Matthew 13:1

PARABLE OF THE SOWER. -- Matthew 13:1-9.

GOLDEN TEXT. -- The seed is the word of God. -- Luke 8:11. TIME. --A. D. 28. PLACE. --On the sea-shore of Galilee; probably not far from Capernaum. HELPFUL READINGS. -- Matthew 12:14-50; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-18; Matthew 13:10-23.

LESSON ANALYSIS. --1. The Great Sower; 2. The Sowing; 3. Good Seed in Good Soil.

INTRODUCTION.

He privately retired to the margin of the lake, desiring probably to "rest awhile;" but no sooner had he taken his seat beside the cool, still water, than he was again surrounded by the anxious crowd. At once, to escape the pressure and to command the audience better when he should again begin to speak, he stepped into one of the fishing-boats that floated at ease close by the beach, on the margin of that tideless inland sea. From the water's edge, stretching away upward on the natural gallery formed by the sloping bank, the great congregation, with every face fixed in an attitude of eager expectancy, presented to the Preacher's eye the appearance of. plowed field ready to receive the seed. As he opened his lips and cast the word of life freely abroad among them, he saw, he felt, the parallel between the sowing of Nature and the sowing of Grace. Into that word accordingly he threw the lesson of saving truth.-- W. Arnot.

I. THE GREAT SOWER.

1. The same day Jesus went out of the house.

Probably, but not certainly, the same day on which the events related in the preceding chapter occurred. What house is meant is not stated. It may have been the one in which the Lord made his home in Capernaum; where, too, his mother and brethren sought him (Matthew 12:46). The sea-shore is that of the Sea of Galilee, probably near Capernaum, at the northwest corner of the lake.