Have you ever carefully studied Mt. 13? This is one of the three places where we read about the “parable of the sower.” We know the story. Jesus spoke about a farmer who sowed some seed, and the seed landed in four types of places. There was the hard, beaten earth. Some seed went into rock places. Other seed found its way into thorny ground and the remaining seed fell upon good soil.
Jesus then gave another parable related to “sowing the seed” (verse 24 of Mt. 13). He showed that while good seed can be sown, bad seed will also be sown in the same places. Satan (verse 39) wants to sow “tares” (verse 25). If we combine all the information in Mt. 13, we find that Satan is not content with 75% of the world’s population. He wants to keep the people he has in his kingdom and also destroy the seed in the “good soil” of Jesus’ parable.
How can a person defend against Satan? The answer is in Mt. 13:31-32. A small seed (the “mustard seed”) turned into a great tree. Birds came to live (nest) in this tree. There have been attempts to misapply this passage. One silly explanation is that it describes denominations. Such cannot be right because there were denominations for many years after the church was established. Too, if the mustard seed parable teaches denominationalism, the image is a single tree that has multiple branches with various kinds of fruit. Imagine a single tree with a branch for applies, another branch for oranges, another branch for pears, another for cherries, etc.! Such an explanation makes a mockery of Jesus’ words.
As birds find safety in the branches of a tree, so the “gospel seed” provides safety to man. God’s power is in the gospel (Rom. 1:16), though not all believe it (1 Cor. 1:18).
Find the truth about God and become a New Testament Christian. Find out more about New Testament Christianity by running some Internet searches for “church of Christ” and “churches of Christ.” You may also want to visit http://www.abiblecommentary.com for Bible study information.
Remember, in order to be saved and enjoy all God’s blessings (not the least of which is salvation), a person must have faith (Jn. 8:24), be willing to repent (Lk. 13:3), and after confessing Christ as Lord, the final step is water baptism (Rom. 6:3; 1 Cor. 12:13; 1 Pet. 3:20-21). Proper baptism in water puts a person “into Christ” (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3) and results in the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).