Sunday, March 1-Matthew 13:1-9

1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.
-Again, Jesus was a busy guy. Must've been a nice house to be on a lake.

2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.
-Interesting way to address a crowd from a boat. Wonder if this was normal practice at all or if the situation made it necessary.

3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed.
-Jesus again in mysteries speaks a parable. The main character in this one was a farmer. His objective was to sow seeds.

4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
-The problem with scattering seeds is that they fell to different places and also the birds ate them. So it was either environment where they landed that provided difficulties, or a third party that came and attacked the seeds. This probably wouldn't have distressed the farmer too much because losing seeds would be part of the game.

5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
-Rocky places were not good soil. The result was a quick life.

6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
-Roots are important to a plant. Another third party enemy to the plant arises.
-The sun is bound to come eventually.

7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
-The soil was probably deep enough in this case, but the location was bad.
-Farming is a harsh activity for seeds. They run into all kinds of problems.

8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
-What an amazing yield from good soil.

9He who has ears, let him hear."

-Who controls the soil? Who controls the third parties?
-Perhaps the soil is the hardness of our hearts. The third parties are probably things that just exist.
-Its a rough world for seeds, but to those that survive amazing things are done thru the life of the plant.