1 Again He began to teach by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.” 9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve disciples, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but for those who are outside, everything comes in parables, 12 so that while seeing they may see, and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear, and not understand, otherwise they might return and it would be forgiven them.”
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 And in a similar way these are the ones sown with seed on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and yet they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown with seed among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones sown with seed on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.”
10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve disciples, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but for those who are outside, everything comes in parables, 12 so that while seeing they may see, and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear, and not understand, otherwise they might return and it would be forgiven them.”
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 And in a similar way these are the ones sown with seed on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and yet they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown with seed among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones sown with seed on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.”
TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:
The Lord God desires that all come to know Him personally. And we are truly saved and able to enjoy a close relationship with Him - only through Him - by spiritually wanting to hear, see and understand God's truth and receiving it. This is to receive the Lord's forgiveness for sins and His indwelling Holy Spirit who seals us for eternity and changes us from the inside out. He is the seed who works for us, in us and through us to make us productive and fruitful!
There are those (like the ones in the rocky places) who think they are Christians, but they are only going through the motions, in their own strength and wisdom. So, as soon as they run into issues, they will leave the church, or even claim that they are no longer Christians. The truth is that they were never Christians to begin with. There will also be those who prefer to remain oblivious, because they simply want to do what they want to do, with their eyes fixated on selfish pursuits. And then there will be those with very hardened hearts, hating and angry at the Lord God they claim doesn't exit.
Yet, God still loves everyone, and came in flesh to pay the penalty for everyone's sins, so that anyone who believers, can be saved. And He makes sure that all have a very fair opportunity to hear "the word" (the gospel) in some way, so they are without excuse (Romans 1:18-22).
It's interesting to know that many rabbis often taught in parables for students to understand the common folk, using allegories of royal courts and things that only people of privilege would understand. This is because many of the rabbis believed that God didn't want the common people to really understand His word. Cults and religions use this tactic, warning their followers to not ask questions, but just take their word for it, and in this way, they can control and manipulate them. And then there are just the sad cases of where church leaders don't bother to further their knowledge and understanding in the Lord. Like, I've heard some pastors say, "Oh, we needn't bother to study the end times, because it's beyond understanding."
Actually the prophecies are not beyond understanding, otherwise why would God give us these words! God gave us His word (the Bible) so that we can read, study and understand! And because God wants us to know Him and His word, Jesus used allegories of things like farming and housework which were down-to-earth, so that everyone could understand, if they really wanted to. Jesus didn't use parables to conceal truth from people, He used parables to illustrate and explain truth for those who were actually, really seeking truth, and for those who would be eager to ask the hard questions, and continue seeking more knowledge and understanding.
Therefore, because the Lord God loves all people so deeply, He makes salvation so easy that a child can understand, but makes it difficult for those with hearts that are not (yet) receptive, otherwise they might think they fully understand and think that they are gong to heaven, when they are not. God cares! So, He wants our decisions to be made with conviction and clarity.
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