<p>13:21&nbsp;<em>Yet he does not have root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles-&nbsp;</em>The house built on sand was destroyed by a flood, an oft used type of the second coming and day of judgment. The equivalent in the sower parable is &quot;when the sun was up... they were scattered&quot; (Mt. 13:6). The sun is a symbol of both Christ's return and also of &quot;tribulation or persecution! (Mt. 13:21). It seems that Jesus is teaching that our response to the word now is in effect our judgment seat; if we do not properly grow by it, in time of trial (the sun rising) we will spiritually die. Therefore when &quot;the sun of righteousness&quot; arises (Mal. 4:2) at the day of judgment, we will be &quot;scorched&quot; or 'burnt up' (Gk.). There are other examples of where a man's attitude to God's word in this life indicates his position at judgment day (e.g. Acts 13:46). In the same way as we call upon a reserve of word-developed spirituality in time of trial (the &quot;moisture&quot; of the parable), so we will at judgment day. When Paul spoke of how we&nbsp;<em>must</em>&nbsp;go through tribulation to enter the Kingdom (Acts 14:22), perhaps he was alluding to the parable of the sower, where the Lord taught that when, and not &ldquo;if&rdquo; tribulation arises (Mt. 13:21). Paul knew that it&nbsp;<em>must</em>&nbsp;come because of the way the Lord had worded the interpretation of the parable.</p>
<p>It is quite possible that our Lord's sad prophecy of the disciples being offended because of having to identify with his sufferings looked back to this parable, concerning those who impulsively respond to the word in joy, but are offended because they have no deep root (Mk. 4:17 = Mk. 14:27; Mt. 26:31). The fact that the disciples became good ground after this encourages us that we can change the type of ground which we are on initially receiving the seed.</p>