Mt
13:1-9, 18-23
There
are funny computer support stories of technologically challenged people who
seem oblivious to some rather obvious things.
Customer: I’m
having trouble installing Microsoft Word.
Support: Tell
me what you’ve done.
Customer: I
typed “A:SETUP”
Support: Ma’am,
remove the disk and tell me what it says.
Customer: It
says “Dell Restore and Recovery Disk.”
Support: That’s
the wrong disk. Insert the MS Word setup
disk.
Customer: What?
Support: Did
you buy MS Word?
Customer: No
. .
Support: What happens when you turn the computer on?
Customer: The screen just stays black.
Support: Is the computer plugged in?
Customer: I took it to a repair shop last week, and
they apparently fixed it so it doesn’t need a power cord anymore.
Support: Is the computer a laptop computer?
Customer: No, but they never gave me back the power
cord, so they must have fixed it so it didn’t need it.
Support: Go back to the repair store and get your
power cord back. They just forgot to
give it to you.
As
obvious as it sometimes can be, some people don’t understand what the real
problem is. They can’t diagnose the
problem. I think that’s sort of what
Jesus was doing in this parable. Christ
is doing powerful ministry, he’s preaching the message of the kingdom, but
there isn’t always fruit.
What’s the real problem?
We’re going to start a
little series on the parables of Mt 13.
I’d just like to point out how this chapter is put together.
1-3 Jesus is
with a large crowd and tells them many things in parables
24 “Jesus told
them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like . . ’”
31 “He told
them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like . . ”
33 “He told
them still another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like . . ”
36 Then he
left the crowd and spoke with his disciples, explaining the parable of weeds
44 “The
kingdom of heaven is like . . .”
45 “Again, the
kingdom of heaven is like . . .”
47 “Once
again, the kingdom of heaven is like . . .”
53 When Jesus
had finished these parables, he moved on from there (concluding transition)
Our series will cover this nice section of parables
(4 parables crowd, 3 parables to disciples)
These parables are about the
In
this parable, Jesus answers the question, “So what’s the real problem?” The real issue is the condition of the soil.
Soil Problem
path hardened, do not understand; evil one snatches it away
rocky receives it with joy, but has no roots; trouble/persecution comes
and they fall away
thorns hears, but worries of life, deceitfulness of wealth choke it,
making it unfruitful
good hears, understands, produces a crop
Path [picture]
hardened hearts, nothing penetrates
the heart; not being affected, not interested, don’t care.
Pharisees and religious
leaders would hear the messages, see the miracles, but instead of worshipping
Jesus, they resented him, they hated him.
Their hearts were hard. Jesus
raises Lazarus from the dead; many people believed on Jesus. The Pharisees plotted to kill him.
We know people like this,
people who are very hardened to God, very hostile or disinterested. They could sit through a revival, they could
have Jesus appear before them, but still, nothing would penetrate.
Rocky [picture]
receives it with joy; but there are
no roots
when trouble or persecution
comes, he falls away
Consider what this meant to the people of Jesus’
day:
There were large crowds that
followed Jesus, a large crowd here in Mt 13, and they listened to Jesus (the seed
fell on them). But the Pharisees and
religious leaders hated Jesus; they Romans conveniently blamed troubles on the
Christians and then persecuted them.
Jesus himself was crucified, and in the coming years, many of his
followers were flogged, imprisoned and martyred. All of the disciples (beside John) were
martyred. Early Christians beheaded, impaled, stoned, burned at the stake, were
fed to the lions, drenched with oil and lit as human torches, and crucified.
When Jesus said “trouble and
persecution,” he wasn’t being figurative.
The early disciples were persecuted,
and some people turned away from Jesus because “the heat got too hot.”
Jesus says,
there are some people who hear the message and they like it. They’re enthusiastic, they jump on the bandwagon. They’re happy to go along while things are
comfortable. But when it starts getting
uncomfortable, inconvenient, costly, dangerous, life-threatening, they fall
away.
How do you know if you’re
good soil vs. rocky soil? You don’t know during the good
times. You know when after the persecution
comes, you don’t fall away. You discover
what is beneath the surface when things aren’t going well.
How do we respond to tough times?
Do you have roots?
It’s easy when you have a
great small group, a nice church, when we have time in our schedules and
freedom of religion—its easy to look like you’re a
Jesus follower.
But what about when you’re
in the marketplace where Jesus and Christianity are seen as narrow, bigoted, backwards
or stupid,
it’s when there you’re in grad
school, med school or law school where it would be intellectual suicide to
acknowledge creation or biblical values and stand for Jesus.
it’s when you’re in
The question is how much of Christ have you
internalized versus how much of Jesus
is dependent on favorable circumstances.
Thorny [picture]
The seed falls, but the
worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it
The problem is that there
are too many other concerns and desires.
There no space, the heart is too crowded. These people try to squeeze God in on top of
all our other worries and desires.
In Jesus day, the masses had plenty of things to
worry about. Except of a tiny minority,
most people were desperately poor and they probably were worried about food for
each day. Sickness and injuries were
common and fatal; people died all the time (most men died in their 30’s, women
in their 20’s). They had the Romans who
ruled and taxed them. Money would solve a lot of problems. They wanted money and what money could buy.
And though our world is pretty different from that
first century, we know what it’s like to be choked by the worries of life and
deceitfulness of wealth.
you’re worried about your grades,
degrees, project deadlines, performance reviews, etc.
you’re worried about your debt,
your future marriage, your children.
You keep thinking, just a
little more money, just a little more time, just a little more success, just a
little more.
There’s no heart space,
God’s work gets choked out!
You can’t just add God to an
already crowded heart. You can’t hold onto all your worries and
desire and hold onto God. You’ll let go
of one or the other.
Jesus taught, do not worry about what you will eat or drink or what you
will wear. Your heavenly Father knows
that you need them. He who so
wonderfully takes care of the birds and the lilies will take care of you.
Do not store up for
yourselves treasures on earth. Store up
for yourselves treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.
God’s word will conquer the worries of life and the grip of money or
the worries of life and the grip of money will conquer the word of God. Which is gaining ground in your heart? Which is choking which?
Good [picture]
understand (the path heart doesn’t
understand), receives, bears fruit
30, 60, 100
30 fold would be a fair
crop, 100 would be great
The big point is that the
other soils didn’t produce fruit, but
the good soil did produce fruit.
For the other soils, the message of the kingdom doesn’t produce
anything.
But for the good soil, the message of the kingdom affects their lives, it makes a radical, undeniable difference.
Jesus is speaking to a large crowd, so large that he
had to get into a boat while the people covered the shore. All these people,
and they’re all listening to Jesus’ words.
Many might hear,
but few truly receive.
Many people listen to the
message, many people crowd around Jesus, but not every receives the message,
not everyone bears fruit, not everyone is a Kingdom citizen.
Parable of Weeds:
some are weeds, not wheat
wheat seeds planted, but later,
weeds also appear
they grow side by side, but they
will be separated at the harvest
there are true Kingdom citizens
and false Kingdom citizens, and they will be separated
not every one is truly a child
of God
What about the Rocky soil and
Thorny soil hearts?
Who are the true spiritual children of God? Obviously the path heart is not and the good
soil it. But what
about the rock soil and the thorny soil?
It seems to me that the rocky and thorny soils
are not true children of God.
Structure of other parables. In other parables, it’s clear that you have
several characters in a parable, that the last one is the contrast and climax.
Good Samaritan: priest goes
by, Levite goes by, but it is the last, the Good Samaritan that stops and helps
this beaten man.
Talents: a
servants has 5 talents, 2 talents, and they produce 5 and 2 more, but it
the last, the 1 talent servant who buries that talent and is condemned.
In these parables, the early character set
the background against which the final character is contrasted. It seems that’s what we have here as
well. The first 3 soils are bad soils,
against which the good soil that bears a crop is contrasted. It seems Jesus is teaching about the
The farming world. In Jesus’ day, when a lot of people were
farmers, they might have instinctively understood this point. For a farmer, the important issue is not
whether there’s some plant growth or not.
What good is a stalk that later withers or gets choked? The issue is, does the seed produce a crop? It seems the point of Jesus’ parable is that
Kingdom citizens produce a crop. In the
farming context, it doesn’t matter if the seed is eaten by birds or withers or
gets choked. If it doesn’t bear a crop
it is worthless. What matters is that
the seed bears a crop.
Path hearts, Rocky hearts, Thorny
hearts—these are not citizens of the
Few receive, but
sometimes you can’t tell right away.
Maybe if someone has a path
heart, it’s easy to tell where the person stands with God.
But if you have a rocky
heart, you look like a good soil heart.
You don’t know the difference until the trouble and persecution comes.
If you have a thorny heart, you
could look like a good soil heart. There’s
no blatant rejection of Christ, but over time the busy-ness and worries of life
keep pressing on us, and eventually the plant is choked.
If you have a good soil
heart, the crop doesn’t pop out right away.
It takes time to grow, time to produce fruit. But eventually, there will be fruit.
At the beginning, you don’t
really know, you can’t always tell, they look the same.
I see many people come
through Emmanuel, and they look good.
They’re involved in small groups, they go on summer missions, they even
become leaders in different capacities, but after they graduate or move to
another town, they change their tune.
They chase their degrees and careers, they blame God and the church, they slowly get numb to the things of God (choked). You can’t always tell right away.
Jesus is speaking to this
large crowd, but he’s in effect saying, externally everyone looks the same, but
internally there is a vast difference.
We all come to church, sit
side by side, sing the same songs, listen to the same sermons, etc. And we’re content with the externals of
“doing church.”
But the real key is what is
going on below the surface. The real key
is how are you hearing, what soil is
God’s word falling on? What is the
condition of your heart?
I think the natural effect
of the parable is a warning. It causes
us to reflect on how we’re listening.
The real issue is not the
church, the preacher, the small group
It’s not the busyness of our
schedules, the demands of our careers, the marriage, the kids, etc.
The real issue is, what is the condition of
our hearts.
And I think that was his
purpose: it was an invitation for careful self-evaluation. It causes listeners to ask themselves, what
kind of soil am I?
I think we can pray,
Lord soften my heart!
Lord, let your word take root in my lif!
Lord, help me to throw away the worries and desire of life!
Lord, speak to my heart, I want to receive you!
Kingdom seed is
powerful and kingdom citizens are radically transformed.
There is something we should
learn about the
This seed, this message of
the kingdom, is powerful, transforming, life-changing.
The Kingdom of heaven is not
about good people working a little harder to become slightly better
people. The kingdom of heaven is an
irrepressible, all-invasive, soul-transforming, God-empowered new life. The
seed will produce fruit!
When this seed/message finds
a home in people’s hearts, there are roots that grow deep so that no matter how
hot the scorching Palestinian sun may get, no matter how hard the troubles and
persecution, there will be kingdom fruit!
When this message finds a
home in people’s hearts, what we worry about, what we care about, what we
desire changes. No matter how much
stress there in our careers and schedules, no matter how tempting money and
power can be, these worries and desires no longer rule our heart; there will be kingdom fruit!
The inevitable effect of the
Kingdom is to produce fruit.
For those who are tired of
playing religious games, people who are tired of running around in circles,
people who realize that they need more than themselves, there is good news!
There is an irrepressible,
all-invasive, soul-transforming, God-empowered life in the kingdom of heaven.
And even though sometimes we
struggle, sometimes troubles come, sometimes you can’t see it right away, the
one thing you can be certain of, in this Kingdom, there will be fruit!
Going back, the issue is not
the seed, not the kingdom, not the message, the issue is the heart. How is the soil?