Mat 13:1-23 | PNT | STEP | Seven Parables of the Kingdom SUMMARY OF MATTHEW 13: Parable of the Sower. Why He Spoke in Parables. The Parable of the Sower Explained. The Parable of the Tares. The Mustard Seed. The Leaven. The Parable of the Tares Explained. The Hidden Treasure. The Pearl of Great Price. The Fish Net. The same day . For the parable of the Sower compare . By the sea side . The seashore is that of the Sea of Galilee, probably near Capernaum, at the northwest corner of the lake.

Matthew 13:1-23

Seven Parables of the Kingdom SUMMARY OF MATTHEW 13: Parable of the Sower. Why He Spoke in Parables. The Parable of the Sower Explained. The Parable of the Tares. The Mustard Seed. The Leaven. The Parable of the Tares Explained. The Hidden Treasure. The Pearl of Great Price. The Fish Net.

The same day. For the parable of the Sower compare Mr 4:1-9 Lu 8:4-8.

By the sea side. The seashore is that of the Sea of Galilee, probably near Capernaum, at the northwest corner of the lake. And great multitudes. Literally, "greatest". There is every reason to believe that this was one of the greatest. It was the "turning-point in his public teaching", since the parabolic instruction now begins. And he spake many things unto them in parables. Of which only samples are preserved, even by Matthew, and still fewer in the other Gospels.

Parables. Narratives designed to convey spiritual instruction. The parable differs from the proverb in being a "narrative", from the fable is being "true to nature", from the myth in being "undeceptive", from the allegory in that it "veils the spiritual truth".

Behold, a sower went forth to sow. It is "the sower" in the original. There was grain land on every side, and the figure was familiar to every hearer. There are no farm houses in Palestine. All live in towns or villages. Hence, the farmers "go forth" to sow. And when he sowed. The seed-time in Palestine is usually in October, about the time when this parable was spoken. Sowing is always done by hand.

Fell by the way side. Where the field and the road join, or, rather, along the narrow, trodden foot-path through the fields, so common in Palestine.

Fowls came and devoured them. The birds, because the grains were not covered. Some fell upon stony places. Where the rocks that jut out of the hills into the plain had a very thin covering of earth. Much of Palestine is stony. And when the sun was up, they were scorched. It was not rooted in that deep, moist soil which would have enabled it to resist the scorching heat of the sun. And some fell among thorns. More literally, "into the thorns". The traveler, today, finds Palestine literally a land of thorns, of thistles, brambles, and thorny bushes.

Thorns sprung up, and choked them. Or, as Wycliffe renders it, "The thorns sprang up and strangled it". The thorns suffocated the growing plant. But others fell into good ground. The goodness of this last soil consists in its qualities being precisely the reverse of the other three soils. It was not hard, stony, or weedy.

Some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Thirty-fold is now really a first-rate crop, even for such plains as Esdraelon, just below Nazareth. But in the time of Christ there might be realized, in favorable circumstances, a hundred-fold. Intelligent gentlemen (in the plain of Esdraelon) maintain that they have themselves reaped more than a hundred-fold ("Land and Book"). Let him hear. Give heed and seek to understand.

See PNT Mt 11:15. Given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom. Truths that the uninstructed multitude are not yet prepared for. Every one knows that the lessons given must be adapted to the state of the pupil. Spiritual preparations is needful to understand the deeper spiritual truths (1Co 2:6,11). Whosoever hath. Those who have been made some spiritual progress will go on, and have greater knowledge.

Whosoever hath not. No desire for spiritual knowledge. Such shall become dwarfed, and lose even their capacity for spiritual things; a truth constantly illustrated. Whoever uses his opportunities will grow; whoever abuses them will lose them. Because they seeing see not. Do not see in the true light on account of their spiritual ignorance and depravity. The desire to "see" spiritually is essential to clear perceptions of truth. The prophecy of Esaias. See Isa 6:9,10. Isaiah describes a spiritual state that existed in the time of Christ, and is often met still, when, on account of hardness of heart and love of the world, men cannot understand the gospel and be converted. It is caused by their own fault. If they would fall out with sin, and come to Christ with a broken and contrite spirit, they would be healed. On other occurrences of this prophecy in the New Testament, see PNT Ac 28:25. Desired to see [those things] which ye see. The prophets and righteous had longed for the coming of Christ. His disciples enjoyed it. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. In order to understand the parable we must listen to the explanation given in Mt 13:18-23. Christ is the great Sower, and all whom he sends forth to preach are sowers under him. The seed sown is His Word, the Gospel of the Kingdom. The soil is human hearts. Four kinds of human hearts are described: (1) The "wayside" hearer; the light, flippant, indifferent hearer upon whom no impression is produced. (2) The "stony" hearer; the heart that exhibits an evanescent feeling at the appeal of the gospel; but upon whom no permanent impression is made. (3) The "thorny soil"; the heart that takes in the Word, but is so full of worldly cares that these presently gain the mastery. This describes the world-serving hearer. (4) The "good soil"; the good and honest heart; the heart that receives and retains the truth. In such a heart the seed will grow and the new life will be manifest. Three things, then, are needful: (1) A Sower. (2) Good Seed, the pure word of God. (3) A good and "honest" heart. A dishonest man cannot be converted until he casts out his dishonesty. He who cavils at and deceitfully entreats the word of God will not be profited.