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Teaching With IllustrationsThe Greatest Man Who Ever Lived
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First, Jesus tells of a sower who sows seed. Some seed falls on the roadside and is eaten by birds. Other seed falls on soil with an underlying rock-mass. Since the roots lack depth, the new plants wither under the scorching sun. Still other seed falls among thorns, which choke the plants when they come up. Finally, some seed falls on good soil and produces a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.
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Teaching With IllustrationsThe Greatest Man Who Ever Lived
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Because of their desire for understanding, Jesus provides his disciples with an explanation of the illustration of the sower.
“The seed is the word of God,” Jesus says, and the soil is the heart. Of the seed sown on the hard roadside surface, he explains: “The Devil comes and takes the word away from their hearts in order that they may not believe and be saved.”
On the other hand, seed sown on soil with an underlying rock-mass refers to the hearts of people who receive the word with joy. However, because the word cannot take deep root in such hearts, these people fall away when a time of testing or persecution comes.
As for the seed that fell among the thorns, Jesus continues, this refers to people who have heard the word. These ones, however, are carried away by anxieties and riches and pleasures of this life, so they are completely choked and bring nothing to perfection.
Finally, as for the seed sown on fine soil, Jesus says, these are the ones who, after hearing the word with a fine and good heart, retain it and bear fruit with endurance.
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