The Parable of the Sower and the Seed

Lesson #1 The Parable oftheSOIL
(Matthew 13:1-23)

Main Points: We need to have an open heart to hear the Word of God. We need to let God’s Word speak to us. We also need to share God’s Word with other people.

Matthew 13:1-23 That same day Jesus left the house and sat by the Sea of Galilee. Large crowds gathered around Him. So He got into a boat. He sat down in it. All the people stood on the shore. Then He told them many things by using stories.

He said, "A farmer went out to plant his seed. He scattered the seed on the ground. Some fell on a path. Birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky places, where there wasn't much soil. The plants came up quickly, because the soil wasn't deep. When the sun came up, it burned the plants. They dried up because they had no roots. Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and crowded out the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It produced a crop 100, 60 or 30 times more than what was planted. Those who have ears should listen and understand."

The disciples came to him. They asked, "Why do you use stories when you speak to the people?"

He replied, "You have been given the chance to understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. It has not been given to outsiders. Everyone who has that kind of knowledge will be given more. In fact, they will have very much. If anyone doesn't have that kind of knowledge, even what little he has will be taken away from him. Here is why I use stories when I speak to the people. I say,
"They look, but they don't really see.
They listen, but they don't really hear or understand.

"In them the words of the prophet Isaiah come true. He said,
"'You will hear but never understand.
You will see but never know what you are seeing.
hearts of these people have become stubborn.
They can barely hear with their ears.
They have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes.
They might hear with their ears.
They might understand with their hearts.
They might turn to the Lord, and then he would heal them.' (Isaiah 6:9,10)

"But blessed are your eyes because they see. And blessed are your ears because they hear. What I'm about to tell you is true. Many prophets and godly people wanted to see what you see. But they didn't see it. They wanted to hear what you hear. But they didn't hear it.

"Listen! Here is the meaning of the story of the farmer. People hear the message about the kingdom but do not understand it. Then the evil one comes. He steals what was planted in their hearts. Those people are like the seed planted on a path. Others received the seed that fell on rocky places. They are those who hear the message and at once receive it with joy. But they have no roots. So they last only a short time. They quickly fall away from the faith when trouble or suffering comes because of the message. Others received the seed that fell among the thorns. They are those who hear the message. But then the worries of this life and the false promises of wealth crowd it out. They keep it from producing fruit. But still others received the seed that fell on good soil. They are those who hear the message and understand it. They produce a crop 100, 60 or 30 times more than the farmer planted."

Lesson Starts HERE ↓

Say This: What exactly is a parable? The parable is a story that tells a truth in a way the people can clearly understand. Jesus told stories so that people could better understand who God is and what He came to do.

Power Point: Parable=Story

Say This: People love stories. From the time you were a young child, your parents read stories to you. Stories are passed down from generation to generation. Everyone likes to hear a great story.

But Jesus didn’t simply telling stories to entertain or to get people’s attention, Jesus told stories/used parables because He wanted to change lives!

Note to the Teacher: An old definition says a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning--some familiar thing of life on earth is placed alongside of some mystery of heaven, that our understanding of the one may help us understand the other. Jesus drew from the common life of the people to explain some principle or teaching about the kingdom of heaven.

If Jesus were here teaching with parables today, they would all be different because the culture is different.

PowerPoint: Matthew 13:3-9 (NIrV) Then Jesus told them many things by using stories. He said, "A farmer went out to plant his seed. He scattered the seed on the ground. Some fell on a path. Birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky places, where there wasn't much soil. The plants came up quickly, because the soil wasn't deep. When the sun came up, it burned the plants. They dried up because they had no roots. Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and crowded out the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It produced a crop 100, 60 or 30 times more than what was planted. Those who have ears should listen."

This parable/story is more about the ground than the sower. Here’s what happened:

Prop: Have a handful of seeds, and show students how a sower/planter would plant the seed.

Say This: A farmerwent out to the field to sow seed. He scattered the seed on the ground. (Demonstrate this action by scattering seeds on the ground).

As he is scattering the seed, he notices that the seed falls on different types of ground.

PowerPoint Picture: Show a path.

Say This: Some of the seed fell on a path. You all know that a path is usually well-worn. Usually the ground of a path is harder than the ground on either side of it. The more people that walk on a path, the more “packed down” the dirt becomes. Before the seed could even take root, some birds came and ate the seed.

PowerPoint Picture: Show birds eating seeds.

Say This: Some of the seed that he was scattering also fell onto rocky places.

PowerPoint Picture: Show a rocky place.

Ask: Do you see a lot of dirt here? (No) Do you think that this is a good place for things to grow? (No)

Say This: It is possible for things to grow in the rocks, but usually, plants do not live long. The seed could not take root because of the rocks. Any seed that started to grow in the thin soil soon withered in the intense heat and died because it could not sink roots.

PowerPoint Pictures: Show a burning hot sun. Then show a withered, dried up plant.

Say This: Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and crowded out the plants.

PowerPoint Pictures: Show a thorny plant.

Say This: Still other seed fell on good soil. It produced a crop 100, 60, or 30 times more than what was planted.

PowerPoint Pictures: Show good soil and then a garden of many green, thriving plants.

Say This: So the same seed produces no crop, or some crop, or a great crop. The seed was the same in every place, but the soil or the condition of the dirt was different.

Say This: This may seem like a strange story for Jesus to tell. Why would He talk about dirt and seeds? Many of the people who were listening to Jesus were farmers. They knew a lot about dirt and soil. Jesus was talking to them using words and word pictures that they could understand.

This is what Jesus was saying to the people:

PowerPoint: Show this picture:

The seed that is sown is the gospel – the good news about Jesus.

The soils are the hearts of the peoplewho make a choice about the message. The condition of a person’s heart can be compared to the different kinds of soils who receive the seed.

Say This: Now we’re going to look at this story again with the understanding of what each part of the story stands for.

Prop: Have a handful of seeds, and show students how a sower/planter would plant the seed. (Demonstrate this action again by scattering seeds on the ground). Then open your Bible – or hand it to a student.

Say This: As he is scattering the seed – the message from God, he notices that the seed falls on different types of ground.

PowerPoint Picture: Show a path.

Say This: Some of the seed fell on a path. The ground of a path is harder than the ground on either side of it. The more people that walk on a path, the more “packed down” the dirt becomes. Before the seed could even take root, some birds came and ate the seed.

PowerPoint Picture: Show birds eating seeds.

Say This: Some people hear the truth, but like hardened paths they do not let it sink in, and before long Satan takes the truth away. In the Bible, birds of the air are often a picture of Satan. The birds came and ate the seed. If people do not receive and respond to the word with faith, their opportunity will be stolen by the evil one.

Say This: Some of the seed that he was scattering also fell onto rocky places.

PowerPoint Picture: Show a rocky place.

Ask: Do you see a lot of dirt here? (No) Do you think that this is a good place for things to grow? (No)

PowerPoint Pictures: Show a burning hot sun. Then show a withered, dried up plant.

Say This: Some people hear the message with great joy, but like the rocky soil they do not let it take root. Some people appear to be so happy to hear about Jesus and His great love, but they do not let it sink into their hearts. On the outside, they may express great enthusiasm, but inwardly, they do not carefully consider it. There were great crowds who followed Jesus, but only a few were His true disciples. When people like this face pressure or bad circumstances, they quickly fall away. A true believer follows Jesus no matter what. There are people who are outwardly enthusiastic about Jesus, but inwardly they do not take it to heart.

Say This: Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and crowded out the plants.

PowerPoint Pictures: Show a thorny plant.

Say This: Some people hear God’s Word and start to grow and bear fruit. But soon they become worried about the problems of daily living. Then they think if they only had more money and things they would be happy.

There is nothing wrong with the sower. There is nothing wrong with the seed. There is everything wrong with the soil – the person who is hearing the Word. He needs God to deliver him from his worries and greed so that he can grow in God’s Word.

Say This: Still other seed fell on good soil. It produced a crop 100, 60, or 30 times more than what was planted.

PowerPoint Pictures: Show good soil and then a garden of many green, thriving plants. Fruit bearing plants would be great!

Say This: Isn’t it great to know that some of the seed fell on good soil? This represents the people who heard and believed. Their hearts received the message of the kingdom, and the seed will take root.

But just like when you plant real seeds into the ground, the message of the kingdom will grow gradually. True growth takes time. We don’t plant a seed and see a plant the next day. Growth takes time. And sometimes when we plant seeds, we see different amounts of things that actually grow. Some trees produce lots of fruit; some only a little. But even the soil that produces a small crop is “good.”

The same is true in the hearts of believers. There are people who hear the same truth, read the same Bible, grow up in the same home, etc. but produce different amounts of fruit. As long as they’re producing ANY fruit, the Bible says this is good.

And so Jesus warns his listeners that the parable needs careful interpretation — “He who has ears, let him hear.” Of course, everyone has ears. It takes more than ordinary listening to understand.

PowerPoint Pictures: Show this

In this parable the farmer plants the seed. God prepares the ground that will receive the message by faith. But the ground, the human heart, might be hardened in unbelief, only happy on the outside about the message, or too entangled with the cares of this world. There are many reasons that people do not respond by faith to the word. But those who do will produce “fruit.” The faith that they have will grow. To those who have, more will be given.

To put the lessons simply:

1. We like the Sower (Christ at first) have the responsibility to share the message of the kingdom, the gospel, to the world. It is the Word of God that will produce results.

2. We need to share God’s Word with other people. With that, we must realize that not everyone will receive it by faith. That is not our business; our job is to continue to share the good news.

3. How can you tell if someone’s heart is “good soil”? Their lives will change, and they will live righteously. The evidence of saving faith is a growing spiritual life.

4. Spiritual growth does not occur instantly, but over time. But it makes continual progress. Those who believe, like the disciples, do not instantly understand it all. But the Spirit of God, using the Word of God, helps their understanding daily. Eventually, stumbling disciples will become bold apostles.

5. It is our task to know and understand the message well, so that we can present it as clearly and meaningful as possible. The rest is up to God!

Object Lesson:

Props: a clear, plastic cup; soil, a seed, watering can; a “sun” – inflated sunshine will work; wrapped gift box

Use the following illustration while you are teaching this lesson:

Say: When a person receives God’s Word and believes and trusts in Jesus, a seed of faith is planted.

Prop: Show a seed; plant the seed.

Ask: What does this seed need to grow into a mature plant? (Listen to answers)

Say: Just like this seed needs water and sunshine, the seed of faith also needs to be fed.

Ask: How can your seed of faith be fed?

Illustration Continued: Show your planted seed (prop: soil, cup, seed) and say this: Once the seed is planted, watered, and fed, the seed begins to grow 3 ways.

1.The seed will have roots that grow down into the soil. (It would be really effective to have a lima bean seed planted ahead of time in a clear, plastic container. The white roots are easily seen against the dark soil. Another quick idea to get long roots is to place bamboo in a cup of water. The roots grow quickly and would be visible to kids for this lesson). These roots will gather water and nutrition from the soil so that the plant will grow and bear fruit!

The Bible tells us to be rooted in God’s Word. We can become ROOTED in God’s Word by reading the Bible and going to a Bible-teaching church.

Colossians 2:7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Ephesians 3:17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,