Matthew 13:1-23
13: That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
0 “‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. 15 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Reflection
In Matthew 13:1–52, Jesus provides eight stories (“parables”) that illustrate both the currently hidden nature of the kingdom of God and the mixed response of people who hear about it. The final chapter in God’s plan to heal the universe has begun, but God’s kingdom seems so small and insignificant that many people ignore or reject it.
In the parable of the sower we see a variety of responses from those who hear the message about God’s kingdom. Some people reject Jesus because they never really understand the gospel (v. 18), while others are unwilling to endure suffering (v. 21) or to give up the luring treasures of the present world (v. 22). However, when the gospel of Jesus Christ is heard and understood with a heart of truly humble faith, the gospel seed will produce a crop of God-honoring fruit in our lives (v. 23). Those who genuinely know Jesus demonstrate their faith by the way they live.
Romans 11:1-10
11: I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,“God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”
9 And David says,“Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; 10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”
Reflection
Paul has already shown that God has been faithful to his promises to Israel. For one thing, God never promised salvation on the basis of Jewish ethnicity (Rom. 9:6–29). Therefore, God’s faithfulness is not in question just because ethnic Jews are rejecting Jesus. Additionally, he has pointed out that the Jewish people have had the opportunity to respond to Christ, but have chosen to reject him (10:14–21). God is not the one who has been unfaithful.
Romans 11 now looks at the question “Has God’s word failed?” (9:6) from a different angle. Since God has never promised salvation to all ethnic Jews, and since most Jews are rejecting the message of Jesus, perhaps God has altogether rejected the Israelites (11:1). Paul rules this out immediately (vv. 1–2). He refers us to the Old Testament story of a prophet named Elijah. In Elijah’s day, many Israelites had rejected God, and the prophet despaired (vv. 2–3). But things were not as hopeless as Elijah thought (v. 4). There were still a few Israelites who followed God. The same was true in Paul’s own time. Just because most Jews were rejecting Jesus did not mean that all of them had: “there is a remnant [like Paul himself], chosen by grace” (v. 5). Once again, Paul reminds us that salvation is only because of the grace of God (v. 6), and there are at least a few Jews who are receiving that grace, even if most are not (v. 7).
Psalm 92:12-15
12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13 They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, 15 to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
As Jesus’ parables make clear, the Bible is concerned that the people of God show their faith by the way they live. Pray that the faith of your Christian community is evident in the way you love God, one another, and the unbelievers around you.