MAT 13
13
The Parable of the Sower
Mk. 4:1-9; Lk. 8:4-8
1 That same day, Jesus left the house where He had been teaching and went to sit by the Sea of Galilee.
2 Such large crowds gathered around Him and pressed in so closely that He got into a boat and sat down to teach from it, while the entire crowd stood on the shore listening.
3 He taught them many profound truths using parables—earthly stories with heavenly meanings—saying: "Listen carefully! A farmer went out to sow his seed in his field.
4 As he was scattering the seed broadly, some seeds fell along the hard-packed path where people walked, and the birds came and devoured it before it could take root.
5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where there was not much soil covering the bedrock. It sprang up quickly and prematurely because the soil was shallow and not deep.
6 But when the sun rose high and beat down, the plants were scorched by the heat, and they withered and died because they had no deep root system to draw moisture.
7 Other seed fell among thorns and thistles, and as both grew together, the thorns grew up and choked the plants, preventing them from producing fruit.
8 Still other seed fell on good, fertile soil that was deep and receptive, and it produced a crop—some yielding a hundred times what was sown, some sixty times the amount, and some thirty times what was planted.
9 Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear and understand the spiritual meaning of this parable."
The Purpose of the Parables
Mk. 4:10-12; Lk. 8:9-10
10 The disciples came to Him privately and asked, "Why do You speak to the crowds in parables rather than speaking plainly and directly?"
11 He replied, "Because you who are My followers have been granted the privilege and grace to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven—truths once hidden but now revealed—but they have not been granted that privilege because of their hardened hearts.
12 For whoever has spiritual understanding and receptivity, more truth will be given to him and he will have abundance of knowledge; but whoever does not have such understanding and receptivity, even what little he has will be taken away from him as an act of judgment.
13 This is why I speak to them in parables: Though they are seeing with their physical eyes, they do not really see spiritual truth; though they are hearing with their physical ears, they do not really hear or understand the meaning because their hearts are hardened.
14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled:
'You will keep on hearing but never understand the meaning,
and you will keep on seeing but never perceive the truth.
15 For this people's heart has become calloused, dull, and hardened,
their ears barely hear and are heavy,
and they have deliberately closed their eyes to the truth,
so that they might not see with their eyes spiritual realities,
or hear with their ears the word of God,
or understand with their heart and be converted,
and turn back to Me in repentance, so I could heal them and restore them.'*
16 But blessed and privileged are your eyes because they see spiritual truth, and your ears because they hear and receive the word with faith.
17 For I tell you the solemn truth: Many prophets and righteous people throughout history longed to see what you are seeing but did not see it, and to hear what you are hearing but did not hear it—you are witnessing the fulfilment of prophecy.
The Interpretation of the Parable of the Sower
Mk. 4:13-20; Lk. 8:11-15
18 "Therefore, listen carefully to the meaning of the parable of the sower:
19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it or receive it with faith, the evil one—Satan—comes immediately and snatches away what was sown in his heart like birds devouring seed. This is the seed sown along the hard path—representing a hardened heart.
20 The seed sown on rocky ground represents the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy and emotional enthusiasm.
21 But he has no deep root in himself—no genuine conversion or depth of character—and lasts only a short time in apparent faith. When trouble or persecution comes because of identifying with the word, he quickly falls away and abandons his profession.
22 The seed sown among thorns represents the person who hears the word and appears to receive it, but the worries and anxieties of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth and material pursuits choke the word, making it unfruitful and preventing spiritual growth and productivity.
23 But the seed sown on good, receptive soil represents the person who hears the word and understands it with genuine faith. He indeed produces a crop of spiritual fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown—according to individual faithfulness."
The Parable of the Wheat and Tares
24 Jesus presented another parable to them for instruction: "The kingdom of heaven in this age is like a man who sowed good seed—genuine believers—in his field—the world.
25 But while everyone was sleeping and not vigilant, his enemy—the devil—came under cover of darkness and sowed weeds among the wheat and slipped away undetected.
26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads of grain and became visible, the weeds—false professors—also appeared growing among them.
27 The servants came to the owner of the field and said with concern, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did these weeds come from?'
28 He answered with understanding, 'An enemy has done this malicious act.' The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go immediately and pull up the weeds and remove them?'
29 'No,' he replied with wisdom, 'because while you are pulling up the weeds in your limited judgment, you might uproot the wheat along with them and harm genuine believers.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest at the end of the age. At harvest time I will tell the reapers—the angels: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned in judgment, then gather the wheat into my barn for eternal safety.'"
The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven
Mk. 4:30-32; Lk. 13:18-21
31 He told them another parable about kingdom growth: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in his field.
32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds when planted, when it grows to maturity it becomes larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches—the kingdom starts small but grows to provide shelter for many."
33 He told them another parable about kingdom influence: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast—leaven—that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour, working it through until it permeated all through the dough and caused the whole batch to rise."
The Reason for Jesus' Parables
Mk. 4:33-34
34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables, and He did not say anything to them without using a parable to veil the truth from the hardened.
35 This teaching method fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet who wrote:
"I will open My mouth in parables and speak in figurative language;
I will declare what has been kept secret
since the beginning of the world, now being made known.”
The Interpretation of the Parable of the Wheat and Tares
36 After Jesus dismissed the crowds and sent them away, He went into the house for privacy. His disciples came to Him and said, "Explain to us clearly the parable of the weeds in the field—we want to understand its meaning."
37 He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man—I Myself sowing the gospel.
38 The field is the world—the entire human sphere. The good seed represents the sons of the kingdom—true believers who belong to God, while the weeds represent the sons of the evil one—false professors and unbelievers who belong to Satan.
39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil working to corrupt the visible church. The harvest is the end of the age—the final judgment, and the harvesters are angels who serve as God's agents of judgment.
40 Just as the weeds are pulled up and gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age in final judgment.
41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and stumbling and all who practise lawlessness and rebellion.
42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace of hell, where there will be weeping in sorrow and gnashing of teeth in anguish for all eternity.
43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in brilliant glory in the kingdom of their Father, freed from all mixture with evil. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear and take warning.
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field—of immeasurable value. When a man discovered it, he hid it again to secure it. Then in his joy at finding such wealth, he went and sold everything he owned and bought that field to possess the treasure—the kingdom is worth any sacrifice.
The Parable of a Very Precious Pearl
45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant travelling and searching for fine, valuable pearls.
46 When he found one pearl of extremely great value—surpassing all others, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
The Parable of the Dragnet
47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large dragnet that was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish without discrimination.
48 When it was full and heavy with the catch, the fishermen pulled it ashore onto the beach. They sat down and sorted the catch, gathering the good, edible fish into containers but throwing the bad, inedible ones away.
49 This is how it will be at the end of the age in final judgment. The angels will come forth and separate the wicked from among the righteous who are mixed together,
50 and throw the wicked into the fiery furnace of eternal punishment, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in endless agony.
New and Old Things
51 "Have you understood all these truths and parables that I have taught you?" They answered Him, "Yes, Lord, we have understood."
52 He said to them, "Therefore every scribe—every teacher of Scripture—who has been trained and discipled for the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings out of his treasure both new things and old treasures—both Old Covenant truth and New Covenant revelation, making wise application of all Scripture.
Jesus Rejected in His Hometown
Mk. 6:1-6; Lk. 4:16-30
53 When Jesus had finished teaching these parables to the crowds, He departed from that place by the sea.
54 Coming to His hometown of Nazareth where He had been raised, He began teaching in their synagogue on the Sabbath, and they were astonished, saying with unbelief, "Where did this man get this wisdom and profound teaching and these miraculous powers?
55 Is not this merely the carpenter's son—a common workman? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas whom we all know?
56 Are not all His sisters here among us in this town? Where then did this man get all these things—His authority and power?"
57 And they took offence at Him and rejected Him, stumbling over His familiar origins. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown where familiarity breeds contempt."
58 He did not perform many miracles there because of their unbelief and hardness of heart.
Notes
14-15 Quoted from Is. 6:9-10
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MAT 13: AFINT
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
