Matthew 13:1

 Matthew 13:1 says, The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.  Verse two adds, 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.  When Jesus went out by the sea, the multitudes followed Him, so He went out on a ship and they stood by the shore.  We never seem to have a problem of too many people following Jesus today, but then they were following Him for the wrong reasons.  Verse three states, And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;  Jesus spoke to them in many parables, this one speaking of a sower.  Verse four adds, And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:  Jesus said as the man sowed, some seed fell by the wayside and the fowls devoured them up.   Verse five continues, Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:  Some seed fell on the stony grown and sprang up quickly because there was no depth to the soil.  Verse six adds, And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.  When the sun came up the plants quickly withered away.  Verse seven states, And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:  Some seed fell among the thorns and were choked off by the thorns.  Verse eight declares, But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.  Fortunately for the sower, some seed fell on good soils and brought forth fruit, though to varying degrees.  This is the way that it is with the gospel.  Some people refuse to hear.  Some hear and seemingly quickly accept but the gospel has no depth and it quickly dies out.  Others seem to accept the gospel even in life a life filled with problems, but the problems choke it out.  Then, there are those who truly allow the gospel to take root in their lives, and they bring forth fruit, though not all to the same degree. We, as followers of Christ, must be the good seed and bring forth fruit for the kingdom of God.  Verse nine states, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.   Jesus said it was up to people to understand what was being said, since nearly all could hear the words.  It is not enough to just hear God's word.  We must understand and accept it for it to be of value to us.  Verse ten asks, And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?  The disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables.  Verse eleven declares, 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.  Jesus said that it was because it was given to His disciples to know the kingdom of heaven.  I don't believe that Jesus was saying that some people are deliberately denied the ability to understand the gospel, but that understanding must come by faith.  Verse twelve adds, For 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.  Again, I believe that this refers to having faith in Christ and God's word.  Verse thirteen states, Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.  I believe that Jesus was saying that a person had to do more than just hear the words or even see the signs of God.  They had to look with faith through a relationship with Jesus.  Verse fourteen declares, And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:  Jesus said this also fulfilled a prophesy of Isaiah.  Verse fifteen adds, 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.  Jesus said that it was up to each individual to understand the gospel, and if they did he or she would be converted and healed.  Verse sixteen concludes, But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.  Jesus was talking to His disciples then and to all who have come since.  We are blessed when we accept the gospel of Christ and believe in Him.