The Parable of the Sower
Matthew 13The same day Jesus departed the house and sat by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he entered into a boat and sat in it while all the crowd stood on the shore. He told to them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil. Immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Still other seeds fell on excellent soil and yielded a crop, a hundred, sixty, or thirty times as much. Anyone who has ears, let them hear.”
The disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
He answered them, “Y’all have been granted to know the mysteries of the Empire of Heaven, but it has not been granted to them. For whoever has will be given more, and will have abundance. But whoever doesn’t have, even what they have will be taken away. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing they don’t hear, neither do they understand. In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says,
‘Y’all will keep hearing, but will not understand; Y’all will keep seeing, but will not perceive; for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes, Otherwise they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again, and I would heal them.’+Isa 6:9-10“But blessed are y’all’s eyes because they see, and y’all’s ears because they hear. For truly I tell y’all that many prophets and righteous people desired to see what y’all see, and didn’t see it, and to hear what y’all hear, and didn’t hear it.
“Therefore, y’all listen to the parable of the farmer. When anyone hears the word of the empire and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in their heart. This is the seed sown by the roadside. The seed sown on the rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. However, since that person has no root, they are only temporary. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed sown on the excellent ground corresponds to the person who hears the word and understands it. That person bears fruit and produces a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”
The Parable of Wheat Versus Weeds
Jesus presented another parable, saying, “The Empire of Heaven is like a man who sowed excellent seed in his field, but while the men were sleeping, an enemy came and sowed weeds also among the wheat and then went away. But when the wheat sprang up and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. The servants of the householder came and said, ‘Master, didn’t you sow excellent seed in your field? Where did these weeds come from?’
“He replied, ‘An enemy man has done this.’
“The servants asked, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
“But he said, ‘No, because while y’all are gathering up the weeds, y’all could uproot the wheat with them. Y’all are to let both grow together until the harvest. At the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, y’all are to collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to burn them. Then y’all are to gather the wheat for my barn.”’”
The Parables of Small but Powerful Things
He presented another parable to them, saying, “The Empire of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a human took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
Then he told them another parable. “The Empire of Heaven is like yeast which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until all the dough had risen.”
Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables, and he did not speak to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet,
“I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”+Psa 78:2The Parable of the Wheat and Weeds Explained
Then Jesus left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”
He answered them, “The one who sows the excellent seed is the Son of Humanity. The field is the world, the excellent seeds are the children of the empire. The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Humanity will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his empire everything that causes stumbling and all who lawbreakers. They will cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the empire of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
The Parables of the Hidden Value
“The Empire of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. A human found it and hid it again. In their joy, that person then goes and sells all they have to buy that field.
“Again, the Empire of Heaven is like a human merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who having found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that they had to buy it.
The Parable of the Catching
“Once again, the Empire of Heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and gathered some fish of every kind. When it was filled, the crew pulled it up on the beach. Then they sat down and gathered the excellent fish into containers, but the rotten they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous, and will cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus said to them, “Have y’all understood all these things?”
They answered him, “Yes, Lord.”
He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Empire of Heaven is like a human owner of a house, who brings out of their treasure new and old things.”
A Prophet Without Honor
When Jesus finished these parables, he departed from there. Coming into his hometown, he taught them in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? Aren’t all of his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all of these things?” They were offended by him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and in his own house.”
He didn’t do many miracles there because of their unbelief.