1 And in that day Jesus, having gone forth from the house, was sitting by the sea,
2 and gathered together unto him were many multitudes, so that he having gone into the boat did sit down, and all the multitude on the beach did stand,
3 and he spake to them many things in similes, saying: `Lo, the sower went forth to sow,
4 and in his sowing, some indeed fell by the way, and the fowls did come and devour them,
5 and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprang forth, through not having depth of earth,
6 and the sun having risen they were scorched, and through not having root, they withered,
7 and others fell upon the thorns, and the thorns did come up and choke them,
8 and others fell upon the good ground, and were giving fruit, some indeed a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty.
9 He who is having ears to hear -- let him hear.'
10 And the disciples having come near, said to him, `Wherefore in similes dost thou speak to them?'
11 And he answering said to them that -- `To you it hath been given to know the secrets of the reign of the heavens, and to these it hath not been given,
12 for whoever hath, it shall be given to him, and he shall have overabundance, and whoever hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken from him.
13 `Because of this, in similes do I speak to them, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor understand,
14 and fulfilled on them is the prophecy of Isaiah, that saith, With hearing ye shall hear, and ye shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and ye shall not perceive,
15 for made gross was the heart of this people, and with the ears they heard heavily, and their eyes they did close, lest they might see with the eyes, and with the ears might hear, and with the heart understand, and turn back, and I might heal them.
16 `And happy are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear,
17 for verily I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men did desire to see that which ye look on, and they did not see, and to hear that which ye hear, and they did not hear.
18 `Ye, therefore, hear ye the simile of the sower:
19 Every one hearing the word of the reign, and not understanding -- the evil one doth come, and doth catch that which hath been sown in his heart; this is that sown by the way.
20 `And that sown on the rocky places, this is he who is hearing the word, and immediately with joy is receiving it,
21 and he hath not root in himself, but is temporary, and persecution or tribulation having happened because of the word, immediately he is stumbled.
22 `And that sown toward the thorns, this is he who is hearing the word, and the anxiety of this age, and the deceitfulness of the riches, do choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
23 `And that sown on the good ground: this is he who is hearing the word, and is understanding, who indeed doth bear fruit, and doth make, some indeed a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty.'
24 Another simile he set before them, saying: `The reign of the heavens was likened to a man sowing good seed in his field,
25 and, while men are sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnel in the midst of the wheat, and went away,
26 and when the herb sprang up, and yielded fruit, then appeared also the darnel.
27 `And the servants of the householder, having come near, said to him, Sir, good seed didst thou not sow in thy field? whence then hath it the darnel?
28 And he saith to them, A man, an enemy, did this; and the servants said to him, Wilt thou, then, `that' having gone away we may gather it up?
29 `And he said, No, lest -- gathering up the darnel -- ye root up with it the wheat,
30 suffer both to grow together till the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the darnel, and bind it in bundles, to burn it, and the wheat gather up into my storehouse.'
31 Another simile he set before them, saying: `The reign of the heavens is like to a grain of mustard, which a man having taken, did sow in his field,
32 which less, indeed, is than all the seeds, but when it may be grown, is greatest of the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven do come and rest in its branches.'
33 Another simile spake he to them: `The reign of the heavens is like to leaven, which a woman having taken, hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.'
34 All these things spake Jesus in similes to the multitudes, and without a simile he was not speaking to them,
35 that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through the prophet, saying, `I will open in similes my mouth, I will utter things having been hidden from the foundation of the world.'
36 Then having let away the multitudes, Jesus came to the house, and his disciples came near to him, saying, `Explain to us the simile of the darnel of the field.'
37 And he answering said to them, `He who is sowing the good seed is the Son of Man,
38 and the field is the world, and the good seed, these are the sons of the reign, and the darnel are the sons of the evil one,
39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is a full end of the age, and the reapers are messengers.
40 `As, then, the darnel is gathered up, and is burned with fire, so shall it be in the full end of this age,
41 the Son of Man shall send forth his messengers, and they shall gather up out of his kingdom all the stumbling-blocks, and those doing the unlawlessness,
42 and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.
43 `Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the reign of their Father. He who is having ears to hear -- let him hear.
44 `Again, the reign of the heavens is like to treasure hid in the field, which a man having found did hide, and from his joy goeth, and all, as much as he hath, he selleth, and buyeth that field.
45 `Again, the reign of the heavens is like to a man, a merchant, seeking goodly pearls,
46 who having found one pearl of great price, having gone away, hath sold all, as much as he had, and bought it.
47 `Again, the reign of the heavens is like to a net that was cast into the sea, and did gather together of every kind,
48 which, when it was filled, having drawn up again upon the beach, and having sat down, they gathered the good into vessels, and the bad they did cast out,
49 so shall it be in the full end of the age, the messengers shall come forth and separate the evil out of the midst of the righteous,
50 and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire, there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.'
51 Jesus saith to them, `Did ye understand all these?' They say to him, `Yes, sir.'
52 And he said to them, `Because of this every scribe having been discipled in regard to the reign of the heavens, is like to a man, a householder, who doth bring forth out of his treasure things new and old.'
53 And it came to pass, when Jesus finished these similes, he removed thence,
54 and having come to his own country, he was teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and were saying, `Whence to this one this wisdom and the mighty works?
55 is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56 and his sisters -- are they not all with us? whence, then, to this one all these?'
57 and they were stumbled at him. And Jesus said to them, `A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, and in his own house:'
58 and he did not there many mighty works, because of their unbelief.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Matthew 13
Commentary on Matthew 13 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 13
In this chapter, we have,
Mat 13:1-23
We have here Christ preaching, and may observe,
To this question Christ answers largely, v. 11-17, where he tells them, that therefore he preached by parables, because thereby the things of God were made more plain and easy to them who were willingly ignorant; and thus the gospel would be a savour of life to some, and of death to others. A parable, like the pillar of cloud and fire, turns a dark side towards Egyptians, which confounds them, but a light side towards Israelites, which comforts them, and so answers a double intention. The same light directs the eyes of some, but dazzles the eyes of others. Now,
Now in this the scripture would be fulfilled, v. 14, 15. It is quoted from Isa. 6:9, 10. The evangelical prophet that spoke most plainly of gospel grace, foretold the contempt of it, and the consequences of that contempt. It is referred to no less than six times in the New Testament, which intimates, that in gospel times spiritual judgments would be most common, which make least noise, but are most dreadful. That which was spoken of the sinners in Isaiah's time was fulfilled in those in Christ's time, and it is still fulfilling every day; for while the wicked heart of man keeps up the same sin, the righteous hand of God inflicts the same punishment. Here is,
Note,
The parable of the sower is plain enough, v. 3-9. The exposition of it we have from Christ himself, who knew best what was his own meaning. The disciples, when they asked, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? (v. 10), intimated a desire to have the parable explained for the sake of the people; nor was it any disparagement to their own knowledge to desire it for themselves. Our Lord Jesus kindly took the hint, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the parable, directing his discourse to the disciples, but in the hearing of the multitude, for we have not the account of his dismissing them till v. 36. "Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower (v. 18); you have heard it, but let us go over it again.' Note, It is of good use, and would contribute much to our understanding the word and profiting by it, to hear over again what we have heard (Phil. 3:1); "You have heard it, but hear the interpretation of it.' Note, Then only we hear the word aright, and to good purpose, when we understand what we hear; it is no hearing at all, if it be not with understanding, Neh. 8:2. It is God's grace indeed that gives the understanding, but it is our duty to give our minds to understand.
Let us therefore compare the parable and the exposition.
Now observe the characters of these four sorts of ground.
Observe
Now what are these choking thorns?
Now that which distinguished this good ground from the rest, was, in one word, fruitfulness. By this true Christians are distinguished from hypocrites, that they bring forth the fruits of righteousness; so shall ye be my disciples, Jn. 15:8. He does not say that this good ground has no stones in it, or no thorns; but there were none that prevailed to hinder its fruitfulness. Saints, in this world, are not perfectly free from the remains of sin; but happily freed from the reign of it.
The hearers represented by the good ground are,
Mat 13:24-43
In these verses, we have,
Observe,
The disciples' request to their Master was, Declare unto us the parable of the tares. This implied an acknowledgement of their ignorance, which they were not ashamed to make. It is probable they apprehended the general scope of the parable, but they desired to understand it more particularly, and to be assured that they took it right. Note, Those are rightly disposed for Christ's teaching, that are sensible of their ignorance, and sincerely desirous to be taught. He will teach the humble (Ps. 25:8, 9), but will for this be enquired of. If any man lack instruction, let him ask it of God. Christ had expounded the foregoing parable unasked, but for the exposition of this they ask him. Note, The mercies we have received must be improved, both for direction what to pray for, and for our encouragement in prayer. The first light and the first grace are given in a preventing way, further degrees of both which must be daily prayed for.
Let us go over the particulars of the exposition of the parable.
Now concerning the sowing of the tares, observe in the parable,
In the explanation of the parable, this is gloriously represented (v. 43); Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Now concerning the work of the gospel, observe,
Mat 13:44-52
We have four short parables in these verses.
Note,
Mat 13:53-58
We have here Christ in his own country. He went about doing good, yet left not any place till he had finished his testimony there at that time. His own countrymen had rejected him once, yet he came to them again. Note, Christ does not take refusers at their first word, but repeats his offers to those who have often repulsed them. In this, as in other things, Christ was like his brethren; he had a natural affection to his own country; Patriam quisque amat, non quia pulchram, sed quia suam-Every one loves his country, not because it is beautiful, but because it is his own. Seneca. His treatment this time was much the same as before, scornful and spiteful. Observe,