Matthew 13:1-23

Matthew 13:1-23

Fruitful Heart

I. Only properly cultivated hearts bear gospel fruit, so we must seek to have ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to understand (Vv. 1-17)

a. As the crowds following Jesus swelled to large numbers, He moved out to the open area on the shore of the sea of Galilee. But as the massive crowd pressed in on Him, He got into a boat so that He could obtain the proper distance to teach the people. As they hung in anticipation of what He might say, and especially of what He might do, Jesus proceeded to tell them a story of a farmer scattering seeds on different types of soil; some on the hard path were birds swooped in and ate it, some in the rocky soil where it was burned up in the heat because of shallow roots, some among the thorns where it was choked out, and some in good soil where it produced much fruit. The only surprise in the story, was likely the massive crop the good soil produced. Then Jesus closed by calling those who could hear, to hear. That’s it, really? What was the crowd thinking? Maybe they wondered what seeds and soils had to do with their grumbling stomach. For them, it would’ve been a good time for Jesus to feed another crowd. Maybe they wondered what seeds and soils had to do with their shriveled-up leg or arm, or their fever, or their leprous body. For them, it would’ve been a great time for Jesus to heal the crowd. But they were listening for and looking for the wrong thing, so they didn’t understand. Jesus’ disciples asked Him privately why He spoke to the crowd in parables, and He described how the word and truth of His Kingdom would be progressively more revealed to those who truly sought it with all their hearts, but those who didn’t really desire to understand would never truly hear, see, or understand. (Vv. 1-17, 51-52; 1 Kgs. 8:56-61; Prov. 3:5-8; Isa. 6:8-10; Mark 4:13; 1 Cor. 3:6-7; Heb. 11:39-40; 1 Pet. 1:10-12)

II. Only properly cultivated hearts bear gospel fruit, so we must continually evaluate the soil of our heart (Vv. 18-23)

a. Now Jesus explains His parable. The first soil type represents the hard-hearted person. Like a foot path through a field that has been beaten down over time to be too hard to receive seed, their hearts have been hardened by sin and unbelief, and thus not only continue in it but approve of it wholeheartedly. They can no longer recognize truth when they hear it or light when they see it, and are in capable of understanding the amazing grace of the gospel, because they refuse to acknowledge their weakness and need. Satan swoops in to immediately gobble up the seed of the gospel and confirm everything they want to believe about themselves. The second soil type represents the shallow-hearted person. They respond to the gospel, often in an emotional way, and often seem to be a thriving Christian and active in the church. But as soon as things get rocky; rocky in a relationship, rocky in the way they’re treated by someone in the church, their job goes south, or they get sick, and they fall away because there was never any depth to their roots that would allow growth. They never passionately and eagerly sought-after Christ and so their hearing was muffled, their sight was limited, and the understanding shallow with no perseverance. The third soil type represents the heart divided. These people might also seem to be thriving as Christians on the outside, but slowly and surely all the cares and riches of the world begin to pull their hearts away from Christ. They slowly begin walking increasingly more closely with the world, until before they even realize it, they’re not walking with God anymore. We’re all in danger. We seem to be satisfied with life, until we scroll through social media and see our friends who always seem to be enjoying their dream vacation, remodeling their kitchen, or celebrating their perfect children, their perfect new car, or perfect new job. Or perhaps we slowly believe what the people on television tell us about all the things we’re missing out on. Ever so slowly joy, and satisfaction erodes, and dissatisfaction takes root in our hearts. The danger for us all, is that all three soil types exist in our hearts. But thankfully, the last type is a reality for us as well. The last soil type represents a fruitful heart. This heart is properly cultivated; it hears, sees, and understands, and is richly supplied with all the things needed for the seed to germinate and to grow to produce abundant fruit now and eternally. This fruit of the gospel in our lives is not merely the source of an adequate life, but the only source of true and eternal abundance. We must diligently seek God, continually grow in Christ, and continually ask Him to cultivate the soil of our hearts, tilling, removing rocks, and weeding, so that fruitful life abounds in us. (Vv. 18-23; Ps. 37:4-5; 126:5-6; 119:2; Prov. 4:23; Jer. 17:5-10; 29:11-13; Ezek. 36:25-27; Hosea 10:12; Matt. 6:33; 7:7-8, 24-27; Luke 6:24; 12:15-21; 18:18-27; John 10:10; 15:4-5; 16:33; Rom. 1:18-32; 2 Cor. 4:1-12; 9:6; Gal. 5:22-24; 6:7-10; Eph. 3:20; Phil. 3:7-16; 4:6-7; Col. 3:1-4; Heb. 12:1-3; 1 Pet. 4:3-5)