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Here’s a quote that sets the stage for this parable.

“This parable helped the disciples understand why Jesus was not impressed by the large crowds that followed him. He knew that most of them would never produce fruit from changed lives, because the Word He was teaching them was like seed falling into poor soil.”¹

Jesus made a distinction in verse 11 of the text, while talking with the 12 (Apostles) and some others, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables.”

When you are in relationship with Jesus you are included in his inner circle. But even in his inner circle, you might not fully understand his message without additional commentary from him. That’s a better position to be in than being an outsider.

An outsider tends to be in conflict or opposition with Jesus. He speaks to outsiders in parables where they have ears to hear but don’t hear. Who made up the outsiders that were around Jesus in the crowd? At first glance you might think members of the inner circle would be observant Jews (scribes, Pharisees, Zealots, Sadducees, and Essenes.) The outsiders would be Gentiles and the Jewish commoner. In the case of being in relationship with Jesus the roles are often reversed.

Acts 4:13 says, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished, and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

Are you an insider or an outsider? The proof of being an insider is that you bear fruit.

“Jesus precipitates a crisis among his hearers, dividing them along quite different lines. Insiders are those for whom the fellowship and will of Jesus take precedence over everything else. They hear, believe, and bear fruit. They can hear only by being with Jesus. Those who hear in faith (even if they do not fully understand) are given the mystery of the kingdom. The Word of God causes fruit to grow and increase in them, thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times. Those who fail to hear remain befuddled outsiders. The difference between the lost seed and fruitful seed depends on hearing in faith.”²

Can an outsider become an insider? I would venture to say, that at one point in our lives we were all outsiders. How did we become insiders?

This is my story:

I attended church from a young age. I began to learn the difference between right and wrong, not just at church, but also at home and at school. I also realized later in life that some bad behavior becomes acceptable from a worldly perspective, but not from God. The church helped me understand that bad or wrong behavior was sinful behavior. One of the first Bible verses I memorized was Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin and guided me toward the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Another verse I learned was Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I received the gift of God at the age of 17. Receiving the gift required repenting from my sinful life and yielding my life to Jesus. I’m 70 years old now. I’ve continued to study the Word of God, the Bible, and grow in my faith. I wasn’t forced to go to church, I chose to go to church and found worship to be an important part of my life. Your story is different from my story, but the same Holy Spirit is guiding you, convicting you of sin, and providing you with access to a loving God. When we accepted the gift of God we became insiders. Amen!

When Jesus taught a parable, He used familiar scenes to explain spiritual truths. Farming was familiar to his audience. Let’s look at the four soil types and what they mean.

The four soils represent four different conditions of the human heart, and the seed that was sown was the Word of God.

Seed sown on the path – the hard heart

Seed sown on rocky places – the shallow heart

Seed sown among thorns – the crowded heart

Seed sown on good soil – the fruitful heart

Why would a farmer intentionally sow seeds in bad soil? Farming today was different from farming back then. Today we have the means to prepare the soil before planting and have machines that make it possible to plant seeds in straight lines exactly where we want them. In biblical times that was not the case. A farmer slung a bag of seeds over his shoulder, and as he walked, he threw handfuls of seed into the field. Unfortunately, instead of dropping seeds in a hole made by a machine, the seeds went all over, landing along the path, on rocky places, amongst thorns, and in good soil.

Let’s dissect these four soils.

The path, hard soil: what causes a hard heart?

• A path becomes hard because of the constant traffic that walks on it.
• If you open your life to all kinds of people and influences, you become susceptible to developing a hard heart.
• You can repurpose a path by plowing the soil, but that process is painful when it comes to the human heart.
• Resisting the Word of God is evidence of a hard heart.
• Having a hard heart allows Satan easy access to blocking God’s Word.

The shallow heart– like a layer of thin soil on a rock

• I have a Colorado Blue Spruce as a bonsai tree that is about 200 years old. It was harvested in the Rocky Mountains. Since it was harvested in the mountains, the depth of the soil was thin, so the tree didn’t grow tall but stayed dwarf in size. The trunk is about 2 inches in diameter and is about 18 inches tall. Under favorable conditions in the wild, a Blue Spruce can grow 1 to 2 feet a year and reach a height of 75 to 100 feet. We see how a tree is affected by a thin layer of soil over rock. The root system is stunted. The root system of trees and other plants are key to their growth.
• The person with a shallow heart is an emotional hearer.
• They hear and joyfully accept God’s Word but don’t understand the price that must be paid to become a follower of Jesus.
• They may exhibit great enthusiasm for several weeks, but when difficulties and persecution begin, their enthusiasm and joy begin to disappear. “It is easy for fallen human nature to counterfeit “religious feelings” and give a professed Christian a feeling of false confidence.”³

The crowded heart: Is the person that sees the value of the Word of God but doesn’t repent of the sin. They want to add the Word but hold onto the sins of their past life.

• I like flowers and have several flower beds around my house. Sometimes, I will purchase a package of seeds that is a mixture of several different kinds of flower seeds. Sometimes, a particular flower is more aggressive than the other flowers and dominates the flower bed.
• When your heart is crowded, the seeds, the other interests you have, can crowd out the seed of the Word.
• The broad way in life leads to death, and the narrow way leads to eternal life. You must choose the way you will travel, but you can’t go both ways.
• When your heart is crowded this becomes a difficult decision.

The fruitful heart: produces 30, 60, and 100 times what was sown.

• The fruitful heart is a picture of a true believer, because of your fruit, which is a changed life, which is the evidence of true salvation.
• The other three hearts didn’t produce fruit. We must conclude that they have never accepted the gift of God, salvation in Jesus.
• Every true Christian, as evidenced by the fruit they bear, though not every Christian is equally productive, will bear fruit.

“Each of the three fruitless hearts is influenced by a different enemy: the hard heart—the devil himself snatched the seed, the shallow heart —the flesh counterfeits religious feelings; the crowded heart —the things of the world smother the growth and prevent a harvest. These three are the great enemies of the Christian: the world, the flesh, and the devil.”⁴

Study Questions

1. How did the parable of the four soils help the disciples and us understand why Jesus was not impressed by large crowds?
2. If you were writing a parable, what familiar item would you use to portray a biblical truth?
3. What distinction did Jesus make about the crowds that followed him?
4. What is the difference between an insider and an outsider when it comes to God?
5. How does God feel about all people?
6. What is your story that tells us of your transition from an outsider to an insider with Jesus?
7. Which soil do you think would be the hardest to break free from?
8. What is the proof of a fruitful heart/good soil?
9. If you are a Christian, an insider with Jesus, you are producing fruit. What is a fruit you are producing?
10. Are you satisfied with the quantity of fruit you are producing? How can you get your production up?

 

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