Chapter BY Chapter

Matthew 13:1-35 – Jesus speaks in Parables

​

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.  And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach.  And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.  Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.  Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.  Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears, let him hear.”

Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”  And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.  This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

​

“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,

    and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

For this people's heart has grown dull,

    and with their ears they can barely hear,

    and their eyes they have closed,

lest they should see with their eyes

    and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

    and turn, and I would heal them.’

​

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.  For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

​

“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 what was sown along the path.  As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.  As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.  As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

​

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.  So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.  And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’  He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’  But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

​

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.  It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

​

He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

​

All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable.  This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:

​

“I will open my mouth in parables;

    I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”

​

*******  

​

What happened at the end of Chapter 12?

​

Jesus’ Mother, brothers and sisters came to see him.

​

What did Jesus say at that?

​

Jesus pointed out that those that do the will of God are his mother, brothers, and sisters.

​

When we do the will of God, what happens in regard to others?

​

We separate ourselves from those that do not do the will of God.  Thus, it is important to fellowship and make your family with those that do the will of God.  Only by making our home with those that do the will of God, can we be encouraged as we also do the will of God.  As we accept Jesus as our savior, and enter into the kingdom of God, we enter into his family, another gift that Jesus has given us.  Not only do we get the gift of atonement for our sins, the life of Jesus as a gift to be imputed to us, we also get the gift of his teachings, and we get his family.

​

Now we get to chapter 13, and the first thing it says is, “In that same day.”  What has Jesus done so far on this day?

​

1. He took his disciples through the grain fields so they could pluck the heads of grain and eat them.

2. He argued with the Pharisees.

3. He went to their synagogue.

4. He healed the man with a withered arm.

5. He gave the Pharisees a scathing denunciation.

6. He predicted his death and resurrection.

7. And his mother, brothers, and sisters came to see him.

 

Now let’s see what happens next on this day. Verses 1-9,

​

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.  And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach.  And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.  Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.  Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.  Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears, let him hear.”

 

So, Jesus goes out and sits by the sea and great crowds gathered around him.  Notice that Matthew uses the plural “crowds.”  It wasn’t enough to just say a great crowd.  Matthew describes the magnitude of the crowd by saying that it was great crowds.  Why are the crowds following Jesus?

​

Because he did a miracle?

Because he dissed the evil Pharisees?

Because of his teaching?

Perhaps it was all of these.

​

So, Jesus goes out in a boat and sat down.  The crowd stands on the shore.  And Jesus tells them many things in parables. 

 

The first parable is about the sower, and the interpretation is in verses 18-23,

​

“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 what was sown along the path.  As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.  As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.  As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

​

So, we have the word of the kingdom, and we have various results for the word of the kingdom.  Let’s take a look at these different results.

​

1. The evil one snatches away what has been sown.Reason: the hearer does not understand it.

2. When tribulation or persecution comes, it falls away.Reason: The word did not take root by itself.

3. The cares of this world choke out the word.Reason: it grew among the thorns.

4. The word is understood and has a yield multiplying itself.Reason: it was sown on good soil.

 

So, what is the lesson of the sower for us? 

 

There will be various results when we preach the gospel. 

 

People must do more than just accept the initial message with joy.

People need to fully understand the gospel.

People need to take root and grow.

People must grow so they bear fruit and produce a yield. 

 

What are the implications for us? 

 

We need to do more than just throw the gospel out there.  There needs to be rich soil where the gospel can grow.

 

What is the good soil?

​

The one that understands.

​

How do we ensure that people will understand the gospel?

​

What did Jesus do to provide the good soil?

​

1. Fellowship.

2. Bible teaching.

3. Practicing way of life.

4. Edification.

5. Bearing fruit together.

​

So, what is the purpose of Jesus speaking in parables?  Why didn’t he just talk plainly about these things? 

​

Let’s see in verses 10-17,

 

“Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”  And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.  This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

 

“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,

    and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

For this people's heart has grown dull,

    and with their ears they can barely hear,

    and their eyes they have closed,

lest they should see with their eyes

    and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

    and turn, and I would heal them.’

 

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.  For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

 

This is from Isaiah 6:9,

 

“And He replied, "Go and tell this people: 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'”

 

Okay, so he spoke to his disciples in parables because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given to his disciples, but it has not been given to them.  Who is the “them” that Jesus refers to?

 

Does he mean the whole crowd?

 

Does he mean the Pharisees?

 

Does he mean those that hear the word, but do not take root and bear fruit?

 

Well, he certainly means the Pharisees.  The Pharisees were also following him wherever he went, but not to learn.  They just wanted to criticize him and try to find fault. 

 

Let’s see if we can recognize the next secret of the kingdom of heaven in verses 24-30,

 

“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.  So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.  And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’  He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’  But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

​

What does this parable tell us about the kingdom of heaven?

​

This is a parable about end times.  Among the fruit bearing grain, there will be some destructive weeds.  At the harvest, the end times, all will be harvested.  The weeds will be burned, and the wheat will be gathered to God’s storehouse.

 

Let’s see what we can learn about the parable of the mustard seed.  Verses 31-32,

 

“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.  It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

 

Here is a mustard seed: