The Parable of the Sower

The Parable of the Sower

Mark 4
1Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." 9Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 10When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12so that, " 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'" 13Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14The farmer sows the word. 15Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

Matthew 13
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear." 10The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" 11He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. 18"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

Luke 8
4While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown." When he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 9His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, " 'though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.' 11"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

We have three things here: a parable (not the first), Jesus' explanation to His disciples (meaning closest followers as Mark shows, not necessarily just the 12 apostles, despite Matthew's and Luke's failure to include mention of others present) of His reason for speaking in parables (of utmost importance), and the detailed explanation of the parable He had just given.

We can dwell on the soils and whether or not "soil X" represents a true believer or not, but that's not the key to the passage. The key to the passage lies in the reason for Jesus' speaking in parables. Once we gain understanding of that, then we can better analyze the intended menaing of the parable. And that's the exact order Jesus does it in all 3 accounts. So before continuing, let me say that tone is difficult to interpret with text conversation. My tone tends to be interpreted as being much more aggresive than it is meant to be. I am writing the following with meekness and fear. Here goes:

We seem to think that Jesus' command, "He who has ears, let him hear!" is critical. While it is true that there is great reward for seeking out Jesus and striving to find the deeper meanings to His parables, getting people to do that is not the sole purpose of Jesus' speaking in parables. Rather, doing that is evidence of having been blessed with ears to hear, just as Matthew records Jesus as saying: "Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear." The reason the ears hear is because they are blessed by God. Ears that do not hear have not been blessed by God. This is evidenced throughout Scripture. Proverbs 20:12 says this: "Ears that hear and eyes that see—the LORD has made them both." We must acknowledge that our seeking and searching is a direct result of our having been blessed by God to do just that.

Now what is the other purpose of Jesus' speaking in parables? Not merely to reveal truth to those who have been blessed by God to receive it, but also to conceal the truth from those who have not been blessed by God. And this sounds harsh. But it's exactly what the text says. In Mark, Jesus speaks in parables so that those outside will hear but not understand, will see but not perceive. And the last statement is the real kicker: If they did hear and understand and see and perceive, then then might repent to be healed, and that's not what Jesus wanted at this time. That's what Isaiah records God as saying, and that's why Jesus quoted him. The same is true in Matthew. (Luke doesn't elaborate.)

The focus is on their hardened hearts. It's not God's fault that they don't hear or see. It's their fault. But the discplies were in the same condition. And that ties back in to the soils. One soil is not inherently better than another. If it were, then that particular soil would have reason to boast and something in itself to credit the growth. But it is not the soil that grows the crop; it's God. God has blessed some soil and not other soil. No soil has worthiness in itself. The same is true for mankind. We believers (we good soil kind of folks) have nothing within ourselves to lord over unbelievers (those bad soil folks). God Himself has blessed us to be good soil. And that's why we receive His Word and produce crop, because God is at work in us. God simply has not blessed the bad soil in the same way that He has blessed the good soil. He gives the growth.

Now, that's probably not what you think about the whole thing. But it's exactly what Scripture says. The great question that needs answering when discussing this topic is this: WHY DO SOME RECEIVE THE GOSPEL MESSAGE AND NOT OTHERS? Why do some beleive and not others?

If the difference lies within man, then man has reason to boast. If one man humbles himself more than another, and that's the reason he believes, then he has in a sense made himself more worthy than the other man.

If however, the difference is with God (which is what Scripture says), then man has nothing about which to boast. I know that I believe the Gospel because God has given me a new heart. I did not believe the Gospel before God did that work in me. I couldn't have. Furthermore, once God did give me a new heart, I couldn't have kept from believing the Gospel, nor can anyone else. Want more evidence of this? Post a reply. Let's work it out.