Good Soil (Mat 13:23)

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, You were very excited about the seed sown onto the good soil. We see Your excitement in the repeated affirmations in the verse of today that Your servant, the Apostle Matthew, recorded. We pray O Lord that You send to us the Holy Spirit, so that we can share in that excitement and be the good soil, yielding much fruit. We pray this through You, Lord Jesus, who reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
The Word: Our verse for consideration today is Mat 13:23 that I repeat from an original translation of the Greek - 23 “And he, upon the good soil, seed was sown, this one is hearing the word and understanding it; he who indeed bears fruit and makes truly a hundredfold, and sixtyfold, and thirtyfold.”[1] In the Biblical Greek, the most important thing to the author appears at the beginning of a sentence. This explains some of the awkwardness of a more literal translation that I provided here. Additionally, the Apostle Matthew included in this verse a few affirmation type words that I rendered as “indeed” and “truly”. Some English translations smooth out these words of affirmation, because they are difficult to render into English where they appear in the sentence. So, I pray with my more literal translation, you see the intensity in which Jesus is communicating the result of the seed of His word landing on good soil and producing crops yielding 100-, 60-, or even 30-fold! Let me be clear: Jesus is excited about what happens when we, the good soil, yield a huge crop of new believers in Him!
Bad seed?: That’s what happens in the good soil. But didn’t the seed get broadcast into many more places? Why would it be that only 1 of 4 places saw the seed grow into a crop (Mat 13:4-8)? What is the root cause of only benefitting from 25% of the seed growing into a crop that can be harvested? Is the seed at fault?
- My analytical mind dug into this parable to draw a conclusion. It appeared twice in the Gospel reading that seed sprouted up in three places. And in the 4th location, the birds ate the seed before it could even settle into the soil. I’m thinking, if the birds ate the seed, there would be zero chance of the seed sprouting. That’s not the fault of the seed.
Experiences: A parable is a story alongside a story. Therefore, Jesus told this parable in His 3rd Discourse of 5 in Matthew, to illustrate what His kingdom was like. The hearers of His word would have understood the farming references of the 1st half of today’s Gospel (Mat 13:3-8) similarly to this community here around Vernon. The farming reference is the story alongside the last half of the reading in vv18-23 - how the kingdom of our Lord advances throughout the world.
- And that advancement of the kingdom starts in the family unit in our home. Good soil parents are to cast seed to their children. Moses wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit - “You shall teach [the words of God] diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.[2] Additionally, the Apostle Paul wrote - Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.[3]
- We see the results in our society when parents don’t scatter the seed to the tender soil of their children. However, for the parents that *did* scatter the seed of God’s word in their household, as I’m sure people here today did, it is unfortunately *rare* that all offspring bear fruit in the kingdom. Can we find fault with parents who did their best to cast the seed to their children? Paul wrote to his children in the faith at Thessalonica - Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God …, that you excel still more. Paul was encouraging the people to continue to walk in the ways of the Lord as they had learned. Additionally, he consoled them when they encounter rejection of the seed they were casting - So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.[4] For you parents who did your best to cast the seed to your children, but the children rejected the seed, please understand you did what God asked of you. Don’t be harsh with yourself if they didn’t continue in the faith.
- But also, don’t give up on them. You can still cast the seed and pray that one day the birds of the air won’t steal the seed away. It’s not a problem with the seed you are casting. And it might not be the birds of the air stealing the seed. It could be the soil.
  - A scripture reading a couple weeks ago noted that a man’s enemies can be in his home. That became personal for me with one of my stepsons. I wished then that I could somehow believe for him, because he once knew God’s word, but later reject it. But that’s not how it works. We can’t believe on behalf of anyone else. Paul wrote - So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.[5] Everyone is responsible for their own spiritual health through the grace of the Holy Spirit working in them. God said to the Old Testament (OT) prophet Ezekiel - “The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.”[6] This can be distressing for parents who love their children, but ultimately, the children need to be making their soil fertile for the Word to grow in their soul.
Soil conditions: What does making soil fertile look like? To answer that, let’s take a practical look at the soil conditions Jesus mentioned in His parable of the sower.
- The first soil condition was the path. The seeds in this scenario didn’t even make it into the soil. Birds of the air ate up the seed before it could even be covered with soil. On its surface, it seems unfair that the seed never got into the soil to do any good. Didn’t God tell us in the OT reading for today that His word accomplishes His purpose?
  - Remember, a parable is a story alongside a story. This parable is one of Jesus’ ways to convey what His kingdom is like. Yes, it’s true that God’s word accomplishes what He wants it to accomplish. But He also respects the sovereignty of everyone. He didn’t create mind-numb robots to praise Him. He blessed us with free will.
  - The birds of the air are people who hear God’s word and they cover their ears so they don’t hear it. They repel the seed of the Word before it even hits the ground.
  - Another “bird of the air” is people who will only believe what can be seen or proven. For them, that means the miracles God showed us in His word couldn’t possibly have happened. One of the steps of the Scientific Method is can you reproduce an experiment and get the same result. If not, then the experiment is not scientifically valid. Here’s an example – the virgin birth of a son (Mat 1:23,25); cannot be recreated. The earth not rotating for a day so that Israel could defeat an enemy in extended sunlight (Jos 10:12-14); not possible. The earth rotates on its axis at over a thousand miles/hr. There’s too much inertia caused by the mass of the earth to suddenly stop.
  - Think about it; would it be a miracle from God if it were something man could recreate in a lab? Nonetheless, these are examples of birds stealing away the seed before it sets in the ground.
- The second soil condition is rocky. The good news for the seed was it sprouted. However, it had shallow roots and so didn’t live long. The story alongside is what Jesus sees in His kingdom.
  - There are a lot of gifted public speakers who claim to be preaching God’s word. People respond to this public speaking with joy. God gave us people with various callings for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. This in turn causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.[7] If what you’re hearing from a preacher doesn’t fit into this paradigm, it doesn’t matter how much joy it brings to listen to him. He’s spreading seed that will only grow shallow roots.
  - You may think my assessment is harsh. But it’s similar to eating a diet of only carbohydrates versus a balanced diet. Rocky soil people joyfully receive the seed of the Word – until there’s something to be done. You can’t just hear the good stuff from God and ignore what you don’t like. You can’t just listen without also putting the word into practice. James, half-brother of Jesus, wrote - But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.[8]
  - Let me give an example. Preaching to people they must repent from their sins is tough and therefore not popular (Luke 3:7-9). John the Baptist didn’t pull any punches when he preached - Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance…[9] Who wants to hear they need to repent, that is turn from your sinful ways – except someone with deeper roots living by God’s word.
- The third soil condition is thorns. This is the scenario where the Word grows, but various worries distract and choke off the Word.
  - Have you ever been in a conversation with someone, when you’re having to frequently repeat what you’re saying? They’re hearing you fine, but their mind is on other things. This is what rocky soil people are doing when the seed of God’s Word is cast. The resulting growth of the seeds gets choked off because of distractions with what’s going on in life. The Psalmist wrote - 2 Give heed to me and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted, 3 Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the pressure of the wicked; For they bring down trouble upon me And in anger they bear a grudge against me.[10]
  - We can help ourselves out with distractions, by limiting how much time we pay attention to things that ultimately don’t matter to us. Social media and its often times toxic content can especially affect us, because of the algorithms run to deliver to us content that we frequent. There needs to be quiet time in everyone’s life. That’s also when it’s good to have devotion time using material such as Portals of Prayer that we have in the hallway behind the narthex.
- And lastly, we get to the fertile soil scenario. I’ve never been a farmer. Nonetheless, my yard experience tells me the grass and plants need regular care. In John ch#15[11], Jesus talked about God the Father being a vinedresser and Jesus being the vine to which all believers are attached. We are in fertile soil when we abide in Jesus by abiding in His word. We don’t just sprout up and we’re good. It is a continuous effort throughout our lifetime to stay hydrated in good soil so that we do not dry out and become dead wood. Dead wood gets collected and tossed into the fire, because it gets in the way of growth.
  - Fertile soil people are the ones described in Ps 1:1-3 - How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.[12]
Conclusion: God’s word will accomplish its purpose (Isa 55:11). If He wants a miracle done, it will happen whether scientists can reproduce it or not.
- In Isa 55:13, God said instead of nettle, which are sharp, thorny plants, the very fragrant and desirable myrtle will come up. He can work on clearing out the thorns that you ask His help in removing, so that you don’t get choked off by them. But, He can also leave a thorn in the flesh as He did with the Apostle Paul, so that we lean on God’s mercy and trust in Him.[13]
- This leads to a cautionary warning. Don’t get in the way of God’s word accomplishing its purpose by focusing on the wrong things in life. We are adopted sons of God. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men and by craftiness in deceitful scheming.[14]
  - Instead, we need to focus on what’s important as Paul noted in today’s Epistle - 12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, *not* to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.[15]
  - And with that proper focus, we need to be vigilant to not get distracted with the troubles of this Age. The sisters Mary and Martha were visited by Jesus one day. Mary sat down at Jesus’ feet, listening to everything He was saying while Martha was distracted with all her preparations. Martha complained to Jesus to have Mary assist. Jesus responded to her by saying, 41 …“Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”[16] Please keep this in mind as you work through which kind of soil you want to be the rest of your life. God did give us free choice in how we lead a sanctified life. Amen.

[7] Summary of Eph 4:11-16

[8] Jas 1:22 from NASB95 at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/jas/1/22/t_conc_1147022

[9] Portion of Luk 3:8 from NASB95 at https://www.blueletterbible.org/nasb95/luk/3/8/t_conc_976008

[10] Ps 55:2-3 from NASB95 at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ps%2055&version=NASB1995

[11] Reference specifically John 15:1-11

[12] Ps 1:1-3 from NASB95 at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ps%201&version=NASB1995

[13] Reference 2Co 12:7-10

[14] Reference Eph 4:14

[15] Rom 8:12-14 from NASB95 at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rom%208&version=NASB1995

[16] Luke 10:41-42 from NASB95 at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luk%2010&version=NASB1995

St. Paul Lutheran Church

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