291. Why Don't More People Become Christians? Exposition of Matthew 13:1-23

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Transcript of the Matthew Series

The Parable of the Sower

Matthew 13:1-23

Introduction

·         Have you ever wondered why more people don’t become Christians?  If the good news is so “good,” why don’t people respond in greater numbers.  This chapter answers that question. 

·         The preceding chapters have been filled with a growing division between those who responded well and those who responded poorly to Jesus and his teaching.  He had just been criticized and accused of healing through the power of Satan.  What connects this chapter with the previous two is that it provides and explanation of why some people respond positively to Jesus’ teaching and some don’t.  Jesus will teach a number of parables in this chapter and what ties them together is how people respond to the secrets of the Kingdom of God.  Some are fruitful and some barren, some are good grain and some are weeds, some people are good fish and some bad and some respond radically when they stumble onto treasure or pearls and some don’t.  This is the mystery of the Kingdom, why do some people “get it” and some don’t?  Jesus teaches this chapter to help his disciples then and now not be so naïve in their expectations and to strengthen their resolve and conviction when people don’t respond or turn away from the good news.  He also has just highlighted the privilege that disciples have in being part of the family of God.  And when you are a part of the family, you share in the family secrets which he reveals in this chapter.   

1.     The Parable:  Matthew 13:1-9

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 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

·         13:1-2  That same day.  This is the same day that Jesus was in massive conflict with the Pharisees and accused of being a tool of Satan.  I would characterize that a “bad day.”  I’d probably head home for a little “me time.”  I’d whine to my wife and feel sorry for myself.  What did Jesus do?  He goes out and starts teaching them and his disciples!   

o   What does it take to get you derailed from the mission?

·         I want you to imagine what this scene looked like.  He draws so many people that he has to set up a way to separate himself from the crowds.  He sits in a boat and teaches the crowds.    You have the crowd of hundreds or more and then you have a small boat with Jesus and his 12 disciples.  This picture illustrates the division that Jesus would go on to expound on.  There were the crowds and then those few disciples who were in the know.  It highlights the division in understanding and response that Jesus will go on to explain.

2.     Why Use Parables?  Matthew 13:10-17

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

11 He replied, “Because 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 they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 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.’[a]

16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

·         13:10  Parables  After finishing an extremely short sermon and offering no explanation, no application and no “Next Steps,” Jesus turns to the disciples in his boat and has a private conversation.  This must have been an awkward transition.  Can you imagine if I gave a complete sermon like that?  I wouldn’t be here for long.    He goes on to explain why he is using this unclear means of communication.  From here on Jesus leans more heavily on these parables and only teaches the crowds using these parables.  The disciples turn to him and basically say, “Why are you teaching this way?  Why are you teaching in riddles?  Why don’t you just spell it out for everybody?  It was a great question.  The word parable has not come up yet in the book of Matthew, although we’ve seen it mixed in with Jesus’ teaching. Parables is more than just a short story.  It includes proverbs, maxims, riddles, allegories, wise sayings and other pithy quotes.  We often define them as short stories that illustrate or make clear a spiritual concept.  However, what Jesus is saying is that for every person who is helped by a parable another person is simply confused.  In fact, parables hide things.  Their design is to not reveal or explain everything.  The listener is forced to bring something to the table.  You have to wrestle with it, meditate on it.  Parables offer a challenge to the listener.  Many will not take the time or energy to understand the meaning.  This is the point of what Jesus is saying.  This is why Jesus calls the message a secret, not everyone gets it.  That’s why some people respond and some don’t.

·         Matthew 13:11  The secrets of the kingdom of heaven.  To know the message of the Kingdom is to know secrets.  Remember the documentary, The Secret, that came out about twenty years ago?  It talks about the law of attraction.  The message of Jesus is a true secret, the Greek word is Mysterion.  It’s the same word used in Daniel 2:18-19, 27-30 and 47 where Daniel is able to reveal the mystery of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream while all the other wise men and enchanters can’t do it.  Jesus is pointing out that God reveals his secrets to those he chooses.  We learn by revelation not by being “smart” or having personal insight.  Jesus says the message is given to you, not to them.  This points out the clear division of people into two groups.

·         Matthew 13:12  This saying is similar to “Success breeds Success” or “It takes money to make money” or “The richer get richer.”  Jesus is saying those who understand God’s secrets start multiplying in their growth.  Understanding brings more and better fruit and it causes a chain reaction of good things.  On the other hand, those who reject the truth lose everything, even what little they think they have.  If you’ve ever seen someone who walked away or rejected Jesus who once was loving, happy and growing and then see them after a number of years, you see the difference.

o   Example? 

·         Matthew 13:13-15  Hard hearted or Rejected by God?  Jesus goes on to quote from Isaiah.  This passage reveals the problem that people have in receiving God’s word.  Their hearts are hard.  Most people can hear but only disciples can understand.  However, the point of this section is that people’s response is both a fact of life and the purpose of God.  Mark 4:11-12 phrases it this way, “…To those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving.’”  Matthew states that Jesus teaches in parables because people’s hearts are hard and Mark points out that Jesus teaches in parables to harden people’s hearts.   This emphasizes that Jesus teaches in parables to conceal the truth to some.  That doesn’t sound encouraging does it?  This is one of those mysteries between human will and God’s will.  Do people not respond because their hearts are hard or because God doesn’t allow them to see the message?  It’s like two sides of the same coin.  In any case, it is hard to avoid the difficult truth that God has chosen some to respond and others to reject his truth.  Parables reinforce this separation of response.  People respond according to their capacity, some are receptive and some not and that is how God has intended it.  You may not like it, but that’s the way it is.

·           The best way to understand that is with illustrations:

o   Pharaoh in Romans 9:16-18  16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

§  The Bible says that God raise him up for the very purpose of highlighting God’s power and glory.  Pharaoh’s stubborn heart triggered God’s plagues of power.  However, Pharaoh was at fault for being hard hearted toward Moses’ words. 

o   Butter and clay.  When the sun shines on butter, it melts.  When it shines on clay, it hardens.  Is it the sun’s fault?  No.  It has to do with the response and makeup of the object.

·         Matthew 13:16-17  Blessed are your eyes.  Jesus is pointing out how lucky, how blessed, how privileged any person is who has heard and understands the word of God.  Why?  Because that understanding is a gift of God.  Without that revelation you would remain blind to God’s secret. 

o   We take it our faith for granted.  We neglect the Bible.  We don’t appreciate what God has done in opening our eyes.  We wonder why others don’t see what we see.  We wonder if we are wrong in our understanding.  You need to consider yourself the most blessed because God has opened your eyes to the truth.  We need to be grateful that any people make it at all.

3.     The Explanation:  Matthew 13:18-23

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 their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

·         13:18  The parable of the sower.  This title is a little misleading because the story and its interpretation has little to do with the sower himself.  It has everything to do with way different soils respond to the secrets of God’s Kingdom.  A better title would be, “The Parable of the Four Types of Ground.”  It’s important to keep in mind that Jesus is using this to explain to his disciples why people had so many different responses to him and his teaching in the events from chapter 11 and 12.  They were probably confused and a little shaken by the negative responses.  Jesus is emphasizing that the fault is with the soil, not with the seed. 

·         13:19.  Understanding.  Understanding is not intellectual understanding, it is changing your life to respond to the message of God.  It includes both a mental and physical response to God’s word.  Just knowing the Bible without obedience is actually encouraged by Satan.  Satan comes and takes away the word.  Satan is actively at work in those who reject the Bible.

o   “I’m good!”

o   “I don’t like organized religion!”

o   “That’s good for you, not for me.”

·         20-21.         Joy and enthusiasm without commitment of time, energy and resources can’t last.  That person dries up, burns out and falls away.  How many of the people in these crowds were there when Jesus went to the cross.  Not many.  His disciples were there and even they struggled.  When your enthusiasm is based on feelings, circumstances, other people’s enthusiasm and not your own conviction, you will fall away when tough times hit. 

o   Share my testimony

·         13:22  Third Soil.  Worries, desires for other things and the deceitfulness of wealth chokes people out.  When we are focused on possessions and money and not God and saving people we betray a focus on this world that is passing away.  Some of us are choked out and not bearing fruit because our time, money, energy and attention is wholly focused on this world.

o   We don’t have time to study the Bible with people

o   We don’t pray or read the Bible because we are worried or preoccupied with something else.

o   We don’t tithe because our money goes to other desires

o   We don’t grow because we are too distracted by “other things.”

§  The only solution is to take the time to remove the weeds.  I had a blackberry patch that I wanted to turn into a garden.  Step one, buy some goatskin gloves and start cutting out the vines.  Roll it all up like a bail.  Pile it up and burn it.  Rototill the ground and plant seeds.  Voila, we had a garden!

·         13:23           Many people don’t understand the secrets of God’s Kingdom, but some people understand and bear God’s fruit.  This points to the fact that it’s not a problem with the message but with the listener.  Some have ears, some don’t.  The person who bears fruit or yields a crop is different than the previous soils:

o   They have internal conviction

o   They internalize the message

o   They change their priorities and behavior

o   They pull out the weeds that choke their lives. 

·         This parable applies to both those outside the kingdom and those inside.  There are different levels of fruitfulness, 30, 60 or 100 times.  It all depends on the condition of your heart.  It’s not a competition, but it is a challenge to be as fruitful as YOU can be.  This entire story highlights the importance of producing good for Jesus. 

o   A good life

o   a good character

o   the good fruit of souls saved

·         A fruitless hearer is like the fig tree cursed by Jesus.  Jesus said in Matthew 7:19,
“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Conclusion

Jesus explained why people had different responses to his teaching.  He wanted to prepare his disciples to have the strength and conviction to preach the word in the face of resistance.

We need to scatter the seed to all four soils, to every person.  Some of us have given up.  We haven’t passed out an invitation in months if not years.  Why?  Because we have told ourselves that people aren’t open, that it hurts too much when people turn away after initial enthusiasm.

·         We blame ourselves

·         We blame our presentation

·         We blame our study series

·         We blame the preaching

·         We blame the preacher

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