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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Matthew 13:3 - 13:8
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The parable story:
v. 3. And He spake many things unto them in parables, saying: Behold, a sower went forth to sow.
v. 4. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came, and devoured them up.
v. 5. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth.
v. 6. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
v. 7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up and choked them.
v. 8. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
Parables are stories of comparison, and as Jesus employed them, He made use of the familiar in nature and in human life and experience to teach and bring home the great facts of His kingdom in its real and in its apparent form. Even ordinarily the Orientals were fond of parables, but Jesus had, besides, a remarkably effective way of catching the attention of His hearers, and emphasizing the important points in the comparison. The parable of the fourfold soil is an example. There is a farmer, a husbandman, such as the people of Galilee were accustomed to see, engaged in sowing his grain, broadcast. It cannot be avoided that some of the seed falls upon the pathway leading through the field, such as were common in Palestine. The result: The grains are trodden under foot; the birds, all manner of birds, pick them up as welcome food. Some of the seeds find lodgment in the stony soil, where the rock was close to the surface, with only a thin covering of earth. The result: The rock holds the heat, there is a quick sprouting and shooting up into the air, but a still quicker scorching by the sun, since the roots have no chance to enter deeply into the ground. Other grains fell among the thorns, where the plow had indeed been used, but had not succeeded in clearing away all the thorn roots. The result: The hardier weeds with their heavy foliage cut off air, light, and moisture from the tender stalks of grain, thus suffocating them. But other seed fell upon good soil, rich, loamy, soft, deep, clean, where it had moisture and sunlight in the right proportion, and could grow up and fulfill the hopes of the husbandman, bringing a rich return for his labor.