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Texts -- Matthew 13:1-15 (NET)

Context
The Parable of the Sower
13:1 On that day after Jesus went out of the house , he sat by the lake . 13:2 And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat to sit while the whole crowd stood on the shore . 13:3 He told them many things in parables , saying : “Listen ! A sower went out to sow . 13:4 And as he sowed , some seeds fell along the path , and the birds came and devoured them . 13:5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil . They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep . 13:6 But when the sun came up , they were scorched , and because they did not have sufficient root , they withered . 13:7 Other seeds fell among the thorns , and they grew up and choked them . 13:8 But other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain , some a hundred times as much, some sixty , and some thirty . 13:9 The one who has ears had better listen !” 13:10 Then the disciples came to him and said , “Why do you speak to them in parables ?” 13:11 He replied , “You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven , but they have not . 13:12 For whoever has will be given more, and will have an abundance . But whoever does not have , even what he has will be taken from him . 13:13 For this reason I speak to them in parables : Although they see they do not see , and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand . 13:14 And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says : ‘You will listen carefully yet will never understand , you will look closely yet will never comprehend . 13:15 For the heart of this people has become dull ; they are hard of hearing , hearing , and they have shut their eyes , so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn , and I would heal them .’

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  • [Mat 13:3] Behold A Sower! From Afar
  • [Mat 13:3] Scattering Precious Seed
  • [Mat 13:3] Sower Went Forth Sowing, The
  • [Mat 13:8] Are You Sowing The Seed?
  • [Mat 13:8] Sow The Seed Beside All Waters

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Matthew 24:5; Three Scriptural Examples

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • For the returned exiles farming was a painful pursuit since the ground had become hard and wild because no one had cultivated it. However the farmer who worked hard could expect a rich harvest in the future. Future joy would ...
  • Even though wisdom wants people to adopt her (1:20-33) she is hard to get. The person who wants her has to work hard to obtain her (v. 3). If understanding does not come easily, one should work harder to obtain it.40He or she...
  • People do not live or die because of only one decision usually. They develop a pattern of life that ends in either death or life. This section helps us see the outcome of these styles of life. If a person is open to God and t...
  • The Lord proceeded to give Isaiah specific instructions about what He wanted him to do and what the prophet could expect regarding his ministry (vv. 9-10), his historic-political situation (vv. 11-12), and his nation's surviv...
  • The composition and structure of Jeremiah, discussed below, have led many scholars to conclude that an editor or editors (redactors) probably put the book in its final form. Many conservatives, however, believe that Jeremiah ...
  • There were three aspects to Judah's failure: the people's perversity (vv. 20-25), their injustice (vv. 26-29), and their leaders (vv. 30-31).143"Jeremiah rebukes the Judeans as a whole for their utter stupidity and lack of mo...
  • The next five sections (vv. 1-4, 5-8, 9-11, 12-13, and 14-18) continue the theme of Judah's guilt from the previous chapter. These pericopes have obvious connections with one another, but they were evidently originally separa...
  • 3:22 While Ezekiel was among the exiles in Tel-abib, the Lord directed him to go out to the nearby plain where the Lord promised to speak with him (cf. ch. 1; Acts 9:6; Gal. 1:16-17).3:23 Ezekiel obeyed the Lord. While he was...
  • 12:1-2 The Lord came to Ezekiel with another message.190He told His servant that the people among whom he lived, the house of Israel, were rebellious against Him (cf. 2:3-8). Their blindness to the things that they saw and th...
  • 17:1-2 The Lord directed Ezekiel to present a riddle (Heb. hidah, allegory, enigmatic saying) and a parable (Heb. mashal, proverb, comparison) to his audience of Jewish exiles."It is a riddle in that its meaning needs to be e...
  • Matthew often grouped his material into sections so that three, five, six, or seven events, miracles, sayings, or parables appear together.27Jewish writers typically did this to help their readers remember what they had writt...
  • I. The introduction of the King 1:1-4:11A. The King's genealogy 1:1-17B. The King's birth 1:18-25C. The King's childhood 2:1-231. The prophecy about Bethlehem 2:1-122. The prophecies about Egypt 2:13-183. The prophecies about...
  • Comparison of John's Gospel and Matthew's shows that Jesus ministered for about a year before John the Baptist's arrest. John had criticized Herod Antipas for having an adulterous relationship with his brother Philip's wife (...
  • The "multitudes"or "crowds"consisted of the people Matthew just mentioned in 4:23-25. They comprised a larger group than the "disciples."The disciples were not just the Twelve but many others who followed Jesus and sought to ...
  • Chapters 11-13 record Israel's rejection of her Messiah and its consequences. Opposition continued to build, but Jesus announced new revelation in view of hardened unbelief."The Evangelist has carefully presented the credenti...
  • This invitation is a sign of Israel's rejection of her King since with it Jesus invited those who had believed in Him to separate themselves from unbelieving Israel and to follow Him. In verses 20-24 Jesus addressed the conde...
  • The immediate connection between this section and what precedes is twofold. The first is the theme of rising opposition (11:2-13:53), and the second is the heavy yoke of Pharisaic tradition that made the Israelites weary and ...
  • "The die is cast. The religious leaders have openly declared their opposition to their Messiah. The people of Israel are amazed at the power of Jesus and His speech, but they fail to recognize Him as their King. Not seeing th...
  • Matthew linked this parabolic teaching with the controversy in chapter 12 by using the phrase "on that day"(NASB) or "that same day"(NIV, Gr. en te hemera ekeine). These parables were a response to Israel's rejection of her K...
  • The first parable is an introduction to those that follow, and the last one is a conclusion and application of the whole series.52813:3b-7 The focus in the first parable is on the soils rather than on the sower. Some seeds fe...
  • This pericope falls into two parts: Jesus' explanation of why He taught with parables (vv. 10-17), and His explanation of the first parable (vv. 18-23)....
  • 13:10 The disciples wanted to know why Jesus was teaching in parables. This was not the clearest form of communication. Evidently the disciples asked this question when Jesus had finished giving the parables to the crowd (cf....
  • This section, like the other two interludes in the discourse (vv. 10-23, 49-51), has two parts. The first is an explanation about parables generally (vv. 34-35), and the second is an explanation of one parable in particular (...
  • 13:34 Matthew stressed the importance of parables in Jesus' teaching. This verse is a chiasm in the Greek text with "parables"in the middle. Jesus constantly used parables in His spoken ministry to the multitudes following Hi...
  • Matthew separated the explanation of this parable from its telling in the text (vv. 24-30). He evidently did this to separate more clearly for the reader the parables Jesus spoke to the multitudes from the parables He told Hi...
  • The first and second parables in this group are quite similar as was true of the third and fourth parables in the preceding group. This is a further reflection of the chiastic structure of this section (vv. 1-53)....
  • Again in this interlude there is an explanation of one parable (vv. 49-50) and then a word about understanding all the parables (v. 51; cf. vv. 10-23, 34-43)....
  • Matthew leaves the reader with the impression from this concluding transition, as well as from the structure of the discourse, that Jesus related all the preceding parables at one time. This was apparently the case. Jesus now...
  • 16:18 "I say to you"(cf. 5:18, 20, 22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44; 8:10) may imply that Jesus would continue the revelation the Father had begun. However the phrase occurs elsewhere where that contrast is not in view. Undoubtedly it ...
  • Chapter 18 contains the fourth major discourse that Matthew recorded (cf. chs. 5-7; ch. 10; 13:1-53; chs. 24-25), His Discipleship Discourse. This discourse continues Jesus' instruction of His disciples that He began in 17:14...
  • This parable explains why the last will become first. It begins with a well known scene but then introduces surprising elements to make a powerful point."Jesus deliberately and cleverly led the listeners along by degrees unti...
  • This lamentation should help us realize that the judgment Jesus just announced in such strong language was not something that delighted Him. It broke His heart. This is also clear from His personalizing the people in Jerusale...
  • The other important quality that will make a servant blessed when Jesus returns, in addition to prudence, is faithfulness (cf. 24:45-46). This parable explains what Jesus regards as faithfulness. Essentially it involves using...
  • Abbott-Smith, G. A. A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1937.Albright, W. F. and Mann, C. S. Matthew. The Anchor Bible series. Garden City: Doubleday, 1971.Alford, Henry. The Greek Testa...
  • Jesus apparently taught these parables shortly after the incident Mark just finished recording (3:20-35; cf. Matt. 13:1). This was a very busy day in Jesus' ministry that evidently included all the events in 3:19-4:41 (cf. Ma...
  • Jesus' statements in this pericope appear throughout the other Gospels. Verse 21 occurs in Matthew 5:15 and in Luke 11:33. Verse 22 is in Matthew 10:26 and in Luke 12:2. Verse 24 appears in Matthew 7:2 and in Luke 6:38. Verse...
  • Luke's account of Jesus' parables by the sea is the shortest of the three, and Matthew's is the longest. Luke limited himself to recording only two parables, namely the parable of the soils and the parable of the lamp. He the...
  • As in the other Synoptics, Jesus gave the first parable to the crowds and then interpreted it for His disciples.8:4 Luke omitted reference to the setting for this teaching. It was the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Instead he s...
  • Jesus now gave His disciples information that enabled them to understand the deeper teaching of the parable. The proclaimed Word of God does not in itself yield a uniform response of faith. Response to it is all important.8:1...
  • 28:23 Luke's concern in this pericope was to emphasize what Paul preached to these men and their reaction to it. The term "kingdom of God"probably means the same thing here as it usually does in the Gospels, namely Messiah's ...
  • Paul brought his revelation of the resurrection to a climax in this paragraph by clarifying what all this means for the believer in Christ. Here he also dealt with the exceptional case of living believers' transformation at t...
  • 1:7 The "Him"in view is the beloved Son (v. 6).Redemption (Gr. apolytrosin) means release from slavery (cf. v. 14; 4:30; Luke 21:28; Rom. 3:24; 8:23; 1 Cor. 1:30; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9:15; 11:35). It involves buying back and sett...
  • Paul began to pray for his readers again (cf. vv. 1, 14), but he interrupted himself to tell them more about the church. What he said in this section gives background information concerning the church as a mystery.3:1 "For th...
  • Paul proceeded to rehearse the events of his ministry among his readers summarizing his motivation and actions. He did so to strengthen their confidence in him in view of questions that may have arisen in their minds and accu...
  • An invitation preceded the promise, as in all the letters to follow (cf. 1:3). Jesus was the only person to issue this invitation in Scripture. The Gospels also record Him doing so seven times (Matt. 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Matthew 9-28
  • The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. 2. 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. 3. And He spake man...
  • Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.'--Matt. 13:9.THIS saying was frequently on our Lord's lips, and that in very various connections. He sometimes, as in the instance before us, appended it to teaching which, from its parabo...
  • Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance! but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.'--Matt. 13:12.THERE are several instances in the Gospels of our Lord's repetitio...
  • They seeing, see not.'--Matt. 13:13.THIS is true about all the senses of the word seeing' there is not one man in ten thousand who sees the things before his eyes. Is not this the distinction, for instance, of the poet or pai...
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