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 receive 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 the parable of the Sower:   On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.  And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:  "Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.  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!"  And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to 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.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: '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.' But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." 

 "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 receive 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."   Here Christ explains to the disciples the parable of the Sower.  It is a story about how we receive the word of the kingdom.  A lack of comprehension makes us vulnerable to the wicked one, so that we lose the value of the teachings.  This is an indication of what we observed from Christ's teachings in yesterday's reading, a need to make an effort to grasp the teachings.  Then Christ moves on to the next stage in the possible progress of discipleship:  one who immediately receive the word with joy, but endures only for a while -- when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, he stumbles and falls away.  This teaches us about the depth of the heart that needs to be involved in receiving the word.  Joy is a beautiful thing, but love is a deeper communion that calls us to a more rooted place within ourselves.  The one who received seed among the thorns is illustrative of how we can be distracted: by the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches.   We should recall here Christ's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, in which He taught against worry and anxiety (see this reading).  His example in this parable strikes us as warning against how our lives and life purpose can be carried away by such distractions, we are "choked" by these thorns of preoccupation and cares through an unbalanced focus on outward worldly concerns which leaves no room for the life which Christ offers.  In our present world of great distractions and preoccupations, an intensely materialist popular focus, and endless demands magnified by media of all types, this becomes an extensive concern, and one we must take quite seriously.  As popular forms of media give such a great focus to our own image in the eyes of others, such concerns become ever more magnified.  See St. John's Gospel passage regarding those religious leaders who valued the "praise of men" above the praise of God.  Although they believed in Christ, their fear of ostracism ruled their choices (see John 12:42-43).  In a modern context, we might consider how this is related to fear of "being cancelled."  Note that for Christ the problem is ultimately whether or not we live this life He teaches, and bear spiritual fruit.  Those who are choked by the thorns He describes as becoming unfruitful.  Finally, Jesus teaches, "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."   Note the process here:  we are called to truly hear and to understand -- and in the living of what we hear and understand we bear spiritual fruit.  This is the description of a lifelong process.  That is, not a one time-assent or belief, but of fully living out His word and teachings, seeking to grasp them and understand them, and then living them throughout our lives, with a clear promise of potential for spiritual fruits He as one would describe the multiplied produce of an agricultural crop at harvest:  a hundredfold, or sixty, or thirty.  Jesus does not ask us to compete with one another for that final count, but He does ask us to make the effort, to be a good disciple, as best we are able.  

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

Harvest of life mosaic, detail.  4th century.  Santa Costanza, Rome, Italy

"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

Yesterday we read that, after Jesus preached the parable of the Sower, the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to 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.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  '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.'  But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

 "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."  Jesus gives the explanation of His parable of the Sower to the disciples.  Let us keep in mind that this is the first time He's preached in parables, and it's the first parable that has been given.  He has spent time alone with the disciples explaining why He's begun preaching in parables.  There are those who will "hear" and those who will not, as the crowds who listen to Him have grown large.  There will be those who hear and want to know more, but there will be many who also do not.   Here in His explanation of the parable Jesus speaks of how different people will receive the word, the "seed" He distributes as "sower."  His explanation is clear, but one thing we can note:  Jesus emphasizes persistence, and also the overcoming of obstacles to the fruitfulness of the word within ourselves.  The fertile good ground is the region of the heart.  Jesus speaks of the worldly as that which interferes with the root and flowering of the word:  tribulation and persecution, cares of this world and deceitfulness of riches.

Jesus' emphasis is on persistence, overcoming obstacles.  He knows that there will be many ways in which it will be made difficult for His word to be followed, to take root, to flower, to produce fruit.  He knows there will be many dangers to His ministry -- both in His lifetime and also throughout the centuries to follow.  This parable applies at both a community level -- even a universal level -- and also at an individual level.  Ultimately, He speaks of the ground of the heart common to each person.  We should, in fact, take heart in Jesus' assumption that His word is going to fall in places of struggle and even of hostility.  In the whole of the Gospel, Christ is quite pragmatic in terms of the warnings He gives to the disciples, and to all those who would follow, that this is not going to be an easy journey.  At the very least, in this first parable, He teaches us that there are pitfalls and traps awaiting the faithful.  We might hear the word with great joy, but what about when we face challenges to that faith?  What about when we struggle to make ends meet, or to keep up with the neighbors (or others)?  What about when something unjust happens to us?  Sometimes we might need to sacrifice materially in order to follow our faith -- and that will really take faith to do.  I have had the experience of friends questioning why I would not put material profit first in making decisions -- and it has been surprising to me that I can't sufficiently explain there are other things more important.  Jesus warns us that persecutions will come, and tribulations.  Nothing is left out of this parable for the person who seeks to be a follower of Christ.  But then, He's quite specific about what He's looking for in His followers.  He calls us to persist, and in our persistence, to bear fruit.  This is not an overnight sensation of elation in our faith that gives us all easy answers to every question.  This is something within which we'll struggle and meet our own obstacles.  There are things we'll need time to work out in prayer, hard decisions that are not simple.  But the reward is a particular kind of joy, a medicine for our souls, a kind of truth and fruit to bear which nothing else can replace.  His is the one thing necessary for that place in us that longs for real truth, a genuine need for security in God's love, especially when the transitory nature of so much of life lets us down.  Let us turn to prayer in our struggles, and to those who offer us the truth, and support our choice for what He offers us.  Christ's way is the one that shows us the long road for the long game -- for an outcome that transcends everything else.  Along the way, we learn patience, forbearance, kindness, joy, a peace that passes understanding -- and bear the fruits He wishes.  St. Paul affirms this in Galatians 5:22-23, and so does the full experience of the Church and her faithful.  Let us consider where our lives intersect with that experience and that challenge today, for His truth remains just so.

To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables

 And again He began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, "so that

'Seeing they may see and not perceive,
And hearing they may hear and not understand;
Lest they should turn,
And their sins be forgiven them.'"

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

- Mark 4:1-20

Yesterday we read that after Jesus chose the Twelve, they went into a house.  Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.  But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house.  Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."  Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."

 And again He began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  We who follow the developments in Mark's Gospel can now sense a shift in Jesus' ministry.  He has come to the attention of the religious and state authorities, who now seek to destroy Him.   We have also read of the growing crowds who follow Him, which at this point must be preached to at the shore because of the great number of people who seek Him.   He most likely sits in a boat to avoid being crushed (3:9).  The Twelve have been chosen, and they He has shared with them His power and authority to preach, to heal, and to cast out demons.  So Jesus' speaking in parables marks a new turning point in His ministry.  His call, He who has ears to hear, let him hear! is a reference to the Scripture He will quote from Isaiah, a little further down in our reading, when He speaks in private to the disciples.  The parable of the Sower is Jesus' first parable that He gives in this new style of preaching.   Parables were common forms of teaching by Jesus' time, but no one used them so skillfully as He did.   My study bible describes them as images drawn from daily life to represent and communicate the deep things of God.  Many concern farming, drawn from the daily lives of people in this agrarian society.  Parables, my study bible explains, give us glimpses of Him whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).  Importantly, and relevant to the growing public attention and crowds who gather to Him, at this point in His ministry He makes it clear that not everybody who hears the parables are going to understand them.  Moreover, understanding and perception happens on different levels.  Most often, Jesus' parables illustrate the "hidden" life of the kingdom of God in our midst, how it works and what it does.

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, "so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.'"   Jesus first explains in private to His disciples His new use of parables in and of itself.  He quotes from Isaiah 6:10.  The hidden messages in the illustrations in the parables are intended to draw those toward Him who are capable of real faith, who "have ears to hear."   God permits our self-chosen blindness; our love must be freely given.  Moreover, God gives people up to their own devices.  It is a way of expanding on Christ's pronouncement regarding blasphemy of the Holy Spirit in yesterday's reading (above).  A refusal of love is not a boundary God crosses to compel us to faith.

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."   Christ reveals Himself to be the Sower, the one who sows the word.  My study bible explains that this is an image of the promised Messiah, who had been foretold in Isaiah 55:10-13.

Why this hidden nature of the kingdom of heaven?  Why aren't things obvious to us, completely visible?  Why do we need faith?  This is the nature of our world.  If we think about love, we can perhaps understand the nature of this reality a little bit better.  If there is someone that you love, you look upon them with a particular kind of seeing.  In the language of the Scriptures, we look with a particular kind of sight or "eyes that see."  Perhaps we see the good in the soul of the person we love.  There is a special sight that we have.  But the good we see might be at hidden depths, covered up by flaws and bad personal behavior, habits that get in the way of the good that we see.  Love may be simply a kind of faith that there is this depth of good that we somehow perceive.  Moreover, in our world, love may be confused with desire, a type of selfishness, wanting something for ourselves.  God is love (1 John 4:7-21), and from a reciprocal loving communion with God, we learn love.  But the nature of this learning is a long road, a kind of journey.  When Christ speaks of Himself as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), that word for way means "road" or "path" in the original Greek of the Gospels.  Today's parable gives us a sense of what that road is like, and where we might stumble on our way along this path of faith.  It illustrates for us the factors of our world and our lives that get in the way of that great good that is God and our communion with God.  This is not a one-way ticket, a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, or winning the Lotto.  It's a path, a journey -- and it's one that we live in a world that will give us all kinds of temptations to give up on it or to forget about it.  We are, of course, free to get back on that road at any time, but it remains just that:  a road, a journey we take through life that asks of us a daily practice, awareness, and will present us with challenges, as  any true pursuit in love or wisdom is wont to do.   In today's parable, Jesus gives us examples of the things that halt this journey and take it away from us.  In the first example illustrated in the parable, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in the heart.  Then there are those who immediately receive the word with gladness, but they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  When tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Finally He illustrates the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  These are not prophecies written in stone, but they are warnings to us about the reality of the world in which we live and struggle for our faith.  A daily prayer practice is designed simply to keep us on this path, to enable us to resist the temptations and pitfalls that Christ names, to keep our priorities straight -- and our eyes and ears truly hearing and truly seeing.  Like all relationships of love, this is something that asks us to work at it.  We don't create it all by ourselves and we don't invent things from scratch:  but our role to play is very real.  Our work is something Christ asks of us (John 6:28-29).  It asks of us vigilance and watchfulness, a guarding of the heart in which we come to know ourselves and our own weaknesses,  and an effort to protect what we know is good in us, our love of God and that good ground of the heart that Christ illustrates in the parable.  Our "yes" and our own growth in understanding is every bit as essential to this synergy Christ offers of the divine at work in us as God's work is for us in the first place.  Jesus lays out the struggle, and He speaks in parables, guaranteeing that out of all the crowds only those who really feel drawn to this love are the ones who will pursue it with the faith that stands up even to persecution and struggle.  In the loving relationships we know, even popular self-help manuals give us to understand that good loving relationships (such as marriage, for example) involve mutual commitment, work, and daily effort at nurturing, supporting, and protecting them.   God offers us love -- but how do we value and respond to God's love in a world full of temptations to do otherwise?