The Hundredfold Harvest of God’s Word

All this week on Things Unseen, we’ve been thinking about what I’ve called the parable of parables: the parable of the farmer, the seed, and the soils, the parable that explains what happens when the Word of God is preached. Jesus Himself is like a farmer sowing seed. And He tells us here that we need to take heed how we hear as well as what we hear.

And I signed off yesterday by pointing out that there’s a rule in the parables that’s sometimes called the rule of “end stress”—the major point is likely to come right at the end. When you tell a story, you don’t put the conclusion in the middle. And if you tell a joke, you don’t give away the punchline before the end. If you do, you’ll ruin it and nobody will laugh, unless perhaps they’re laughing at you. So, in Jesus’ parable, there’s not only searching analysis of our spiritual condition, but there’s also good news right at the end: when the good seed of God’s Word falls on good soil, it yields a harvest, even a bumper harvest—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or even a hundredfold. That’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?

But what is “good soil”? What Jesus means is soil that’s been well prepared. That could be hardened soil that’s been broken up. It could mean rocky soil where the substratum has been cracked open. It could mean weed-infested soil, where serious weeding has been done and weed killer has been applied. Then we can look forward to a great harvest. And you can see the spiritual parallel here, and this is the wonder of the gospel.

The gospel seed may not look very much when we first see it, but when it’s planted in good soil, its wonderful effects begin to appear, and it yields an abundant crop at the harvest. Think of what Jesus said, when instead of the cares of this world, or a desire for material wellbeing, or the pursuit of ambition, when instead of those things, we yield our lives to Him—yes, faults and all—we will become fruitful because Jesus Christ is no man’s debtor, no teenager’s debtor, nobody’s debtor.

A personal example comes to mind. When I was on the verge of becoming a Christian, I thought that I might lose some friends in the process. But as I look back now, I’m amazed at the hundredfold harvest of new Christian friends—and not just the size of the harvest, but the quality of it—amazing friends who are a privilege and joy to know, who are brothers and sisters to me, believers to whom I owe so much. And these friendships have been for me, part of the thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and yes, a hundredfold yield of the good seed of God’s Word.

Yes, there is plowing, and yes, there is also weeding to be done as we receive the Word of God and as we take heed how we hear. But remember the promise of Isaiah 55:10–11:

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. (Isaiah 55:10–13)

That’s surely a great note on which to end this week in which we’ve been thinking about the parable of parables and the way in which the Word of God transforms our lives.

So let’s do what Paul said the Thessalonians did; namely, receive the Word of God not as the word of man, but as it really is, the Word of God, which is at work in you believers (1 Thess. 2:13). And let’s take heed this coming Lord’s Day not only what we hear but how we hear, and let’s pray that the seed that’s sown will have a wonderful harvest in our lives.