Up to this point in Matthew’s gospel there has been a consistent and clear proclamation of the nearness of the kingdom of heaven (see 3:2; 4:17; 10:7). Jesus’s ministry had been one characterized by urgency and excitement, rebuke and invitation. However, opposition had been brewing and, in chapters 11 and 12, it came to a head as Israel’s leadership looked Jesus in the eyes and declared on behalf of the nation, “We don’t believe you and we don’t want you” (see 12:24)! This rejection was labelled by the Lord as unforgivable (12:32) and irreversible (12:37).

A thoughtful reader of Matthew’s gospel has to ask at this point, what now? Israel, having waited centuries for their messianic King, shunned him when he finally arrived! What’s this rejected Christ going to do now? Matthew 13 records Jesus’s reaction and the necessary but calculated shift that takes place in his ministry going forward.

SERMON MANUSCRIPT

Up to this point in Matthew there has been a consistent proclamation of the nearness of the kingdom of heaven (see 3:2–3; 4:17; 10:7). The message has been consistent: the King’s here; his kingdom’s near! 

And along with that message came clear teaching about the kingdom (i.e., the Sermon on the Mount). So, up until now, Jesus’s ministry was one of urgency and excitement, rebuke and invitation.

Now, it hadn’t been without opposition. In fact, throughout the first ten chapters there had been a growing resistance to Jesus’s ministry and it come to a boiling point in chapters 11 and 12 when, at long last, Israel’s leadership found themselves face-to-face with Christ.

At this pivotal point, Israel, represented by these religious leaders, looked Jesus in the eyes and said, “We don’t believe you and we don’t want you” (12:24). “You’re no Servant of God. You’re a pawn of Satan!” Jesus labeled this rejection as unforgivable and irreversible.

The question becomes, what now? Israel, having waited centuries for their messianic King, their Redeemer and Deliverer, when he finally arrived, kicked him out. What’s this rejected King going to do now?

As we come to Matthew 13 we find Matthew recording a significant shift in Jesus’s ministry methodology in response to Israel’s response to him. He changes tactics. From this point on, no longer does he proclaim of the nearness of the kingdom. The kingdom is no longer at hand. It’s no longer being offered to that generation because they refused to repent and believe Jesus. They won’t have the privilege of experiencing thy kingdom come. [Promised Land]

The proclamation of the nearness of the kingdom stops and, in its place, we find something new.

That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. And He spoke many things to them in parables …

Matthew 13:1–3a

What’s changed? It’s not the crowds. It’s not his accessibility. It’s his use of parables. This is the first time he uses them in Matthew’s gospel. And the disciples notice this: “And the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in parables'” (v. 10)?

An Explanation for the Use of Parables

They hear story-time with Jesus and say to one another, Well, this is new! What’s with the riddles? Wanting to know what’s going on, they ask the Lord for clarification and he gives them an explanation for the use of parables.

Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.”

Matthew 13:11

The shift to parabolic teaching has a twofold purpose. First, the parables are meant to reveal previously unknown truths—that’s what mysteries mean in the Bible. The parables are meant to uncover new information for certain people, namely, the disciples. Through these teachings, Jesus’s followers are going to learn realities about the nature of the coming kingdom that no one has ever been privy to before.

At the same time, the parabolic teaching is going to conceal these new truths from the multitudes, those to whom it has not been granted. 

We might ask, Why would Jesus hide truth from anyone? Remember where we are in Matthew: Jesus had just been, that day, formally and finally rejected by Israel. So, through parables, Jesus is cutting off their information supply. He’s putting into practice what he taught near the end of the Sermon on the Mount (see 7:6). Jesus, here post-rejection, is not going to waste these novel kingdom truths—these beautiful mysteries—on those who will ignorantly trample them.

“For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

Matthew 13:12–13

Those who responded appropriately to the declaration of the nearness of the kingdom, they’ll get more information, details, clarity, and excitement. But those who rejected, scoffed, or ignored the declaration of the kingdom, not only will they get no more information but they will lose what they’ve already had, for example, being the generation to usher in the messianic kingdom.

First-century Israel was a mix of believers and rejectors and, only as Jesus can, he continues his earthly ministry in a way that rewards the believers and judges the rejectors at the same time.

“In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; for the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.’”

Matthew 13:14–15

Those in Israel who plugged their ears to Jesus’s message, who covered their eyes to his proofs, they’re now under divine judgement just as Isaiah predicted. 

But, in contrast:

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Matthew 13:16–17

Just as the judgement is going to be especially potent for those who rejected the King face-to-face, so the blessedness is uniquely potent for those who responded to Christ rightly in that generation. Think about it. Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Elisha, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the rest … they all prophesied and looked forward and ached to see what these faithful nobodies were now seeing, touching, and hearing (see Heb 11:39–40).

Matthew 13 marks a big shift in the ministry tactics of our Lord. Having been rejected as King, Jesus begins teaching in parables, as he explains it, so as to both reveal and conceal; to disclose new truths to those who believe and, simultaneously, to obscure those precious realities from those who don’t.

We’re familiar today with the concept that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Did you realize that’s true of spiritual wealth also? That what you and I do with the pearls of divine truth God provides contributes to our walking down one of two paths. Path #1 leads progressively toward hardened stupidity. Path #2 leads progressively toward blessed enlightenment. You and I are always moving down one of these two paths depending on what we do with divine revelation.

The parables were used by Jesus to reward those first-century Israelites on path #2 and judge those on path #1.

An Overview of the Parables

Before we study the first parable this morning, I want to provide an overview of the parables in Matthew 13. 

This chapter records eight in total—the sower (vv. 3–9), the tares and wheat (vv. 24–30), the mustard seed (vv. 31–32), the leaven or yeast (vv. 33–35), the hidden treasure (v. 44), the pearl (vv. 45–46), the dragnet or fishing net (vv. 47–50), and the household manager (vv. 51–52). Eight in total and they are split neatly into two groups.

The setting for the first four is described in verses 1 and 2. They are out of the house and for the crowds. The setting for the second set of four parables is described in verse 36. Now we are in the house and Jesus is speaking to his disciples. Four parables outside in the presence of multitudes and four parables inside reserved for his followers. And, given the explanation of the purpose of the parables, this is noteworthy as both the believers and unbelievers are hearing these didactic stories.

If we look at each of the eight parables, six of them begin with a clear statement as to what they’re about (see verses 24, 31, 33, 44, 45, and 47). The purpose of these parables, as Jesus said, is to communicate new truths about the kingdom of heaven, to those who believe, by way of simile.

But notice that parables number one and eight do not have that opening statement of comparison. That’s because they function as an introduction and conclusion to the whole. Verses 51 and 52, the parable of the household manager, is less about the kingdom of heaven and serves more as a call to application of the whole chapter. 

Similarly, the opening parable, the one we’re going to look at now, is less a teaching on the kingdom per se, and more as an instruction on how to listen to the parables to come.

So, in an effort to simultaneously teach the believers and not teach the unbelievers, Jesus presents eight parables. The first introduces the topic and how to hear what we’re about to hear, the middle six reveal those new truths, those mysteries about the kingdom of heaven, and the final parable concludes the lesson and directs us toward application.

The risk of not keeping these introductory and contextual matters in mind as we study the parables is that we are more likely to make them teach things they were never intended to teach. Context is always important when studying the Bible, but perhaps especially so with parabolic literature as sometimes our imaginations and creativity can get the better of us.

An Introductory Parable

Okay, so we’ve been given an explanation as to why Jesus would use parables and we’ve seen an overview of the whole. Now, finally, let’s look at this opening, introductory parable.

“Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Matthew 13:3b–9

Notice how he closes that parable: He who has ears, let him hear. Even at the end of his opening, introductory parable, Jesus is hinting at what he would soon explain. This story is not to be understood by all. It’s only to be grasped by those who have ears to hear.

And, the disciples, who we know at this point do have ears to hear [16], they come and ask him for an explanation. And, starting in verse 18, Jesus privately, away from the crowds, provides his intended interpretation.

“Hear then the parable of the sower. 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 the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet 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. 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. And 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.”

Matthew 13:18–23

The seed the sower is scattering is explicitly identified for us in verse 19 as the word of the kingdom. The word of the kingdom had been repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The word of the kingdom was that Jesus was the king and in their midst. Now we’re on the welcome mat of the word of the kingdom getting a new paint job what with mysteries being revealed.

The word of the kingdom, whether it was its nearness, its nature, or these soon-to-be-revealed nuggets of information, had been scattered, declared liberally. There was nothing wrong with the seed nor sower. The variable in question is the type of soil the seed finds when it lands.

And, while there are four soil types listed in the parable, there are only two categories—the fruitful and the unfruitful. Remember, in the context, fruitfulness is talking about the growth, the multiplication of understanding revelation (v. 12). We are not talking about good works here. We’re talking about grasping the reality and the magnificence of the kingdom of heaven. 

Most hearers are not fruitful. The roadside soil is the hard heart that hears the word of the kingdom but does nothing with it and, because of their apathy and slowness, Satan has time to remove it from their consciousness before it can take root.

The rocky soil hears the word, gets worked up about it, but there’s no depth of conviction. It’s a superficial acceptance and, when persecution comes, it’s easy to give up and reject.

The weedy soil also hears with word of the kingdom, accepts it, but is quickly distracted by worry and wealth. Those things take their attention away from the revelation of God.

In all three of these cases, the word is heard but something—apathy, shallowness, or worldliness—steals its fruitfulness. Something leaves these hearts seeing but not seeing, hearing but not hearing.

But there is one soil that is exemplary (v. 8). This final soil is fruitful to varying degrees but called good in any case, flourishing in understanding and acceptance and excitement of the realities of the coming kingdom and King. This soil, and this soil alone, not only hears the word of the kingdom, but understands it. This is the difference the whole passage draws our attention to: hearing versus hearing and understanding (see verses 13, 14, 15, 19, and 23).

All soils heard. Not all soils understood, grasped it, brought it inside and turned it over in their minds. Only those who understood the word of the kingdom were fruitful, yielded a bountiful crop of joyful knowledge, deep conviction, and divine focus.

What kind of soil’s in your heart? If you’re here today or listening online, you’re hearing the word of the Lord, you’re hearing a message about the kingdom of God, the seed of divine revelation is landing upon your ears and eyes. Do you understand it? Do you take it in?

What do I do with the word of the Lord after its been sown?

Perhaps you’re apathetic. You hear these things and you don’t really feel any urgency, any power, and believability. This seed is more or less bouncing off the soil of your heart.

Maybe you’re shallow. You can get caught up in the music and movement of a morning like this but, if all the excitement is removed, it’s really just a wisp of topsoil. Any trouble, any hardship, any persecution and the excitement and conviction fades quickly.

Maybe you’re distracted. You love the Lord and his word, but what’s waiting for you at home when you leave, the bank account, the worries, they strangle any good news you hear here.

Any of the above and you’re sacrificing fruitfulness. The poor get poorer.

We want to be good soil—hearts that hear the word and take it in, understand it so that it multiplies and increases our conviction, excitement, and love for the things of the Lord.

I’m going to challenge you, if you don’t do this already, find a way to revisit our time in the word throughout the week. Don’t hear and leave it, don’t give the thorns, birds, and sun a chance to steal your fruitfulness. Ask questions. Be a student. Converse about the word. Take it in.

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