From the perspective of the disciples, their discipleship has started so well. The crowd who heard the Sermon on the Mount hung on every word Jesus spoke. Along with His authoritative teaching, the Lord has been revealing signs of His identity. Jesus sent out His disciples to do the very same things that He does. To be around the ministry of Jesus has been a very exciting time! People left and right joyfully respond to Jesus. He has large crowds following Him.

And yet, there are signs that things aren’t as one might think they should be. Nazareth—Jesus’ hometown—rejected Him when He came to preach in their synagogue. He warned His disciples of persecutions and even family divisions that happen because of Him. His forerunner, John the Baptizer, has been imprisoned for preaching the Word faithfully. Jesus denounced several cities that did not receive and believe His message. He’s being opposed by the Pharisees, who claim to be experts in God’s Word. But if they are experts in God’s Word, then they should be gladly receiving Jesus. Instead, they have been conspiring to kill Jesus. They call Him demonic. On top of all of this, it’s possible that even His own family thinks He is mentally unstable.

Jesus’ ministry has been very exciting for His followers, and yet the opposition grows. People seem to increasingly reject Him. So, naturally, thoughts might arise among His followers, “Is this the right guy?” Jesus responds to the opposition that He faces by teaching in parable form the reasons that He is rejected.

The Lord describes three types of soil. He’s not giving an agricultural lesson, but He’s offering three categories of rejection to explain why many people refuse to receive His message and follow Him.

There’s a farmer who heads out into his field to sow seeds. The farmer is Jesus, His disciples, and all who proclaim the Gospel (pastors and congregational members alike). We follow Jesus in sowing the seed. The seed being sown is the Word of God. The great apostle Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” The Word of God is sown. The Word of God is planted into hearts and minds.

The farmer and His followers don’t pick and choose where they sow the seed. They plant it everywhere. The farmer sows the seed all over the place—even places that don’t make sense.

As such, some seed falls on the path. The path is hard packed dirt. There’s no way for the seed to get into the ground. So, the birds come and devour it.

This seed pictures people who hear the Word and outright reject it. Their hearts are hardened so that the Word of God doesn’t plant. They want nothing to do with Jesus. The Word is heard and immediately rejected. The devil snatches it away like birds devouring seeds.

The devil is not to be trifled with. The devil and the demonic realm are very real. Don’t mess around with the demonic, witchcraft, the occult. It’s all very dangerous. Soul destructive.

Some seed falls on rocky ground. There are large rocks that have been covered with a thin layer of soil. The seed can be planted into the ground, and because the rocks underlying the soil can warm up a bit quicker in early springtime, the seed will pop up faster. However, the roots can’t get any depth and grow to the extent they need. The plant’s growth is stunted, and the sun scorches it.

This seed pictures people who hear the Word, receive it, and believe it. Jesus says they even receive it with joy! But their faith is superficial. Perhaps they expect that life will get better because they believe in Jesus, and then when the most difficult challenges arise—tribulations and persecutions—they lose their zeal and fall away. Often they lose hope or they get mad at God, and instead of walking with the Lord, they go off in a different direction, having lost faith.

Some seed falls among thorns (weeds). The plant takes root and begins to grow, but the weeds steal nutrients that the plant needs in order to survive and thrive. Eventually, the plant is choked because it can’t get the food it needs from the soil. Therefore, the plant’s growth is stunted. It doesn’t become the mighty plant that it had the potential to become. It’s a shell of what could have been.

This seed pictures people who hear, receive, and believe the Word of God. But the Word of God is not the only thing influencing them. The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word of God—food for the soul—from having any effect on them. They may say they believe, but they show by other things they say and the way they live that they may not really believe. They may say they believe, but their attachment to money and possessions take precedence as revealed by pride and greed. They may say they believe, but they will gladly sell their principles for power. They are conformed to the patterns of this world and refused to be transformed by the renewing of their minds through the Word of God.

These are the very broad reasons that people reject the amazing promise of the Gospel, and in doing so, reject Jesus Himself. It’s very sad to see, and it can be extremely frustrating.

Then Jesus explains, “Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain.” The Word of God fell on rich soil, and was planted into the soil. The soil was deep and weedless. The plant rooted very nicely, received all the nutrients it needed, and reached a full potential, bearing lots of grain.

Jesus sows the Word and that Word may produce fruit. Some of those who hear, receive, and believe it, hold fast to the Word of the Lord trusting the Lord’s promises. They seek to be fed by the Word in the means of grace as they are baptized, regularly receive the forgiveness of their sins, regularly hear the word of the kingdom proclaimed to them, and joyfully receive the forgiving and faith strengthening body and blood of Christ.

IN A WORLD OF BAD SOIL, YOU WHO BELIEVE ARE GOOD SOIL THROUGH THE WORD AND HOLY SPIRIT

For you truly hear the Word, receive it, and believe it. The fact that you are good soil isn’t because of anything within yourself. It’s not because you do good works. It’s not because you made some decision to believe in Jesus. Hanging onto both of those beliefs, makes a person run the risk of become one of the other soils—especially the rocky soil. None of us—not you, not me—are good soil in and of ourselves.

Everyone is born into this world bad soil. Everyone is born into this world sinful and unclean. Everyone is born into this world selfish and prideful. Everyone is born into this world in opposition to the Lord and His ways. It’s in our sinful flesh.

Yet, through the precious blood of Jesus (His death on the cross for our sins), through the glorious resurrection of Jesus (His triumph over death), through the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ Word of promise, you are turned into good soil.

The Holy Spirit and the Word of God are the means by which the Lord makes good soil. Scripture firmly teaches us without reservation that, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ.” Scripture firmly teaches us without reservation that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” Word and Spirit, Spirit and Word—they go together. The Word is breathed out by the Spirit, the Word is breathed into hearts and minds by the Spirit. The Word of Jesus through the Spirit makes you good soil.

The Holy Spirit and Word also keep you good soil. I want everyone to notice that two of the “bad” soil types believed. Because of the shallowness of faith, tribulation and persecution caused one to fall away. The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches made the other unfruitful. It is not biblical that once someone believes, they will always believe. People can and do fall away from the faith.

Through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God—through regularly being fed with the Means of the Holy Spirit in Word and Sacraments—Jesus keeps you in the faith and He keeps you growing in the faith unto a mature faith that endures to the end, despite tribulation and persecution. Through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, Jesus is our champion who defeats the devil, all his works, and all his ways. Through the Holy Spirit and the Word, Jesus keeps you safely in His hands through the midst of all things.

Because the Lord, through the Holy Spirit and the Word turns bad soil into good soil, there is hope for the people of the world. Even though many reject the Word of God, it still proves fruitful. The Lord sends forth His people with His Word into the world, and the Spirit works through the Word, turning hearts and minds to truly hear, receive, and believe the Word of God, trusting Christ Jesus for salvation. We are privileged to sow the seed of God’s Word, as the Lord turns “bad soil” into “good soil” through His Word and Spirit. Amen.