When speaking to the multitudes, Jesus often taught them in parables, seemingly simple stories about everyday events, circumstances and concepts that His listeners could easily relate to. He would often follow the parable with an explanation of its meaning—whether to the crowd or just to His disciples, as even though the parables used concepts the hearers could understand, they didn’t always understand the point that was being made.
The Parable of the Sower is one of the few parables that is found in three different Gospels: Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8. This parable reveals four different responses people can have to the message of the gospel.
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, (1) some fell along the path, and the birds of the air came and ate it up. (2) Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. (3) Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. (4) Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
Jesus finishes the story by saying, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear” (Mark 4:2-9 NIV).
After presenting this parable to the multitude, Jesus interprets it for His disciples, who had not understood its meaning. He said, “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved” (Luke 8:11-12 NIV).
When the life-giving seed of the Word of God is sown on this first kind of hardened and unreceptive ground, Satan snatches it away before they can understand it and it is able to take root in their lives. The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17 NKJV), but “the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4 NIV).
Regarding the second kind of ground Jesus describes, He says, “Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root in themselves. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away” (Luke 8:13 NIV).
This second kind initially hears God’s Word joyfully and they begin to grow, but when a time of testing or trial arises, their enthusiasm wanes, their faith withers. They simply “have no root in themselves” and they never grow and become fruitful. They sort of die out spiritually and fall away when a time of testing comes, as their response to the gospel isn’t rooted in personal conviction and faith. They haven’t truly received God’s Word and let His truth sink deep in their hearts and take root.
In Jesus’ explanation of the third kind of ground, He says: “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:18-19 NIV).
The thorny ground represents those who receive the Word, but allow it to be choked out by the cares and concerns, and riches and desires of this temporal world. The things and affairs of this world take their time and attention away from the Word of God, and their spiritual growth is severely stunted, and the thorns of this world choke out their fruitfulness.
Finally, the fourth kind of ground that Jesus describes points the way to lasting growth and true fruitfulness: “The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” (Matthew 13:23 NLT).
Unlike the other unfruitful grounds, this fourth kind of ground hears, receives, and understands God’s Word, and patiently perseveres until their faith grows and becomes fruitful for God’s glory. Fruitful Christians are those who hear and understand God’s Word and allow it to transform their minds, hearts, and lives. As a result, it bears fruit in their lives and the lives of others, and accomplishes His will and purpose (Isaiah 55:11).
May our lives be a living example of the “good soil” in the Parable of the Sower.