Luke 8 Lesson

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

There will be times in our lives when we try to share the Gospel and are not successful.

The tough reality is that many of our efforts will fail.

That, however, cannot stop us from trying.

Because some of our efforts will be successful, and Heaven rejoices over every saved soul!

That is what the Parable of the Sower is all about!

Jesus faced rejection His entire life!  

Not every person who heard Him or saw Him became a follower of His.  

The greatest example of this is Judas.  

Not only did Judas reject Jesus, he betrayed Him for money and turned Him over to be crucified!  

To put things in their proper perspective, any rejection that we may face sharing the Gospel pales in comparison to the rejection that our Savior faced while He was on earth.

As disciples of Jesus, we need to think about that as we read scriptures like this one:

• “When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: “The sower went out for to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled underfoot and the birds of the air ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.  Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out.  Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant. And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.  “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.  Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devilcomes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.  Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.  The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to maturity.  But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit withperseverance.” – Luke 8:4-15.

EXAMPLES OF SEEDS NOT YIELDING FRUIT

Jesus tells this parable to prepare his disciples for the rejection and adversity that they are about to face.

In the same way, the Bible records these words spoken by Jesus so that we will be prepared for the rejection that we are going to face.

As you read the following three scriptures from the Parable of the Sower, pay careful attention to the different ways that our efforts to share the Gospel can fail:

1. “Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.” – Luke 8:12,
2. “Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.” – Luke 8:13,
3. “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to maturity.” – Luke 8:14. 

REJECTION

It is important to recognize that Jesus did not allow rejection to deter Him from fulfilling God’s plan. 

Somebody once said:

• “Do not let what you cannot do stop you from doing what you can.” 

Whoever said that, knew what they were talking about.

As Christians, we cannot allow a fear of failure to deter our efforts in sharing the Gospel!

SOME SEEDS WILL PRODUCE FRUIT!

The most precious thing in the world is a soul that was once lost and becomes saved!

In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus said:

• “The Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying?  If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.  So it is not the will of your Father who is in Heaven that one of these little ones perish.” -Mathew 18:11-14.

If we fail one hundred times in our efforts to share the Gospel, and only one is successful, Heaven rejoices over that one!

OTHERS WILL NURTURE THE SEEDS THAT WE PLANT

In The Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he explained how a Christian’s job is to plant seeds by sharing the Gospel.

Others will water those seeds.

And God will provide the increase.

We do not need to worry about the result. God will take care of that. Our job is to keep planting seeds.

• “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.” – 1 Corinthians 3:6-7. 

When Jesus spoke the Parable of the Sower, He did not shy away from the fact that rejection comes with the territory if you want to be one of His followers.

Quite the opposite.

Jesus warned us that this would be the case so that we could prepare ourselves and persevere in the face of rejection.

Jesus also made sure to point out that some of our efforts will be successful, and how glorious it is when somebody obeys the Gospel!

CONCLUSION  

The Parable of the Sower teaches us the importance of teamwork when it comes to sharing the Gospel.

The seeds that we plant will be nurtured by others.

Some will take root.

And others will not. 

It is God that will provide the increase.

Our job is to keep planting those seeds!

We will end today’s lesson with the following scripture, commonly referred to as, “The Great Commission.”

• “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations,baptizingthem in the name of the Father and the Son and theHoly Spirit,teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”–Mathew 28:19-20.