Luke 8:4–15

⁴ And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, ⁵ “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

⁹ And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, ¹⁰ he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ ¹¹ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. ¹² The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. ¹⁴ And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵ As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today, I’m taking a different approach on how I’m preaching this text. We’ll use the parable and explanation as a lens through which we look at what is happening in this text. You’re all smart people, so I think you’ll catch on pretty quickly.

One day Jesus saw massive crowds coming toward Him. So many had come to listen to Him teach that Matthew actually lets us know that Jesus had to teach from a boat while the crowds listened from the beach (Mt. 13:1-9). But Jesus didn’t see this as just another day at the lake. No. He saw fields that were ripe unto seeding. He saw ground that was ready to be planted with God’s Word. So, Christ reached into His bag and started throwing the good Seed of God’s Word as far and wide as He possibly could.

As He taught, Jesus threw some seed on the path. He noticed that some were not paying much attention. They were nodding off or distracted by one thing or another. They could hear His voice, that wasn’t the issue. But He could tell that the Seed of the Word wasn’t sinking in. Christ wasn’t worried about this. Jesus knew He could get a harvest there, but He didn’t want the Seed to be trampled down or eaten by the birds. So, Jesus took out His plow. He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” But even though the plow broke the soil up, it quickly went back to being impermeable. The seed just stayed on the top. And Jesus watched in grief as the birds came and devoured the precious Seed from the soil of the path.

As Jesus taught, He threw some Seed on the rocks. Christ saw that they were joyfully listening and excited to hear. But Jesus also knew their excitement would die down, their joy would fade, and they would soon face times of testing. The Seed Jesus was spreading grew up quickly, but the roots weren’t digging down because of the rocks underneath. Jesus knew the sun would soon come out with its heat. Plants need the sun and its warmth, but if those plants didn’t have roots that could find moisture, they would wither and die. So, Jesus rolled up His sleeves to pick the rock out of that soil. He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” But the rocks just kept returning. No matter how many tons of rock Jesus removed, there was always more. And Jesus grieved as the hot sun of those trials beat down on the soil, and the plants withered away before the Word could produce fruit in that rocky soil.

As Jesus taught, He threw some seed among the thorns. Christ saw others who were listening, but those thorns threatened the growth of the precious Seed. Christ knew those listeners would go back to their homes and focus on other things – their jobs, their families, and their houses. Even though Jesus Himself had given those good gifts, He knew that soil loved those thorns more than the Word, and if those thorns weren’t plucked and picked, they would choke out the Seed of the Word. So, again, Jesus rolls up His sleeves to remove those thorns by calling out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” With those words, Jesus carefully and meticulously uprooted the thorns, but they kept coming back. The Seed of God’s Word was there and growing. But Christ mourned as He watched the thorns of the cares, riches, and pleasures of life prevent that soil from producing fruit.

But there was a fourth kind of soil that did produce fruit. In fact, it produced a miraculous harvest of a hundredfold. What made this soil good? Well, we have to remember that there is no soil that is naturally and natively good. No. Jesus, the Sower always tends what He plants with His Word. Everywhere Jesus sows the Word of God will look like an unlikely place to produce fruit, but as He continues to work on the soil, He brings about a harvest by plowing, picking, and plucking the unworthy soil.

Even the twelve disciples were those bad soils. Think of Thomas as the soil of the path. Easter evening, the Gospel Seed was tossed onto Thomas. He heard that Jesus had risen from the dead, but the birds simply devoured that Seed. Thomas refused to be tilled and softened, but Jesus didn’t give up on Thomas. Christ continued to dig His plow into the hard soil of Thomas’ heart. And one week later, Thomas believed and confessed Christ as his Lord and God (Jn. 20:24-28).

Think of Peter as the rocky soil. Peter had been warned about falling into the temptation of denying Jesus three times. Peter needed to produce the fruit of fleeing temptation, but his stone-hard heart didn’t let the roots of Jesus’ warning find the moisture it needed. Peter was withered in the hot sun of that test. Three times Peter denied knowing Jesus (Jn 18:15-18, 25-27). The Seed planted in him got scorched, but Jesus hadn’t given up on Peter either. Christ continued to sow the seed of His Word and remove the rocks from Peter’s heart. Through the labor of Jesus’ sowing and tending the soil of Peter’s heart, Peter was restored and produced great fruit as he later fed, tended, and shepherded Jesus’ lambs (Jn 21:15-19).

Several of the disciples were also the thorny soil. They saw Jesus anointed with expensive ointment shortly before He was arrested and thought it was a complete waste (Mk. 14:3-9). They were choked out by the cares and riches of this life, but Christ didn’t give up on them either. Jesus continued to pull and pluck those thorns by teaching them how that anointing was preparing Him for His burial. The sad reality, though, is that for all of Jesus’ plucking and tending, the soil of Judas Iscariot’s heart still ended up being choked out by the thorns of thirty pieces of silver (Jn. 12:4; Mt. 26:14-16).

Dear saints, all of this is to say that Jesus, the Sower, doesn’t merely scatter the Seed of His Word, walk away, and only come back periodically to see what’s happened with His precious Seed. No! He is the constant gardener. He continually scatters the Seed of His Word which guides, teaches, forgives, feeds, and strengthens you. He also digs and plows to break up the hard soil. He clears the soil of rocks and thorns. Through His Word, He corrects, exhorts, and rebukes. Some of what He does is gentle. He consoles, comforts, and encourages by declaring His love, mercy, and forgiveness. And Jesus constantly guards His field to protect what He has planted (Is. 5:1-7). He does all of this, the planting, the tending, the weeding, and the guarding so that the Seed of His Word gets well-rooted to produce abundant fruit in and through you.

Dear saints, you are God’s children. Through His Word, He gives you an honest and good heart. Yes, you are attacked by the devil, threatened by temptation, and seduced by the cares and riches of this world. But by God’s grace, He will sustain you as He continues to work on you through that same holy and precious Word. May that Word be deeply rooted in each of us today and always. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.