Matthew 13:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we see Christ preaching, and we can notice several things.

First, consider when he preached this sermon. It was the same day as the sermon in the previous chapter. This shows how tirelessly he worked in doing good and carrying out the work of the One who sent him. Christ preached both morning and evening, and by his example he recommended that practice to his church. We should sow our seed in the morning and not hold back in the evening (Ecclesiastes 11:6). An afternoon sermon, if well heard, does not crowd out the morning sermon. Instead, it strengthens it and drives the nail deeper into place.

Even though Christ had faced opposition and criticism in the morning, and had even been interrupted by his friends, he kept going with his work. In the later part of the day, he did not seem to meet the same discouragements. Those who press through difficulties in God’s service with courage and zeal may find that troubles are not as stubborn as they feared. Resist them, and they will flee.

Second, notice to whom he preached. Great crowds gathered to him, and they were the listeners. We are not told that any scribes or Pharisees were there. They were willing to hear him when he preached in the synagogue (Matthew 12:9, 14), but they thought it beneath them to listen by the sea, even though Christ himself was the preacher. In truth, it was better to have them absent than present, because then he could go on quietly without argument.

Sometimes the power of religion is seen most clearly where its outward show is smallest. The poor receive the gospel. When Christ went to the seashore, crowds quickly gathered to him. Where the king is, there is the court; where Christ is, there is the church, even if it is by the sea. Those who want benefit from the word must be ready to follow it wherever it goes. When the ark moves, they should move with it. The Pharisees had tried, by slander and false hints, to turn the people away from Christ, but the people still flocked to him. Christ will be honored despite all opposition, and he will still be followed.

Third, notice where he preached. His meeting place was the seashore. He went out of the house because there was no room for the crowd, and preached in the open air. It would have been fitting for such a Preacher to have the largest, finest, and most convenient place to preach, like a Roman theater. But he was still in his state of humiliation, and in this, as in other things, he denied himself the honors due to him. As he had no house of his own to live in, so he had no chapel of his own to preach in.

This teaches us not to crave grand outward settings in worship, but to make the best use of the places God gives us in his providence. When Christ was born, he was crowded into a stable, and now he preached at the seashore, where everyone could come freely. He who is truth itself did not seek hidden corners, as pagan mystery religions did. Wisdom cries out in the open (Proverbs 1:20), and Jesus said, “He who sent me is true, and you do not know him” (John 7:28, 29).

His pulpit was a ship, not a special pulpit made for preaching like Ezra’s (Nehemiah 8:4), but a vessel used for this purpose because there was nothing better available. It was no bad place for such a Preacher, since his presence honored and set apart any place he used. Let no one preaching Christ be ashamed if they must preach in plain or difficult places. Some have noted that the people stood on dry, firm ground, while the Preacher stood on the water, in greater danger. Ministers are often the ones most exposed to trouble. This was a real pulpit on the water.

Fourth, notice what he preached and how he preached. He spoke many things to them, likely far more than are recorded here, but all of them were excellent and necessary. They were things that belong to our peace and things about the kingdom of heaven. They were not small matters, but truths of everlasting importance. We should pay close attention when Christ has so much to say to us, so that we do not miss any of it.

He spoke in parables. A parable can sometimes mean any wise and useful saying, but here it usually means a sustained comparison, where heavenly truths are described with words drawn from everyday life. This teaching style was common among Jewish rabbis, as well as Arabians and other wise men of the East, and it was useful because it was pleasant and memorable. Our Savior used it often, and in doing so he came down to people’s level and spoke to them in language they could understand.

God had long used comparisons through his prophets (Hosea 12:10), but with little effect. Now he uses them through his Son. Surely people should respect him who speaks from heaven about heavenly things, even while he clothes them in earthly images. See John 3:12.

Now we come to the main reason Christ taught in parables. The disciples were somewhat surprised, since he had not used them much before, and they asked, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” They asked this because they wanted the people to understand. They did not ask, “Why do you speak to us?” because they knew they could have the parables explained. They asked about the people. We should care about the good of others through the preached word, not just our own. Even if we are strong ourselves, we should still bear with the weak.

Christ answers this fully in Matthew 13:11-17, where he explains that he used parables because they made the things of God clearer to those who were willing to learn. At the same time, the gospel would become a message of life to some and a message of judgment to others. A parable is like the pillar of cloud and fire. It faces darkness toward the Egyptians, who are confounded by it, and light toward Israel, who are comforted by it. In this way it serves two purposes. The same light guides some eyes and blinds others.

Christ first gives the reason plainly in Matthew 13:11: “It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” That means, first, the disciples already had some knowledge, while the people did not. The disciples already knew something of these mysteries and did not need to be taught in such a simple, familiar way. The people, however, were ignorant. They were still like little children, and so they had to be taught with plain comparisons, since they were not yet able to receive instruction in any other form. Though they had eyes, some did not know how to use them.

Or, second, the disciples were ready to learn the mysteries of the gospel. They would search into the parables, and through them come to know those mysteries more deeply. But people who only heard and did not bother to look further, or ask what the parables meant, would gain nothing. They would justly suffer for their neglect. A parable is like a shell that holds good fruit for the diligent, but keeps it from the lazy.

There are mysteries in the kingdom of heaven, and it is beyond question that godliness is a great mystery. Christ’s coming in the flesh, his payment for sin, his intercession, that is, his work of pleading for us, our justification, meaning God’s declaring sinners right with him, and our sanctification, meaning being made holy, all come through union with Christ. In fact, the whole work of redemption, from beginning to end, is a mystery that could never have been found out apart from God’s revelation (1 Corinthians 15:51). At that time, it was only partly known even to the disciples, and it will never be fully known until the veil is taken away. Still, the hidden nature of gospel truth should not discourage us. It should stir us to seek it more earnestly.

It is a gracious gift to Christ’s disciples to know these mysteries. Knowledge is God’s first gift, and it is also a distinguishing gift (Proverbs 2:6). It was given to the apostles because they were Christ’s constant followers and attendants. The closer we draw to Christ, and the more we keep company with him, the more we will understand gospel mysteries. This knowledge is also given to all true believers, who know the gospel by experience, and that is surely the best kind of knowledge. A heart with grace in it makes a person quick to understand the fear of the Lord and faith in Christ, and so also the meaning of parables. Without that grace, Nicodemus, a teacher in Israel, spoke of the new birth as a blind man talks about colors. But there are some to whom this knowledge is not given. A person can receive nothing unless it is given from above (John 3:27). We should also remember that God owes nothing to anyone. His grace belongs to him, and he gives or withholds it as he pleases (Romans 11:35). The reason must be traced to God’s sovereign choice, as before (Matthew 11:25, Matthew 11:26).

This reason is further explained by the rule God uses in giving his gifts. He gives more to those who use what they have, and he takes away from those who bury it. Among people, it is common to trust money to those who have increased their estates by industry, rather than to those who have wasted them through laziness. There is a promise here for the one who has, that is, true grace according to the election of grace, and who uses what he has. He shall have more in abundance. God’s favors are pledges of more favors to come. Where he lays the foundation, he will build on it. Christ’s disciples used the knowledge they already had, and they received more abundance when the Spirit was poured out (Acts 2). Those who have true grace will keep growing in grace, until it becomes abundance in glory (Proverbs 4:18). Joseph will add more, as the name suggests (Genesis 30:24).

There is also a warning for the one who has not, that is, someone with no desire for grace, or someone who makes no right use of the gifts and graces he has. He has no root, no solid principle, or he has what he does not use. From him will be taken away what he has, or seems to have. His leaves will wither, his gifts will decay, and the means of grace he has ignored will be taken from him. God will call in his talents from hands likely to fail soon.

This reason is especially explained with respect to the two kinds of people Christ dealt with. Some were willing to stay ignorant, and the parables only amused them (Matthew 13:13), because seeing, they did not see. They had shut their eyes against the clear light of Christ’s plain teaching, and so they were left in darkness. They saw Christ’s person, but not his glory. They saw no difference between him and any other man. They saw his miracles and heard his preaching, but they did not truly see or hear with concern. They understood nothing. Many people still see the light of the gospel and hear its message, but it never reaches their hearts. It is just for God to take light away from those who shut their eyes against it, so that those who will be ignorant remain ignorant. This also magnifies his special grace to his disciples.

In this way the Scripture was fulfilled, as in Matthew 13:14, Matthew 13:15. It is quoted from Isaiah 6:9, Isaiah 6:10. The prophet Isaiah, who spoke most clearly about gospel grace, also foretold that people would despise it and suffer for that contempt. The New Testament refers to this passage no fewer than six times, which shows that spiritual judgments would be common in gospel times. They make less noise, but they are more terrible. What was spoken about sinners in Isaiah’s day was fulfilled in Christ’s day, and it is still being fulfilled now. The same sin in the human heart meets the same righteous judgment from God.

First, there is a description of the sinners’ willful blindness and hardness, which is their sin. This people’s heart has grown dull. The word means it has become fat, which points to both sensuality and insensibility (Psalm 119:70). They are secure under the word and the rod of God, and proud like Jeshurun, who grew fat and kicked (Deuteronomy 32:15). When the heart is so heavy, it is no surprise that the ears are dull of hearing. They do not hear the whispers of the Spirit at all, and they pay no attention to the loud calls of the word, though the word is near them. They stop their ears (Psalm 58:4, Psalm 58:5). Because they are determined to stay ignorant, they close both ways of learning. Their eyes too they have closed. They are set against seeing the light come into the world when the Sun of Righteousness arose. They shut their windows because they loved darkness rather than light (John 3:19; 2 Peter 3:5).

Second, there is a description of judicial blindness, meaning the just punishment of this sin. “By hearing, you will hear and not understand.” The means of grace you have will do you no good. Though they are kept in mercy for others, the blessing on them is denied to you in judgment. The saddest state a person can be in this side of hell is to sit under the clearest preaching with a dead, foolish, untouched heart. To hear God’s word and see his works, and yet not understand his will in either, is both the greatest sin and the greatest judgment. It is God’s work to give an understanding heart, and he often, in righteous judgment, refuses it to those who have heard in vain with hearing ears and seen in vain with seeing eyes. In this way God gives sinners over to their delusions (Isaiah 66:4).

Then God gives people over to the ruin they have chosen, by letting them follow the desires of their own hearts (Psalm 81:11-12). He leaves them alone (Hosea 4:17), and his Spirit will not keep striving with them forever (Genesis 6:3). This leads to a sad result, they will not see. They refuse to see because they do not want to turn back, and God says they will not see because they will not turn back, lest they should be converted, and I should heal them.

Notice three things here. First, seeing, hearing, and understanding are necessary for conversion, that is, turning to God in repentance and faith. In his work of grace, God deals with people as rational beings. He draws them in a way that fits human nature, opens their eyes, and turns them from the power of Satan to God by first turning them from darkness to light (Acts 26:18).

Second, everyone who is truly turned to God will surely be healed by him. If they are converted, I will heal them, I will save them. So if sinners perish, the blame is not on God, but on themselves. They foolishly expected healing without conversion.

Third, it is right for God to withhold his grace from those who have long refused it and resisted its power. Pharaoh hardened his own heart for a time (Exodus 8:15, Exodus 8:32), and later God hardened it as well (Matthew 9:12, Matthew 10:20). We should therefore be afraid of sinning against grace so often that we lose it altogether.

Others were effectually called, meaning God truly brought them to Christ as his disciples, and they sincerely wanted to be taught by him. These people were instructed and grew greatly in knowledge through the parables, especially when Christ explained them (Matthew 13:16-17). Their eyes saw and their ears heard. They saw the glory of God in Christ’s person, and they heard the mind of God in Christ’s teaching. They saw much, wanted to see more, and were ready to receive further instruction.

Christ speaks of this, first, as a blessing. “Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.” This was their happiness, and it came from God’s special favor and blessing. It was promised that in the days of the Messiah, the eyes of those who see would not be dim (Isaiah 32:3). Even the simplest believer, who truly knows the grace of Christ by experience, is more blessed than the greatest scholars who know nothing of God and, like the false gods they serve, have eyes but do not see.

True blessedness is tied to rightly understanding and properly using the mysteries of God’s kingdom. God himself gives the hearing ear and the seeing eye in those who are made holy (Proverbs 20:12). That is a blessed work, and one day it will be brought to full completion, when those who now see only dimly will see face to face. Christ pointed out the misery of those left in ignorance so that he could show the blessing of these disciples. They have eyes and do not see, but blessed are your eyes. Knowing Christ is a special gift, and it brings greater responsibility with it, as in John 14:22. The apostles were to teach others, so they were given the clearest light of divine truth. The watchmen shall see eye to eye (Isaiah 52:8).

Second, Christ speaks of this as a surpassing blessing, one that many prophets and righteous people longed for but were not given. The Old Testament saints had some glimpses of gospel light, and they eagerly desired fuller revelation (Matthew 13:17). They had types, shadows, and prophecies of these things, but they longed to see the reality itself, the glorious goal toward which those things pointed. They desired to see the great Salvation, the Consolation of Israel, but did not see it, because the right time had not yet come.

Those who know something of Christ naturally want to know more. Also, God gives his revelations according to the time and way he has appointed. Even those who were dearly loved by heaven, and to whom God’s secret was given, did not see the things they longed to see, because God had not yet chosen to reveal them. His blessings do not run ahead of his wise plan. Then, as now, there was a glory yet to be revealed, something held in reserve, so that they without us should not be made perfect (Hebrews 11:40).

For our thankfulness and encouragement, it is good to think about how much more we enjoy under the gospel than believers did under the Old Testament, especially in the revelation of atonement, that is, the making of peace for sin. See the greater advantages of the New Testament over the Old (2 Corinthians 3:7 and following, Hebrews 12:18). We should make use of our greater privileges in a way that matches them.

In these verses we also have one of our Savior’s parables, the parable of the sower and the seed, both the story itself and its explanation. Christ’s parables come from ordinary, everyday things, not from learned theories or rare natural events, even when such things could fit the subject. He chose the most common things, the things everyone sees and even the simplest person can understand. Many of his parables come from farming, like this one about the sower and the one about the tares.

Christ chose this way so that spiritual things would be easier to understand through familiar pictures. He also chose it so that ordinary actions could lead our minds to holy things. In this way, the things we do every day can remind us to think with joy about God. Even while our hands are busy with worldly work, our hearts can still be lifted toward heaven. In that way, the word of God speaks with us in a familiar voice (Proverbs 6:22).

The parable of the sower is plain enough (Matthew 13:3-9), and Christ himself gives the explanation, since he best knew what he meant. When the disciples asked, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” (Matthew 13:10), they were really asking for the parable to be explained for the people’s sake. That was no insult to their own understanding. Our Lord kindly accepted the hint, gave the meaning, and helped them understand the parable. He spoke to the disciples, but in the hearing of the crowd, since we are not told that he sent the multitude away until Matthew 13:36.

“Hear, then, the parable of the sower” (Matthew 13:18). You have heard it before, but it helps to go over it again. It is good for us to hear what we have heard once more, because that often helps us understand and benefit from it (Philippians 3:1). Yet hearing alone is not enough. We only hear well when we understand what we hear (Nehemiah 8:2).

God’s grace gives understanding, but it is still our duty to set our minds to understand. So let us compare the parable with the explanation. The seed sown is the word of God, here called the word of the kingdom (Matthew 13:19). It comes from the kingdom of heaven and leads us to that kingdom. It is the word of the King, and where his word is, there is authority. It is a command that should rule us. Though the seed looks dry and lifeless, all its fruit is in it. It is imperishable seed (1 Peter 1:23), and it is the gospel that bears fruit in people’s lives (Colossians 1:5-6).

The sower is our Lord Jesus Christ, either by himself or through his ministers; see Matthew 13:37. People are God’s field, and ministers are workers together with God (1 Corinthians 3:9). Preaching to a crowd is like sowing grain. We cannot know where each seed will land, so the aim is to sow good seed, clean seed, and enough of it. In this way, the sowing of the word is also the sowing of a people for God’s field, the grain of his threshing floor (Isaiah 21:10).

The ground where the seed falls is the hearts of people, which are in very different states. Because of that, the word has different results. Human hearts are like soil, able to be improved and made fruitful. It is sad when they lie unused, like the field of a lazy man (Proverbs 24:30). The soul is the right place for God’s word to live, work, and rule. Its work is on the conscience, where it should light the Lord’s candle within us. As we are, so the word is to us. The way it is received depends on the one receiving it.

As with the earth, some ground cannot be made fruitful even with hard work and good seed, while good soil produces a plentiful crop. It is the same with people’s hearts. Their different conditions are shown by four kinds of ground, three bad and only one good. Many who hear the gospel bear no fruit. Even when Christ himself preached, many did not believe the message. This parable gives a sorrowful picture of gospel congregations, where hardly one in four brings forth fruit to maturity. Many receive the outward call, but only a few show by its power that they are God’s chosen people (Matthew 20:16).

First, there is the highway ground, as in Matthew 13:4-10. In those days there were paths through grain fields (Matthew 12:1), and seed that fell on those paths never entered the soil. The birds quickly picked it up. The place where Christ’s hearers stood showed the state of most of them. It was like seed falling on sand by the sea, or on a hard road. These are hearers who listen but do not understand, and the fault is theirs. They do not pay attention or take hold of the word. They do not come with any real desire to gain good from it, just as a highway was never meant for sowing. They sit before God as his people sit, but only for form’s sake, to see and be seen. They are not listening to what is said. It comes in one ear and goes out the other, leaving no mark.

The devil, called here the wicked one, comes and snatches away what was sown. Careless, distracted, and foolish hearers are easy prey for Satan. He is the great destroyer of souls, and also the great thief of sermons. He will steal the word from us unless we guard it well. It is like birds picking up seed that falls on hard ground that was never plowed before or covered after. If we do not break up the hard ground of our hearts by preparing them for the word, humbling ourselves under it, and giving it our full attention, and if we do not cover the seed afterward with meditation and prayer, and if we do not give earnest care to what we have heard, then we are like the highway ground. The devil is strongly opposed to our gaining any profit from God’s word, and careless hearers help his work when they think about everything except the things that matter for their peace.

Second, there is the stony ground. Some seed fell on rocky places (Matthew 13:5-6). This shows hearers who go further than the first kind. They receive some good impressions from the word, but the change does not last (Matthew 13:20-21). It is possible to be better than some others and still not be as good as we ought to be. We may go beyond our neighbors and yet still fall short of heaven.

These hearers do go some way. They hear the word. They do not turn their backs on it or ignore it. But hearing the word, even often and seriously, will never bring us to heaven if we stop there. They are quick to hear, and quick to receive it. It springs up at once, sooner than the seed in good soil. Hypocrites often show the signs of religion before true believers do, and they are often too hot to last. They receive the word immediately, without testing it, like someone who swallows food without chewing it. Then it cannot be properly digested. Those are most likely to hold fast what is good who test everything first (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

They also receive the word with joy. Many are glad to hear a good sermon and yet gain no real profit from it. They may like the word and still not be changed or governed by it. The heart may be moved under the word, yet never truly softened by it, much less shaped by it like a mold. Many taste the good word of God (Hebrews 6:5) and say it is sweet, but some cherished sin is still hidden beneath the tongue. Because the word does not agree with that sin, they spit it out again. They last for a while, like a strong motion that continues only as long as the force lasts. When that force is gone, so are they.

Many endure for a time, but do not endure to the end, and so miss the happiness promised only to those who persevere (Mat 10:22). They ran well, but something stopped them (Gal 5:7). They never brought any fruit to maturity, like grain that has no deep soil to draw moisture from, so the sun scorches and withers it.

The reason is that they have no root in themselves. They have no settled truths in their minds, no firm resolve in their wills, and no lasting habits in their affections. There is nothing solid to give life and strength to their profession. It is possible to have the green shoot of religion without the root of grace. A person may look soft and responsive on the outside, while the heart remains hard, like stone.

Where there is a profession but no inward principle, we should not expect perseverance. Those who have no root will last only a while. It is like a ship without ballast. It may outpace a loaded ship at first, but it will fail in rough weather and never reach port.

Then times of trial come, and they come to nothing. When trouble or persecution rises because of the word, the person stumbles over it and falls away. That is all the profession amounts to. After a fair wind of opportunity, a storm of persecution usually follows, to test who has truly received the word and who has not.

When such times come, those without root are quickly offended. They first find fault with their profession, then leave it behind. This is what Scripture calls the offense of the cross (Gal 5:11). We should be ready for such a day. When the word of Christ’s kingdom becomes the word of Christ’s patience, that is when the test comes, to show who keeps it and who does not (Rev 3:10; Rev 1:9).

Persecution is pictured here as the scorching sun (Mat 13:6). The same sun that warms well-rooted plants dries up what has no root. In the same way, the word of Christ, and the cross of Christ, become to some a gift of life, and to others a cause of ruin. The same trouble that leads some into falling away and destruction works in others an even greater and lasting glory. Trials that shake some people only strengthen others (Phi 1:12).

Notice how soon they fall away, “by and by.” They are as quick to rot as they were quick to ripen. A profession taken up without careful thought is usually dropped the same way. Lightly come, lightly go.

The thorny ground is different. Some seed fell among thorns, which are a good guard for grain when they stand in a hedge, but a bad neighbor when they grow in a field. The thorns sprang up, which shows they were not much seen when the seed was sown, but later they proved choking to it (Mat 13:7). This case goes further than the former, because the seed had root. It pictures people who do not completely abandon their profession, yet still gain no saving benefit from it.

The word does some good in them at first, but it is slowly overcome by the things of this world. Prosperity can destroy the word in the heart just as surely as persecution can, and often more dangerously because it works more quietly. The stones harm the root, but the thorns ruin the fruit. The first choking thorn is the cares of this world. Care for the world to come would help this seed grow, but care for this present world chokes it.

Worldly worries are well compared to thorns. They came in with sin and are part of the curse. They can serve a useful purpose in their place, but a person must be well protected to handle many of them (Sa2 23:6, Sa2 23:7). They tangle, trouble, and scratch. In the end, they are fit only to be burned (Heb 6:8). These thorns choke the good seed.

Worldly cares greatly hinder our profit from God’s word and our growth in religion. They drain the strength that should be used for godly things. They pull us away from duty, distract us in duty, and do their worst harm afterward. They put out the sparks of good desires and break our good resolutions. People who are busy and burdened with many things often neglect the one thing needed most.

The second choking thorn is the deceitfulness of riches. Those who have gained estates through care and hard work are often in danger of trusting them. Riches promise more than they can give, and they quietly turn the heart away from God.