Jesus left the house He was staying in and went down to the seaside where He began to teach.
A great multitude came to be with Jesus and hear Him teach. The crowd was so great that Jesus got into a boat and pushed it a little way offshore.
Then Jesus sat in the boat while the crowd stood on the beach.
And Jesus began to teach them using parables.
Jesus taught,
“Look, the sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and were trodden under foot, and the birds of the sky came and ate the seeds.
Some of the seeds fell among the thorns and grew up among the thorns. But the thorns choked out the plants so that they did not produce any fruit.
Some of the seeds fell on the good soil and grew and some produced 100-fold, and some produced 60-fold, and some produced 30-fold.”
And Jesus cried out,
“Anyone that has ears to hear, let him hear.”
When Jesus was alone, the twelve disciples came to Him and asked Him what the parables meant and why He was speaking in parables?
Jesus told them that they would be told the mystery of the kingdom, but that the others who heard the parables would not understand them. Jesus told them that this was in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah who said,
“By hearing you will hear, but you will not understand. For this people’s heart is hardened and their ears are dull, and their eyes have been closed.
Because if they did hear, and see and understand with their hearts, they would repent, and I would heal them.
But, blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
This is a truth you need to understand. Many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things that you are seeing and to hear the things that you are hearing.
Now this is how you are to understand this parable and all the parables I teach.
Therefore, hear the parable of the sower.
The seed is the word of God. The sower sows the word. The seeds that land on the wayside and are eaten by the birds, are the words that are heard.
After the words are heard then Satan immediately comes and snatches it away from them, so that it does not take root in their heart. Once the word is snatched away then they cannot believe and be saved.
The seed that is sown in the rocky place are like those who hear the word and believe it for a while; then difficulties and trials come because of the word, and they stumble and fall away.
The seed that is sown among the thorns is like the word that is heard and begins to take root, but the cares, deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of this world choke out its life.
The seed that is sown on the good ground are those with honest hearts, who hear the word and hold it fast and accept it.
They produce fruit, some 100-fold, some 60 and some 30.”
