The Parable of the Sower: Explored

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During approximately the last three years that Jesus Christ walked on this earth, he taught many people through the use of parables, short stories meant to teach a valuable lesson. For the most part, these parables have been left up to the audience to interpret for themselves; however, there is one that Jesus himself has interpreted to his disciples, and we have also been given this interpretation. This unique parable is the “The Parable of the Sower” found in Matthew 13:3-23; we are going to explore, in detail, this parable, and try to get very deep understanding of exactly what this parable was meant to teach. Jesus did explain the meaning of this parable, therefore it would be pointless to argue over these facts that he himself explained; however, it was not, in any way, a very detailed explanation; it simply scratched the surface of what this parable can teach us. It is in these deeper areas that we find differences in opinion from person to the next, because anything that is left up for interpretation is going to be interpreted in slightly different ways. We will look at what some biblical scholars have had to say about this parable, and then I will share my interpretation of this very unique parable of Jesus Christ.

Many people had gathered around Jesus as he sat on the shore of a lake, so Jesus got into a boat and began to teach the people in parables; it was then that he told the parable we are going to explore. The first step to exploring this parable is to know exactly what the text says without regard to meaning; interpretation will come next. Jesus told of a farmer who was scattering seed along the ground; he explained that the seed fell upon three different types of soil. The first type of soil was the path; the seed that fell upon this type of soil was immediately eaten up by the birds before it was able to sprout any kind of growth. The second type of soil upon which the seed fell was the shallow soil with underlying rock; this seed sprouted up very quickly, but it then died away just as quickly due to a lack of a root system. He went on to define the third type of soil where the seed fell as thorny and rough soil; the seed that fell here sprouted very well but were then choked out by the thorns and weeds. Then he explained that the fourth type of soil was the fertile soil upon which all farmers try to plant; this seed sprouted and grew very well, and, in time, it produced a crop of thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times what was planted.

After he told this parable Jesus’ disciples asked him why he used parables to teach the crowds. Jesus answered them by saying that he uses parables, because the people who truly hear what he has to say and try to understand it will be given even more knowledge; however, those who simply listen but do not try to understand it will lose what little knowledge that they have. It was at this time that Jesus explained the parable to the disciples. He said that the seed that fell on the path represented those who hear the message about the kingdom but do not understand, and that the birds represent the evil one, Satan, who comes in and takes the seed that has been planted in the hearts of these people. Then he expounded on the second type of soil; he explained that the shallow soil represented the people who receive the message but fall away, but, because they are not rooted deeply in the word, they fall away. Then he moved to the thorny soil; he explained that this is representative of the people who hear but are pulled away from God by other people or circumstances that drown out the message that they have heard. Then he says that the fertile soil represents the people who hear the word, and it takes root in their life; these are the people who produce a harvest of souls that is thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted.

Now that we know what was said in the parable, we will look at the interpretations of some biblical scholars and I will include some of my own interpretations as well. One thing that stands out in looking at the sources I acquired was a reoccurring reference to the first two words of this passage. Both Arthur W. Pink’s The Prophetic Parables of Matthew 13 as well as Dr. Herbert Lockyer’s All the Parables of the Bible reference the fact that the parable began with the words “Behold; Hearken.” Each of these words holds a very exclamatory meaning in and of themselves. Dr. Herbert Lockyer’s All the Parables of the Bible says that the word behold was meant to arrest the attention of anyone within earshot of the speaker, and it called them to think very carefully upon the following words. The word hearken was used to communicate the idea that the words that were to follow were of unusual importance so they deserved close attention. The fact that our Lord and Savior combined these two words at the beginning of this parable entails that the meaning of this passage of scripture was of upmost importance to him. If it was that important to him, it should be that important to us, too.

Since there are some discrepancies about who the “sower” actually is, we will look into some possibilities for who it could be. Richard Chenevix Trench states in his Notes on the Parables that the Lord is the sower of the seed; on page 30 he said, “[Christ’s] entrance into the world was a going forth to sow.” In Arthur W. Pink’s The Prophetic Parables of Matthew 13 he said, “For fifteen hundred years there had been a liberal sowing of the Seed in Israel, by Moses, David, the prophets, and last of all John the Baptist.” This idea that the works of God in the Old Testament and the prophets represent the sower is an idea that had not occurred to me until reading the work of Dr. Pink, but to me it goes hand in hand with the idea that I was taught growing up in church, all Christians are the sowers of the seed. Dr. Herbert Lockyer, however, as evidenced on page 175 of All the Parables of the Bible, basically agrees with Trench in saying that God the Father and Jesus Christ are the sower; he also goes farther on page 176 to say that all Christians should also be sowers. I think that all of these arguments are valid on the defining of the sower. I think that when we refer to the sower it is an inclusive term which includes all the “sowers” of these scholars. I believe that God the Father and Jesus Christ, along with the Holy Spirit, would be the actual sowers and we, as Christians, would be the tools that are used in the sowing process. I made this drawing( located at the link with this post) to illustrate my interpretation of who the sower is in terms of a modern day example.

This illustration shows that God the Father is the sower, and Jesus Christ plays the biggest role in spreading the “Word.” The Holy Spirit is the piece that connects all Christians to God the Father and Jesus. The seed spreader represents all Christians, because it is our responsibility to spread the “word;” the seed represents the “Word” that is being spread to all nations, and lastly the ground represents the World that does not know the truth about the “Word.”

Another piece of the story that is somewhat uncertain has been what Christ is referring to when it talks about the seed. Most scholars agree, as do I, that in this parable the seed is referring to “the Word of God.” Dr. Herbert Lockyer says that the seed, or the “Word,” is referring to “the Word of God,” and since Jesus Christ came to Earth as “the Word of God” he is the seed as well as the sower. When Jesus talks about spreading the seed, he is actually talking about spreading the good news about God the Father. This could also be referring to good news that was coming in the near future; once Jesus has been crucified and has become the sacrifice for all sin, the seed would be referring to the good news about salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

When we look at the work of Arthur W. Pink in The Prophetic Parables of Matthew 13 one thing that stands out is his application of the reference to the wording of the “thirty, sixty or even a hundred fold” when referring to the crop that was harvested from the good soil. He said that the “hundred fold” referenced the souls saved in the time of the apostles, the “sixty fold” made reference to the souls saved during the time of the Reformation, and the “thirty fold” was a reference to the number of souls saved in our day and time. This is a very good analogy that definitely fits the way Christianity has spread though these time periods. It makes sense in my mind, because during the time of the apostles, the circle of knowledge of salvation through Christ was very small. Even though their numbers were small, they reaped a harvest of souls that was absolutely enormous in respect to the number of believers. During the reformation there was a bigger circle of believers than with the apostles; however, they still reaped a harvest of souls that greatly exceeded the original number of believers. The believers in salvation trough Jesus Christ number much higher today than in either of these time periods, but we are still spreading the word and producing a harvest of souls greater than the number of believers with which we began. Notice that Jesus made no reference to reaping a harvest of exactly what you sowed. I take this to mean that if we try to spread the seed of the Good News, we will always reap a harvest greater than what we have sown.

One thing that stands out to me when I read this passage of scripture is found in Jesus’ explanation of why he used parables to teach the people in verses 11-17. He says that he uses them because you have to try to understand what they mean to be able to comprehend their meaning, so those who do not try to understand will not know what he is truly saying. This reference to people not truly understanding puts them in the category of the first type of soil in the parable located in the verses preceding this question (verses 3-9). What I think we can gather from this is that, when Jesus tells this parable to the people who gathered around him at this lake, he is not telling this parable to show them that outsiders did not understand the Word of God, but he was actually telling these people to their face that, by them not understanding the meaning of this parable, they were the ones who did not understand the message that Jesus was trying to bring to them. The irony of this situation is that Jesus is using this parable to get them to realize that they do not understand what he has to say, but for this same reason they have no idea that he is telling them this, because they do not understand what is truly meant by this parable. Another question we could ask is why then does he give the meaning of the parable to his disciples when he has just explained that he uses parables so that only the people who try to understand them will be able to. I believe the reasoning is that the disciples are the ones who are truly trying to understand what these parables mean, so in this case God helping them realize the meaning of the parable comes in the form of a verbal explanation from Jesus Christ himself. This can actually be used to show that God will always reveal the meaning of his words if we will only seek the meaning ourselves just as he said he would.

Although there may be many discrepancies on the meaning of each specific part of this parable the core meaning of it must be universally accepted, because after all it did come from the mouth of the son of God, Jesus Christ. The parable speaks to us telling us that we need to be the type of soil that produces the crop that is much greater than the seed that was planted originally, as well as being God’s tools in spreading the Gospel message to all parts of the earth. It is very important not to get so caught up in the specifics that we forget the general message that is preached in “The Parable of the Sower.”

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