grain-field.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
As if our Lord has said, “You my disciples, who are not satisfied with a sound of words, I will explain to you the sense and signification of this parable: the scope of which is, to shew the different effects which the word of God has upon men’s hearts, and the reason of that difference.
The seed is the word, the sower is the preacher, the soil is the heart and soul of man.”
Now our Saviour assures us, that both the hearts of some hearers are like highway ground; in which the seed is not covered with the harrow of meditation; others are like stony ground, in which the word has no root; no root in their understandings, memories, conscience, will, or affections: but they are offended, either at the depth and profoundness of the word, or at the sanctity and strictness of it, or at the plainness and simplicity of it.
Again, some hearers our Lord compares to the thorny ground. Thorns are covetous desires, which choke the good seed, shadow the blade when sprung up, keep off the influences of the sun and draw away the fatness of the soil from the seed. All these effects have thorns in and among the seed; and the like effects have worldly affections and covetous desires in the heart of man, rendering the word unfruitful and unprofitable.
But the good Christian hears the word attentively, keeps it retentively, believes it stedfastly, applies it particularly, practises it universally, and brings forth fruit with patience and perseverance; fruit that will redound to his account, in the great day of account.
Learn, 1. That no hearers are in Christ’s account good hearers of the word, but such as bring forth the fruits of an holy, humble, and peaceable conversation.
2. That a person may be a good hearer of the word, if he brings forth the best fruit he can, though it be not in so great a proportion as others do: as some ground brings forth thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred-fold: in like manner do all the sincere hearers of the word, they all bring forth fruit, though not all alike; all in sincerity and reality, though not all to the same degree, and none to perfection.
Observe lastly, Satan is here compared to the fowls of the air, which pick up the seed before it takes any root in the earth. The devil is very jealous of the success of the word, and therefore labours all he can to destroy the word before it comes to operate upon the heart; which he doth sometimes by the cares of the world, sometimes by vain companions, who prove mere quench-coals unto early convictions; if he can steal away the word or choke it, he has his desire and design.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 13:18-19. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower A parable which our Lord judged to be so important that he introduced it with a double demand of attention, Hearken, behold; Mar 4:3; and concluded it with a third, and still more solemn demand thereof, who hath ears to hear, let him hear; and here, proceeding to the explanation of it, he calls for attention the fourth time. And the reason of this is evident: the parable sets before us, in a summary point of view, all the grand hinderances of our bearing fruit, and that in the same order in which they occur. The first danger is, lest the birds should devour the seed, or it should be trodden down. If it escape this, there is then another danger, namely, lest it be scorched, and wither away. It is long after this that the thorns spring up and choke the good seed. A vast number of those who hear the word of God, receive the seed as by the way-side. Of those who do not lose it by the birds, yet many receive it as on stony places. Many of them who receive it on a better soil, yet suffer the thorns to grow up and choke it: so that few even of these endure to the end, and bear fruit unto perfection: yet in all these cases, it is not the will of God that hinders, but their own voluntary perverseness. When any one heareth, &c. The parable, it must be observed, only concerns the hearers of the gospel. As to those who decline, or neglect to hear it, their portion is frequently given them elsewhere, and their danger and misery declared with sufficient clearness; the word of the kingdom Namely, of the kingdom of Christ, generally termed in the gospels, the kingdom of God, or of heaven: the word which describes the nature, and shows the excellency and necessity of the kingdom of grace, preparatory to that of glory, and points out the way leading thereto. See notes on Rom 14:17; and Mar 1:15. This is the good seed, which every sower sent by Jesus Christ will be careful to sow. Not the chaff of metaphysical speculations, of human traditions, and empty notions, nor the light corn of mere moral doctrines, much less the tares of superstitious injunctions, or of enthusiastical, or Pharisaic, or antinomian delusions; but the solid and well-bodied grain of the essential truths of the gospel of Christ. And understandeth it not For the truths that are not understood, how often soever they are heard, are in this parable fitly compared to the seed which lies uncovered on the surface of the ground, exposed to be instantly picked up by the fowls of heaven. But why is not the word of the kingdom understood? Either, 1st, because, while delivered, it is not attended to; or, 2d, because it is not heard in a spirit of prayer for divine illumination, without which divine things are not understood, Luk 24:45; 1Co 2:11; 1Co 2:14. But the Greek expression, , may with equal propriety be rendered considereth it not. Considering or meditating upon the word heard, is like harrowing in and covering up the seed sown on the ploughed ground; in consequence whereof, and not otherwise, imbibing moisture from the earth, it vegetates and springs up. When the word is not thus understood and considered, then cometh the wicked one; Satan cometh immediately; (so Mark;) either inwardly filling the mind with thoughts of other things, and exciting earthly and carnal desires and dispositions in the heart; or by his agents, such as all they are that introduce other subjects when people should be considering what they have heard. And catcheth away that which was sown in his heart Which was intended deeply to impress and sink into it; and to remain, not only in the understanding and memory, but also in the affections, as a seed of true piety and virtue. And now the seed, the truths heard, being taken away, with the good impressions produced thereby, no fruit is to be looked for. It is justly observed here by Dr. Whitby, that this industry of Satan to snatch the word out of our hearts, as it discovers his enmity against the gospel, so doth it highly commend the excellency and efficacy of it: for were it not of great importance to preserve it there, he would not be so industrious to snatch it thence. And were it not, when there, a powerful instrument to work within us that faith which purifies the heart, why doth he do this lest we should believe? See Luk 8:12. This is he that receiveth seed by the way-side And a great proportion of most congregations are of this description.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
STORM ON THE GALILEAN SEA
Mat 13:18-27; Mar 4:35-41; & Luk 8:22-25; Luk 9:57-62. Mark: And He says to them on that day, it being evening, Let us cross over to the other side. And leaving the multitude, they receive Him, as he was in the ship; and there were many other ships along with Him. And there is a great storm of wind, and the waves poured into the ship, so that it was already sinking. Matthew says is was covered with the waves, and Luke says they were being filled up and were in danger. The Sea of Galilee, seven hundred feet below the Mediterranean, as a natural consequence of this deep depression, is surrounded by mountains on all sides, except the deep valley through which the Jordan flows from the north and out toward the south. Consequently it is very liable to sudden tornadoes; the atmosphere, pouring down in all directions from the highlands, gets turned about, and develops whirlwinds, which are very dangerous, as it is sixteen and one-half miles long and seven and one-half miles wide, with a coast of seventy-five miles. We were warned by the guidebooks to beware of storms. This we heeded, lighting on the good fortune to get a very valuable boat, which was built last year, in Beyroot, for the especial accommodation of the German emperor. We found it splendid, and, sailing over the sea two days, encountered no storm. He was lying in the stern, sleeping on a pillow; they arouse Him up, and say to Him, Master, is there no care to Thee that we perish? Matthew: And He says to them, Why are ye cowardly, O ye of little faith? This was a just rebuke; because they might have known that they were in no danger with Him on hoard. This is the secret of perfect love, which always takes Jesus aboard, casting out fear. Mark And rising, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Be quiet!
be calm! And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said to them, Why are ye afraid? How have you not faith? And they feared with great fear, and continued to say to one another, Who then is this, because the wind and the sea obey Him? This was a most incontestable miracle, commanding the elements of nature, illustrating to all that He had made the sea and the storms, and had nothing to do but speak, and they promptly obey. We sailed over the same route last November, meanwhile we read the account of this storm and the miraculous calm.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 13:18-23. Explanation of the Parable of the Sower (Mar 4:13-20*, Luk 8:11-15).
Little need be added to what is said on p. 686. The parable no doubt reflects the experience of Jesus. Like the sower He, in His work of preparing the people for the Kingdom, encounters difficulties of different kinds and partial failure. Much of His preaching has been thrown away. Yet He is not daunted; the reward is sure. When the Kingdom comes, the work will be justified and its disappointments forgotten. These ideas are further illustrated by the other parables of the chapter.
Note that Mt. somewhat modifies the hard saying of Mar 4:11 f. Jesus uses parables not to blind the Jews, but, since they have no capacity for Divine truth, to leave them in the dark, while the disciples who have faith (Mat 13:12) grasp the inner meaning.
Mat 13:10. mysteries: Mt. prefers plurals. Jewish apocalyptic literature often speaks of certain eschatological ideas as mysteries or secrets revealed to the elect. Cf. Eph 1:9*.
Mat 13:12. = Mar 4:25.
Mat 13:16 f., not in Mk., is in a better context in Luk 10:23 f. In Mk. the disciples ask the meaning of the parables and are reproved, in Mt. they ask why parables are used and are congratulated.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Verse 18
Hear ye; hear ye the explanation.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
The explanation of the parable of the soils 13:18-23 (cf. Mar 4:13-20; Luk 8:11-15)
Jesus interpreted His first parable to help His disciples understand it and the others that followed (cf. Mar 4:13).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Since former prophets and righteous people wanted to know this revelation, and since the unbelieving could not understand it, the disciples needed to listen to it carefully.