August 2026-How Does the Kingdom Grow?
The Rocky Path
Matthew 13:1-23
There’s a phrase often used in our culture today. Apparently it derives from life in the American mines in the mid 19th century. Saltpetre (the common name for potassium nitrate) was an ingredient in the gunpowder used by miners to create explosions and make fuses. Dampness or wind often caused the spark to fizzle out before it reached the explosive. That experience became commonly known as ‘petereing out’.
By God’s grace, I’ve been following Jesus for some 22 years. I’ve experienced many things during that time and cherish him more as my Saviour and King as each day passes. During that time, however, I can testify that by far the most disheartening experience continues to be seeing someone who was once going strong for the Lord peter out. One minute they were on fire and the next minute they had gone cold and grown disinterested. Fraser, Julia, Ross, Ben etc the list goes on. Pain and perplexion abounds.
That is why I am grateful for Jesus’ teaching in the parable of the sower. We thought previously about how Jesus is seeking to create expectations as to people’s responses to the preached Word. I’m always struck by the fact that Jesus could have simply told the parable featuring 2 types of soil. As the seed is sown either the birds snatch it away or it grows and produces a crop. Binary and simple. The parable is a bit more nuanced than that however.
Why does Jesus do it this way? Jesus must know that the disciples will soon observe people walk away from the life of faith having started it so well. It will be a deeply unsettling experience. Forewarned is forearmed as they say.
Infact, on a plain reading of the text, one could argue that that the rocky ground gets the most explanation out of the four soils. This might suggest that Jesus knows that this is the response the disciples are most likely to encounter. If the problem of the “path people” was that their mind and soul were never responsive to the Word, the problem of the “rock people” is that their roots weren’t very deep in the Word.
Notice 2 things about Jesus’ words.
See the realism they create.
There will be those people who hear and initially respond to the gospel with joy. However, Jesus is keen to point out 3 things about their petering out. First, it is due to a lack of rootedness. Second, it’s closely connected with trouble on persecution. It’s notable that Jesus uses the word when not if to refer to such hardships. Third, such persecutions are not general but rather directly linked to their association with the Word.
We instinctively expect such petering out to happen immediately. However, it’s interesting to note that Jesus puts no time scale on it. It could happen over a long period of time.
I remember once going for a stroll with a friend who had walked away from the faith. My friend has grown up following Jesus. He asked me if his life story was illustrative of the illogical nature of believing that once someone is saved they are always saved. That is a deeply sincere question and I treated it as such.
Not only did I find this parable helpful to process his question but it helped me formulate a better question to ask him in return. The question to ask wasn’t was he ever truly one of the elect. The question was how was he responding to the Word, not yesterday, but today? Asking that question doesn’t undermine Jesus’ teaching that no-one will snatch his sheep from his hand (John 10:28-30). On the contrary, if anything, it demonstrates it.
See the response they require.
Of course the Lord is sovereign over the impact of the seed. This truth alone calls for prayer and trust as we continually sow the Word. We should keep sowing and pray that the Lord would cause the Word to land on good soil.
However, perhaps there is a call here to do our best to see deep roots develop in the lives of young believers. Taking the time to show them how to read the Bible. Coming alongside them to explain to them the narrow path along which Jesus calls us all to walk. Providing for them with a relational network of people in the local church where they can safely ask questions.
This kind of rooted culture doesn’t happen by osmosis. There is a call here for deliberate discipleship and meaningful church membership. I take it there’s something of that in Paul’s words to the Thessalonians.
‘Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.’ (1 Thessalonians 2:8)
So who can you being to pray for? Who could you take under your wing as it were? How can you play your part modelling a life that both doctrine and life?
There is another school of thought for the origin of the phrase petering out. Some believe it to be a reference to Peter’s denial of Jesus. If that is the case then there is hope for we know how Jesu transformed Peter’s story. If you are discouraged by your friends or family walking away from the faith then take heart and let’s play the long game with our sowing.
