What does Matthew 13:1 mean?
Matthew 13 begins with "that same day," continuing from the end of Matthew 12. Jesus had been inside a house crowded with people who had come to hear Him teach and, likely, to see His miracles. Now Jesus moves out of the house in order to sit and teach the people by the Sea of Galilee. Sitting down was the customary teaching position for a rabbi during this time.Matthew 13 contains one of five long speeches—known as discourses—made by Jesus in Matthew's gospel. This one begins in a similar way to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, where He found an elevated place to sit and be heard as He taught to a large crowd (Matthew 5:1). This discourse is slightly different from the others; it is presented not primarily to Jesus' disciples, but also to the crowds, in general. Jesus will make clear when He explains why He is teaching in parables (Matthew 13:10–17).
Matthew 13:1–9 turns the focus back to Jesus' spiritual teachings, with the parable of the sower. As Jesus sits in a boat just offshore, He tells the crowd about a seed-thrower whose seed fell on a path, on rocky soil, among thorns, and on good soil. Only the seed on the good soil is productive. Jesus later explains the meaning of the parable to His disciples (Matthew 13:18–23), but He does not fully explain it for the crowds.
Matthew 13 focuses mainly on a series of parables. Jesus first describes these to a large crowd along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Later, in a house, He explains to the disciples the meanings of the parables of the sower, the weeds, and the fish caught in the net. Jesus then travels to Nazareth, teaches in the synagogue, and is rejected by the people of His original hometown.