Parable of the Sower
This Gospel passage is perhaps one of the most well known; it is the Parable of the Sower. It is found here in Luke’s account, as well as in Matthew's and Mark's. We may judge that the Apostles considered it one of the most important of the many parables that our Lord preached. It surely deserves a careful consideration.
What is the ‘message from God’ in this parable? We are told in verse 4 that the parable was preached when a great crowd had come out to hear him. This is not one of those teachings which are reserved for the inner circle of Christ’s disciples. On the contrary, though it is veiled in the dramatic language that is used in all of the parables, it is given to all of those who come out from the towns and villages to hear what is said and, through spiritual contemplation, to come to an understanding of its meaning. A little earlier in Luke 8, we are told that Jesus visited all of the cities and villages, both preaching and working miracles. So, we can imagine that wherever he appeared the whole populace would crowd around to hear him and see what he might do.
The substance of the parable is familiar to us. There is a farm worker, one of the old fashioned sowers who carried the seed in a basket or bag over his shoulder, and scattered the seed wide and sweeping. Such a sight would have been recognisable almost anywhere in the world in times past. Nowadays, the seed is planted more methodically and accurately by various mechanical devices. But in the time of Christ, and indeed until modern times, the seed would fall in many different types of soil. The images used by Christ would have made perfect sense to all of those who heard him speak.
Some seed would fall on the paths at the side of the field; it would be trodden underfoot or devoured by the birds. Others would fall on the places where there was a rocky, thin soil and would quickly spring up but would almost immediately wither due to lack of moisture. Others would fall among the weeds and thorns and be choked before they could flourish. It was only the seed that fell on the good soil with a chance and that produced fruit for the harvest.
When our Lord completes the parable, he calls on those who have ‘ears to hear, let him hear’. This same phrase is found in Deuteronomy 29. When Moses was inspired of God to lead the Israelites to renew their covenant with him, he reminded them that the Lord had not given them ears to hear until that day because of their hardness of heart. They had wandered for forty years in the wilderness, unable to hear the message of God. Likewise, the phrase is found in Ezekiel 12, where the prophet gives the message of God which came to him and said: “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house”.
It would seem that this idea of hearing but not really hearing is associated with rebellion and hard-heartedness in the Scriptures. Indeed, it suggests that those who are able to truly understand what is said are those whose hearts are prepared and who desire to be obedient towards God. In verse 9 of this Gospel reading, we find this concept corroborated because it is the disciples of Christ who ask him to reveal the inner meaning of the parable. They show their appreciation that there is a meaning beyond the plain words.
These disciples are not restricted to the Apostles. In verse 1, the Apostles are described as ‘the Twelve’, so it would seem that the term ‘disciples’ is meant to include a wider community. Indeed we read in verse 2 that with Christ were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna and many others who ministered to him. It would seem entirely reasonable that this body of followers, those whose hearts were softened and who were seeking to be obedient hearers, included these women and those others who travelled with the Twelve.
When they had all come together in a private place, Jesus encourages them by saying that indeed this group of disciples will be given knowledge of the mysteries of God, even if the great crowds remain ignorant of the spiritual message from God that is contained in the parables. This can be considered the first aspect of the message of God which this Gospel reveals. Those who become followers of God will be led into a mystical knowledge of the things of God. Not merely an intellectual knowledge about God, but an interior experience of God.
Jesus then explains the meaning of the parable to his followers. It is all about the hearing of the message of God. There are those who hear it and it barely registers in their minds before they rush on to some other thought. They are not able to believe and so cannot be saved. Hearing in the sense of interior understanding and reception is therefore part of what it means to be a Christian. It is necessary for our continuing salvation that we hear the message of God as it continues to speak to us with an interior and spiritual awareness.
There are those who hear with joy and receive the message of God but have neither roots nor spiritual foundations; so they only believe for a while and fall away. Therefore, it is clear that the Christian must be a person with spiritual roots. Our salvation is not a matter of emotion: of temporary and transient feeling. Nor can our faith be based on our response some time ago. Salvation must be a present experience or it is no salvation at all.
And then there are those who hear and respond in some way to the message they hear, but then allow the cares of the world, their possessions and the enjoyment of pleasure to choke, to strangle, the spiritual life out of them. We have not really heard and received the message of God if we put it in second place to anything else. Indeed it would seem that our possessions, our anxieties and the enjoyment of worldly pleasures can all very easily stand in the way of our salvation and are even inimical to our salvation if they gain control of our lives.
How then should Christians live? The good soil is an honest and honorable heart. This is consistent with the idea that those who have ears to hear are those who are not rebellious or hard-hearted. This also shows that salvation is a matter of the heart and the hearing that is being described is not simply an intellectual or mental assent to preaching. Those who hear with understanding must go beyond saying ‘I understand’; they must ask ‘How do I apply this in my own life?’.
Christ makes it clear that the aim of the Gospel, the end for which the message of God is spoken, is that men and women, believers in God, should bear fruit. Those who allow the things of the world to choke their spiritual life are criticized especially because they do not bring any fruit to perfection, while those with prepared hearts are commended for bearing fruit. How is this achieved? We can find in the words of Christ some helpful instruction to consider.
The heart is prepared, honest, and honorable. The message is heard, which means more than being simply acknowledged, but it is internally received. And that message is safely preserved. It is not allowed to grow weak or faint. Other concerns are not permitted to take precedence. And then fruit is borne with patience. The message of patience is not always a popular one. The other images in the parable of the false growth of the seed on shallow or thorny soils is often more attractive: a sudden growth with no effort. Yet, it is an empty message and produces no fruit.
The message of God is that the followers of God will receive all they need to bear fruit with God. It is a creative message calling us to spiritual effort, but promising an interior illumination and experiential knowledge of God. And it is a boundless message since Christ continues his explanation, in some of the later verses in this chapter, and describes how those whom begin to hear the message in this way, whom apply it in their lives, will be those who receive even more understanding. He goes even so far as to call those who hear the word in this way his own mother and brothers.
May it be so in our own lives to His Glory.
