Mt. 13:1 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.
Mk. 4:1a And again He began to teach by the sea.
We are told very clearly that this parabolic form of teaching begins on the very same day that the rejection occurred. In fact, this will be true of the next several segments that are to follow. This is a very important point to remember as it fixes the mind set for what happens in the next several segments. This is a very clear instance where the context is so important in understanding what is going on. Without it, getting the full impact of this situation would be completely lost.
Yeshua’s parable of the four kinds of soil was told in a volcanic area where everyone knew what good soil was. Many thorns would appear during the summer months. This shoreline is also the major highway for all north-south travel, making it easy to imagine some seeds falling on the beaten path.
Mt. 13:2 And great multitudes were gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Mk. 4:1b And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.
Lk. 8:4a And when a great multitude had gathered, and others had come to Him from every city,
Even with the rejection of the national leadership, many people evidently weren’t convinced that their leaders were telling them the truth. While it is true that some might have been just curiosity seekers, this crowd that was still following Yeshua wanted more of what He had to offer. You cannot keep teaching people things for years and years, and then expect them to dismiss what they have been taught very quickly.
Mt. 13:3a Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying,
Mk. 4:2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:
Lk. 8:4b He spoke by a parable:
Now before we go any further, let’s basically define what a parable is. A parable is a story or figure of speech in which a moral or spiritual truth is illustrated from analogies of every day life. For the most part parables have one main point, and it is very often wrong to make every little point of parable to mean something. Parabolic teaching was very common among the Rabbis, although it was for an entirely different purpose. Yeshua told parables to hide the truth, where the Rabbis used them to illustrate it. In M:Sotah 9:15 it says, “When Rabbi Meier died, those who taught by parables ceased.” So, at a certain point in Rabbinic history there was a cessation of teaching by parables. Yeshua taught about God’s reign in parables. He vividly illustrated through parables the progressive growth of the Kingdom as it compared to the mysterious power of a mustard seed and the unfathomable fermenting properties of leaven in the dough. God’s Kingdom is not delivered into the hands of selected leaders in order to control the lives of others. It cannot be viewed only as a future event reserved for the day of judgment. The Kingdom is a present reality for those people who chose to obey the teachings of Yeshua, to accept God’s redemptive power in their lives, and to exemplify the qualities of discipleship and servanthood in a hurting and needy world. The Kingdom is here!!! It is like a mustard seed that grows into a tree. It is like leaven that permeates the entire loaf.
Mt. 13:3b “Behold, a sowe r went out to sow.”
Mk. 4:3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.”
Lk. 8:5a “A sower went out to sow his seed.”
A tale is told; a moral is pointed out. The effect of the parable is to throw the question back to the listener, to provoke a different answer from before. It also throws the reader’s personal situation into relief, so that every time it is read it can mean something different. There is an important distinction between an allegory and a parable. In an allegory, every element in the story has its own counterpart in real life, such as the allegorical explanation appended to the parable of the sower, each step having its own explanation. More often, a parable makes a single point. Many parables can be given allegorical interpretations, either by modern scholars or sometimes the Bible itself. Yet such allegorical interpretations limit the extent to which the parable can influence the reader or the listener. To summarize: a parable uses symbols to restate the premise in a new way, in terms of the listener’s own experience.
The parable (mashal) was used as a teaching method, for opening the door to understanding a particular point in an argument, or a particular passage of Torah. The parables in Rabbinic literature are generally shorter and simpler than those found in the Gospel narratives; most comparisons are brief, perhaps with one point of comparison, rarely with more, lasting for a few lines. Yeshua’s parabolic method of teaching was also a fulfillment of prophecy: “I will open My mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.” Psalm 78:2, 3)
Source: Psalm 78:2, 3
Mt. 13:4 “And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.” Mk. 4:4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.”
Lk. 8:5b “And he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.”
Mt. 13:5 “Some fell on stony places, where they did not have enough earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth..”
Mk. 4:5 “Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. “
Lk. 8:6a “Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up,”
Mt. 13:6 “But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.”
Mk. 4:6 “But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.”
Lk. 8:6b “It withered away because it lacked moisture.”
Mt. 13:7 “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.”
Mk. 4:7 “And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. “
Lk. 8:7 “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it,
Mt. 13:8 “But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
Mk. 4:8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
Lk. 8:8a “But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundred fold.”
Mt. 13:9 “He who has ears, let him hear.”
Mk. 4:9 And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Lk. 8:8b When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Mt. 13:10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
Mk. 4:10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.
Lk. 8:9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”
Yeshua discipled His followers in the fashion of a typical first-century itinerant teacher of Judaism. Not in a synagogue classroom, but on a hillside, in fields, and in remote locations. This Galilean carpenter’s son clustered many pupils about Him. Yeshua was articulate, and He drew much of His rich teaching material from the Hebrew Scriptures and from Rabbinic traditions familiar to His day. But, He also taught directly on His own authority, which sometimes resulted in the inability of His disciples to understand.
Here we do have a difference between two of the Gospel accounts. In Matthew’s account the disciples come to Yeshua and ask Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” In Luke’s account they ask Him, “What does this parable mean?” Two entirely different questions, and the Bible does not give any reason for this. Possibly some of the disciples asked one of the questions and other disciples asked the other question. We don’t know. It really doesn’t make that much difference, anyway.
Mt. 13:11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given.”
Mk. 4:11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables.”
Lk. 8:10a And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables,
Mt. 13:12 “For who ever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but who ever does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”
Mt. 13:13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”
Yeshua makes His feelings very clear in this verse. He will continue to teach and instruct His disciples concerning the Kingdom of God. But, to those who reject Him, He wants nothing further to do with them. This should be a scary thought to unbelievers. Unbelief does not justify anything. But, it does carry a very heavy cost. For those who believe, it opens the door to the Kingdom of God and all its blessings. Those who do not believe, in the end, will lose even what little they do have.
Mt. 13:14 “And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive;’”
Mk. 4:12a “So that, ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.’”
Lk. 8:10b “That, ‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.”
Mt. 13:15 “For the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.”
Mk. 4:12b “Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.”
This is actually a reference from the Book of Isaiah, “And he said, ‘Go, say to that people: “Hear indeed, but do not understand; see, indeed, but do not grasp;” Dull that people’s mind, stop its ears, and seal its eyes – lest, seeing with its eyes and hearing with its ears, it also grasps with its mind, and repent and save itself.’”
Source: Isaiah 6:9, 10
The Word of God proves itself true again. And yet, the people will have only themselves to blame for their consequences. Because if they had stayed close to God and opened their hearts to His Word, the outcome would have been completely different. While it is true that the Pharisees and scribes spent most of their time teaching the people, they had led them into a religion of false legalism and dualism. This should be a warning sign to the church today, but the modern church is doing the same thing. Most of the Jewish nation would pay a very dear price for the hardness of their hearts. Only those who believe and obey will escape. Wake up, church!!!
Mt. 13:16 “But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear.”
Why would Yeshua want to hide the truth from the people? Here again we go back to what just happened. Yeshua’s Messiahship had just been rejected by the leadership. None of the people stood up to them to question their decision. Silence normally means agreement. Yeshua would present the truth to them, but in order to receive it, it would take a change of heart on the part of the individual. Repentance would be the beginning.
The Word of God proves itself true again. And yet, the people will have only themselves to blame for their consequences. Because if they had stayed close to God and opened their hearts to His Word, the outcome would have been completely different. Most of the Jewish nation would pay a very dear price for the hardness of their hearts. Only those who believe and obey will escape.
Mt. 13:17 “For assuredly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
Mk. 4:13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?”
The point of this statement is that the meaning of this parable is the key to understanding all the other subsequent parables. That is why He will go into great detail explaining the first parable , and little or no detail regarding the subsequent parables. It seems that here Yeshua is putting His disciples on notice that from here on out they will be hearing a lot of parables (which they do), so they need to pay attention and increase their understanding of what parabolic teaching is all about. He is not going to explain the parables to the crowds, so they need to sharpen their wits in this area.
Mt. 13:18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower.”
Lk. 8:11a “Now the parable is this:
Lk. 8:11b “The seed is the Word of God.”
The Lord tells His disciples the meaning of what the seed is – the Word of God. It is important to apply this same meaning of the seed, and the same meanings to the other symbols, to all the other parables also.
Mk. 4:14 “The sower sows the Word.”
The sower is Yeshua, the Messiah. It is His teachings that will usher in the Kingdom of God for those who believe.
Mt. 13:19 “When anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.”
Mk. 4:15 “And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. And when they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.
Lk. 8:12 “Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.”
This Age of the Messiah (Olam haMashiach) will be characterized by the sowing of the Gospel seed. The first response is that of pure unbelief, and the birds of the air are the agents of Satan who will snatch the seed away, and there is no belief at all.
Mt. 13:20 “But he who received the Word on stony places, this is he who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy;”
Mk. 4:16 “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
Lk. 8:13a “But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy;
This parable teaches that this age will be marked by different preparations of the soil. These are people who do accept and who do believe. But, because they are not rooted in God’s Word, they fail to produce the fruit needed. How much clearer could it be than that we need to study the Word of God as if our lives depend on it. They do.
Mt. 13:21 “Yet he has no root within himself, but endures only for a little while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately he stumbles.”
Mk. 4:17 “And they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.”
Lk. 8:13b “And these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.”
Mt. 13:22a “Now he who received the seed among thorns is he who hears the Word,
Mk. 4:18 “Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,
Lk. 8:14a “And the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they heard,
The age is furthermore marked by opposition that will come from the world, the flesh and the devil. This is a response also of those who believe but their problem is not a lack of opportunity to be rooted in the Word. They allowed themselves to be choked by the cares of the world.
Mt. 13:22b “And the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and he becomes unfruitful.”
Mk. 4:19 “And the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
Lk. 8:14b “Go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”
Mt. 13:23 “But he who received the seed on good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Mk. 4:20 “But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
Lk. 8:15 “But the ones that fell on good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”
This is the response of those who are rooted in the Word of God, hear His message and respond positively to it. They will receive the blessings of God. The amounts Yeshua gives here are not to be taken literally, as a lot of people do. He is painting a word picture of the different capacities that believers have. Not everyone will produce on the same level, but all will produce.
Mk. 4:21 And He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand?”
Lk. 8:16 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those that enter may see the light.”
Mk. 4:22 “For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.”
Lk. 8:17 “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.”
The word “Apocrypha” comes from the Greek word meaning “hidden” or “secret.” It was used by the Gnostics even at this early date to speak of their esoteric works which were only available to the initiated. This can be evidenced in the Coptic Books of Jen and the Apocrypha of John, which both gave stern warnings against communicating their information to any unauthorized person. It is with this Gnostic idea in mind that Yeshua and Paul mention the term secret things in their messages (Mark 4:22; Col. 2:3). The church, on the other hand, only recognized those writings which were read in public.
This is a good place to say something about some of these denominations and/or organizations that have their secret rituals and teachings. These things are not Biblical. Neither is the practice that some churches have of not allowing persons to participate in communion in their church because that person is not a “member” of that particular church. The Word of God is open to all who will receive it. No church, denomination, or organization has the right to withhold the Word of God from anyone. Nor are there any secret teachings outside of the Bible that have anything to do with the church. If anyone tells you that you cannot participate in their services or teachings without you first joining their church and participating in some secret ritual to first make you worthy, stay away from them. They are heretics. That type of practice was birthed in Gnosticism which was, until recently, the greatest heresy to ever enter the church. The petition being passed around through the Catholic Church asking the Pope to declare Miriam to be the “co-redemtrix” with Yeshua surpasses any heresy that man has tried to perpetrate on believers any time in church history.
Mk. 4:23 “If anyone has ears, let him hear.”
Mk. 4:24 “And He said to them, “Take heed of what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.”
Lk. 8:18a “Therefore take heed how you hear.
Mk. 4:25 “For whoever has, to him more will be given; but to whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”
Lk. 8:18b “For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”
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