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Matthew 13:1-23
 | Reading the Text:
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| Historical References, Commentary and
Comparative Texts:
 | The
Five Gospels Parallels, John W. Marshall, University of Toronto. |
| Comparative World Scriptures from United Communities of
Spirit:
|
|
"Who
Has Ears,"
"Eye, Ear, Mind," The Jesus Database, an online annotated inventory of
the traditions concerning the life and teachings of Jesus. Dr. Gregory C.
Jenks, FaithFutures Foundation. |
| Stephen Carlson's color-coded Greek Synoptic Parallels:
13:1-9,
13:18-23. |
|
Chapter XXIV of
The First Epistle to the Corinthians,
Clement of Rome (ca.
96). |
|
Vision III.6,
Similitude III,
Similitude V.4,
Shepherd of
Hermas. (c.145) |
|
IV.XXIX.1,
Adversus
Haereses, Irenaeus of Lyons.
(c. 180) |
|
I.1,
V.12,
VI.14,
Stromata,
Clement of Alexandria (c 200) |
|
Chapter XXII,
The Prescription of Heretics,
Tertullian (c.
200) |
|
II.2,
Against
Marcion,
Tertullian
(c. 208) |
|
Chapter
XXXII, On the Resurrection of the Flesh,
Tertullian
(c. 211) |
|
Chapter
XI, Scorpiace,
Tertullian
(c. 213) |
|
Chapter
VIII, On Monogamy,
Tertullian
(c. 215) |
|
V.III,
VIII.II,
The
Refutation of all Heresies (Philosophumena),
Hippolytus of Rome.
(c. 225) |
|
VI.2,
X.27,
Commentary
on the Gospel of John, Philocalia [anthology of Origen prepared by St. Basil and St.
Gregory Nazianzen],
Origen.
(c.230) |
|
VII.XXXIV,
Against
Celsus,
Origen.
(c.246) |
| Augustine on the
Parable of the
Sower.
 | "I tell you of a truth, my Beloved, even in these high seats there is both
wheat, and tares, and among the laity there is wheat, and tares. Let the good tolerate the
bad; let the bad change themselves, and imitate the good." |
|
| Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew, St. Chrysostom
(c. 380):
|
| From the
Catena
Aurea, Patristic Commentary by St Thomas Aquinas. |
| The
Parable of the Sower, by Martin Luther. (c 1525) (sermon on
Lukan text of the Parable of the Sower)
| "But Matthew means to say that these parables are of
the nature that no one can understand them, they may grasp and hear them as often as they
will, unless the Spirit makes them known and reveals them." |
|
| From the
Geneva Notes.
| "Christ shows in putting forth this parable of the sower, that the seed of
life which is sown in the world does not do as well in one as in another, and the reason
for this is that men for the most part, either do not receive it, or do not permit it to
ripen." |
|
| From
Matthew
Henry's Commentary.
| "Jesus entered into a boat that he might be the less pressed, and be the
better heard by the people. By this he teaches us in the outward circumstances of worship
not to covet that which is stately, but to make the best of the conveniences God in his
providence allots to us..." "...Jesus entered into a boat that he might be the less pressed, and be the
better heard by the people. By this he teaches us in the outward circumstances of worship
not to covet that which is stately, but to make the best of the conveniences God in his
providence allots to us." |
|
| From
Wesley's
Notes.
| "Cares are thorns to the poor: wealth to the rich; the desire of other
things to all." |
|
| From the
Commentary on the Whole Bible
(Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
| "These parables are
These parables are SEVEN in number;
and it is not a little remarkable that while this is the sacred number, the first
FOUR of them were spoken to the mixed multitude, while the
remaining THREE were spoken to the Twelve in
private--these divisions, four and three, being themselves notable in the
symbolical arithmetic of Scripture." |
|
| "Sown
Among Thorns; Mt 13:7, 22," Charles H. Spurgeon, 1888.
| "Preaching is the most idle of occupations if the Word is not adapted to
enter the heart, and produce good results." |
|
| From
The People's
New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
| "Whoever uses his opportunities will grow; whoever abuses them will lose
them." |
|
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| Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
|
Commentary,
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, Dale Allison, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org,
2008. |
|
"The Sower and the Seeds," Gospel Analysis, Sermons from Seattle,
Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle,
Washington. Detailed background and exegesis.
| "In this first parable of Jesus, he
chose the most common of experiences from the everyday lives of people:
“seeds, sowers, hard paths, rocky soil, thorny soil, good soil.” These
were as common as scenes as possible, but in the commonness, Jesus saw
illustrations about God and his kingdom." |
|
| Synopsis (English) and discussion by Mahlon H. Smith, Rutgers
University. Focus is on textual origins and exegetical insights from literary
relationships.
|
"The
Sower"
| "Unlike a pronouncement story, the
details of this scene do not explain what Jesus says there. Note that Luke gives
this parable in a different setting than Matthew and Mark." |
|
|
"Secret
of the Kingdom" ("Why Parables?")
| "In Matthew's logic, the characterization of hearers
as slow to comprehend justifies Jesus' pedagogical practice of composing graphic parables.
Yet, like a good scholar, the Christian scribe who composed this gospel also explicitly
points out that this description of Jesus' audience parallels a passage in a previous
scriptural text: Isaiah's characterization of his fellow Jews. Neither Mark nor Luke note
this parallel." |
|
|
"The
Sower as Allegory" |
|
"The
Measure" |
|
|
Comments
(commentary) and
Clippings
(technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican
Diocese of Montreal. |
|
"First
Thoughts on Year A Gospel Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 9,
William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
| "The disciples do now see and are thus
blessed. The challenge is: do they trust what they believe and understand?
If not, why not?" |
|
|
Exegetical Notes
by Brian Stoffregen at CrossMarks Christian Resources.
| "What was Jesus seeking to threaten in
the hearer's world of assumptions by which they habitually live?" |
|
|
Matthew in the Margins, by
Brian McGowan, Anglican priest in Western Australia. |
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"Good Soil," Rev. Todd Weir, bloomingcactus.
| "We are a clean and sober house for
58 people and we are doing a very imperfect job of helping people sort
out their lives and find some stability and hope for the future. I can
relate to the parable of the sower, because we throw a lot of seeds and
not all find good soil." |
|
|
"Preparing a Place,"
Daniel Deffenbaugh, Seeds of Shalom, 2008.
| "...as any gardener knows, seeds
can grow well only when a commitment has been made to listening, and
laboring, and tilling, and weeding, and weeding, and weeding. In
short, seeds can bear abundant fruit only when a commitment has been
made to preparing a proper place." |
|
|
"Understanding Parables," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible
Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed
textual notes.
| "Suggest some practical ways the Lord my give an
unclear word to a people whose ears have grown dull of hearing." |
|
|
"Hearing the Questions," Beverly R. Gaventa, The Christian Century,
1993.
| "Jesus' parables are especially
notorious for refusing to play the answer game. Instead, they stir up
new questions each time they are read." |
|
|
"The
Goodness of God," Larry Broding's Word-Sunday.Com: A
Catholic Resource for This Sunday's Gospel. Adult Study, Children's
Story, Family Activity, Support Materials.
| "How can waste and abundance described
blessings in God's kingdom? How can we risk our hearts (like the soil in
the parable) to receive God's Word (like the seeds)?" |
|
|
Wellspring of
the Gospel, Ordinary 15A, Catherine McElhinney and Kathryn
Turner, Weekly Wellsprings. |
|
"An Abundance,"
Jerry Goebel, One
Family Outreach. "Focus on scripture from a justice perspective." Exegesis, study, and teen study
and activities.
| "If my faith is dull and
flat it certainly isn’t God who lost the luster. To experience a
miraculous faith, I need to put myself in circumstances ripe for
change. Homeostasis and miraculous do not go hand in hand." |
|
|
Matthew
13:1-9, 18-23, at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary's
An Exegetical Study of the Common
Lectionary, coordinated by Prof. John E. Alsup, features rough translation,
disposition, immediate context, broader context, hermeneutical bridge, and contemporary
address.
| "This materialistic and commercialistic age in which we live chokes life
out of us much too much for God's Word to bear much fruit through us these days. This
parable can give us more realistic vision of the contexts in which we attempt to live our
lives in faith." |
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| Articles & Background:
|
| Articles in
ATLAS Journals. (Direct link when you are
subscribed and logged in to
ATLASerials online collection of Religion and Theology Journals.):
| Achtemeier, P. Mark, "Matthew
13:1-23, Expository Article," Interpretation, 1990.
Image Browse -
PDF |
| Bailey, Mark L., "The Kingdom in the
Parables of Matthew 13," Bibliotheca Sacra, 1998-1999:
|
| Brenner, Daniel S.,
"Late-Night Covenants: A Jewish Perspective on Sinai and Study,"
The Living Pulpit, 2005.
Image Browse -
PDF |
| Bridges, Linda McKinnish, "Preaching
the Parables in Matthew's Gospel in Ordinary Time: The Extraordinary
Tales of God's World," Review & Expositor, 2007. (Section on this
text begins on p.340, but is best read in context of entire article.)
Image Browse -
PDF |
| Burghardt, William, S.J.,
"Gospel Joy, Christian Joy," The Living Pulpit, 1996. (see
Joy issue focus of The Living Pulpit 5.4, 1996.)
Image Browse -
PDF |
| Crook, Zeba Antonin,
"The Synoptic Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven: A Test-Case for
the Two-Document, Two-Gospel, and Farrer-Goulder Hypotheses,"
Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 2000.
Image Browse -
PDF |
| Crossan, John Dominic, "The Seed
Parables of Jesus," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1973.
Image Browse -
PDF |
| Gaventa, Beverly R., "Hearing the
Questions," The Christian Century, 1993.
Image Browse -
PDF |
| Potkay, Monica Brzezinski, "The Parable of the Sower
and Obscurity in the Prologue to Marie de France's Lais,"
Christianity and Literature, 2008.
Image Browse -
PDF |
| Toussaint, Stanley D. and Jay A Quine, "No, Not Yet:
the contingency of God's Promised Kingdom," Bibliotheca Sacra,
2007.
Image Browse -
PDF |
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| Reviews: |
| Sermons:
|
"God Is a Foolish Farmer,"
Dylan's Lectionary Blog,
Proper 10A. Biblical Scholar
Sarah Dylan Breuer looks at readings for the coming Sunday in the lectionary
of the Episcopal Church. |
|
"The Reckless Sower," the Rev. Jim Somerville, Day 1, 2005. |
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"The Sower and the Seeds,"
Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Sermons from Seattle. |
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"Being a Bit Left of Center," 8 Pentecost - 10 July 2005, David Zersen, Göttinger Predigten im Internet: Every Sunday Sermons based on the
RCL by a team of Lutheran theologians/ pastors. |
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"I Am the Sower
Who Keeps on Sowing," Dr. Richard Jensen, 30 Good Minutes, Chicago Sunday Evening Club, 2001. |
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"The Seed within Us," the Rev. Ramona Soto Rank,
Day 1, 2002. |
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"...And the Seed Will Grow," Bishop George Anderson,
Day 1, 1996. |
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"If You Want to
Pick Apples...You Have to Plant Trees," John
Jewell, 1999. |
| Father
Andrew M. Greeley, "Priest, Author, Sociologist," Commentary and Homily
|
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| With Children:
|
"The Parable of
the Sower," Illustrating
the Story (lessons, children's sermons), coloring pages, activity
sheets, crafts, children's songs. MSSS Crafts. |
|
"Parable of
the Sower," Fr Max Bowers, Kids Church. |
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"It All Depends on the Dirt,"
Charles Kirkpatrick, Sermons4kids.com. |
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"God Sows His
Seeds Everywhere," Sunday School
Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc. |
|
"The Seed is the
Word of God," Children's Time, in Sermons and Liturgies. Richard J.
Fairchild. (Scroll down in liturgies to find Children's Time.) |
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"Seeds that
Grow," Jim Kerlin, childrensermons.com. |
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"Listen," Mike Butler, sermons4kids.com. |
|
"The Parable of the Sower,"
online computer java-based coloring pages from Grace Baptist Church of
Feeding Hill. |
|
| Drama:
|
| Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
|
Clip Art Images:
Matthew 13:1-23, Misioneros Del Sagrado Corazón en el Perú. |
|
Matthew 13:1-9,
Matthew 13:1-9,
Matthew 13:1-9/1-23,
Matthew 13:16-17,
Matthew 13:16-17,
Matthew 9:14-17, Liturgical Drawing,
Maria d.c. Zamora,
Claretian Resources, Philippines. ("Download and use
these for free.") |
|
Matthew 13:1-9, at
Cerezo Barredo's weekly gospel illustration.
Liberation emphasis. |
|
| Hymns and Music:
|
Contemporary/Praise Song suggestions, Together to Celebrate,
David MacGregor. |
|
Hymns with Scripture
Allusions: Matthew 13:3, 8, 23. The Cyber Hymnal. |
|
"God Loves the
World," Brenton Prigge, NewHymn, a new, relevant hymn set to
traditional tunes. |
| At Digital Hymnal (midi files, guitar chords, karaoke
files, projection text):
|
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| Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's
Art Index:
|
| Movies scenes with the following themes,
listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance: |
| Study Links and Resources for the Book of Matthew |
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