What Is the Meaning of the Parable of the Sower?
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What is a parable? Well, a parable is a flexible term; it can stretch to include a variety of things. But, at its base, a parable is a metaphorical story or saying. By using a metaphor, a parable compares two things. It describes one thing by likening it to something else. Jesus teaches us about the kingdom by comparing it to a mustard seed. Why did Jesus preach in parables?
The inside circle of disciples, the twelve apostles and others, are given the secrets of the Kingdom. But the outside crowds only receive parables. This contrast between secrets given and parables discloses that parables are obscure—they are encryption. A revealed secret is open and clear teaching, full access.
If a parable is the opposite of this, then it is truth incognito. Parables hide truth behind odd images, weird comparisons, and ambiguous terms. Parables are like riddles without an answer key. But why would Jesus camouflage the truth of his preaching from the outside crowds behind brain-teasing parables? This seems like anti-evangelism.
Why did Jesus preach in parables?
Jesus gives his reasonings from the from Isaiah 6. With parables the outsiders will not perceive; they won’t understand and so they will not repent and be forgiven. Parables keep the people clueless and closed off to repentance, which is punitive and it fits with the context of Isaiah.
In Isaiah, the prophet had already been preaching to the people. God had sent numerous prophets to his people. But, the Judeans had ignored, persecuted and rejected every last word from the Lord. Therefore, God changed his preaching from being clear to vague to seal his hard-hearted people for judgment.
Their willful stubbornness is punished by keeping them in the dark. And what was true for Isaiah is the same for our Lord. The crowds still flock to Jesus, but their interest seems to be only in his healings and not his gospel message.
The scribes have condemned Jesus over and over and are already drawing up plans to murder him. They even labeled him demonic, claiming he got his power from the Devil, and the crowds gave their assent by saying that he has an impure spirit. This is a deep-seated repudiation of our Lord; it is a wicked rejection of the truth of the Son of God. And so, for those who blasphemy the gospel in clarity, they get parables to lock them into unrepentance and ignorance.
The Lord gives lucid teaching to those who bow the knee to Christ.
Yet, for those who bow the knee to Christ, our Lord gives lucid teaching. To those who believe, the Lord grants even more truth in full display. Unbelieving rejection is punished with confusion, but humble belief is rewarded with abundantly clear truth.
This ambiguity is evident in the parable of The Sower as Jesus doesn’t inform us on his topic or state his thesis and he doesn’t mention his points. Randomly, he just states that the sower went out to sow:
Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:1-9)
A farmer planted his grain. In Jesus’ day, nearly everyone was connected to agriculture in some way or another. The city folk knew about farming just as much as the farmers. This is like saying, a dairyman went out to milk his cows.
Then, when you plant by scattering seed, which was common, the seed ends up in good and bad places. The birds get some. If the soil is shallow, the grain won’t survive the hot sun. Weeds claim some grain, but other grain gives you a good harvest. The story seems mundane and unremarkable at first glance.
The Old Testament can help us understand the meaning of Jesus’ parables.
Yet, there are a few details that make us think twice. First, is the sower careless or being normal? That is, would a good farmer make sure his seed didn’t fall on the path? Or is this just unpreventable when planting by scattering? We are not sure. Second, it’s clear that you cannot spot the good soil by looking. The rocks are under the surface.
The thorns also germinate and grow with the grain. These are thorn seeds tilled under along with grain seeds. By looking at the topsoil, it all appears good—the dangers lie below unseen. Yet, besides these, what clues are there to help us understand? Well, the first place to head is the Old Testament.
In a few places, God is likened to a sower (Isa. 5:1-2; Ps. 80:8-9; Jer 2:3). He sowed Israel in the promise land. After exile, the Lord promised to replant his exiles for a greater harvest (2 Sam. 7:10; Jer. 32:41). Maybe, Jesus is talking about God and Israel? Though, more commonly, this imagery of sowing and reaping is used for the retribution principle (see Prov. 1:31, 22:8; Hos. 10:13; Gal. 6:7). You reap what you sow—obedience yields blessing and disobedience results in being cursed. Jesus could be warning the crowd that they better be careful how they sow. Our Lord, however, doesn’t give us enough to go on. There is not sufficient information to choose an interpretation and he might be talking about something totally different.
The Parable of The Sower is about kingdom preaching.
Furthermore, Jesus’ conclusion is bit scary. Jesus opens with a call for us to hear and he concludes, “he who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:9). This is not about a hearing test, but it is about your heart. It is a call to spiritual understanding in order to respond properly. Jesus’ point is that you better heed this parable or you are in trouble. While there are serious and dangerous consequences if we fail to grasp what Jesus is talking about in this parable, this is disheartening. It’s like being given a math problem, without the formula to solve it, or being told to win the game without knowing the rules.
Hence, even though the twelve apostles were handed picked by Jesus, they have no idea what this parable is about:
And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that
“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”
And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” (Mark 4:10-13)
The disciples have to take Jesus aside when they are alone to get the answer key, and our Lord is not happy with them. He chides them as dunces and treats this parable as “Elementary, my dear Watson”! Jesus graciously grants the formula to decipher the hieroglyphics of the parable.
Why doesn’t Jesus tell us the identity of the Sower?
The Sower sows the Word. The parable is about the kingdom and the sowing is spreading the Word, the gospel. This is about kingdom preaching. The goodness of the kingdom of heaven heralded by Christ is the sowing. Yet, interestingly, Jesus does not identify the Sower. Naturally, we plug in Jesus first, which works.
Jesus, however, isn’t interested enough in the Sower to identify him. Since our Lord is so closely linked to the Word (the Word come in the flesh), the Sower could be the Father who sows the good news of his Son. Or, since the apostles were appointed to preach like Christ, the Sower could be the apostolic ministry handed down to ministers.
The kingdom of God is built and made strong by the preached Word.
Indeed, Jesus doesn’t identify the Sower because he wants to highlight preaching the gospel. In this kingdom parable, the active agent is the preaching of the Word. The Kingdom of God comes forward; the kingdom is built and made strong by the preached Word. And this is so fitting for the context.
The crowds are swarming to Jesus for his healings and his miracles. Flashy pops of power are what they want. Moreover, the common expectation is the arrival of a geo-political Messiah, who would rally the sword to boot out Rome. But our Lord counters with a “no.” The kingdom is furthered by the preaching of the Word.
Not by worldly power nor by signs and wonders but rather by the Word is the Kingdom established. And this helps us discern whether the Sower is careless or not. It was commonly considered that the Torah was supremely holy, and God’s Holy Word should not be profaned by giving it to the wicked and unworthy.
The Word is merely preached to fall where it may.
Pearls should not be cast before swine. This has its truth, but kingdom preaching pays no attention to this. Instead, the preaching here in this parable is undiscriminating, wild, even promiscuous. The Word is scattered randomly. There is no strategy, programming or technique. There are no marketing methods to the preaching. The Word is merely preached to fall where it may.
Additionally, Jesus stresses that each soil hears the Word. He repeats it every time. The path hears the Word. The rocky soil and thorny dirt hear the Word. The Kingdom of Christ comes forth by the preaching and the hearing of the Word. It is not by sight but by hearing.
The Word is preached universally, to every nation, in every language.
Likewise, in the present setting, the assumption is that the Word is only for Israel. The Messiah restores the kingdom to Israel. But, here the Word is heralded to every type of soil, which gives the impression of catholicity. The Word is preached universally, to every nation, in every language. Nothing here limits the Kingdom Word to the Hebrews, but rather it is cast near and far among the Gentiles.
Such promiscuous preaching is too unchaste for the Scribes. Next, there are various types of soils—the four responses to the Word. These are described so matter-of-factly, and there is no exhortation to be the good soil. No commands of “Don’t be!” As we pointed out, you cannot tell which soil is which by looking at first.
The four soils look the same on the surface. All four soils hear the Word. The latter three hear the Word and receive the Word. These three give the same conversion experience; they share the same profession of faith. It is only later that one can see a difference—if they survive and produce fruit.
Peter matched all four soils at different times.
In fact, the parable is told in a way to reflect election. God knows the chosen soil; he knows the weeds in his kingdom. Those who fall away were never the good soil to begin with. This is even more stark in that we can so poorly discern fruits. Take Peter for example. Which soil is he? What are his fruits?
In a few chapters, Jesus will rebuke Peter: “Get behind me, Satan!” (soil 1; Mark 8:33). After the transfiguration, Peter lusts for earthly glory (soil 3; Mark 9:33-34). And during our Lord’s trial, the fear of persecution will cause Peter to deny Jesus (soil 2; Mark 14:66-72). Peter matches all four soils at different times. This is another issue: Jesus doesn’t define fruitfulness here.
Is fruitfulness good works? Obedience? Maybe it is converting others. Good soil must evangelize many more people. Or fruitfulness could be abundant worship. Jesus does not clarify what fruits he has in mind. Besides, the high rate of return is crazy. A realistic bummer crop will yield a fifty-percent increase or maybe double.
Thirtyfold is planting ten seeds and getting three hundred in return. A hundredfold is investing $500 and making $50,000. Such yields are other-worldly. They surpass any normal human possibility. This abundance only works in heaven. In this way, we feel as if this parable is asking us to do the impossible. Even Peter couldn’t make himself the good soil. How can this parable not cause us to despair?
The Parable of The Sower doesn’t tell us to do anything, except understand it.
Well, this despair is right where Jesus wants us. First, the despair helps us to see that this parable is descriptive. It doesn’t tell us to do anything, except understand it. Part of the reality of Christ’s kingdom of the church is that some fall away. The church is not a utopia where everyone is wonderfully fruitful and sincere.
No, the Word is often lost in people. Satan steals the gospel. Persecution scorches the Word. Lusts, money, and anxieties can leave people without a single berry on the vine. It is sad, but it is true that some of those who hear and profess faith will not survive. Therefore, the soils are a dose of reality and warnings for our faith. Beware of such dangers. Sufferings, busyness, the Evil One, and worries are real threats for your faith. Be alert and do not be complacent.
The Word proclaimed, the gospel of Jesus Christ, is the power—and the only power—that constructs the Kingdom.
Secondly, though, the despair we feel from this parable focuses our attention on the one active agent in this parable. It is not the Sower, who barely gets a supporting role. It is not the soils per se, who just lay back and let nature take its course. Instead, it is the Word. All the potency resides in the Word. The Word creates growth where it lands. It requires some outside force to kill the Word. If not for the birds, rocks, and thorns, the Word would have produced the same in all the soils.
The Word is what builds the Kingdom. The preached Word is what grows in the human heart. The Word develops into all the fruit. And this is the point. It is not human effort that builds the Kingdom. It isn’t obedience that forwards the Kingdom. Rather, the Word proclaimed, the gospel of Jesus Christ, is the power, and the only power, that constructs the Kingdom.
The Parable of the Sower humbles us to trust in Christ and His Word alone.
Christ’s Word in your heart is what creates faith in you. It saves you. And the Word works in you a heavenly fruitfulness. A sixtyfold harvest isn’t about good deeds now, but it is about your resurrection glory in the new heavens and new earth. Thus, this parable pushes us to do exactly what the crowds were not doing.
They mocked Christ’s Word. They wanted only signs and wonders. They hardened their hearts. Thus, Jesus quoted Isaiah, who made clear that what the people need is humble acceptance of the Word. So, this parable humbles us to trust in Christ and His Word alone. It turns our eyes to look outside of ourselves to embrace the powerful and fruitful Word of the Kingdom.
And as we rest in the Word, the grace of Christ washes over us with warmth and comfort. As Peter makes clear, we can be all of the soils at different times. We trip up during persecution. Worldly desires can strangle our faith for a time. The Evil One can steal the gospel hope from us. And yet, the Word is not finished with us.
The beautiful grace of Christ’s Word doesn’t give up on us.
As with Peter, the Word can call us back. The Word can sprout again. The Gospel Word can produce fruit where it was once lacking. And the Word can do this because it is ultimately Christ, the Word in the Flesh. To borrow a lesson from another parable, the Word can change poor soil into fruitfulness, because Christ leaves the ninety-nine to rescue the one.
This is the beautiful grace of Christ’s Word; it doesn’t give up on you. Every week, God calls you back to his preached Word. Ministers and elders pursue the wayward with the Word. Church discipline is done to reclaim the sinner. Therefore, may you rest and trust in the gospel of Christ. May our roots grow deep in the Word to weather the storms of life.
And may we give thanks to Christ that his Word works in us not merely fruits in this life, but the fruit of everlasting lift, the resurrection of thirty, sixty, and one-hundred-fold. For it is only in glory that we will come into the chief end of fruitfulness, glorifying and enjoying God forever.
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This article is adapted from a sermon on Mark 4:1-20 preached by Pastor Keele at Escondido Orthodox Presbyterian Church on October 10, 2021.
