On
that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the seaside. Great multitudes gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat, and sat, and all the multitude stood on the beach. He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Matthew 13:1-9
Matthew 12 [48.] But he answered him who spoke to him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” He stretched out his hand towards his disciples, and said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
Matthew 13 [1.] On that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the seaside. Great multitudes gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat, and sat, and all the multitude stood on the beach. He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Matthew 13 [10.] The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
Meaning:
Matthew 13 gathers seven parables of the Kingdom of Heaven. The chapter follows a time of rising opposition: the Pharisees have accused Jesus of working by Beelzebul, and Jesus has said that his true family are those who do his Father’s will (Matthew 12:48-50). The first parable, about a farmer sowing seed, explains why people respond to Jesus’ message in such different ways.
- “Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the seaside”
The scene is the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The crowd was so large that Jesus got into a boat and taught from the water while the people stood on the beach. The sloping shore formed a natural amphitheater, and the water carried his voice. Jesus sat to teach, as Jewish teachers usually did. Mark records the same setting (Mark 4:1-9).
- “He spoke to them many things in parables”
A parable is a story taken from everyday life that carries a spiritual meaning. Jesus’ hearers knew all about farming, birds, rocks and thorns. The story was easy to remember, but its meaning had to be thought about. From this point on, parables became one of Jesus’ main ways of teaching the crowds.
- “A farmer went out to sow”
In Palestine a farmer often scattered seed by hand as he walked across his field, and then ploughed it in. Some seed inevitably fell where it would not grow. Jesus describes four kinds of ground:
The roadside: a hard path trodden flat by feet, where seed lay on the surface and birds soon ate it.
Rocky ground: a thin layer of soil over limestone rock. The seed sprang up quickly in the warm earth but had no room for roots, so it withered in the heat of the sun.
Thorns: soil that looked clean but still held the roots of weeds, which grew up and choked the young plants.
Good soil: deep, clean and soft, where the seed could take root and produce a harvest.
- “Some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty”
An ordinary harvest might give a few times the seed sown. A hundredfold was a sign of special blessing; Scripture says that when Isaac sowed, he “reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted” (Genesis 26:12). The parable ends on a note of hope. Much seed seems to be wasted, yet the good soil produces an overflowing harvest.
- “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”
Jesus closes with a call to listen carefully. Everyone heard the story, but not everyone would grasp its meaning. Later, Jesus explained the parable to his disciples: the seed is “the word of the Kingdom” and the soils are different kinds of hearers (Matthew 13:18-19; 13:20-21; 13:22; 13:23).
The Significance of Matthew 13:1-9
- God’s word is powerful
The seed is good; the problem is never the seed. God says of his word, “it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please” (Isaiah 55:11).
- Examine the soil of your heart
The parable invites each hearer to ask: what kind of ground am I? God called his people through Jeremiah, “Break up your fallow ground, and don’t sow among thorns” (Jeremiah 4:3).
- Keep sowing
Like the farmer, those who share the good news may see much apparent waste. But the harvest from good soil is far greater than the loss.
Cross-References:
Mark 4:3: "Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow," Mark’s record of the parable.
Isaiah 55:11: "so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void," The power of God’s word.
Jeremiah 4:3: "Break up your fallow ground, and don’t sow among thorns." Preparing the heart.
Genesis 26:12: "Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted." A hundredfold harvest.
Conclusion: Sitting in a boat by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus told the crowds the parable of the farmer whose seed fell on the roadside, rocky ground, thorns and good soil. Only the good soil produced fruit, a hundred, sixty or thirty times as much. The parable shows that God’s word is powerful, but its fruit depends on how it is received, and Jesus calls all who have ears to hear.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible