Sower

Matthew 13:1-23

¹That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.

²And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach.

³And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.

⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.

⁵Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil,

⁶but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.

⁷Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.

⁸Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

⁹He who has ears, let him hear.”

¹⁰Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

¹¹And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

¹²For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

¹³This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

¹⁴Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

¹⁵For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

¹⁶But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.

¹⁷For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

¹⁸“Hear then the parable of the sower:

¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.

²⁰As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,

²¹yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

²²As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

²³As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

From ages 8-22 I lived in Lincoln, Nebraska. There really isn’t much remarkable about Lincoln. It was a good place to grow up but I don’t look back and think that it was an exciting and interesting place to live. But there is one remarkable feature I will always remember (besides Cornhusker football) and that is “The Sower” that resides atop the state capital building. He stands there because Nebraska is an agricultural mecca. If you’re in Nebraska, it’s all about the farming. But for me, that statue always conjured up images of the Parable of the Sower that we read in Matthew today. As a kid I always knew exactly what that guy in Jesus’ story looked like because I could see him every time we went downtown.

For those of us who have heard this story over and over, understanding it isn’t difficult. Where does the Word of God land in your life? Is your heart ready to receive it and respond or are you unwilling to believe? Jesus says (as He almost always does at the end of a parable) “He who has ears, let him hear.”

Years ago I heard a sermon by Dr. Charles Stanley that still resonates with me today concerning this parable. As He is so talented at doing, he brings this parable into today and makes a simple application to the modern life. He labels the four patches of ground as four different types of hearts.

• The Path = the Calloused heart
• The Rocks = the Casual heart
• The Weeds = the Crowded heart
• The Soil = the Converted heart

That just about nails it. And honestly, sometimes I can lay claim to all four hearts. My flesh is more than willing for me to be hard-hearted, complacent, and way too busy when it comes to my faith. But I am finally and completely converted. That is the overriding position of my heart.

As I was researching this passage, I came across this quote from Jeffery Gibbs Commentary on Matthew. It addresses the fact that the sower seems to be willing to spread the seed everywhere. Farming practices probably did not include spreading the valuable seeds into places where they certainly would not grow. But the sharing of God’s Word is a little different. “This indiscriminate broadcast—of the seed and of the Gospel—is not very “efficient” and goes against the human tendency to conserve one’s resources and efforts when one is not confident about receiving personal benefits. Surely this is not the most “productive” way to operate. But that’s how it is with the reign of God in Christ; grace trumps efficiency.”

Gibbs, J. A. (2010). Matthew 11:2–20:34 (p. 682). Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

That particular attitude resonates with our hearts as well as we desire, along with God, that all should come to know Jesus as their Savior. We pray for the hearts of our friends and families who do not know God to be made into the good soil. Tomorrow, we will deal with the verses found between the parable and the explanation.