Matthew 13: 1-23

『The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 』

This parable speaks of the mystery of heaven. The Bible says in Matthew (13:11).『 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 』 Here “you” are the disciples. Only the disciples of Jesus were allowed to know the secret. All who are in Christ are disciples of Jesus. Those who are in Christ are disciples, not because they believe in Jesus, but because they died on the cross with Jesus. Why does Jesus tell them to deny themselves?

For "self" is the fleshly old man who kills the spirit. So, the purpose of Jesus' coming to the world was to save the spirit. The Spirit is those who were in Christ in the kingdom of God. But those who were in Christ were tempted by Satan, separated from Christ, and confined to this world. The Bible says in Ephesians (5: 31-32).『 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 』 The church means the spirit of the saints. The spirit dies from being trapped in the earth, the material of this world, and the human being becomes a soul. To die means to lose our relationship with God.

To know the mysteries of heaven, one must know who is the sower, who is the seed, and the field. The sower is God, and the seed is the word of God. Fields speak the hearts of people.『I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 』 In John 15: 1, "God is a farmer and a sower." Genesis 2 tells the story of the Garden of Eden. There is the fruit of the tree of life and the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The fruit of the tree of life is the fruit of eternal life. Explain in Genesis 3:22 that “Adam and Eve” eat the fruit of the tree of life and gain eternal life.

『And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 』 If a man eats the fruit of the tree of life, he is eternal. But if one does not keep the word of God, he cannot eat the fruit of the tree of life. So the Bible says in Genesis (3:24).『 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. 』

A flaming sword which turned every way symbolizes the law. The law is to know sin, and a sinner must die. But God concealed the fruit of life (Christ) in the law.

Man must eat the fruit of life, which God has prevented him from eating, because a sinner who has left the kingdom of God must not eat the fruit of the tree of life. Thus, God puts the spirit into the soil so that the spirit and the body meet and become human, and God tells the human being through the law, "Let you become like God."

Thus, when they realize that it is impossible for them to achieve God's righteousness, they should give up and seek the fruit of the tree of life (Christ) hidden in the law. So, God is sending a message to humans. "I will give you righteousness if you give up" to achieve righteousness "through the law and enter into Christ."

Seed means Christ as the seed of promise. By the way, the earth means the heart of man, and the land is the soil. The root of man is soil. In Genesis 3:23, "Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken."Till the ground is for sowing. "Till the heart" is to receive the word of God and bear fruit.

The Bible says in Genesis (3: 17-19).『 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.』 To live on earth, man must make food, so man must cultivate and live, and if people think that God has done so, this is a worldly thought. If you think so, you do not know the fruit of eternal life. "eat bread" means the food of eternal life. God told people to till the earth (heart) to get food for eternal life.

The Bible says in Genesis 2:15.『 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 』 God created man in a world outside of Eden. So God led Adam into the garden of Eden. The garden of Eden symbolizes the kingdom of God. This means that God contains the promise to bring man into the kingdom of God. God tells Adam to cultivate and keep for the tree of life. If Adam does not cultivate and keep it, he cannot eat the fruit of the tree of life.

『Thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread 』 It can be seen that this is to obtain everlasting fruit. Well, the seeding parable is to get everlasting fruit. The reason for eating everlasting fruit is that man is not eternal. Four types of fields are introduced in the parable of the sowing field. That is, the four types of people's hearts.

Only one kind of person is a good field. It is a good field that the seed of God's word can fall into the heart and become life. A good field is a field in good condition for plowing the soil. "Till the heart" is the one who cultivates the field of mind, who has studied the words of the Bible so many times and realizes that he has sinned in the kingdom of God and is confined to the earth.

However, today, many church people think of the state of the heart as follows: When they cleanse the heart and understand it well when they hear the word of God, they think that the word of God is life in their hearts. They think that to make a good field, they must obey and practice the word of God in a state of holy heart. But man cannot be holy by himself.

To "cultivate in a good field" is to die with Christ: to realize that we are bound to die apart from God, and that salvation is impossible without Christ. Thus, dying with Christ is cultivation. To die is to die of greed. It is to discover that people can be saved only by realizing their sins in the law, and by realizing that they are to die through sacrifice, and by discovering Christ in them. This is the meaning of tilling the land.

In the four heart fields, all but the good ones are the ones that have the heart in the world. Thus, they are fields that have no interest in the kingdom of God.
A good field is the heart of those who realize that they are those who have left God, are confined in darkness, and are in need of the fruits of life. Thus, God's grace and work are seen only in good fields. So, the Bible tells us that the greed that caused us to leave God, must die before we can enter the kingdom of God. To die is die with Jesus who died on the cross. If you die with Jesus, you are born again into the body of the Spirit by the power of the Holy Spirit. Those who are reborn in the spirit body become disciples of Jesus.