2 Corinthians 11.19—12.9 + Luke 8:4-15
Sexagesima Sunday
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus begins His parable, “A sower went out to sow his seed.” And while we often call this “The parable of the Sower,” the parable really isn’t about the sower. Nor is it primarily about the seed which the sower sows. Rather, the parable is about the four different types of soil upon which the seed is sown and how each type of soil receives the seed. And since the seed is the Word of God, the four types of soil signify four different types of hearts that hear and receive the Word of God.
The first type of soil is wayside, the beaten path upon which people walk. The seed does not penetrate this soil because it’s hardened and compacted. Since the soil isn’t receptive to the seed, the birds of the air devour it. Jesus explains, “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.” This soil is the hearer who hears God’s word preached and closes themselves off it. They have no desire to listen to it, think about it, and apply it to themselves. This is the recalcitrant unbeliever who attends a service to witness a family member’s baptism or confirmation. But it is also the person who is present but not paying attention. They’re distracted by their phone, by other people, or by their own thoughts. This isn’t the momentary distraction of a child’s cry. It’s being here but not taking God’s word to heart. When the seed is sown and it falls on this type of soil, it does not penetrate the heart, it cannot take root. It cannot bear fruit. The devil then comes and takes the word away. If the word isn’t taken to heart, it cannot create faith or strengthen faith.
The second type of soil is rocky soil. The seed penetrates this soil so that faith springs up within a person. These receive the word with joy. They glory in the good news of the forgiveness of their sins and life everlasting. But as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. The seed produces faith that springs up quickly, but as the soil was shallow, so is the faith. It has no root. These are those who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. They experience the temptation to go back to old comfortable sins and allow themselves to be overpowered by it. But this could also be a time of testing that is the catalyst for their falling away. The word translated temptation may also be translated testing. God tests us by sending trials and hardships upon us. He also tests us by sending crosses and persecutions. He does this to exercise our faith so that we learn by experience His word and His faithfulness to it. Regardless of whether it is the devil tempting them to sin or God exercising them, so they grow, the one who initially received the word with joy falls away from faith. They fall away on account of the love of their sin or for thinking that God’s word should make life easier.
The third type of soil is thorny soil. The seed of the word penetrates this heart, faith springs up, but thorns spring up alongside the precious plant, entangle it, and choke it. Jesus tells us that the thorns which choke out faith are cares, riches, and pleasures of life. Cares, worries, and anxieties are like thorns in that they grow quickly. If they are not corralled by faith in God’s promises—by applying God’s promises to oneself—they quickly crowd faith out of the heart. Riches do the same. Like worries and anxieties, riches temp one to focus on them, set the heart on them, and to pursue them. The pleasures of this life do the same. Worldly pleasures tempt the heart to focus on them, fill the heart with them, and chase after them. Whether it is the cares of life, riches, or worldly pleasures, each are like thorns. If the seed of the word falls upon a heart that seeks these things, they will grow up alongside the tender shoot of faith and choking it to death so that it brings no fruit to maturity.
God wants His word to bear fruit in us. In Is 61:3 He preaches good news to His people that they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” The first psalm says the man who meditates daily on God’s word shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper (Ps 1:3). The fruit He wants to bear in us are good works, the fulfilling of the commandments from the heart. The fruit He wants to bear in us are the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22–23). The fruit He wants to bear in us is the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name (Heb 13:15). These are the fruits He bears in those who receive His word.
If a person does not bear the fruit of good works, the fruit of the Spirit, and the praise of God, their faith has died. They have let the thorns—cares, riches, and the pleasures of life—lead their hearts away from listening to God’s Word, thinking about it, and applying to themselves. We are familiar with God’s judgment on the tree that does not bear the fruits of faith. John the Baptist said, “every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Mt 3:10). Christ Himself says in John 15[:5–6], “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” Only by abiding in Christ by faith, receiving the word of God with a noble and good heart, can anyone bear good fruit, for good fruit is the outward sign of saving faith in the one’s heart.
This brings us to the last type of soil. “Others,” Jesus says, “fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” What does it mean to be good ground? Jesus says it means to hear God’s word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. The noble and good heart is a hearing heart. It does not hear God’s word deceptively or indifferently, hypocritically, or haughtily. The good and noble heart listens to God’s word and receive it for what it is, not the word of man, but the very word of God. It listens to God’s word, pays attention to it, thinks about it, and applies it to itself. This heart keeps it and holds fast to it as its greatest treasure. This heart bears fruit—good works, the fruit of the Spirit, and the fruit of the lips which is confession and praise. And it bears these fruits with patient endurance. This means this heart brings forth its fruit in its season, which for the Christian is continually. And it endures in bearing the fruits of faith despite temptations and testing. Christ allows these so that He might exercise us and bring forth mature fruit in us, and not just a few fruits, but that the word implanted in us might yield a crop a hundredfold.
Jesus ended His parable of the soils by saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” To those who reject Christ’s plain words, His parables conceal God’s will, so that that “Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” But to those who hear with good and honest hearts, parables illustrated the truth of what Christ has spoken plainly and served as an invitation to further meditate on His word. Jesus told the parable of the soils so that all who hear it might ask them themselves, “What kind of soil am I?” And it’s not to be a one-time question. It’s something to keep in mind as often as we hear God’s word, whether we are reading it off the page or hearing it preached. “Am I paying attention to it, or am I distracted?” “Am I hearing it for what it is as the Thessalonians heard it from Paul, “not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe” (1 Th 2:13). “Am I allowing temptation or testing to come between me and God’s word?” “Am I hearing and believing God’s word but also allowing the thorns of cares, riches, and pleasures of life to slowly choke the word God has implanted in my heart?” And if you find that you have ears but aren’t using them to hear, repent, and look to the One who forgives sins and opens stopped up ears. For He is still sowing the seed of His word in the soil of hearts through the preaching of His ministers. Faith comes by hearing, and by faith He gives you the forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit, so that you may hear with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. May God grant this to us all. Amen.
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
