The Worlds Okayest Pastor

When Truth Lands, Fruit Follows

• Jason Cline

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A simple farming story can read your heart. We walk through the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13 to explore how Jesus uses everyday images to reveal deep spiritual realities—and why some messages never take root while others multiply beyond expectation. With the tension of Matthew 12 in the background, we unpack why parables both invite and sift, how resistance forms in calloused hearts, and what it means to cultivate a life that’s ready for truth rather than comfort.

Together, we break down the four soils: the hard path that never lets the word in, the rocky ground that confuses enthusiasm for depth, the thorny field where anxiety and the lure of wealth quietly strangle growth, and the good soil that hears, understands, and endures until fruit appears. Along the way, we reclaim the sower’s “wasteful” generosity as a picture of grace—truth scattered for everyone, not just the likely or the polished. That shift frees us from gatekeeping and re-centers our role: sow widely, love patiently, and let God handle outcomes.

We also get practical about cultivating better soil. Formation beats quick fixes. We talk about slowing down for Scripture and prayer, rooting in honest community, naming and pulling modern thorns, and choosing habits that deepen resilience when heat and pressure rise. Fruit becomes the test—love, joy, peace, and steady faithfulness—not hype, titles, or optics. By the end, the question lands close: what kind of soil are you becoming, and what harvest might your life feed in others? If this conversation helps you think, grow, or breathe a little deeper, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review to help others find it.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, Jesus, Jesus was a fantastic storyteller. The idea of parables is nothing new. If you read any of the Old Testament, a lot of times prophecies were delivered in parables. And the idea behind these parables is it's a story that has a bigger meaning. There's some spiritual truth to be found in it. And we actually saw this last month when we were going through a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It's a well-known story, but really it's not just for entertainment purposes. It's to make us look inward and to really kind of reflect on the kind of people we are. So Jesus was brilliant at storytelling. I mean, just absolutely fantastic. So if you read in the book of Matthew, Matthew 13, which is what we're going to be today. So Matthew 13, verses 1 to 23, this is one of the first parables that Jesus teaches. And if you read Matthew 12, you kind of get an understanding of what's happening, right? So in Matthew chapter 12, the Pharisees, Jesus is starting to gain some popularity in his teaching. And so the Pharisees are starting to ask some bigger questions. Who is he? Who does he say he is? They even accuse him of casting out demons with Beauzebub. So they accuse him of working in allegiance with Satan, which is a crazy thought. But they're worried about him, right? And they're not, if you really look at it historically, they're not so much worried about what he's teaching. They're worried that their power, their presence in the community is shifting. You have this guy who seems fairly uneducated who's walked into the world and is challenging them on what they're teaching. And so they're losing their place, they're losing their title. There's one thing that I've learned in this life is you don't always have to have a title to lead. Some people chase titles. Jesus was just being Jesus. So he goes around and he starts telling these parables, and he explains the reason for that is because some people will get it and some people won't. And so he's kind of protecting himself a little bit. He understands that his time has not come. So he he's he's trying to continue to teach, but also not get arrested just yet, not get executed just yet. He he's making sure that these things are not going to happen before they need to, right? But in his storytelling, he has some really hard truths. And I love the disciples. A lot of them miss it sometimes. Jesus actually has to pull them aside and explain some of the parable because they're not quite there yet. And so Jesus, starting in Matthew chapter 13, uh, if you've heard this parable before, I'm sure you've heard it taught. If not, it's new to you. That's great. So in Matthew chapter 13, verse 1, says that same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and he sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying, A farmer wanted to sow his seed, and as he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil, it sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seeds fell in good soil where it produced a crop. A hundred and sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let him hear. So Jesus starts off by telling a story of for them would have been a farmer who wasn't very good at scattering seeds. I mean, think about it. If you've ever done any kind of farming, you don't just walk around throwing seeds on the ground.

unknown:

Right?

SPEAKER_01:

You usually have to you dig a trench and you make paths and you plow things, you know what you're doing. And depending on the type of fruit or the type of uh plant you're growing, sometimes one seed here. But but Jesus talks about this farmer who's just walking around, just casually throwing seeds on the ground. Now, this is important because this is a farming community that he's part of. So in my mind, they hear this farmer and they're thinking, this guy's ridiculous. What kind of farmer just throws seeds around? And then Jesus talks about how some of those seeds land on rocky places. Talks about that they land on hard ground, some land on thorny ground, some land on good soil. And and depending on the type of soil that they land in, depends on whether or not there's any fruit that comes out of it. Well, that makes sense. If you've ever grown vegetables or anything, you've got to have the right soil. In the last two years in our house, we've managed to grow tomatoes. That's kind of it. We've tried other things. We've had jalapenos, sorry. Maybe a pepper, littlest pepper I ever saw in my life. But but there's something about growing things, and some of you are really good at it, that you know that the soil matters. Taking care of it, watering it, picking the right soil, there's pH balances, there's all of this stuff, right? So Jesus is talking about the story of this farmer who's just going around throwing out seeds. Some of it's catching, some of it's not. And so, of course, he he ends with you know the statement, you know, those who have ears, let them hear. Picking up in verse 10, it says, The disciples came to him and asked, Why do you speak to people in parables? Jesus, why do you speak to us in parables? And he replied, Because the knowledge of the secret to the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will be uh have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have, will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables. Those seeing they do not see, though hearing they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, who will be ever hearing, but never understanding. You will be ever seeing, but never perceiving. For this people's hearts have become calloused. They hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them. Says, But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it. So so again, he he's talking to disciples, and they pull him aside, and Jesus, why do you do this? And he says pretty cleanly he says pretty plainly and said, Listen, these people were calloused. They don't get it. Some of them don't get it because they don't want to get it. And and in my mind, you go back to chapter 12, he's thinking about the Pharisees trying to get him in trouble, questioning him, accusing him. And you start to realize that that the soil that he's talking about, this goes so much beyond planting of seeds. You start to realize that that the soil that he's talking about represents people. You have some people that are hard-nosed, or the the soil that nothing happens. You have some people that you know, they have thorny soil. I know some of you might think there's some people in your life that's a thorn in your side. You have some people that are among rocky soil, and then you have some people that are good soil, and and the the way that the seed works, right, it is always connected to the type of soil that it's thrown into. And so Jesus, as he goes on and continues to explain this parable, we we come to find out that that the seed that he's talking about is not seeds, but it's the truth. It's the kingdom of God that that he is speaking highly of. And he even says the disciples, there are people long before you that wished they could hear what you hear. They could they wish they could see the Son of Man. They prophesied about me, but but they never saw me. And yet here you are, this group of nobodies. I I I have picked you specifically to see the work of my father. And then he goes on chapter or verse 18. Says, listen then what the parable of the sower means. When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown alone in the past. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. The seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding 160 or 30 times what was so. You know, the moment that he talked about this harvest being so plentiful, I can only imagine that the ears of his listeners perked up. They've probably never heard of such a thing. If you do any kind of study of the area, it was hard to plant, let alone get crops successfully. So Jesus is having this conversation about this farmer walking around scattering seed. And then he talks about the four different soils and why soil matters, why why you have to have the right kind of soil, the right everything. And so his audience and his disciples specifically asked for some further what is what is it? What are we discussing here that that matters? Like why are you telling us about this? And and again, Jesus, he as he comes to the end of this passage, says, the soil, the seeds that I'm spreading, it's the kingdom of God. And and here's what I love about it, because we would consider a farmer who's just throwing out seeds to be wasteful. But that's not how Jesus works. Jesus seized every opportunity to share about the kingdom. He walks around crowds of thousands, crowds of tens in people's homes sitting at tables. Any person who's willing to listen, he will share the message of the kingdom. That is his goal. That's what his disciples learn to become. Men and women who go around and those who follow him to share the gospel, to spread the good news. The spreading of the kingdom of God is full of grace and mercy. And it's available to everyone. That's what I we talked about this, and I talk about this a lot. The goal in life, you and I, our job, we are not gatekeepers. You and I don't get to decide who follows Jesus. Our responsibility is to tell people about Jesus. He gracefully, and just he would, anyone who would listen, he was sharing their faith with. Because listen, you and I are in no place to know what kind of soil someone is. I know we think we do, but you and I don't get to determine whether or not someone is going to respond to the will of God or not. That's not our job. Again, we're not gatekeepers. I've I can tell you stories. I have seen people, I have seen people who their lives have been changed by God. I have seen them come out of addiction. I have a really good friend of mine. I've talked about him before. Uh, his name's Patrick Davis. Him and his wife were both felons. Came out of prison, built a coffee shop, planted a church, and is doing incredible things in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here's a man that doesn't fit the mold. But listen again, that's not our job. We don't get to determine who's in and who's out. That's not how this works. And when Jesus is having this conversation, his concern is not with the spreading of the seed. That's important. His concern is with those who are listening in their response. What kind of soil are they going to be? Are they going to be the kind of person who rejects the truth? Are they going to be the kind of person that they hear it and all of a sudden Satan comes in and he snatches it away? Are they going to be the kind of people that they hear the word of God and they see some you know the roots start to grow, but then the worries of life and the burdens and trying to live in both worlds robs them of it? I see this all the time. People who want to follow Jesus, but they can't give up the things of their life. Listen, if you follow Jesus, he has never asked me to give up something that was good for me, anyways. He's always taken away the things that are not great to give me better. That's how the kingdom of God works. But but the problem is that sometimes we allow the pursuit of money and fame, relationships to stop us from really fulfilling the call that God has on us. Sometimes we we allow family and friends to deter our hearts. Sometimes we're just we're ignorant. And we can't believe that this is true. But the thing is, and I was reading this week, and the thing that I love about it is all four of these soils are descriptive in nature. They're not prescriptive. Which means that that you and I get to be a part of what kind of soil we want to be. There's not a guaranteed type of soil. You know, I talked about my friend Patrick, who was in prison, committed a felon, both him and his wife. You could easily lump him into the path that rejected, but he wasn't. He heard the message of God and he received it, and it changed his life, and now he's out there changing the lives of others. I've seen people who have grown up in the church their whole life, and they're more like the path than they are the good soil. They hear the truth, they they they see the God, they they see God in their life, they study the scriptures, but they just can't quite give him their life. And so the parable is dealing directly with the attitudes and the disposition of those who hear the message of Jesus, and Jesus is surrounded by men and women, by leaders.

SPEAKER_00:

Some of them get it. But most of them don't.

SPEAKER_01:

He healed some people, he he fed some people. The Pharisees showed up because they were inquiring about him. But at the end of the day, it was only twelve that stayed with him. There was only twelve men whose hearts were in the right place, and they weren't perfect. But they were the kind of soil that when the kingdom of God planted it in them and changed their life, their purpose. That's why this parable matters. Because Jesus is 100% aware of how people respond to him. He's not surprised. He's not surprised when people walk away. He's not surprised when when people ignore him. But but as he lays out the truth, the question that becomes evident is what kind of soil are you? Because you and I have a choice to make. That's my favorite part of all the scripture, is when the Pharisees try to ask questions that like confuse Jesus. As is as if you could somehow confuse the Son of God. But they try, right? They they try to justify their behavior. We talked about this last week. The rich young man, I've done everything right, I've been obedient. Jesus' like, yeah, but sell everything, give to the poor. And he's like, No, I just can't do that. Listen, that's a man who had a thorny soil. The root, the fruit had started to show itself. But the moment Jesus called him to something more, he said, nope, I just can't do that. And so that's the question is as a church, as individuals, what kind of soil do we want to be? Are we the kind of people that read our Bible and we pick through scriptures that we like? Oh, God has a plan for me to protect me, to prosper me. But then we ignore the ones that call us to suffering. Oh, oh God, God has so much good for me. But but we ignore the ones where we're called to pick up our cross, to love our neighbor, to love God with with everything we are. Are we the kind of people that that look at scripture and we try to argue with it and say, well, this isn't true, and historically, and it doesn't make a ton of sense, and and here's why it's wrong. And I'm telling you, there's plenty of people on TikTok that do that. Are we the kind of people that we hear the truth and the word of God? And we just we just can't quite make the decision. I mean, why? And that's what Jesus is saying. He's like, there are people, and people hear the word of God, and as the seed is spread, as the kingdom is talking about, their response will determine the type of fruit that they bear. We cannot blame God for not having fruit in our lives. That's an us problem. We cannot blame God when we look nothing like him. We cannot blame God when we're struggling and we can't seem like we feel like we're not being fed. Listen, I hear that a lot of times in church. We're not being fed in church. You got to eat. You have to eat on your own. If the only time you're getting a meal is on Sunday, you're going to be hungry. Right? We are the kind of people that we have to decide: are we willing to be the most receptive, healthy soil we can be so that when the word of God gets planted, it bears fruit 30, 60, 100 times over. Because this, the truth of scripture, is unchanging. Jesus has been saying the same thing for thousands of years. You know how hard it is to preach on parables that Jesus said? What do you follow Jesus with? He says it better than anyone. What kind of people do we want to be? Do we want to be the kind of people where the Word of God plants deep and it roots deep and it changes us from the inside out?

SPEAKER_00:

You notice out of all four of those, twenty-five percent accept it.

SPEAKER_01:

I've been in ministry long enough to tell you that number is pretty close to correct. I've shared the word, I've shared the gospel of Toto Jesus to countless people that have never, not once, found themselves in this building. But again, it's not my job to decide who gets to hear. It's my job to scatter the seed. Because when they get it, when God gets a hold of your life, it changes everything.

SPEAKER_00:

So, what kind of soil are you? That's right.