Scripture Reference: Mark 4:1-34

The Parable of Parables

Of all the parables of Jesus, this parable of the sower is probably the best known. Here is a farmer; it’s the time of year for sowing, and out he goes into his field, scattering the seed by hand of course, and we shall see where it lands. Some of the seeds land by the “wayside,” and that’s no use; nothing can grow there, and all the seed does is feed the birds. Some of them land on “stony ground” where the soil is very thin; as soon as the hot Mediterranean sun gets to work, the little shoots which spring up from these seeds wilt, then wither and die. Some of the seeds land on a patch that looks more promising yet is filled with “thorns” that squeeze and choked them out. Even if the plants survive, they won’t produce anything useful.

Only in one area of the field is there any chance of success. There is some “good ground” where some of the seed falls, and that patch produces a bumper crop, up to “a hundred” times what was sown, enough to make up for all the rest. Jesus starts and finishes his story with a command that adds a note of urgency: “Listen! . . . He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

This is a parable. Clearly, the point is not to analyze the sowing techniques of Galilean farmers. This is not a lecture at an agricultural college! But what is this all about? You may have read and heard this story hundreds of times, but would you have understood what this picture is really about if someone hadn’t told you? I don’t think I would. yet, although some of the same ideas are hinted at in the Old Testament, the plain fact is that no one who was present when these words were spoken seems to have gotten the point. Jesus isn’t giving much away. It seems that most of the crowd are content to think, ‘”That was a nice story. I don’t know what it meant, but that reminds me, I must go and see how my crops are doing!” However, at some later point, when they can get Jesus on His own, His disciples and a group of others gather round and ask for an explanation. I can imagine, that gently, He says, “Come on, if you don’t understand this one, how are you going to understand any of the others? This is the key to all the parables, because this one is not explaining my message, it’s actually about how you hear the message” (read again Mark 4:13).

The seed that is sown represents the “Word,” the very message of Jesus. It is sown all over the place, into the lives of all kinds of people. There are people just like the “wayside.” The message never gets into them at all. Satan, the Evil One, makes sure it is removed before there is any response. There are people like the thin, “stony ground.” You see a response for a while, like a little seedling growing up, full of “gladness” but as soon as the going gets tough, they “stumble” and give up. Then there are others who hear about Jesus and think, “This is great!” But there is so much else they want in life, so much to buy, so much to worry about, that just like a mass of weeds growing up from the ground these things squeeze the life out of them. However, then there are people who “hear the word” from Jesus, take the message into their hearts “accept it, and bear fruit,” living the life that Jesus offers to them. They do far more than barely survive; they grow up and flourish, and then they have the chance to sow more seeds themselves and spread the word to new places.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
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