The Parable of the Sower
Matthew 13
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying:

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him hear."

10 The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"

11 He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' 16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 "Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

The first thing Jesus did here was position himself a little bit away from the people who came to be healed and hear him speak. What a great speaker he must have been. Imagine the voice he would need to be able to teach THOUSANDS and without a microphone. I'm sure he set up his speaking area to resemble an amphitheatre.

I like how the disciples asked Jesus why he was teaching in the form of parables and Jesus then quoted scripture from Isaiah. Jesus in verse 11 hints that the parables are basically a hidden code that believers would find deeper meaning while those who weren't interested in the real message that Jesus was delivering would just think he was telling stories.

The following is an excerpt I found at http://www.jesuscentral.com/

Christianity wouldn`t be legalized until 313 by Constantine via the Edict of Milan, becoming the official religion of the entire Roman Empire less than a century later. Thus, parables would keep them safe from those who weren`t meant to hear them. For example, to the faithful, the parable of the sower contains deep spiritual meaning, helping them to get closer to God. As far as the authorities and anybody else hostile to the faith are concerned, it`s just a simple story about some guy planting seeds, and thus no big deal.

In this parable the seed(word of Jesus) falls on 4 types of ground(potential believers). For some people they will not understand the message and before anyone or this person can persue being a believer Satan takes the message away and nothing happens. Others receive the message about Jesus with joy, but since they do not have a solid foundation of understanding they soon fizzle out. The third type of person hears the message and most likely understands it, but the things of the world remain important and eventually crowd out any chance that this person has of becoming a faithful follower. The last person is ready to receive the message and apply to their life. This is the person who tries to live an obedient life that reaches many others.

The thing that I get out of this is some seeds just wont take. Some people just wont accept the message of the bible. Some hear it and quickly fall away. The question is how in depth do you go after this person. Some "rocky" ground can be turned into productive ground, but it requires a lot of work. The smart farmer finds fertile soil and spends most of his time here.

Personally I think I need to keep my own soil "good." This requires surrounding myself with other people who are rooted in "good" soil. If I start hanging around people trapped in weeds, then those weeds can easily infiltrate my productive soil. Just like my neighbor has a very weedy yard, I have to constantly work at pulling weeds on my part of the lawn that attaches to his. I have to spend more time working that small patch of lawn than I do the rest which is 10 times larger. Keeping my soil good requires daily reading of the bible and I haven't been doing that lately. It requires praying with a purpose instead of randomly and at meals. It requires that I seek out ways to serve others. It will also require seeking and finding a good friend that I can become accountability partners with.

I'm glad to be back! Bro Bill challenged me to remain faithful in presenting the word which means I have to read scripture daily. I LOVE reading the bible, but become lazy and then other things sneak in and take my time away. WEEDS!