The Parable Of The Sower Series

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THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

SERIES; The Parables Of Jesus

(Mt 13:3-9 ;Mk 4:3-9; Lk 8:4-8)

Mathew 13:3. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Mk 4:13...“Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all parables?”

A. INTRODUCTION

1. As Jesus went about preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven He did not always find a receptive audience...

Mt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, crying out, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Acts 10:38. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

2. Even where He did mighty works, some did not repent –

John 1:11. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Mt 11:20-24. Then He began to censure and reproach the cities in which most of His mighty works had been performed, because they did not repent [and their hearts were not changed].

21. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes [and their hearts would have been changed].

22. I tell you [further], it shall be more endurable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

23. And you, Capernaum, are you to be lifted up to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades [the region of the dead]! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued until today.

24. But I tell you, it shall be more endurable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.

3. Some sought to trick Him, so they might have reason to accuse Him – Example:

A Man with a Withered Hand. Mt 12:9-14. And going on from there, He went into their synagogue.

10. And behold, a man was there with one withered hand. And they said to Him, Is it lawful or allowable to cure people on the Sabbath days?–that they might accuse Him.

11. But He said to them, What man is there among you, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit or ditch on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

12. How much better and of more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and allowable to do good on the Sabbath days.

13. Then He said to the man, Reach out your hand. And the man reached it out and it was restored, as sound as the other one.

14. But the Pharisees went out and held a consultation against Him, how they might do away with Him.

4. It was for this very reason that Jesus began teaching publicly in “parables”

Mt 13:10-13. Then the disciples came to Him and said, Why do You speak to them in parables?

11. And He replied to them, To you it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

12. For whoever has [spiritual knowledge], to him will more be given and he will be furnished richly so that he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

13. This is the reason that I speak to them in parables: because having the power of seeing, they do not see; and having the power of hearing, they do not hear, nor do they grasp and understand.

5. The problem Jesus faced was that many people, though they had ears to hear, their ears had become “hard of hearing”

Mt 13:14-15. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

15. For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.