Year 2, Week 32, Day 2 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 32, Day 2

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Matthew 13.

Today’s reading continues with a number of parables that Jesus told: “That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying…” (Matthew 13:1-3a). Matthew 13 is the third of five teaching segments that run throughout Matthew’s Gospel account (the others are Matthew 5-7,10,18,24-25). Parables are comparison statements or stories. Parables use an earthly story or an ordinary thing to compare with something true in a spiritual or heavenly way. Parables point to, reveal something about, or illustrate something true about life in the Kingdom of God: "Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matthew 13:10-11). Parables provide insight about how to enter the Kingdom of God, how to experience the Kingdom of God, or how to reflect the Kingdom of God. Parables serve to clarify spiritual truths, but also conceal spiritual truths: "This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:“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 13:13-15, quoting Isaiah 6:9-10). Those who have believing hearts, gain spiritual understanding through the parables, while those who have unbelieving hearts miss the spiritual point provided through the parables. A posture of unbelief will always miss the point of the true lesson of the parable, for such a person is still under judgment.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was how the first parable provides a crucial illustration of how parables operate: “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty” (Matthew 13:23). The first parable describes four soils upon which a sower sows some seed. The commonalities of the parable are the sower and the seed, but what is uncommon in the parable is soil upon which the sower sows seed. Each soil is different and it is the difference in soils that direct us to grasp something of the focus of the parable. The first the soils do not receive the seed that the sower sows, while the fourth seed receives the seed, which produces a plant, which in turn yields fruit.

The point of the parable of the soils is to differentiate a believing heart from various kinds of unbelieving hearts. The soils refer to the heart or more specifically, the posture of the heart. The seed sown refers to the Gospel and the impact that the Gospel has upon a heart. Of the four types of soils, three depict a variety of unbelief. The first soil, the hard path, is descriptive of one kind of an unbelieving heart: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them” (Matthew 13:3b-4). Jesus explicitly explains the significance of this first soil as the first kind of unbelief: “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path” (Matthew 13:19). The second soil, rocky ground, is descriptive of another kind of an unbelieving heart “Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away” (Matthew 13-5-6). The second soil is also explained by Jesus, is a second kind of unbelief: “As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away” (Matthew 13:20-21). The third soil, crowded or weed-infested soil, is yet another description of an unbelieving heart: “Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them” (Matthew 13:7). And as with the first two seeds, Jesus explains a third kind of unbelief: “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22).

Only the fourth soil depicts a heart that believes and therefore is receptive to the seed: “Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 13:8-9). As the Gospel is sown in a heart that has a posture of belief, it receives the seed sown and this heart reception is evidenced by the fruit that the plant yields. Only the fourth soil is good, for it does not possess a hardness that is disinterested in receiving the seed from the start, like the first soil; nor does it possess a distractedness toward the seed, like the second soil, which faces sufferings; nor does it possess a dividedness toward the seed, like the third soil, which experiences abundant pleasantries. The good heart is passionate about receiving the seed, it perseveres in receiving the seed, it persists in receiving the seed, and it produces fruit in receiving the seed: “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear” (Matthew 13:16).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe