Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings.Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them.And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:And others fell upon the thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them:
8 sermons cite this verse
… Some seed fell on the ground. The birds came and picked it up. Some fell on rocky ground. it was instant bloom and instant fade, and some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. Now, when the disciples then asked Jesus for an explanation of the parable, he said, the first group are those who hear the Word of God and the devil snatches it away before they can do anything with it. The second group are those who, when they hear the Word of God, say, sign me up for that, and within two weeks they have gone who knows where. And the third group are those who appear to make a good beginning, but as they go through the journey of their lives, a preoccupation with riches and with the cares of life, squeeze and constrict and restrict the good that they might be. And they do not, he says, go to maturity. In fact, there is no category in the parable of the sower with which we can speak concerning with conviction regarding the reality of faith except the fourth category, the good soil. …
… It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow, but when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew, and produced a crop, multiplying 30, 60, or even 100 times. Then Jesus said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Sounds careless, doesn't it? Sowing seed on the road and on an outcrop of rocks? My friend Louie is a farmer. He tells me that when a farmer is ready to plant, he programs into the computer exactly where he wants the seeds planted. For example, he programs in 24 rows with 30 inches between the rows. The computer and the GPS make sure that no seed is wasted. But Jesus was not telling this story about a careless farmer, but rather about the lavishness of God sowing his saving word. …
… had no depth. But when the sun was up, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground, and it yielded a crop that sprang up, increased, and produced some thirtyfold, some sixty, some a hundred. And he said to them, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. But when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parable. He said to them, to you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things come in littles, parables, so that seeing they may see and not perceive, hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they should turn and their sins be forgiven. And he said to them, do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word, and these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness. And they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. Now these are the ones sown among the thorns. They are the ones who hear …
… it had no depth of earth but when the sun was up it was scorched and it because it had no root it withered away and some seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced some 30 fold, some 60 and some 100, which is a tremendous amount of increase. So he launches into a story, a parable, a parable. That word terrible is a word that shows up 48 times in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It's never found in John because John doesn't record any of the parables of Jesus. But Matthew, Mark, and Luke do. So Matthew chapter 13, Mark chapter 4, Luke chapter 8 discuss the miracles of Jesus. A parable is a story, but it is far more than that. It is a special kind of a story. What do I mean a special kind of a story? A parable is either an eye-opener or an eye-closer. …
… 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. Then he explains the meaning of the story he just told, the one about the sower. He says, 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. …
… 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. …
… And when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants, but still other seed fell on good soil. Everybody say good soil. Good soil. It fell on good soil and it came up and yielded a crop a hundred times more than what was sown. When he said this, he called out, whoever has ears to hear, let them hear. And his disciples asked him what, what, in the world could this parable have have meant and he said the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of god have been given to you but to others i speak in stories so that though they seen they may not see though hearing they may not understand verse 11 this is the meaning of the story i just told you the seed is the word of god those along the path are the ones who hear the word and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a little while, but in the time of testing, they fall away. …
… since it had no depth of soil and when the sun rose it was scorched and since it had no root withered away. Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain growing up and increasing and yielding 30 and 60 and a hundredfold. And he said, let anyone with ears to hear listen. When he was alone, those who were around him, along with the twelve, asked him about the parables. And he said to them, to you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God. But for those outside, everything comes in parables in order that they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen but not understand, so that they may not turn again and be forgiven. And he said to them, Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? parables. Friends, this is the word of God for you, the people of God. Thanks be to God. …