Matthew 13:5-305Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 10And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14And 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: 15For 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. 16But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 17For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 18Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. 19When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 20But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 22He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 23But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 24Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:5‑30)
In the second case, the seed falls upon stony places, “where they had not much earth.” The real condition of the soil is thus hidden. “And forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.” The one who hears the word in this case may be occupied with something else than its real worth, yet he sees something in it which attracts him. There is a professed joy in receiving it, but it is only a shallow work, with little or no sense of sin. When there arises persecution for the name of Christ, they which are not born again cannot take it, so they give it up and continue on in their old way. Such is the heart of the natural man, whose nature remains unchanged.
“And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them.” So there is no fruit produced here. It is not persecution in this case, but the effect of the influence of the world. The world, with all its attractions, the deceitfulness of its riches, is arranged by Satan, its prince, and comes in to choke the word. Neither was the word allowed to produce any sense of need in the soul. The love of God, in giving His Son as a ransom for the lost is neither appreciated nor desired.
But last of all there was that which “fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.” Here there had been a previous work of the Spirit of God in preparing the ground for the sower. The amount of fruit is not the same everywhere in this field but it is all called good ground. The class represented here is said to have heard the word and understood it. They receive it as a treasure and consider it a privilege to be entrusted with it. We learn from Romans 2:44Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? (Romans 2:4) that the hard lessons of life, which we are passed through, are after all the riches of God’s goodness, His forbearance and longsuffering to us, to lead us to repentance. The deep heart searchings which He passes the children of men through on earth are for our eternal welfare that we might become the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Mixed Multitude
In verses 24-30 we have another parable of a sower. “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field.” Later the Lord explains that He as the Son of Man is the sower, but He has turned it over to men, His servants, to watch over His field in His absence.
“But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.” The tares are a useless weed resembling wheat. “The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one.”
When the wheat came up, the tares appeared also. The servants are at a loss to know where the tares came from, but the master says unto them, “An enemy hath done this.” The servants wish to know then if they should go out and gather up the tares, but He says to them, “Nay; lest ... ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into My barn.”
Further Meditation
1. How was the ground prepared for the good seed?
2. What part of this passage shows that we can expect some professing Christians to be real and some to be pretenders?
3. For more on the subject of hard lessons, you might read The Purpose of Trials by B. Anstey.