He Who Has Ears

If you have your Bible with you, please open it to Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

It's seeding time here in Davidson.

Well, it's really almost over.

My latest intelligence report tells me that it's 85% done.

Thanks, Rob, for that information.

Most are done.

There's still a few that are out there finishing up.

And you've got to know that the question that's probably on all of these farmers' minds

is how will the seeds that I've planted in the ground do this year?

What kind of crop will they produce?

And, of course, there's all kinds of factors that affect that.

There's the moisture in the soil.

There's just the weather in general.

For those who have been having conversations with my neighbor,

do I get hail insurance for my crop or do I not?

Do I risk it this year?

There's all kinds of factors that affect the yield of the harvest.

And this morning as we dig into some of the teachings of Jesus,

one of the things I love about Jesus is that he takes from the ordinary stuff of life,

like farming, to teach extraordinary truths about God and about us

and about the kingdom of God.

For the next four Sundays, we're going to be talking about some of the parables that Jesus told.

All of them are here in Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

And this series of titled Parables of the Kingdom.

Because all of them have to do with the kingdom of God,

revealing something about the kingdom of God.

Well, this morning, the parable that we're going to look at,

Jesus addresses the question of what is not the only factor,

but one of the big factors that affects the yield of the harvest.

Let's read together, starting in verse 1.

Scattering the seed, some fell along the path,

and the birds came and ate it up.

Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil.

It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow,

but when the sun came up, the plants were scorched,

and they withered because they had no root.

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.

Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop,

a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.

Whoever has ears, let him hear.

Now imagine that you're there standing on the shore,

and you're listening to Jesus' voice cascading across the water to you,

and you hear him speak this parable.

What are you thinking?

I imagine that some in the crowd there were thinking,

I came all the way out here to hear this?

Like, tell me something I don't know, Jesus.

This is common sense.

The seed falls in different places,

and depending on where it falls, it produces a crop.

What's so special about that?

What do you mean, whoever has ears, let him hear?

That's common sense.

Well, apparently Jesus' closest followers, the disciples,

they also didn't get it.

So in case we were wondering if Matthew forgot to include some context here

that would make this all make sense,

no, they didn't get it either.

In verse 10, they say this,

the disciples came to him and asked,

why do you speak to the people in parables?

Luke tells us that they asked at the same time specifically,

what's the meaning of this parable?

Mark tells us that this conversation with the disciples

happened while they were alone later.

Why do you speak to the people in parables?

What does this mean?

Why not just tell them directly

what the meaning of the parable is?

You want to be understood, don't you?

Make it clear.

Make it easy.

Jesus goes on and answers their question in verse 11.

He replied,

The reason I speak in parables

is because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven

has been given to you,

but not to them.

Whoever has will be given more

and they will have an abundance.

Whoever does not have,

even what they have will be taken from them.

This is why I speak to them in parables.

Though seeing, they do not see.

Though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah.

You will be ever hearing,

but never understanding.

You will be ever seeing,

but never perceiving.

For this people's heart has become calloused.

They hardly hear with their ears,

and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts,

and turn, and I would heal them.

But blessed are your eyes,

he says to his disciples,

because they see,

and your ears because they hear.

For truly, I tell you,

many prophets and righteous people

longed to see what you see,

but did not see it,

and to hear what you hear,

but did not hear it.

This is Jesus' answer to the question,

why do you speak in parables?

It's interesting.

There's a lot in there.

One of the first things that I notice is

he talks a lot about hearing and seeing.

That's how the parable ended, remember?

He who has ears to hear,

let him hear.

Why do you speak to the crowds in parables?

Why not just tell them directly?

He says a lot about hearing and seeing.

Jesus makes a distinction.

There are people who hear,

and there are people who hear,

who really hear,

who understand.

There are people who see,

and there are people who see,

who really see,

who perceive what's really going on.

So why parables?

Why parables?

Why not just tell them

the meaning of these parables?

Jesus' answer is somewhat surprising.

Verse 11, he says,

because the knowledge of the secrets

of the kingdom of heaven

has been given to you,

but not to them.

What?

That doesn't sound fair.

Why?

I mean,

we are pretty awesome,

but why?

I mean,

we don't know what the disciples

were thinking here.

We know later on,

they were arguing about

which of them was the greatest

and who would have the most prominence

in this coming kingdom.

At the very least, though,

it doesn't seem that the disciples

are showing any signs

of being humble and thankful.

Wow,

it's been given to us,

but not to them.

This is strange.

Why not to everyone?

Why not?

I don't want to spend too much time

on this question of why parables.

It's a big question.

But a few things that we notice

from what Jesus says.

When it comes to these parables,

I speak in parables,

and it seems that there's

a couple different things

going on here.

There's a couple different reasons.

One of those reasons

seems to be to,

at least a little bit,

to veil the truth

of the kingdom.

So that people need to press in

to understand

they need to humble themselves.

They need to,

like the disciples did,

come to Jesus

and ask,

well,

what does this mean?

There's a little bit

of a sense here,

perhaps,

in verse 15,

the reason why

it's veiled like this

is

because

some people

have a heart

that's calloused,

that's hard.

they have hardened

their hearts

towards God.

It says,

they have closed

their eyes,

Jesus says.

Perhaps

a little bit of

just punishment

here.

They have closed

their eyes,

they don't want to see,

they don't want to hear,

and so

I'm going to veil

the truth

so that

those

who will

understand it

will be those

who truly

press in

and seek

to understand

and humble

themselves before me

and come to me.

That seems to be

one purpose here.

And of course,

the other purpose

is

a blessing

to some.

God wants

to give

the knowledge

of the secrets

of the kingdom

of heaven

to some.

Blessed

are your eyes

because they see

and your ears

because they hear.

Well,

why us?

Because we're

awesome?

Well,

no,

not really.

Because we were

somehow

more sensitive

to God

before?

I'm not sure

about that.

Jesus says,

God is going

to give

this knowledge

to you.

And so I'm

going to explain

to you

afterwards

what all these

parables mean.

I'm just going

to tell you.

There's a bit

of a

dual purpose

behind the

parables,

it seems.

In a nutshell,

Jesus speaks

in parables

to veil

the truth

of the

kingdom,

the good

news of

the kingdom

so that

those

who hear

will be

accountable

for what

they have

heard.

They'll be

on the

hook

for what

they have

heard,

but they

will also

be

responsible

to press

in

and seek

and understand

and respond

to what

they have

heard.

And then

there's a

sense of

he's saying

these parables

to reveal

the truth

of God

about the

kingdom.

It's a

parable,

it all

comes back

to this

issue of

hearing

and seeing

and this

kind of

strikes to

the heart

of what

this parable

is all

about.

If

anyone

has ears,

let him

hear,

is what

Jesus said

at the end

of the

parable.

And then

Jesus

goes on

to give

an

explanation

to his

disciples

about

what the

parable

means,

and that's

really what

we want

to look

at with

most of

our time

this morning.

So let's

look at

what Jesus

says in

verse 18.

He says,

listen then

to what the

parable of

the sower

means.

When

anyone

hears the

message about

the kingdom

and does

not understand

it,

the evil

one comes

and snatches

away what

was sown

in their

heart.

This is

the seed

sown along

the path.

The seed

falling on

the rocky

ground refers

to someone

who hears

the word

and at once

receives it

with joy.

But since

they have

no root,

they last

only a short

time.

When

trouble

or persecution

comes because

of the

word,

they quickly

fall away.

The seed

falling among

the thorns

refers to

someone who

hears the

word,

but the

worries of

this life

and the

deceitfulness

of wealth

choke the

word,

making it

unfruitful.

But the

seed falling

on good

soil refers

to someone

who hears

the word

and understands

it.

This is

the one

who produces

a crop

yielding

a hundred,

sixty,

or thirty

times

what was

sown.

The first

thing to notice

in this

explanation,

Jesus calls

this the

parable of

the sower.

That's his

own words.

But he

doesn't really

tell us what

the sower

refers to.

Who is the

sower?

What he

does tell

us,

though,

is what

the seed

represents.

In verse

19,

he says,

when anyone

hears the

message about

the kingdom

or the

word of

the kingdom

and does

not understand

it,

the evil

one comes

and snatches

away what

was sown.

What was

sown?

The seed.

What's the

seed?

The word

of the

kingdom.

The message

of the

kingdom.

Matthew is

the only

one who

records

Jesus

saying this

very specific

thing of

what the

seed is,

that it's

the word

of the

kingdom.

Mark and

Luke both

kind of are

more general.

The seed

refers to

the word

or the

word of

God.

I got

thinking about

this.

Why so

specific?

The word

of the

kingdom,

the message

about the

kingdom.

What's

so significant

about that?

Many people

as they've

read this

parable are

very quick

to kind of

draw the

line and

say,

well,

the seed

represents

the gospel,

the good

news.

Is the

seed the

gospel?

Yes,

it is.

God

but what

I find

really

interesting

is what

Mark says

about the

gospel,

about the

good news

of Jesus.

As Jesus

first begins

to preach,

Mark says

this,

Jesus went

into Galilee

proclaiming the

good news

of God.

And what

was it in

a nutshell?

Mark says

this is what

it was.

The time

has come,

Jesus said.

The kingdom

of God

has come

near.

Repent

and believe

the good

news.

Now,

if I was

to ask

you,

what's our

main message?

I hope

you would

say,

the gospel,

the good

news of

Jesus.

What's

the gospel?

I think

most of us

would say,

I would

say,

that Jesus

died on

the cross

so that we

could be

forgiven of

our sins.

And that

is,

there's a

little bit

of that

here.

He says,

repent

and believe.

Well,

the implication

is that if

we repent

to God

of our

sins,

he will

forgive us

of our

sins.

And the

cross is

the way

that that

happens.

But what

just really

struck a

chord in

me this

week is,

what's the

first thing

that Jesus

says is

the good

news,

the message

of the good

news?

the kingdom

of God

has come

near.

In fact,

in Mark,

back in

Matthew,

sorry,

chapter 4,

he says that

Jesus went

into Galilee

preaching the

good news

of the

kingdom.

It got me

thinking.

I wonder

if we

have tried

to define

or distill

the gospel

too narrowly.

Jesus,

of course,

is the

substitute

that took

our place

for our

sins to be

forgiven.

heaven.

He is

the ransom

that was

paid for

us.

But part

of the

good news,

at least

from what

I'm catching

here from

Matthew and

from Mark,

from Jesus,

is that he

is those

things,

but he

is also

the king.

He is the

king of

this kingdom

of heaven

that God

is bringing,

who has

come to

rule,

has come

to reign.

When's

the last

time you

shared the

gospel,

the good

news,

with someone

and said,

the good

news is

this,

Jesus is

the king

who is

coming,

who has

come and

who is

coming again

to rule

and to

reign and

to establish

the kingdom

of God.

And yet,

that seems

to be the

leading edge,

the leading

emphasis that

Jesus has

as he

declares the

good news.

It's the

good news

of the

kingdom.

And so,

what is our

main message?

This should

be at the

core of

who we

are as

Christians,

at the

core of

our church,

at the

core of

the gospel

that we

preach.

Not just

that we

have a

sacrifice

for our

sins,

but that

we have

a king

who is

bringing

the

kingdom

of God.

He is

Jesus

Christ.

And

Christ

is not

just

his last

name.

As my

daughter

said when

I asked

her,

what's

Jesus'

last name?

It's

Christ.

Christ is

not his

last name.

It's a

title.

It comes

from the

original

Greek word

which means

anointed

one,

which means

more,

but not

less,

than

king.

He is

Jesus'

king.

Jesus

the

king

who brings

the

kingdom

of God

and

establishes

his

rule

and

reign

here on

earth.

And that's

the good

news.

That's part

of it.

I wonder if we've

separated that

too much

though.

The kingdom

of God,

that's a

future thing.

And

salvation,

that's the

present thing.

That's the

thing that

we're most

focused on.

That's what

Matthew

describes as

what Jesus

said is the

seed.

It's the

word of the

kingdom,

the message

about the

kingdom.

kingdom.

And what's

interesting is

that as the

seed is

sown,

it falls on

four different

places.

And there's

four different

outcomes.

But in

every case,

the same

seed fell

on each

of those

places.

In every

case,

Jesus says

this.

In the

first case,

on the

path,

when anyone

hears the

message about

the kingdom,

they heard the

message.

And the

rocky

seed,

the rocky

ground,

the seed

falling on

the rocky

ground,

verse 20,

refers to

someone who

hears the

word.

Verse 22,

the seed

falling among

the thorns

refers to

someone who

hears the

word.

Verse 23,

the seed

falling on

the good

soil refers

to someone

who hears

the word.

In every

case,

it refers to

people who

hear the

word,

who heard

the message

about the

kingdom,

the good

news of

Jesus

Christ.

But even

though they

all hear

it,

not

everyone

hears it

and understands

it.

What makes

the difference?

What makes

the difference?

Let's consider

for a moment

the outcomes.

Four different

outcomes.

the first,

the seed

lands on

the path.

It sits

there until

a bird

comes and

snatches it

away.

I would

say that's

zero yield.

Didn't even

go into

the ground.

In the

second instance,

the seed

goes into

the ground,

but not

too much

later,

after it's

sprouted up,

the sun

scorches

the plant,

and the

plant withers

and dies.

That's

zero yield.

In the

third case,

the seed

goes into

the ground,

the weeds

grow up

around it

and choke

it out

such that

it's

essentially

zero yield.

maybe it

ekes out

its existence

after that

as a

poor,

skimpy little

thing,

but it's

unfruitful,

Jesus says.

Only in

the case

of the

good soil

is there

any

yield.

This

is the

one,

Jesus

says,

who

produces

a crop,

and there's

a variety

of yields,

160

or 30

times

what was

sown.

So there's

essentially

two outcomes.

There's

zero yield

and there's

some yield.

What makes

the difference?

What makes

the difference

between

those who

hear the

word of

the kingdom

and there's

something that

comes out of

that?

There's a

harvest

harvest

and those

who hear

it and

it's

nothing.

It does

nothing for

them.

The simple

answer is

the soil

is the

difference.

That's

the big

factor

that changes

the yield

in all of

these cases.

The soil

is the

difference.

What does

the soil

represent?

Jesus

actually

tells us

in the way

that he

explains

the parable.

The soil

represents

the heart

of the

people

who are

listening,

who are

hearing.

Do you

see that

in verse

19?

He says,

when anyone

hears the

message about

the kingdom

and does

not understand

it,

the evil

one comes

and snatches

away what

was sown

where?

in their

heart.

In each

of these

cases,

the difference

between

hearing

and really

hearing and

understanding

is the

condition of

the soil.

It's the

condition

of the

heart.

There are

some

who have

a hard

heart.

Jesus

talks about

the seed

falling on

the path.

The seed

sits on

top.

The path

is packed

hard.

It doesn't

even go

in.

It doesn't

penetrate.

The barrier

is up.

I'm telling

you about

the God

of the

Bible,

Jesus,

the King.

And I

don't know

if I hear

what you're

saying,

but I'm

not hearing

what you're

saying.

The

firewall is

up.

My heart

is hard

towards

that.

It might

go into

my head.

It might

even sit

there in

my short

term memory

for a

while.

But just

like a

bird comes

and snatches

that seed

off the

path for

breakfast,

the devil

comes and

takes away

what was

sown.

Zero

yield.

There are

some whose

hearts are

hard.

heart.

And that's

why they

don't hear.

Why they

don't

understand and

perceive.

There are

some, and I'm

going to call

this by a

little bit of a

different name,

there are some

whose heart is a

fair weather

heart.

heart.

I don't know if

you've had one of

those friends,

fair weather

friend, person

who's happy to be

with you and

spend time with

you when things

are good, but as

soon as you're in

a jam or in a

bind or things

aren't going

well, it's, oh,

he's not doing so

good.

That's negative

energy there.

I don't want to be

around that.

I like to call

that a fair

weather friend.

Well, there are

some who have a

fair weather

heart.

The word of the

kingdom, the word

of Jesus, the

king, they hear

that.

That sounds good.

I like that.

What Jesus is

promising, what

Jesus is offering,

I want that.

That kingdom

sounds good.

I want to be a

part of that.

until the

going gets

tough.

Maintaining

loyalty to this

king draws some

fire from some

people, some

opposition, and in

some cases, fierce

opposition, and

then, well, I

don't know if it's

for me.

I don't know if I

want to have

anything to do

with Jesus

anymore.

Jesus says,

the sun comes

and scorches

the plant, and

that refers to

trouble or

persecution.

Trouble.

Even just the

difficulty of

following Christ,

of having him as

our king, of

submitting our

lives to him.

Sounds like a

lot of trouble.

Sounds difficult.

And they fall

away.

They don't

persevere.

The reason why,

Jesus says, is

because the soil

is shallow.

The seed, it

goes in, but

beneath the

shallow soil is

rocky.

Rocks.

It's rocky

soil.

The roots can't

get down into

there.

There's something

there that they're

not allowing

those roots to

go deep.

Some people

have a fair

weather heart

when they hear

the word of

God.

Some people

have a

distracted heart

as they listen

to the word

of God.

The third

place that the

seed falls is

among thorns

or weeds.

Jesus describes

how the weeds,

they grow up

around it,

and they

choke out

the plant.

They steal

from the

plant all

of the

water and

the nutrients

that it

needs to

live and

to thrive,

and the

plant,

it loses

the battle.

What are the

weeds?

Jesus names

two here

in Matthew's

telling of the

story.

the first

is the

worries of

this life.

The general

cares and

concerns of

this life

can be like

weeds.

We get so

preoccupied and

focused on

the things of

life, the

concerns of

life.

We get anxious

about it.

Our time and

our attention

is monopolized

by all

of the

stuff that

we have

going on

in life,

all of the

things we

need to

do to

make sure

this is,

make sure

that is,

and there's

no time

and attention

left to

listen and

hear what

God has

said,

the word

of the

kingdom,

to be a

participant

in the

kingdom,

choked

out by

the worries

of this

life.

And this

kind of

goes back

to what

Jesus said

in the

Sermon on

the Mount.

That's why

he said to

his disciples,

do not worry

about your

life.

Do not be

anxious about

your life,

what you will

eat or

drink or

what you

will wear.

Is not

life more

than food

and the

body more

than clothes?

What should

you do?

Seek

first

his

kingdom.

And all

these things

will be given

to you as

well.

Don't let

the cares

of this

life,

the concerns

of life,

steal

your time

and attention

so much

that you

fail to

respond

and to

hear what

God has

said.

The second

weed that

Jesus mentions

is the

deceitfulness

of wealth.

It's another

of those

weeds that

chokes the

word out.

The deceitfulness

of wealth.

If I can

just get

fill in the

blank,

then I

will be

fill in the

blank.

we strive

for,

we chase

after,

and we

put our

time and

attention

into

researching

that

upgraded

version of

that thing

that we

have.

Not because

there's anything

wrong with

this,

but maybe

one day

this thing

will break

and then I'm

going to need

to know

which one

I'm going

to buy.

We spend

all of our

time and

attention

chasing

after these

things.

And Jesus

just calls it

what it is

right off

the bat.

It's the

deceitfulness

of wealth.

It's a

lie.

It can't

fulfill you.

It can't

make you

happy.

It's a

mirage.

So what if

you get the

next new

thing?

Oh, if I

could just

get that

number in

my retirement

account, if I

could just

get into

this fund,

if I

could just

know that

I'll be

secure, that

things will

be going

well for

me?

It's a

lie.

That's just

a weed.

It's something

that just

sucks your

time and

your energy

and your

attention and

distracts you

from really

hearing the

word of the

kingdom, the

word of God,

from really

participating and

being involved

in the

kingdom.

there's the

hard heart,

there's the

fair weather

heart, there's

the distracted

heart, and

then there's the

good soil, says

Jesus.

The seed falling

on the good

soil refers to

someone who

hears the

word like

everyone else

and understands

it.

They get it.

They listen to

it, which

implies that

they respond.

They take it

seriously.

They obey

it.

They prioritize

the word of

the kingdom

above the

concerns of

life, the

wealth and

getting that.

They remain

loyal to

the king and

to the

kingdom.

Even when it

gets tough,

they persevere.

their hearts,

I guess a

way to

describe this

would be the

soft heart,

the heart

that is soft

towards God

and towards

what he has

said.

Not the

good heart.

The Bible

is clear,

Jesus is

clear.

We don't

have good

hearts,

that's why

we need

him.

Our hearts

are evil.

But the

soft heart,

the heart

that humbly

comes to

God and

says,

I value

what you

have said

and I

don't

understand it.

Help me

understand it.

That's the

good soil.

The word

gets into

there and

it produces

a crop.

And there

are varying

yields.

Sometimes it's

an amazing

yield.

A hundred

times what

was sown.

Sometimes it's

a really,

really good

yield.

Sixty

times what

was sown.

And sometimes

it's just a

good yield.

Thirty

times what

was sown.

And I

think some

of the

implication

there is

the better

the soil,

the better

the yield.

The softer

your heart

before God,

the more

humbly you

come to

him and

listen and

seek and

cry out for

understanding.

As Solomon

said in

Proverbs,

he will

speak to

you.

He will

reveal to

you.

He will

help you

to understand.

You will

get it.

He will

make you

wise.

He will

make you

wise.

So where

do we go

with this?

I think

there's a

warning here.

You've got

three different

soils and

all of them

zero yield

and only

one where

a harvest

comes,

where there

is some

yield.

There's a bit

of a warning

there.

In the past,

we've been

quick to take

this parable

and say,

well,

this is all

about evangelism.

this is all

about how

can we expect

people to

respond to

the message

when we

share it

with them

and absolutely

it is.

I think

that's part

of why

Jesus gave

it to us,

to his

disciples.

But I

think that

the first

place that

Jesus wants

us to go

with this

parable is

to ask

the question,

which soil

am I?

what kind

of soil

is my

heart

today?

Is there

some hardness

there

towards God?

Is there

some rocks

beneath the

surface?

weeds?

Are there

some weeds?

Some things

that are

distracting me

and I

know it,

but I

haven't done

anything about

it yet.

What kind

of soil

is your

heart

today?

What kind

of harvest

do you want

to have

from your

life?

as you

think of

your life,

you standing

before God

when the

king returns

to bring

his kingdom,

what kind

of yield

do you

want to

have?

It all

comes down

to here,

to your

heart.

You could

be somebody

who comes

to church

every Sunday

without fail

and hears

somebody

preaching

from the

Bible.

but whether

you hear

and understand

or whether

you just

hear and

it doesn't

make a

dent,

that comes

down to

your heart.

You could

be someone

who opens

your Bible

every day

and reads

a little

bit,

but whether

or not

this has

an impact

on you

comes down

to your

heart.

is it

soft?

Is it

humble

before the

Lord

to hear

what he

has said?

The Pharisees,

they had the

whole Old Testament

memorized and

Jesus says,

you know the

scriptures,

but you've

missed the

whole thing.

you've missed

it completely.

There is

that danger.