"Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” (v.8)
Jesus often taught the lessons of scripture through parables. The word parable comes from the idea of, “to set along side.” Jesus then used parables to set a spiritual truth along side a daily living truth. In this parable of the soils, Jesus described something the people of an agricultural society were all familiar with – a farmer casting seed on the ground and the seed falling on different types of soil (vv.1-9).
Through this daily living truth, Jesus is teaching the spiritual truth of how different types of people (soils) respond to the Word of God. It tells us that the success or failure of a crop isn't necessarily in the skill of the farmer or in the power of the seed, but in the quality of the soil. Some listeners are like rich soil, and the message takes root in their heart. Others resemble hard ground, and the seed simply bounces off them. Still others are like a weed patch that chokes out potential growth.
Therefore, the heart of the unbeliever (like the stoney ground) needs to be softened, watered, and cultivated, to become “good soil” so the seed of eternal life might take root, and bear fruit in. Some hearts take longer to prepare than others, and one may not always see the fruit of his labor, as spiritual truths need time to grow in the human heart - some longer than others. Thus the saying, “One sows and another reaps.”
The Truth: “I (Paul) planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:6)
