18“Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
Jesus now turned from showing the reason He used parables to interpreting the parable of the soils (vv. 3-9) in verses 18 through 23. The parable of the soils has to do with four different responses to the message of the kingdom. The seed is the same but the soils are different. Three soils have varying levels of negative volition but one soil has positive volition.
13:18
“Therefore hear [emphatic—hear you] the parable of the sower:
The sower is the one who preaches the message of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus challenged His disciples to understand the meaning of the parable.
13:19
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it,
It is possible to hear the message but not embrace it. The “word of the kingdom” is the message of Jesus as King of Israel, the Messiah. People can hear the message but not embrace it, not because they cannot understand it but because they deliberately choose not to understand it.
then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.
The birds in the analogy are Satan who snatches away the message from those who hear.
This is he who received seed by the wayside.
This is the seed that fell on hard ground by the wayside; it was a calloused soil.
PRINCIPLE:
Satan is behind hardness of heart.
APPLICATION:
Satan can supernaturally snatch away the message from those hardened towards the message. God’s message does not penetrate a hard heart.
