This is the first of a series on the parables of Jesus that we find in Matthew’s gospel. Today we start with the incredibly well-known parable of the sower, or more precisely, the soils. The people of Jesus’ day lived in an agrarian society, so they were familiar with Jesus’ story. This story is simple, yet the message was hard for the disciples to understand, so Jesus gives the meaning of the parable. He explains that different people respond differently after hearing God’s Word. We notice that the seed, the gospel message, is the same and it does not change. What is changing is the hearer and how receptive they are to the message. All the questions that tend to flow from this text deal with the soil in the hearer. What sort of soil are you? What sort of soil is your neighbour, your friend, your child? The good news is, when the soil is prepared by God, there’s going to be an explosion of spiritual fruit, and the harvest will go on and on. 

Preacher: Jim de Witte 

Passage: Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23 

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