419. Walking in the Word, The Parable of the Soils

Jesus taught the Parable of the Soils for you! God wants YOUR life to blossom in HIS nutrient-rich soil. Walk through this scripture as Julie Jenkins unpacks Jesus' teaching. (Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-25, and Luke 8:4-18)

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Welcome to Walking in the Word the biblical teaching arm of the women world leaders podcast. I'm your host, Julie Jenkins. And I'm so glad that you have joined us today as we continue our walk through the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Today we are going to take a step back and look at one of my favorite parables - the parable of the soils. Parables can be difficult to understand because their meaning is veiled. And as we find out in our reading today, that was intentional. We will look at this further in a bit. But for now, I should highlight that like the rest of the Bible, the true intended meaning of the parables told by Jesus cannot be understood, without guidance from God Himself.

If you are trying to develop a habit of reading the Bible, but are having a difficult time understanding it, I would encourage you to seek God in prayer before you begin your study. After all, if you are reading a book written by a friend and had a question, wouldn't you call the author and ask what he meant as he wrote. I want to encourage you that you do know the author of the Bible, and you can approach Him at any time. With that said, let's begin in prayer. 

Dear most holy God, thank you for always meeting us where we are, and for always providing us with the teaching you need us to hear.God I pray that you will be with my words today. Allow your teaching and illumination of your Word to pour through me. Father, we want to grow closer to you and we want to glorify Your name. And I pray in Jesus name that you will accomplish both through each person listening today.Thank you for sending us your Word and for being present with us to interpret your meaning. In Jesus' name, I pray, amen.

Today's reading comes from Matthew 13, verses one through 23 and is also recoded in Mark 4 verses one through 25, and Luke eight, verses four through 18.

As we go through the study together today, you will notice that this parable is presented twice in the Bible, with an interlude explaining why.

As we open, we see Jesus speaking to a very large crowd. Let's begin in Mark, chapter four, verse one from the New Living Translation. 

"Once again, Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore."

Can you picture the scene? The crowd was so large Jesus had to get into a boat. He was like a magnet, drawing people to Him, yet He made sure that those who came to hear Him, COULD hear Him. When someone makes the effort to come to Jesus, Jesus will make sure nothing stops them.

Today, locals set this scene at an inlet about a mile from Capernaum called the Cove of Parables. In this cove, the land slopes down like a natural amphitheater, providing natural acoustics so that the whole crowd would have been able to hear Jesus from the boat.

Meanwhile, the water between the boat and the shore provided a natural separation like a stage, allowing all to not only hear, but also to see Jesus.

I just have to pause here for us to take notice of the providence of God. You probably know that this podcast comes out on Wednesdays which means that Tuesdays are generally the day I buckle down at my computer in preparation. Well, this week, I'm a little behind. And as I sit here, the sun is going down on Tuesday. And yet, as I remember my day, I thank God for His provision.

We have an exciting week at Women World Leaders, so things have been busy. On Friday, we have a new book launch to celebrate! If you've been around Women World Leaders for any length of time, you understand that this is a big deal. We spend months working with women and men as they process and write about their God story. This is important for the authors, but it is also important for the reader, as we know that God has already planned who He wants to empower with the stories He has already been so present in. 

So even as I sit here this evening with the sun going down, I am thanking God for His provision and glory for this soon-to-be-released book, and thanking Him that He has all things in His control - even the words He wants spoken in this podcast. When we walk in obedience to God, we can trust that He will make all things work together for the good of those who love Him. That means He will make sure the right reader reads our books, the right words are said on each podcast, and that NOTHING will EVER stop His followers from hearing His voice - even when there is so large of a crowd that Jesus has to get in a boat. 

The natural amphitheatre and the boat on the water where Jesus found himself was God's perfect provision. Allowing all those who had come to both see and hear Jesus.

So Jesus began teaching the crowd from the boat. You've probably heard this parable before, but allow me to read it from the book of Mark.

"Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed and he scattered it across his field. Some of the seed fell on a footpath and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow.But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn't have deep roots, it died.

Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so that they produced no grain.

Still, other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was 30, 60m and even 100 times as much as had been planted.

Then he said, anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand."

This was a parable that the people could easily relate to, yet it is likely that many didn't understand the true meaning.

The listeners could picture the farmer, walking along a field with a cross body satchel generously throwing out seed as it was a common occurrence. They could also understand that sometimes the fields there were less than desirable. The walking paths often went alongside the fields, so it was understandble that some seed would have fallen on a path to be trampled.

And the terrain of the area was rocky. So even in the fields, sometimes the soil was shallow - just a thin layer of topsoil covering the rock.

And of course weeds have been around as long as farming.

But I'm guessing that although the story was engaging, many must have questioned its meaning. Who was the farmer? What did the seed represent? And what did He mean by the phrase "anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand"?

I can imagine the crowd muttering and touching their ears as they walked away.

Well, even the disciples were likely perplexed as they later asked Jesus, as Matthew records, "Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?"

The disciples wanted to know why Jesus spoke in these riddles,

Jesus responds that he uses parables so that those who listen will be given an abundance of knowledge and will understand the mysteries that are being revealed. Through these stories, Jesus is offering divine revelation of God's kingdom, available to those who are seeking to hear from God through the words of Jesus.

Suddenly, we understand that a parable is so much more than a story. But, Jesus adds, the true meaining of the parabales is obscured to those who have walled off their hearts.

Then, proving His point, and because the disciples were earnestly seeking to understand, Jesus explained the actual parable to them. He explains that the seed that is sprinkled by the farmer represents the Word of God.

God assures that every individual has the opportunity to hear His message. But whether or not that seed grows, and how it grows, depends on the condition of the hearers heart.

The seed that fell on the footpath, Jesus explains represents those who hear the message about the kingdom but don't seek to understand it. Just like birds who stand and wait for food to fall, Satan stands in wait to devour the knowledge of Christ from us, even though we were created by God himself, to belong to Him, and to love Him.

Next, the seed that fell on the rocky soil germinated, but did not take root and was burned up by the sun. When we don't hold close to God, the world, which has been taken over by the devil and sin and is no longer the ideal environment to grow and thrive, can cause our faith to wilt and die. But when we do seek to follow God, we can be asured that He will see to it that we grow. God will provide the right amount of light, water and nutrients for us to grow exponentially.

Third, the seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear the word, but allow it to be crowded out by worries, and the lure of wealth.

The ultimate goal of a Christian is to grow fruit as we become more and more like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But when we become distracted, though we may stay alive, we often don't produce the fruit that we were intended to.

And finally, the seed that fell on the good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God's Word. They cling to Him, they cling to his guidance and his protection and, as a result, produce a harvest that is multiplied exponentially.

We need to make note that despite the journey of each seed - whether it's trampled underfoot, grows without deep roots only to be burned by the sun, grows steady but does not flourish due to the weeds around it, or if it flourishes in abundance. Each of those journeys take time.

Neither growing nor withering happen quickly. Each takes a lifetime. In fact, we cannot be fully who God intends each of us to be without the passage of time, and without our utter dependence on God Himself.

God is patient. And while we don't grow and flourish in to all we have been called to over night, neither do we fall away with immediacy. And our God continues to pursue us for our lifetime.

Well, one thing that theologians will warn about regarding parables is that they are meant to speak a truth. Parables are not to be dissected or extrapolated, and they are not perfect analogies. This is just one of the reasons why we need God's help for our clear understanding of His Word. So regarding this parable, I do want to make note that while a seed cannot change the location of the soil it is in, we do have the potential to ask God to change the soil of our hearts.

We will go through many seasons in our lifetime. And we should never assume that because we went through a season where the weeds got the best of us, that God cannot miraculously kill those weeds, allowing us to flourish in our God given purpose.

And if you feel like you once had a great start as a follower of Christ, but have been burned from the hot sun and the lack of nutrients in the soil of your heart, know that God is longing to take your withered self and give you new life.

Even if you have been snatched by the devil, please remember that God has the final word. And if you come to him in submission and repentance, giving your life to Christ, God and all the angels above will dance for joy.

If God is speaking to you right now, in the seed of his is His Word is falling on your heart just waiting to grow, but you've not accepted Christ. Please know this is your chance. God is doing a miraculous work in you. Right now. He is fertilizing the soil of your heart, just longing for you to take root in him? Will you Will you pray with me?

Dear Most Holy God, I give you my heart. I asked you to enrich it with your love, grace, mercy and forgiveness. God I am sorry for those times I have turned away from you and I turn to you now. Jesus Christ, I thank you for holding your arms open to me and I willingly run into them. Accepting eternal life in your presence as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you've prayed that prayer with me, welcome to God's kingdom. Expect the soil to feel different! Expect to grow! Expect to see God's glory like you never have before. And also be on alert, expecting the devil to keep trying to snatch you - but at the same time, know God has you firmly in his grip. We don't grow in a vacuum, so I encourage you to reach out to your local church or reach out to us at Women World Leaders and commit to growing in the Lord. God bless you.