The parable of the Sower

The parable of the Sower is found in the Gospels of Mark 4:1-20, Matthew 13:1-23 and Luke 8:4-15.

The context is that of a farmer sowing seed and Jesus shared this parable to communicate the different types of people, how they receive the Word of God, the outcome of their reception and why the results are as they are.

The seed is therefore the Word of God and because the farmer is scattering the seed, the 4 gospels agreeably show the four possible places that they can fall on.

Likening the seed to the people being given the Word, Jesus goes on to show us how key reception is to sustenance using the four types of soil.

Firstly, is the seed that falls along the path, the first type of ground, but which we are told that birds came and ate up. Yet, the Gospel of Luke adds one extra detail: that they were trampled on. Whatever is trampled is clearly not good for use anymore so that even if the birds come and eat it up, it is already useless. How so?

These, Jesus says, are those people that as soon as they hear the Word, Satan comes and quickly takes it away. The question therefore remains as to why the enemy comes to take it away in the first place. Matthew explains it this way: that when one hears the message of the kingdom and fails to understand it, then this gives leeway for Satan to come and take what was sown in their hearts. But what is the enemy’s motive? Luke explains that the enemy does this so that they will not believe and be saved.

Is this then not what keeps many from salvation? Yes, they hear the message but because they do not understand it, they cannot respond to it. The message is therefore taken away from them in response to their lack of response. But why do they fail to understand the message? It is because of the condition of their hearts- they are hardened, so much so that they cannot receive nor believe in what they hear. And by their response, or lack of it, they make it so much easier for the enemy to take away what has been sown in them.

Secondly are the seeds that fell on the rocky places where there was not much soil. Although they sprung up quickly because the soil was shallow, when the sun came up, they were scorched and withered because they had no root. Luke, however, wrote that they did not come up. Either way, these seed are likened to people who hear the Word, receive it with joy but since they have no root, it only lasts for a while and when trouble or persecution comes, they quickly fall away. Luke wrote that that these people believe for a while but when tested, as they must, fall away Haven’t we all met people who come into the kingdom with their own list of wishes, and that if these are not met within a certain period of time, fall away?

Kind of reminds me of a person I preached to and he got born again and went down on his knees at a hotel and asked to be led to Christ. I remembered how moved I was by all these. But when trouble came his way, he asked me why “you Christians do not tell it as it is”: why we do not warn people of the persecutions that will come once they get born again.

James 1:2-4 clearly asks us to consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds because they ultimately lead us to maturity. But if we do not hang around to learn even about this then we may fall off before we mature enough to stay on.

Thirdly, is the seed that fell among the thorns; these grew up but bore no grain because the thorns grew up with them and choked the plants. This is likened to people who hear the Word but the worries of life, deceitfulness of wealth, pleasures and the like choke the Word out of them so that they do not become fully mature Christians.

But could these “thorns” not also be what comes through social media influences where they perceive other people’s lives as being better than their own hence leading to dissatisfaction with their new found faith? Is it a wonder therefore that as we are reminded to always be in the right company? For these thorns grew alongside the plants that sprung from the seeds that fell from amongst them but ended up choking them into non-productivity. Should we not be aware of who and what we hang out with after salvation?

Because once we receive the Word of God in the message passed on to us, we must now surround ourselves with the right people and things; watch the right movies, read the right books and additionally be found in the right places; for light and darkness will never have anything in common.

The believer and nonbeliever will never have anything in common unless the former was giving the latter the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 1:1 puts it this way: Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers.

Therefore, after reception, what chokes or sustains the Word that one receives is what one grows around.

As I ponder over this issue, I realize that we are saved when we believe in and receive Christ but we are also being continually saved through the sanctification work in us. If then the enemy finds a way of keeping, not only the initial salvation at bay, but also the continuous sanctification work that we so need to be transformed into Christ-likeness, then he will fight tooth and nail to keep us at a place of failure.

Lastly, is the fourth type of soil where seed fell on what is called good soil, that caused them to come up, grow, produce crop and multiply 30,60, 100 times; the Gospel of Luke intimates that they yielded a crop. These gives a picture of people, who like the seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it and produce something of it. Luke writes that they are people with a noble and good heart, who hear, receive persevere in the Word and therefore produce or multiply. Unlike those who refuse go through the trials, these people endure through what comes their way because they know their God enough to trust Him through their trials and tribulations.

And not only this, but they are the doers of the Word, who work out their salvation in fear and trembling, mixing their faith with their actions and not just being talkers: remembering that the word is not to only be heard but to be practiced; knowing also that it is also be shared, to be lived, to be delighted in, to be meditated over and to be hidden in our hearts in its entirety. In this way they are those that produce or yield results are productive in the kingdom of God. These too are instrumental in the advancement of the Gospel of Jesus and in the knowledge of God.

The Sower released the seed, the type of soil determined its outcome. The word is out, our reception will be determined by the state of our hearts in either receiving or rejecting what has been released. And rejection will be determined by more than just how we receive it, sometimes it will depend on who is around us and what they are doing around us.

May these words (sermons), from various men and women of God be a blessing to all.

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