This little parable of Jesus got me thinking about taking soil samples. You know, with all its talk about different kinds of soil. So, what I did is: I logged on to YouTube and did a search. And, sure enough, there was a video on how to do it, how to take a soil sample. As you might guess, as interesting as soil analysis might be to do, it’s not that much fun to watch somebody else do it – and it’s certainly no fun to hear somebody else describe it! So, let me just say that the process is necessary if you want the maximum yield from your soil. Dirt isn’t just dirt, and, if you’re a farmer, you’re going to want to know what compounds, nutrients, and organic matter are to be found on the land you’re farming.
It seems like that’s what Jesus is telling us, doesn’t it? He talks about a sower who scattered seed – rather indiscriminately, it seems, like maybe he didn’t do a soil analysis. Because some of the seeds landed on the foot-worn path, while others fell on soil that was either not deep enough or that was infested with thorns. And the yield was certainly disappointing. In fact, there wasn’t any.
What we have to keep in mind, of course, is that this is a parable. And, as much as it may seem like Jesus is giving us a few pointers on agriculture, he’s not. And, if we were to read further, we would see that Jesus’ disciples pick up on this. He’s not talking about farming methods. They know this. What they don’t know is what it is he actually is talking about. So, they ask him in verse 10, “Why do you speak to [the peope] in parables?” And what he tells them may surprise you.
At one time in my life, I was told that parables were quaint little illustrations that Jesus used to help his listeners understand what he was really getting at. But that’s not what Jesus himself says. He doesn’t use parables so that the people will understand; he uses them so that they won’t! Jesus says to his disciples, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom…, but to them it has not been given” (v. 11). We’ll come back to this in a moment, but what we need to see at this point is that Jesus’ parables – especially this one about the “sower [who] went out to sow” – hid as much as they revealed, at least for some.
If we were to read on a little further in this chapter, we would discover that Jesus does explain the parable of the sower. He tells his disciples what his seemingly innocent lesson on planting really means. So, what we have here in Matthew, chapter 13, is, first, a parable. Then we have an explanation of why Jesus tells parables in the first place, and, finally, we have a disclosure by Jesus himself as to what this particular parable means. And what it all amounts to is this: Jesus is not actually talking about soil at all. He’s talking about the heart. And there’s a condition of the heart, represented in his parable by the “good soil,” that is necessary if the Word of God is to have a lasting effect on any of us.
So, what is this necessary condition, and why is it so necessary? Whatever it is, it is symbolized for us in the “good soil,” into which some of the seeds – thankfully – were sown, and, as a result, good things happened. Just from what we know so far, how would we describe this “good” soil? What makes good soil good?
One way to arrive at an answer is to contrast the good soil with the other types of soil we find in the parable. Let’s do that, and let’s start with the soil on the path. Jesus says that, “as [the sower] sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them” (v. 4). Here we have foot-worn, hard-packed soil that is so dense that a seed couldn’t penetrate it if it tried. The good soil is not like that. Instead, it is soft and malleable. The seeds can enter it with no problem.
Neither is the good soil like the second type of soil that Jesus describes. He says, “Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth…. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away” (vv. 5f.). By “rocky ground,” we mean that there is a shelf of rock not far beneath the surface, so that, from the outside, the ground looks fine. But dig into it, and what you will find is that it doesn’t have much depth. There’s no room for a plant to sink its roots and grow. And when there is no root, there is no endurance. Again, that’s how good soil differs. It has depth, so that the seed has plenty of room to develop. And it stands firm.
Again, the good soil may be contrasted with that part of the land that is infested with thorns. Jesus says, “Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.” The seed germinates and grows, but the plant gets choked out. This won’t happen if the soil is right. So, what does all this tell us about good soil? Or, let’s get right to the point. What does it tell us about the necessary condition of a heart if the Word of God is to have lasting effect? Very simply, such a heart is a receptive heart, isn’t it? It is not a heart hardened and resistant to the gospel. It is not like the soil on the path. It is not a shallow heart either with no room for growth. It has capacity for spiritual truth, and it exhibits courage when that truth is threatened. Finally, the heart that is receptive to the Word is not stunted like the seeds sown among thorns. The heart conditioned by grace stands in contrast to all of these.
And that’s what really makes the difference for the heart that is responsive to the Word of God. It is a heart conditioned by grace. The goodness of the good soil – or of the good heart, if you will – is not inherent. It is bestowed. Look at verse 11, where Jesus is explaining the reason he speaks in parables. “To you,” he says, “it has been given” – don’t miss that word “given.” “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom…, but to them it has not been given.” This is grace at work. It forges hearts that understand. It cultivates in us a hospitality for the Word, a receptivity to the gospel.
Jesus says in verse 13, “The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’” But then he goes on in verse 16 to say, “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” It would not be so, did God not grant it, were not grace at work in the heart.
Do you see, then, why it is necessary that the heart be conditioned by grace? Do you see that, if it is not, no matter how often the heart may be seeded with the Word, it will have no lasting effect? Without grace, the life-giving power of the Word is aborted.
Jesus shows us this in the last section of this passage, in verses 18 through 23. This is the part where he explains his parable. He takes us beneath the surface and shows us the importance of the kind of heart in which the Word is sown. Take, for instance the seed “sown on the path.” Jesus says, “When anyone hears the word…and does not understand it, the evil one comes and [like a bird] snatches away what is sown in the heart” (v. 19). The Word falls on the hard, encrusted surface of the graceless heart. And not only does it not gain entry; it is seized by the Adversary of our souls, lest it take root.
Or take the seed “sown on rocky ground.” Jesus says, “This is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy” (v. 20). I’ve seen this; haven’t you? Someone “gets religion,” and they’re all about it. Their enthusiasm seems to know no bounds. But then something happens, and they throw in the towel. As Jesus puts in verse 6, they “wither away.” He says, “Such a person has no root, but endures only for a little while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away” (v. 21). This is the shallow heart, into which the Word finds entry, sure enough, but then the heart expels the Word and any effect it might have. Why? Because it’s too much trouble. It’s too costly. It requires too much.
Then there’s the seed that “was sown among thorns.” Jesus says, “This is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world” – that is, the fevered ambition of getting and having – “and the lure of wealth [combine to] choke the word, and it yields nothing” (v. 22). That is, it has no effect – or, at least, no lasting effect.
So, what is this lasting effect that Jesus presents as so desirable? We see it in verse 23. “As for what was sown on good soil,” Jesus says, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” The life that bears fruit for God is the result of a heart that is hospitable to God’s Word. Jesus said on another occasion, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). You know how we’re always quoting the Shorter Catechism and saying, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever”? Listen to what Jesus says in John 15:8: “My Father is glorified in this,” he says, “that you bear much fruit.” That’s it. That’s how we glorify God. We bear the fruit of Christlikeness as we draw our strength and vitality from the Word of God.
There is a condition of the heart that is necessary if the Word of God is to produce fruit in our lives, and that is: that the heart must welcome the Word as good soil welcomes the seed sown in it. So, how do we obtain this condition?
Obviously, some don’t obtain it. In verse 15, Jesus references those whose “heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn – and I would heal them.” Such resistance is truly tragic.
Who, then, may obtain the necessary condition of heart to receive the Word and see its lasting effect – its fruition – in their lives? Why, anyone who will abandon their own devices and turn to Christ, who offers grace as a gift. Have you closed your ears to God’s Word? Open them and listen. Have you shut your eyes? Look with them and see. Has your heart grown dull to spiritual things? Aerate the soil of your heart and turn to him who alone is the source of life. Turn to Jesus Christ.
Look to the garden of your heart! Take a soil sample, if you will. Discover the condition of your soul, and resolve to make it a hospitable environment for the Word. When we preach and teach, it is not simply to transfer information from one mind to another. It is not simply to develop more informed Christians. Rather, it is to encourage more faithful Christians. Receive God’s Word not just as something to think about or consider, but also as something by which you may be “transformed into the…image [of Christ] from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18). This is the harvest of a heart conditioned by grace. This is the fruition of the Word in your life. This is the only thing that will last for eternity.
