THE PARABLES AND RETURN TO NAZARETH

Matt. 13:1-3

Morning Meditation 10/7/16

Verses 1-3 say, “The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables . . .”

Jesus is still in Galilee. It seems that the Sea of Galilee was one of our Lord’s favorite spots to exercise His ministry. This time He gives the parables of the kingdom. All of this was done in Galilee. I would be nice to spend two or three days walking the banks of the Sea of Galilee and trying to go back and imagine the things that took place there. When we were there, there was not too much time for meditation. They try to show you as many different places as possible in the short time you have to spend there. I think this is the reason so many people, especially preachers, try to return and make this tour again. There is something about the land and the people that draws you. This the scene where much of our Bible was written. So there is no small interest in that land.

Try to recapture this scene with the help of the words of our text. First, Jesus goes out and sits by the sea side. Maybe for the purpose of meditation. As usual He could not remain alone long. The crowds began to gather until the only way to describe the scene is with the words, “And great multitudes were gathered together unto Him . . .” To be able to minister so that all could hear, He entered a ship and taught out of the ship.

Jesus teaches them in parables. The word “parable” is the translation of “parabole” and means “a placing of one thing by the side of another.” It is an illustration. Jesus was and is a master teacher. No one could be more effective in the use of types, symbols and parables than Jesus. Matthew 13:34-35 says, “All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.” Jesus revealed things that had been kept secret from the foundation of the world and He did it in parables. Now why do you give illustrations. It is to set truth, that is hard to be understood, down beside something that is not hard to be understood.. It is going from the known to the unknown. We do not understand the Holy Spirit because He cannot be seen. So Jesus uses wind and water to illustrate this blessed truth. The Jews understood sowing a reaping. They understood what happens when you sow seed among thorns and on rock that is only lightly covered with soil. They know what happens. In the parable of the sower, Jesus takes what they know and see in everyday life and illustrates the mysteries of the kingdom. Jesus is the sower. He sows seed which is the gospel.. The seed comes up and the Jews know this. Where the seed was sown makes a big difference in the final product. Jesus mentions four kinds of soil. Three of the soils did not produce satisfactory fruit. All of the elements that Jesus uses in the parables is in abundance in the land. I have never seen a land so full of rocks. Thorns are all around. Then there is the way side which is hard ground that has not been broken up with the plow. Or, it has been plowed and then re packed as a turn row. When the farmer plants seeds in three of these places, he will not get healthy plants and they will die out. Then Jesus comes to the last of the four used in this parable. It is called good ground. This ground brings forth good fruit. There are different levels of productivity but all brought forth fruit. In verse 9 Jesus said, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” The ears have to do with the soil in the illustration. How you hear makes a definite difference in the product of the seed that is sown.

The disciples asked the question,” . . . Why speakest thou unto them in parables?” Notice, they did not ask “why speakest to us in parables?” “He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” Now what in the world does this mean? Those who believe in unconditional election think it is the elect who have ears. Of course they contradict themselves. A totally depraved man is not supposed to have ears that can hear. The only way you have ears to hear is to be saved. Those who asked the question “Why speakest thou to them in parables?” are born again believers. Paul says, “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things . . .” (! Cor. 2:15). The word “judgeth” translates “anakrino” and means “examine or judge; to investigate, examine, enquire into, scrutinise, sift, question.” It is a present active indicative verb. The present tense means that saved people continue to have in the present tense the ability to examine, to investigate and to scrutinise what they hear and come up with the right answer as to the meaning. Sometime saved people, even though they are indwelt by the Spirit of God, have to struggle through what they hear by careful examination. But in the process of being saved they have been given ears to hear. “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27).

The unsaved do not have ears to hear. They are spiritually dead. Jesus taught them in parables so that as much as is possible, He made truth plain to them. Preachers and Sunday School teachers must do the same thing for the unsaved. They need to have truth presented in a way that their minds understand what is being said. Once it is sown, we must leave the rest to the natural process. I use “natural process” for want of a better way of stating it. In the matter of winning men to Christ, there is the sowing of the seed. The Sower in our parable is Jesus. Even Jesus does not go beyond the truth set for in the illustration. The ground in which the seed is sown is illustrated by four different kinds of soil. The Sower does not determine the soil. He only explains the result of sowing. As an ambassador of Christ, I cannot determine the kinds of soil when I sow. Only God knows that. I’m to sow and let God do His work. I must accept that many of those who hear me teach and preach will never be saved. But to get to the good ground hearer, I must be faithful in sowing the field which is the world.

Then Jesus gives the parable of the tares. This parable lets us know that Satan is constantly busy sowing his seed in the same field where the good seed has been sown. The workers recognized that tares were coming up among the good wheat. They asked an understandable question. “ . . . The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them” (vs 28-29). Jesus has given us ears to hear and He did this at the point of salvation. But He has not given us the power to judge the difference between the wheat and the tares. He teaches in the parable that if we try to root out the tares we will root up the wheat also. This means that what we thought was a tare was in reality a wheat. We must leave the judgement as to whether a person is saved or lost to the final judgment. But Jesus teaches that there will be many tares growing in the same field (the field of professing Christians) with the true wheat.

Verse 15 says, “For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” Note the words “waxed gross” and means metaphorically “to make stupid, to render the soul dull or callous.” This happened as a result of the rejection of truth. When you hear the truth over and over again and reject it, you become calloused. This verse very definitely teaches that those who were not responding the right way to Jesus’ words had made a definite choice to reject the truth. Therefore, how one responds, determines whether he is a good ground hearer or one of the other grounds that are described here.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White