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February 1930 Then He sent them back to John the Bap tist to tell him all that they had seen and heard. I am sure that this message from Jesus brought new courage to poor John the Baptist in his prison home. In the last part o f our lesson for today we have an invitation from Jesus to come to Him with all our burdens and troubles. This invitation is for boys and girls as well as grown-up folks. These are the words that Jesus said in His invi tation, and I hope that each of you, boys and girls, .will learn them: “ Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” I am jure you will always love these words of Jesus. Prayer. —o— March 9, 1930 The Parable of the Sower Lesson: Matthew 13 :l-23. (Lesson Text: Matt. 13:1-9, 18-23). . Golden T ex t : “ He that hath ears, let him hear” (Matt. 13:9). * * * L esson in O utline I. The Setting (1, 2). (Note the time, place, occasion.) II. The Parable (3-8). a. Wayside ground (4). b. Stony ground (5, 6). c. Thorny ground (7). d. Good ground (8). 3. Degrees of fruitfulness (8). III. The Parable Interpreted (9, 18-23). 1. The privileged disciples (9, 18). 2. The careless, hard-hearted hearer (19). 3. The shallow, superficial hearer ( 20 , 21 ). 4. The worldly minded hearer (22). 5. The fruitful hearer (23). * * * A pproach to the L esson I N chapter 12, Matthew mentions four successive attacks upon Jesus by the Pharisees; the first two revolved around the question of the Sabbath (vs. 2, 10) ; in the third they questioned the power by which He cast out demons (v. 24) ; and in the fourth they demanded a sign from heaven to substantiate His Mes sianic claims (v. 38; cf. Mark 8:11). In the third attack, He was charged with casting out demons by Beelzebub, the prince o f demons. Jesus at once met the issue and declared this to be a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which could not be forgiven. This was the climax of the contest between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. From that time He moved much in Gentile territory, and Matthew sees in this a fulfillment of prophecy (12:17-21). It requires no stretch of the_ imagina tion to believe that Jesus in this parable was telling out His own experience. In the crowds before Him were hard-hearted “wayside” hearers, notably the scribes and Pharisees. Then, there was the im pulsive, shallow mob, ready one day to crown Him King and the next, to cru cify Him. There were also near-dis ciples like the rich young ruler, “choked” by love of money. A little group endured and became fruitful disciples. As it was in that day, it has been ever since, and will be until the end of the 1. The sower (3). 2. The soils (4-8).
8 :6). Withered away. They sprang up quickly, but were quickly blasted. The .fair prospect was deceptive. V. 7. Fell upon the thorns. Thorns and briers are much more abundant in the tropics than in colder regions. Choked them. They were robbed of nourishment in the soil and of sunlight in the air. There was growth of blade and a sem blance of green ears, but the grain never ripened. V. 8. Good ground. It was good be cause not hard like the wayside, or stony, or thorny. Yielded fruit. There was fruit everywhere, but some spots yielded more than others. Thirtyfold was not neces sarily considered a good crop in a good season. One hundred stalks from one seed might even be surpassed. III. The Parable Interpreted (9, 18-23). V. 9. He that hath ears. The familiar facts about wayside soil, rocky spots and thorny ground, were apparent to all, but what was behind those simple statements? That was for the disciples to discover (cf. Luke 8:18; Mark 4:24). V. 18. Hear then ye. The pronoun is emphatic—you, who are privileged dis ciples (16, 17), in contrast with the hos tile leaders or the heedless multitude (13- 15), should give heed. V. 19. Word o f the kingdom. It is the “ word” which describes the nature and the laws of Messiah’s kingdom. Mark (4: 15), in the parallel passage, says simply, “word,” and Luke (8:11) has “word of God.” Understandeth it not. Not from lack o f mental capacity. A suggested read ing is “does not take it in.” The real dif ficulty is in the will (cf. John 5:40). The evil one. Mark (4:15) has “ Satan/ and Luke (8:12), “the devil.” Jesus had no doubts as to the existence and person ality of Satan. Snatcheth away. There is a sudden, violent seizure and carrying away o f the truth before the impression made upon the soul by the Word can deepen into conviction. In his heart. “ Heart” in Scripture is used in a broad sense as the seat of intellect, feeling and will. Sown by the wayside. These are the hard-hearted, careless hearers of the Gospel. They have long resisted God’s grace, given themselves oyer to many evil influences and practices, silenced the voice of conscience, and refused to fear the law of God. V. 20. Upon the rocky places. There is a little soil, a little response to the Word, but underneath there is resistance to the demands o f the truth (cf. vs. 5, 6). Straightway with joy receiveth. This is suggestive o f an impulsive, superficial hearer. Jesus had many such professed disciples (cf. John 6:15, 22, 66). V. 21. Hath he not root. There is a wrong notion of religion, forgetting the necessity of taking root deeply by dis owning self and taking up the cross of Christ (cf. Luke 9:23-25). Endureth for a while. Literally, is temporary. The same word is used to describe the faith of Moses who refused the temporary ( “ for a season” ) pleasures of sin (Heb. 11:25). Tribulation or persecution. Our Lord never put before His disciples an easy, rosy path. He promised them tribula tion (John 16:33), hatred from men (John 17:14), martyrdom for some of them (John 21:18, 19). The one bright hope He gave them was that He would come again (John 14:1-3). Straightway he stumbleth. Such a disciple is quick to receive the Word but just as quick to
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age. Herein, doubtless, lies the key to the interpretation of the parable. The re- maining parables make more clear the di- vine program, according to which the continuance o f a mixed and imperfect condition is to be permitted until a sepa ration occurs at the coming again of Jesus Christ. J * * * H eart of the L esson I. The Setting (1, 2). V. 1. The same day. It had already been an eventful day. The Pharisees had charged Him with being in league with Satan (12:22-32); He had refused their request for a sign (12:38-42); H is ships (12:46-50). Went Jesus out. Not to leave His ministry, as His family had desired (Mark 3:20-31). V. 2. Great multitudes. He had not lost His popularity with the fickle crowds. He did not expect all of the “seed” to fall into good ground that day. Entered into a boat. This was necessary in order to get away from the crowd and enable Him to see and be seen. II. The Parable (3-8). V. 3. Spake . . . in parables. The word “parable” signifies a putting of things side by side, a comparison. Par ables are illustrations, usually in the form o f narrative. They furnish a convenient way to illustrate moral and spiritual truth. They were used by Jesus some times to veil the truth when it would be offensive to some o f His hearers and would arouse opposition; yet they were spoken in such a way that the spiritually minded would understand. Behold. It is not impossible that Jesus pointed to some actual sower in the field within their view. A sower, went forth. This description is true to life. The people lived in villages for mutual protection and “went forth” to their farms. V. 4. Fell by the wayside. Fields were usually without fences. Paths were made across them (cf. 12:1). Birds came._ One of the great problems of the oriental farmer is to get the best of the numerous destructive birds. They are pictured here as closely following the sower. V. 5. Rocky places. By this is not meant soil with loose stones in it, which might be very fruitful, but shallow soil underlaid by a bed of rock. Straightway they sprang up. The shallow soil was quickly heated through, causing rapid germination o f the seed. V. 6. They were scorched. The roots could not go down into moist soil where they would find nourishment (cf. Luke relatives had come seeking to d r a w Him a w a y from His busy ministry, whereupon He pro claimed a new basis of family relation
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