Page 3 - The Parables of Jesus

But there are three other types of “soil” where the seed of God’s Word lands. The next type is likened to “stony ground” with a thin layer of topsoil. There, the seed sprouts quickly but has shallow roots. As a result, when the weather becomes hot and dry, they soon wither. Jesus explained this is like people who hear the news of God’s coming Kingdom and become excited and emotional at first, but since they have not proved the truth deeply and thoroughly, they abandon it when faced with trials and difficulties.
The third type of seed is that which falls on “soil” that Christ compares to bushes with thorns. In that case, the seeds sprout but weeds and thorns eventually choke them. This is like people who receive the truth of God and begin to grow but then allow the cares of this life and the deceptiveness of riches (“get rich quick schemes”) to choke the effectiveness of God’s truth!
Finally, there is a fourth type of seed. This is that group of seeds that falls on good soil. These seeds germinate fully and produce fruit. Some produce a good crop and some a lesser crop, but all grow to full maturity and yield a good harvest. The lesson that Christ wanted His disciples to understand was that, as they went about proclaiming the wonderful news of the coming Kingdom of God and all that it entails, they could expect that many would fail to respond at all, and even of those who do respond, only a few come to full maturity; some may respond quickly but will just as quickly turn away; others remain a bit longer but eventually “drop out” because of worldly distractions and pursuits. Only a tiny number of the seed sown lands on fertile soil, grows to full maturity and produces mature, fruit-bearing plants.
The next parable in Matthew 13 is the parable of the “tares” or weeds. Here we read of a landowner who sows good seed in his field. But, while the landowner sleeps, an enemy creeps in and plants weeds (“tares”) among the wheat. When the wheat sprouts and produces a crop, both the wheat and the tares grow side by side. A point of interest is that tares are weeds that look very much like wheat in the early stages, but they never produce grain for harvesting. In this parable, the landowner tells his servants not to uproot the tares during the growing season, to prevent uprooting some of the wheat. Instead, he instructs them to let them both grow together until the harvest, at which time the tares will be gathered, bundled and burned. Then, the wheat will be harvested and gathered into the master’s barn.
Like the parable of the sower and the seed, this parable of the tares is used by Jesus to show his disciples how people will react to the news of God’s Kingdom. Much of the seed they sow will fail to grow due to persecution or by being choked by the cares of this world. Only a few will come to harvest, and even then, some of what grows will not be seed that they had planted but will be “tares” (unwanted weeds) sown by the enemy – the wicked one, Satan the devil.
As the Church grew during the first century, it became obvious that not everyone “in the church” was truly converted – not the result of godly seed. Many were carnal people who were never spiritually a part of the Church, the spiritual organism that Jesus founded and was building. Jesus wanted his disciples to understand what would happen and that He had anticipated it all from the start.
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