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16 But blessed are your eyes, because they do see, and your ears, because they do hear. 17 For amen I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see and hear what you hear, but did not. 18 So listen to the Parable of the Sower:

19 Some people hear word of the Kingdom but do not understand, and the Evil One comes and snatches away what has been sown in their hearts. This is the seed sown on the road. 20 The seed sown on rocky ground are those who hear the word and immediately accept it with joy. 21 It is temporary, though, because they have no roots. When hard times or persecution comes on account of the word, the lose faith right away. 22 The seed sown among thorns are those who hear the word, but worldly concerns and desire for riches chokes it out, and it bears no fruit. 23 The seed sown on good soil are those who hear and understand the word and actually bear fruit, some a hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, and some thirty-fold.

24 He taught them another parable, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be likened to a man who sows good seed in his field. 25 While he slept, an enemy came and sowed weeds among his wheat and left. 26 When the wheat sprouted and matured, the weeds appeared along with them. 27 The man’s servants came to him and said, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did all these weeds come from?” 28 He said to them, “An enemy has done this.” The servants said to him, “Do you want us to go out and pull them up?” 29 He answered, “No, lest in pulling up the weeds you also uproot the wheat. 30 Let both grow up together until the harvest. At the time of the harvest, I will say to the harvesters, ‘First gather the weeds and bind them in bundles to be burned, and then gather the wheat into my barn.”

Comments

The narrative of chapter 13 flashes forward to an unspecified future time and place where his disciples discuss his parables with him in private. Jesus explains that the parable of the man sowing seed on different types of soil represents the word of God being received by different kinds of people. Some people cannot receive it, some people receive it but lose it, and some people receive it and hold onto it, so that it transforms their lives. A common theme of the parables in this chapter is the great abundance of the Kingdom of Heaven: those who receive the word of God can “bear fruit” thirty- or sixty- or a hundred-fold. After this explanation, the narrative flashes back to Jesus in the boat, teaching the crowd more parables.