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Matthew 13:23
Jesus has spent three-quarters of this parable speaking about those who do not receive the word of the kingdom of heaven in the intended way, which shows His concern for reaching the lost souls of the world. But in Matthew 13:23, Jesus gives the result for those who are receptive to the word of God and His kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 13:23 (NKJV), Jesus declares, “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. This goes back to Jesus’ teaching on Isaiah 6:9-10 which we have studied in Matthew 13:10-17 declaring,
“‘Hearing you will hear and shall not
understand,
And seeing you will see and not
perceive;
For the hearts of this people have
grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their
hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’”
Jesus gives us encouragement that there are those who do hear the word of the kingdom of heaven, and there are those who do understand the word of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus, when He finished telling the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:9 exclaims, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” This statement ends with an exclamation mark “!”; this punctuation mark, in proper grammar, is only to be used to end a statement of great importance above that of a normal tone of voice. Jesus is striving to get the attention of the multitudes (Matthew 13:2) in this statement – He wants His hearers to actually hear Him and to understand the truth that He is teaching them. We must also keep in mind that Jesus is, in this passage of Matthew 13:10-23, explaining the parable to His disciples, but that the intent of the parable is not just for His disciples but for the multitudes to hear and to understand as His disciples have been blessed with through the gift for believing in Him.
This is an example of one who hears and understands the parables of Christ Jesus.
We have the many years of study of the scholars to help us understand the parables of Jesus so that we can hear what God is saying to our hearts. But we cannot accomplish this without an in-depth study of God’s word. The Bible is our textbook to life, and despite the many accusations of the Bible contradicting itself and being inaccurate, the Bible does not contradict itself in any way or fashion. How can I make that statement? Through in-depth study and learning the whole storyline of the Bible and learning how it all works together in the proper context to bring glory to God and to bring us all back to Him – in Christ! Jesus wants us to hear Him, and He wants us to understand His teachings. We can only accomplish what God has for our lives if we are seeking Him and spending time with Him in prayer and fellowship with one another in Christ Jesus each day.
Dear LORD,
You have given us Your word, and You have given us a Savior to help us learn through His teachings in Your word of Your glorious kingdom of heaven and of how we all may find peace and joy through seeking You – through putting You first in our lives and loving our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). Please plant within us all the seed that grows into seeking You with all our heart, mind, and strength to salvation in Christ Jesus. In Jesus name I pray, amen.