WEDNESDAY- 16^TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME –B

Gospel: Matthew 13:1-9: It produced crop a hundredfold.

I Reading: Jeremiah 1:1. 4-10: I have appointed to you as prophet to the nations.

The Parable of the Farmer or Sower: How a Man Receives the Gospel?

The eight parables of Mt 13 have to do with the “secrets of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 13:11). By secret Jesus does not mean something secretive or mysterious, but rather something unknown and not revealed until this present time.

Jesus interprets this parable in verses 18-23. The farmer or sower is either the Lord Jesus Christ or a servant of his (v.37). (The servants of the Lord Ministers or laypeople, are “workers together with God,” (1Cor 3:9). The seed is the Word of God or the Word of the kingdom (v.19). It is called (1) the “imperishable seed” (1 Pet 1:23) and (2) “the gospel which...is bearing fruit” (1Col 1:5-6).

The ground upon which the seed is sown is the heart of the hearers. Jesus says two significant things about ground:

a.     There are different ways for the ground to hear and receive the Word (seed).

b.    The fate of the Word, how well it grows, depends upon the ground, that is, the hearer (see notes Mk 4:1-20; Lk 8:4-15).

Each hearer is personally responsible for how he receives the Word of God.

1.     Jesus Christ preached a parable (v.1-2)

a.     On the Sabbath

b.    By the sea shore in a ship

c.      Large crowds gathered

d.    They pressed him into a boat

2.     A farmer went forth to sow (v.3, 18)

3.     A large number did not allow the Word to take permanent root (v.4-7)

a.     Some dwelt by the path

b.    Some received the Word in rocky places

c.      Some received the Word among thorns

4.     Only a small number allowed the Word to take permanent root (v.8)

5.     Only a few allowed the Word to bear 100% fruit (v.8)

6.     A strong call: Hear/Listen

Thought: God’s word shall never return to Him empty (Is 55:11). This is a glorious encouragement to the true minister and teacher of God. Fruit is that distinguishes the true believer from the hypocrite. A person is held accountable for the kind of heart he/she has: hard, emotional, superficial, thorny or soft and tender.

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