Therefore hear the parable of the sower

"Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

- Matthew 13:18-23

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught (and His disciples) the parable of the Sower. In Matthew's Gospel, this is Jesus' introduction of parables to His preaching. In Hebrew and Aramaic, the word for parable may also mean "allegory," "riddle," or "proverb." In the parable of the Sower, Jesus taught that a sower went out to sow. Some seed fell by the wayside and the birds ate it up. Some seed fell on stony places. Immediately it sprang up plants, having very little soil, but then they were scorched by the sun, and withered away because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns and were choked by the thorns. "But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" His disciples asked Him why He spoke in parables, and He told them: "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand." In them, He said, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled. "Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them."

"Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside." Jesus sets out the various "types" that are exemplified in the riddle or parable. The seed is the word of the kingdom, the good news of the gospel. What doesn't take root in the heart is that which is not understood, not received with spiritual eyes and ears. This becomes food for "the evil one" -- the one for whom it was not intended.

"But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles." Jesus has already repeatedly warned the disciples about persecution, that they must be strong in their faith, and courageous. Here, it's like He's giving a message to all of us: we will face such tests of our own faith, and if the word of the kingdom isn't really rooted very deeply within us, such difficulties will overwhelm our faith.

"Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful." Here's another way in which our faith becomes lost: by the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. The word Jesus uses for what these things do to us is "choke" us -- the thorns crowd it out so it cannot grow or produce. In the original Greek, the "cares of this world" reads "the cares of this age." It takes us back to the part of the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus preached against unnecessary worry and anxiety -- an excessive focus on the material. See Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. It really depends upon the things we crowd our lives with, what we put first, and what we give room to grow -- where we put our focus.

"But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." We really go back to the emphasis in the Sermon on the Mount, the quality, care and protection of the life of the heart, our inner lives. Are we receptive? What do we put first? The good ground of the heart is that in which we are taking good care of our own spiritual health, sharpening our spiritual eyes and ears and making ourselves receptive to His word. In this good news of the kingdom we will always have room to grow: there must always be something new that we are producing, learning, understanding. The growth of this kingdom within ourselves and within our hearts and minds and lives is dynamic, not static. A good disciple, the message teaches us here, is one who grows in these mysteries and goes beyond the narrow gate, on a journey of faith, and produces good fruits, Christ's life in abundance.

I'd like to focus on this life of growth that Jesus clearly calls good discipleship, and the fertile soil of the heart -- the place where we receive the word, the seed He plants. How does that grow in you? How do you expect of yourself to go forward in your own understanding, and fruitfulness? Jesus is speaking to disciples who will go forward into the kingdom, to form the Church, to face terrible persecution and tribulation, and yet He has faith that at least some of them will go forward to produce abundant fruit, to yield great crops. Note the distinctions here: they are not all the same. Even in the places where the seed falls on good ground and is received in the heart will not all yield the same yield. Yet all are disciples -- and the discipleship He wants is those who will produce that yield. It is all tied to understanding and our own receptivity. What do we put first? What do we allow to crowd out this seed, this word? How deeply does it take root within us? We are all on a journey; the Sower sows and we reap. We are responsible for the good harvest possible where we tend to our inner lives, our own spiritual eyes and ears. We are not expected to hold this seed like a possession that we hide away somewhere, but to grow in it, and it to grow in us. How does it grow in you today? What are you doing to nurture your own capacity to receive mysteries of the kingdom?