Mat 13:20-21 | KingComments | STEP | After his teaching on the use of parables, the Lord explains the parable of the sower to His disciples, “hear then”, even though the crowds are present ( ). With the call “hear then the parable of the sower” He calls His disciples to listen attentively. The sower is the Lord Jesus. In a literal sense, this is not correct. For the seed is sown in the field of the world ( ), while the Lord Jesus during His life on earth has never been outside Israel and gone to the nations. Only after His death, resurrection, and ascension did His apostles begin to fulfil the commission to make disciples of all nations ( ). Yet in a spiritual sense he is the Sower, for He sows through His apostles (cf. ). So will everyone who is now a disciple comply in sowing. The Lord makes it clear in the explanation that not everyone who hears the Word accepts it immediately. Only in one of the four places where the seed ends up is the fruit produced. 1. The explanation is constantly about hearing the Word. Matthew speaks of the seed as the “Word of the kingdom” and of the “hearing” and “understanding” of the Word ( ). This fits with his Gospel, because it is about the kingdom and the making of disciples who submit to the authority of the King. The greatest impediments to spiritual understanding are religious prejudices. Religious prejudices are hardened ground. In “the one on whom seed was sown beside the road” we can see the Pharisee. The Pharisee completely rejects the Word of the kingdom. He does not enter the kingdom because he does not want to bow before the Lord of the kingdom. The first to prevent the seed from springing up is the devil. The Word is sown in the heart, but the enemy can easily take it away because there is no connection between the heart and God. This does not make the recipient any less guilty, because what was sown in the heart was adapted to the needs of that heart. 2. In the second case we see that not the seed, but “the one on whom” is sown on the rocky places ( ). The seed is identified with the recipient. He is someone who hears the Word and immediately accepts it with joy. That means he has no sense of sin. The first thing the Word does is a work in the conscience that leads to sorrow because it reveals man to himself. There can never be a real work of God without a sense of sin. The soil has not been ploughed over and therefore there can be no root. A conscience affected by the Word sees itself in the presence of God. If the conscience is not touched, there is no root. The Word is received for the joy it gives, but when trial comes, it is let go. The obstacle to bear fruit is the superficiality and selfishness with which the Word is received. Whoever only wants to experience ‘pleasure’ from the Word is revealed as an unbeliever as soon as there is trial in his life of pleasure. 3. The third obstacle to the fruit-bearing of the seed consists of the things of the world ( ). This is not about sins, but about ordinary earthly things. Worries are part of the earthly existence. Wealth does not have to be wrong either. But both the unpleasant and the pleasant things can ensure that there is no fruit from the preaching. People who are absorbed in their worries or in their wealth are infertile ground for the gospel. The outer circumstances are so choking that the received seed does not bear fruit. 4. Only in the fourth case is there fruit. Fruit is the result of seed sown on the good soil ( ). The good soil is he who not only hears the Word, but also understands it. Whoever understands the Word, comprehends it, knows that through the Word he is placed in the presence of God, for God reveals Himself in the Word. The Word creates new life for everyone who hears and understands. This new life is the Lord Jesus. From Him – He is the new life of the believer – comes forth fruit for God. Yet we see that even if the seed bears fruit there are different results. The factors that, in previous cases, completely prevented the seed from bearing fruit, still play a role in some respects. Religious habits (1), the laziness of the flesh (2) and being consumed by earthly things (3) can be the cause that not a hundred percent fruit is produced.

‏ Matthew 13:20-21

Explanation of the Parable of the Sower

After his teaching on the use of parables, the Lord explains the parable of the sower to His disciples, “hear then”, even though the crowds are present (Mt 13:36). With the call “hear then the parable of the sower” He calls His disciples to listen attentively.

The sower is the Lord Jesus. In a literal sense, this is not correct. For the seed is sown in the field of the world (Mt 13:38), while the Lord Jesus during His life on earth has never been outside Israel and gone to the nations. Only after His death, resurrection, and ascension did His apostles begin to fulfil the commission to make disciples of all nations (Mt 28:19). Yet in a spiritual sense he is the Sower, for He sows through His apostles (cf. Eph 2:17). So will everyone who is now a disciple comply in sowing.

The Lord makes it clear in the explanation that not everyone who hears the Word accepts it immediately. Only in one of the four places where the seed ends up is the fruit produced.

1. The explanation is constantly about hearing the Word. Matthew speaks of the seed as the “Word of the kingdom” and of the “hearing” and “understanding” of the Word (Mt 13:19 ; 23). This fits with his Gospel, because it is about the kingdom and the making of disciples who submit to the authority of the King.

The greatest impediments to spiritual understanding are religious prejudices. Religious prejudices are hardened ground. In “the one on whom seed was sown beside the road” we can see the Pharisee. The Pharisee completely rejects the Word of the kingdom. He does not enter the kingdom because he does not want to bow before the Lord of the kingdom.

The first to prevent the seed from springing up is the devil. The Word is sown in the heart, but the enemy can easily take it away because there is no connection between the heart and God. This does not make the recipient any less guilty, because what was sown in the heart was adapted to the needs of that heart.

2. In the second case we see that not the seed, but “the one on whom” is sown on the rocky places (Mt 13:20-21). The seed is identified with the recipient. He is someone who hears the Word and immediately accepts it with joy. That means he has no sense of sin. The first thing the Word does is a work in the conscience that leads to sorrow because it reveals man to himself. There can never be a real work of God without a sense of sin. The soil has not been ploughed over and therefore there can be no root. A conscience affected by the Word sees itself in the presence of God. If the conscience is not touched, there is no root.

The Word is received for the joy it gives, but when trial comes, it is let go. The obstacle to bear fruit is the superficiality and selfishness with which the Word is received. Whoever only wants to experience ‘pleasure’ from the Word is revealed as an unbeliever as soon as there is trial in his life of pleasure.

3. The third obstacle to the fruit-bearing of the seed consists of the things of the world (Mt 13:22). This is not about sins, but about ordinary earthly things. Worries are part of the earthly existence. Wealth does not have to be wrong either. But both the unpleasant and the pleasant things can ensure that there is no fruit from the preaching. People who are absorbed in their worries or in their wealth are infertile ground for the gospel. The outer circumstances are so choking that the received seed does not bear fruit.

4. Only in the fourth case is there fruit. Fruit is the result of seed sown on the good soil (Mt 13:23). The good soil is he who not only hears the Word, but also understands it. Whoever understands the Word, comprehends it, knows that through the Word he is placed in the presence of God, for God reveals Himself in the Word. The Word creates new life for everyone who hears and understands. This new life is the Lord Jesus. From Him – He is the new life of the believer – comes forth fruit for God.

Yet we see that even if the seed bears fruit there are different results. The factors that, in previous cases, completely prevented the seed from bearing fruit, still play a role in some respects. Religious habits (1), the laziness of the flesh (2) and being consumed by earthly things (3) can be the cause that not a hundred percent fruit is produced.