The Parable of the Sower
TRANSLATION
(1) Soon afterward, Jesus traveled about from one town to another, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God. With him were the twelve (2) and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. (These included) Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had departed, (3) Joanna, the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household, Susanna, and others who were helping to support them out of their own resources.
(4) When a great crowd gathered and people from many towns came to him, he told this parable: (5) “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the path where it was trampled underfoot, and the birds ate it. (6) Other seed fell on rocky ground, and as soon as it grew up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. (7) Other seed fell among thorns which grew up with it and choked the plants. (8) And other seed fell into good soil, grew and produced a harvest a hundred times more than was sown.” After he said this, he cried out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear!”
(9) Then his disciples asked him what the parable meant. (10) And he said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ (11) Now this is the meaning of the parable: the seed is the Word of God. (12) The seed that fell along the path are those who have heard, but then the devil comes and snatches the Word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved. (13) The seed that fell on rocky soil are those who, when they have heard, receive the Word with joy, but they have no root. For a while they believe, but in time of testing they fall away. (14) And the seed that fell among the thorns are those who, having heard as they go on their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life and never mature. (15) The seed that fell in good soil are those with honest and good hearts who, having heard the Word, hold it fast and produce a harvest with patience.”
OBSERVATIONS
Repetitions filled this segment of Luke’s Gospel in which we find the well-known Parable of the Sower. While there were no repetitions in the introductory three verses, the parable itself and its explanation contained many. “Parable(s)” occurred four times (vss. 4, 9, 10, & 11), “sow/sowed” (in vs. 5), “seed” nine times (vss. 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, & 15), “some/other fell” (four times in vss. 5, 6, 7, & 8), “grew/grew up” (three times in vss. 6, 7, & 8), “see/seeing” (vs. 11), “hearing/heard/hear” (five times in vss. 10, 12, 13, 14, & 15), and “Word of God/Word” (four times in vss. 11, 12, 13, & 15).
OUTLINE
I. Luke introduced the parable with a status report of Jesus’ ministry up to this point. (1-3)
II. Jesus gave the great crowd that had gathered his parable of the sower. (4-8)
III. In response to the disciples’ question, Jesus both explained and applied the parable. (9-15)
IDEA STATEMENT
When proclaimed, the Word of God, like seed sown for a harvest, produces a variety of responses depending on the condition of the hearts of those who hear it.
APPLICATION
Problems that arise with a harvest are rarely due to the seed. Every farmer knows that what determines a good crop is the condition of the soil and what happens after the seed has been sown. In like manner, the problem with a spiritual harvest never lies with the message of the Gospel found in the Word of God. What is determinative is the condition of the hearts that receive the message and what happens after the Gospel has been introduced. If the soil is fertile, well-prepared, and well-watered, a good crop is almost guaranteed. The same holds true for human hearts that receive the Gospel apart from negative influences that can hinder its growth.
Jesus gave this parable both as a warning and an encouragement. It served as a warning to the crowds that had gathered to follow him in Galilee to examine their hearts to see if they were prepared to receive the Good News they were hearing. Were they giving Satan any opportunity to snatch the life-giving seed from their hearts before it could bear fruit? Were they allowing the shallowness of their lives or the cares and riches of the world to hinder the growth of the God’s Word in their hearts? Or were they like the good soil after receiving the Word, “holding it fast in honest and good hearts, and bearing fruit with patience?”
In like manner this parable was intended to encourage those already committed to Jesus that, as they joined him in the ministry of sowing the seed of the Word, they could expect to see a variety of responses. Some soil would never produce a harvest. Some would respond only superficially. However, there would always be those who, like themselves, would gladly receive the Word and produce an abundant harvest as a result. The issue is never a question regarding the power of the Word of God to change lives. What determines the outcome is the condition of those hearts into which that Gospel is sown.