Soldier of Christ Disciple Training Ministries
A ministry of Acts III Global Ministries – USA & Malawi – www.God.mw
Lesson 106 – The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven – Part
6
Parable of the Sower - Category 1 – Seed on the Roadside
trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up.
Jesus’ Explains: The sower sows the seed, and the seed is the word of God. Those beside the road are those
who hear the word of the kingdom and do not understand it; then immediately the devil comes and takes away the word that has been sown in their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.
More Thoughts: These people that Jesus is talking of here, He previously referred to them when He was asked why He taught in parables. Notice His long answer in Matthew 13:11-17:
Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’ “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Jesus was quoting prophecy in Isaiah 6:9-10 concerning people that had become so accustomed to sin and transgressing the Law and ignoring God’s Word, that their spiritual senses had become dull. They and so many layers of sin built up in their spiritual ears and scales of transgression in their eyes so that could no longer hear or see the Lord, the Law or their own state of being. We also get the same message in Psalm 119:70 “Their heart is covered with fat, But I delight in Your law.” This was a common theme for the Jewish nation. All of the prophets had similar messages. Notice this one from Zechariah 7:11-12 “But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. “They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.”
This problem however of being dull of hearing and having a spiritual ear infections is not limited to the Old Testament. Jesus was teaching on the problems facing the people during the Church Age. Notice how the parable says that the seed is trampled under foot. Anyone that has every tried to share the Gospel with someone like this is familiar with the person’s attitude…maybe one of mockery, disdain or simple no interest.
Maybe these are the ones Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:6 when He said, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” Notice that He uses the same words…trampled under foot. This not to say that we should be like Jonah and decided for ourselves who deserves salvation, rather that we need to share the Gospel in a way that the lord leads to whom He leads through His Spirit. We would have a better chance for seeds to grow on pavement than a seed in the heart of a person like this. These people are not readily open or receptive to the Gospel.
From the point of view of the evangelist…the sower, casting seeds by the roadside is the lazy and easy path. We need to take the time to go off the road and seek out better ground. This may entail building a relationship with the person so the Spirit can use you to begin tilling the soil of their heart to make it more receptive to the seed during planting season.