The purpose of this series is to look carefully at the sayings of Jesus of Nazareth during His earthly ministry. Though Jesus spoke more than 31-thousand words in His 36-42 months on earth, what we have recorded in the New Testament are the exact words God wants us to know from the mouth of our Lord and Savior.

We have read the words of Jesus to His mother when He was a young boy, the words He spoke to John the Baptist when He began His earthly ministry, the the words He spoke to Satan in the wilderness, and the words He spoke as He called twelve men to follow Him into ministry. We invite you to download and share the first free eBook in this series with family and friends. Knowing who Jesus is, what He said and what He wants is vital to our life.

In the last part of our series, we began looking at the private sayings of Jesus to His disciples as He sent them out with His power to preach the Kingdom of Heaven. We move now to another of the private meetings Jesus had with the Twelve.

Jesus Reveals A Mystery

As we saw in our last study, the disciples wondered why Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds that followed Him. Parables were a common form of teaching in Judaism, but Jesus used them in a different manner. He spoke them but didn’t explain them. You may remember that the disciples asked Jesus why He did that and how Jesus responded:

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Matthew 13:13

You can read our notes from the last study for more detail about what Jesus answered that way.

The disciples asked Jesus that question after He spoke a particular parable concerning a sower who went out to sow seed. Some of seed fell by the wayside, some fell on stony places, some fell among thorns, and some fell on good ground. Sowing seed was what people did in the 1st century if they wanted food from the ground. The people who followed Jesus could understand the physical aspect of the action of the sower; many of them had probably done that themselves. However, they were not able to understand the spiritual implications. Jesus saved that explanation for a private meeting with His disciples. Let’s compare what He said during the meeting from the three Gospel accounts of it:

Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 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. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Matthew 13:18-23

And He said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 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. Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 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. 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. Mark 4:13-20

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 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. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. Luke 8:11-15

Mark’s account includes what appears to be a slight rebuke to the disciples’ question – “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” I think Jesus used that statement as a teaching tool. It would certainly get the disciples’ attention and cause them to think more carefully about future parables the Lord would speak publicly.

This was an important parable for the disciples to understand because it went to the heart of their calling. When Jesus called Peter and his brother to become His disciples, He said – “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). Peter and Andrew were fishermen and would have understood something about their calling from Jesus’ words. James and his brother John were also fishermen and would have understood. How would the disciples “catch” men? Through the Word of God.

As Jesus said plainly to His disciples – “The seed is the word of God.” The “seed” the disciples would sow would never change. It would always be the Word of God. What did change was where the seed landed. Same sower, same seed, but different landing locations.

  • Wayside
  • Stony places
  • Among thorns
  • Good ground

Three of the four landing locations were not good ground for the seed (the Word of God) to grow.

  • Seed that lands on wayside becomes food for the birds of the air. Satan snatches the Word of God away before a person can believe and be saved. The Gospel doesn’t penetrate their hearts.
  • Seed that lands on stony (rocky) places springs up quickly because the dirt is not deep. The sun scorches the young plant and it withers away. That’s like people who hear and receive the Word with joy, but because they don’t have a good root they fall away when tempted. They stumble when tribulation or persecution arise because of the Word of God. They are not able to endure. These are people we know who make an emotional decision to follow Jesus, but abandon Him when the going gets tough.
  • Seed that lands among thorns are choked out by the thorns. Those are people who hear God’s Word and go out, but the cares, deceitful riches, and pleasures of life choke them and they become unfruitful. They bring no fruit to maturity. These are people who hear God’s Word but love the world too much to become committed followers of Jesus Christ.

The Word of God did not impact the lives of the hearers in any permanent way. They did not bear fruit.

The only landing location that produces a good crop is the good ground. Those are the people who hear the Word of God “with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.” Jesus said that they were the people who “hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

Bearing fruit goes to the heart of being a disciple of Christ. Jesus would later tell His disciples – “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit … By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (John 15:2, 18). Not every disciple bears the same volume of fruit, but all disciples will bear much fruit.

Jesus shared many more parables with the crowds in public and with the disciples in private, but this parable of the sower and the seed would be foundational to the disciples understanding of their ministry. It would remind them through the years how to determine how people were receiving their message and who were true disciples of Jesus. They would know them by their “fruit.”

[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]

Next Time

We will look at another “private” meeting between Jesus and His disciples in the next part of our special series, And Jesus Said.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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