And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them.And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:and as he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured them:
3 sermons cite this verse
… the farmer went out to sow his seed. And it happened, as he was sowing, some of the seed fell along the path. And the birds came and gobbled it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much earth. And straightway it sprang up, because the earth was shallow. And when the sun came up, it was scorched. And since it had no root, it withered. Other seed fell into the weeds, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no grain. And other seeds fell into the good earth, the rich earth, and they proceeded to produce grain, growing and increasing and bearing, in one case, 30 times more, in another case, 60, and in another case, 100 times more than what was sown. And he continued to say, Whoever has ears to hear, listen. And when he was alone, those who were around him, along with the twelve, the twelve disciples, began to ask him about the parables. And he said to them, And he continued to say to them, Some people are like those along the path where the word is being sown. …
… Look, a farmer went out to sow his seed and as he sowed, some of the seed fell along the path and the birds came and devoured them. 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, but when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundred times more than what was sown some sixty, some thirty times more whoever has ears to hear listen now pause there a moment next Matthew tells us that Jesus' followers come and ask him why he teaches these parable stories his answer is cryptic but it has to do with the fact that Jesus knows that most of these folks are still skeptically squinting down at him. And he's trying to slip past their defenses so he can heal them, even though he knows they will reject him and that their rejection of him has already been enfolded in God's plan. …
… grateful for the gospel today. I'm so grateful for the gospel because Jesus makes it very clear, this parable in Matthew chapter 13, that here's the seed that's sown. And immediately what happens, immediately the seed is challenged. This is the great news for us. Here's the sower, right? Who's the Lord himself, who sows his grace on the world. Immediately as that seed is sown, it is challenged. Number one, the enemy comes along, steals it. Number two, you have this rocky ground. There's a persecution that happens. There's tribulation that happens and it just withers it. Number three, there's thorns that choke it. Worldly anxiety, lure of riches. Basically, Jesus is letting us know, like, okay, you have to get ready for this. You have to get ready for this. It's Sirach chapter two, verse one, which is one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible. My son, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trial. when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trial. …