The following are sermon notes from Go Make Disciples. The Sower. This is a topical study on the subject of Discipleship by looking at the four Gospels and the book of Acts. To read more about this series, including the introduction, resources and listen to audio content click here.
We resonate with Parables because we resonate with stories. Our culture is exceedingly story-driven. In Jesus’ day, stories weren’t just enjoyable, they were a way to perpetuate and pass-on history. Today we look at stories as simple entertainment, yet this is incorrect. Every story is like a mini-sermon. There is a message, a point, a conclusion to every story. When we watch a movie, read a book or hear a story we should assume a posture of inquiry. We need to ask questions like, “What is this movie saying?”, “What does this song teach?” and so on.
Just like film-makers, song-writers and other story tellers of our day, Jesus was great story teller. Yet, His stories are Truth. They were not conjecture, hypothesis or fiction. No story that has ever been told can compare to Jesus’ stories. Jesus hid Biblical and life-transforming truth in each of His parables and His reason for teaching in parables may shock you.
The Sower
Jesus tells a story about a farmer who went out to plant some seeds (Matthew 13:3). Jesus describes four different kinds of soil that the seeds fell on 1) The Path 2) Rocky Ground 3) Thorny Soil 4) Good Soil (Matthew 13:4-9).
The seeds on the path did not have any soil to grow in and birds came and ate up the seeds. Some other seeds fell on rocky ground where there wasn’t much soil and the seeds quickly grew, but ran out of nutrients and depth of soil so the sun destroyed them because they had no root. Sill others fell among thorns where the plants that grew out of the seeds were choked. Lastly some seeds fell on good soil and they grew and produced a large crop.
Context
As with every story context is important. Here, Jesus is telling a story about a farmer to a culture that is primarily agricultural. Jesus was such an excellent missionary that He knew how to contextualize His message to fit the culture in which He resided. These people will readily understand Jesus’ story, but right as Jesus gets to the punch line, “Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew 13:8), he ends the story with, “He who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 13:9). This is akin to the ending of the movie Inception. The audience is at the edge of their seat waiting for the conclusion which never comes. They sit there wondering, clamoring for a hidden message, a tel tail of their missed conclusion. Where did it go? What are we supposed to think? It makes you play the story over and over again in your head searching, wondering.
You see, a very good yield on a crop in this culture was fifteen fold. Jesus ends the story with 100, 60 and 30 fold crop yield. These farmers would have all been shocked. These crop yields are greater than any these farmers have ever seen. They would obviously want to know the end to this story! They would have been wanting to know what was so special about that good soil! Good soil? GREAT soil!
Why Parables?
The twelve were understandably lost. So they ask Jesus why he speaks in parables (which is a sly way of saying, “um, we’re totally lost”). Jesus’ perceiving their ignorance not only explains why he teaches in parables, but also the meaning of the parable He just shared.
Now there is a danger here. If we focus too exclusively (as many do) on the meaning of the parable of the Sower we will miss what is more important here: why Jesus speaks in parables. The reason as to why Jesus speaks in parables is more important than their individual meanings because without understanding why He teaches in parables in the first place we will not correctly discern their meanings. This is not to say that the individual meanings are not important, we just need to understand why he used parables to begin with.
The purpose of Jesus speaking in parables to simultaneously harden and open hearts to hear the message of the Kingdom of God. To prove this point Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah:
“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” (Matthew 13:14-15).
Those that will be saved will understand. Those that will not, will not understand. This is the purpose of parables. It was Jesus’ way of communicating the gospel.
What does the Parable of the Sower mean?
The purpose of the parable here really is that God is concerned with fruit. He is the sower, but only some of the seeds will fall on good soil. Some have said that the this parables shows that God plants seeds and people have the choice to receive salvation. However, this is an improper reading of the parable. Does soil make a choice? No! Soil cannot choose to accept a seed or not. In this parable the soil either is or is not conducive to growing the seed. There is no choice involved here.
Jesus died for everyone and to everyone God has been generally revealed (Romans 1:18-20). Yet, only some will actually be saved. Only some are conducive to the seeds that God has sowed. It is God who sows, it is God who produces the fruit, it is God who saves.
Conclusion:
So the question isn’t, “Which soil are you?” but rather, “Are you concerned about fruit?”. Jesus is concerned about fruit. What is the fruit? Disciples!
We are to be about making disciples as Jesus is. This is the fruit that is produced. It is Jesus who makes the fruit it is us whom He uses to go out and get them! So who are you discipling? Are you concerned about fruit? GO MAKE DISCIPLES! Produce fruit!
For more information about this series click here.
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