A Sower Went Out To Sow

Jesus traveled from city to city preaching the kingdom of God.  Along the way, much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city.  No doubt the disciples were impressed by the size of the crowd that came out to see and hear Jesus speak.

When they were gathered, Jesus spoke to them by a parable.  The parable starts like this, “A sower went out to sow…”.  He is sowing by broadcasting the seed.

We have studied this parable before in our lessons on Matt 13.  However, rather than simply repeat what we taught in those lessons, we’ll look carefully at what Luke wrote.  Luke words things a little differently than Matthew.  And this gives us a broader understanding of what Jesus taught.

In Galilee, the people would be very familiar with a farmer broadcasting seed to sow his field.  Because each seed is not individually planted, it doesn’t all fall into good ground.  Some  falls on the path where people walk.  And some falls on stony ground.  Other seed falls among thorns.  And the seed that’s going to bear fruit falls on good ground.

Anyone observing the seed would notice that the seed by the wayside gets trodden down and fowls devour it.  The seed that springs up on a rock withers away because there’s no moisture for it.  The seed among thorns gets choked by the thorns.  And the seed on the good ground springs up and bears fruit.

Jesus used this common occurrence to teach his disciples. While everyone there heard the parable, only the disciples understood what it meant because they asked the meaning.  Jesus didn’t intend for the multitude to understand the parable because the parable was about them.  The different kinds of soil represent the different kinds of people who were there.

The disciples, to whom Jesus made known the mysteries of the kingdom of God, heard Jesus interpret the parable.  Evidently, they couldn’t figure it out on their own.  And Jesus wanted them to know the meaning.  The rest of the crowd who heard Jesus speak didn’t understand the meaning of what he was saying.

According to the interpretation of a sower went out to sow his seed, the seed is the word of God.  Jesus had been sowing it throughout every city and village, from which these people came, Lk 8:1.  Surely, the disciples must have been impressed by the large crowd who followed Jesus.  Yet, Jesus wanted them to understand that only a few of the people among this multitude were going to be fruitful followers.

The Wayside

They hear the word of God.  And before it even has time to take root in their hearts, the devil comes and takes it away.  Ultimately, the devil doesn’t want people to believe and be saved.  What Jesus wanted the disciples to understand is that the devil was right there taking the word of God away as fast as Jesus was preaching it.  This is what happens to the word when it is sown among those who have hard hearts.

The Rock

They hear the word of God and receive it with joy.  Of course, to the preacher, this looks like a genuinely good response. However, their excitement is only temporary.  They believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.  These are fair weather believers.  As we know, when following Jesus there is anything but fair weather, Acts 14:21-22.

The Thorns

They hear the word of God and go forth.  To the preacher, it looks like this group is going to stick.  However, before they bring forth fruit to perfection, they are choked by things going on in this life.  The three principal culprits are cares, riches, and pleasures.  When they become more concerned about these than the kingdom of God, the word of God won’t produce fruit in their lives.

The Good Ground

They hear the word of God and receive it in an honest and good heart.  When they hear the word of God, they keep it.  This is the key.  And in time (with patience), they bring forth fruit.  They don’t let the cares, riches, and pleasures of this life distract them.  And they don’t fall away in time of temptation.

Conclusion: when you sow the word of God, initially, you can’t be sure how the people are going to respond to it.  We shouldn’t be surprised to see some people politely hear it and then respond as if they haven’t heard a word we said.  Nor should we expect all those who hear it joyfully, at first, to stick around when they are tempted.

The ones who really disappoint you are the ones who respond favorably, and then the cares, riches, and pleasures of this life take away the fruitfulness of the word in their hearts.  They just don’t “pan out”.

Thankfully, there are those with good hearts who patiently bring forth the fruit of the word of God.  They are not drawn away by temptation.  They are not distracted by cares, riches, and pleasures.  And they are not in a hurry to produce harvestable fruit.  They wait for the word of God to be fruitful in their lives.

To study the previous lesson, see He Went Throughout Every City.