Being Good Soil

Being Good Soil

Matthew 13:3-12, NLT

“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. 4As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. 5Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. 7Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. 8Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! 9Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” 10His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” 11He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. 12To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”

Setting the Scene

Jesus had made unmistakable claims about his true identity, and the division was growing between those who accepted and those who rejected them. The religious leaders had already decided Jesus was not the Messiah. The crowds who followed him, listening to his teaching and observing his miracles, wondered if Jesus could be the “Son of David” (Matthew 12:23), but their leaders told them he was not.

Jesus began using stories to get his listeners to think. These “parables” hid the truth from those who had already made up their minds to reject Jesus. Those who truly wanted to know Jesus, however, would understand his words.

This first parable features a farmer, seeds, and soils. In ancient Israel, farmers sowed seeds by hand. Walking across the field, the farmer would plant the seeds by scattering handfuls of seed from a large bag slung across the shoulders.

As the farmer in this story walked along, some scattered seeds fell on the compacted soil of the footpath. That would be like grass seeds falling on the sidewalk. The seeds wouldn’t penetrate the earth, so the birds ate them. Other parts of the field were rocky; a shallow layer of soil lay on top of rock. The soil was good, so the seeds sprouted. But with no depth to the soil, the roots couldn’t take hold, and the plants soon withered. Some of the seeds fell among weeds (“thorns”), and the young plants were soon choked out.

Some of the seeds landed in plowed and readied soil, with the depth, space, and moisture to enable the seeds to produce a large crop.

Jesus told the disciples that the types of soil in his parable represent the ways that people respond to the gospel message. Some have hearts so hard, like the “footpath,” that the Word makes no impression. They hear but don’t understand, and Satan, like the birds in the story, snatches the seeds.

“Rocky soil” people seem to accept God’s Good News, but their faith is shallow, not deep or real, and it doesn’t take hold. These people abandon their faith at the first sign of problems or persecution.

The seeds that fall among thorns sprout and take hold but produce no fruit because they are soon crowded out by weeds—the “worries of this life and the lure of wealth” (Matthew 13:22, NLT). These seem to be true believers, but they don’t grow in their faith.

Other people are like the “fertile” or “good soil” (Matthew 13:23, NLT)—they hear the Word and accept it. The seeds penetrate, take root, flourish, and produce fruit. These are the true disciples—those who accept Jesus, believe his words, and allow him to make a difference in their lives.

Getting Personal

When have you encountered people who seemed hardened to hearing God’s message?

When have you seen people with a “rocky soil” faith experience? What told you their Christianity wasn’t real?

What worries and lures threaten to keep you from growing in your faith and producing fruit?

What keeps your “soil” fertile, receptive to God and his work in your life?

Worldly worries, the false sense of security brought on by prosperity, and the desire for material things plagued first-century disciples just as they do us today. Daily routines overcrowd and materialistic pursuits distract believers, choking out God’s Word so that it produces no fruit. God wants us to weed out those thorns, to be fertile ground for his seeds planted in us.

Talking to God

Tell the Lord you are willing for him to remove distractions and worries from your life, and any “weeds” that threaten to keep you from being fertile ground for his work in you.