Notes to Understand the Parable of the Sower

By Khen Lim

This article is the sequel to the one entitled, Is It About the Soil or the Sower? published on the same date. It seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the Parable of the Sower.



Image Source: beliefnet.com

Origins

The Parable of the Sower is part of what theology refers to as Matthew’s Third Great Disclosure where it begins with a series of parables that concern the Kingdom of Heaven in which God works both in the Universe and in our hearts. As it is traditional amongst the Jewry, God’s Name is not mentioned; otherwise Matthew would have written Kingdom of God instead.

The Parable of the Sower is one of the more popular ones because it explains clearly how God works in our lives and yet how we do our ironic best to stave Him. Here, God invites us to look at our very own real hearts and ask some important questions about ourselves. Do we really have faith? Are we genuine? Do we bear good fruit? Do we have what it takes for God to not only grow but to multiply His seed in us?

Behold a Sower (Matt 13:3)

This you see in Matthew 13:3 (NASB). It is as if Jesus turns to and points to a man in the distance, sowing seeds in a field. And as the people watch where He points, He explains how the Word of God works in their hearts. This is real teaching – right on the spot, right where our hearts are and exactly what is said by Jesus then and there.

Sat by the Sea (Matt 13:1)

Where Jesus sits to preach, the sea is behind Him, acting like an invisible parabolic wall, deflecting and amplifying sound and rendering the beach like a Sensurround amphitheatre. From where Jesus was, He was easily visible and audible to all and as we can see, He wasn’t just centred on His message but He was preoccupied with how easy it is for His people to hear and understand Him.

Large Crowds (Matt 13:2)

The crowd that gathered to hear Jesus had stood at the beach. These were essentially farmers who were indentured to Roman masters. Palestinian economy back then was primarily agrarian. Galilee, where this parable was told, was a large agricultural trading village where the people were forced to work their family land so that proceeds went to Rome yet had not the means or the resources to plough. Instead of using expensive but effective iron tools, these poor farmers resorted to big sticks, which meant they had to use more seeds to scatter in the wind for nature to distribute across the ground. Jesus was ministering to real people who were in need of real messages. This was grassroots ministry at its very best.

The ‘Path’ (Matt 13:4)

While our article uses the word ‘roadside,’ it is synonymous with the Bible translation of ‘path,’ meaning that this was where the farmers walk on instead of the softer soil where the crops are planted. And as Matthew 13:4 says, the path is also where birds came to eat up the seeds.

Rocky Places (Matt 13:5)

These aren’t exactly naked rocky surfaces but rather hidden limestone outcrops covered by top soil that is only a few inches deep (“no depth of soil”). In other words, plants that grow here will sprout fairly quickly but then the roots will be stifled from further growth and then die.

Thorns (Matt 13:7)

The parable uses ‘thorns’ to denote the roots of the weeds that farmers usually don’t see and therefore don’t pull out. Yet they are deadly enough to scavenge for nutrients from the plants before they “choke them out” of contention. Thorns represent the very things in our lives that are deadly but very subtle because they don’t appear visible to the normal eye.

Fold (Matt 13:8)

The word ‘fold’ refers to the multiplication of one’s effort. In 13:8, Jesus says that “any others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty and some thirty.” In terms of tenfold, it would mean that when one seed is planted, it is to the effect as if ten are given. Sixtyfold means when the farmer plants a seed, sixty seeds are harvested. “A hundredfold” is considered a maximum that a piece of land, under ideal conditions, could produce. It is not an exaggeration but a realistic proposition (Gen 26:12, Amos 9:13).

He who has ears, let him hear (Matt 13:9)

This is a very clear reference to the frustrations of the Prophets. In the Old Testament, it is common to read how the people would refuse to listen and instead chose to be deaf to God’s calling (Isa 6:10, 43:8, 44:18; Ezek 12:2). When Jesus spoke these words, He meant to say that those who call themselves good disciples would elect to listen with a sincere heart and not interpret His words merely to affirm their own wants and desires.

Mysteries (Matt 13:11)

2 Corinthians 2:10-16 leads us to understand that the word ‘mysteries’ refers us to the Old Testament prophecies and metaphors surrounding the coming of Christ. As it were with these mysteries, only few would choose to understand them and hence often said that they were clear by hindsight what was unclear with foresight.

Seeing they do not see (Matt 13:13)

As it is traditional to the other parables, there are comparisons and narratives that point centrally to grains of truth but only to those who are willing believers. Therefore to those who refuse to see, or hear, these truths remain locked away and concealed. As it were, Jesus had ‘borrowed’ words that refer to Isaiah 6:9-10 where the Old Testament Patriarch had much to prophesy about man’s unwillingness to turn his ears and eyes towards God.

Deceitfulness of Wealth (Matt 13:22)

It is important to acknowledge that money is a gift – and a tool – from God. When we become prosperous, we are therefore called to use our wealth wisely, carefully and humbly. It is therefore not to become an obsession to which we then preoccupy ourselves idolatrously. If that happens, money becomes the root that leads us astray where we will eventually be choked and scorched (Matt 6:25-30).

Hears the Word and Understands (Matt 13:23)

Simply put, it refers to obedience. It is only through obedience that we serve God as His people. By the indwelling of His Spirit that we bear fruit upwards. It is then that we bear witness to how faith and obedience work inextricably and together for the common purpose by and for which we are created by God. Therefore in the most basic form, we then have two types of soils – the good and the bad – and only in one state, that the seed will multiply and in the other, dies. The question is which kind of dirt are we?