The Parable of the Sower - Part 2

Introduction

In part one of this study we looked at the seed being sown, and considered how freely we should sow it. I’d like now to more closely consider the different types of soil mentioned in the parable and how we may be like each of them. Most often this parable is used to talk about those who don’t yet know Jesus. But even for those who follow Him there are lessons we can learn and apply to ourselves, and our ongoing response to Jesus.

The Path

“When anyone hears the message about the Kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.”

Matthew 13: 19

Matthew has this slightly different explanation of the path and I think it adds a sense of being applicable even to those who follow Jesus. For we can all hear and fail to understand. In this verse “understanding” involves action.

“To understand is more than an intellectual grasp of the message; cf. the contrast in 7:24ff between hearing and ‘doing’ the word”

(France, R.T. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries Matthew, 2008, p223)

Each of us can hear the word and not act. In those cases the seed can be stolen.

How do we combat that? It is not simply to do more. We need to ask Jesus to show us the action, to help us, by His Spirit, to follow through on what we’ve heard or read. Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit.

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

John 14: 15-18

Paul in Ephesians 5 encourages us to go on being filled with the Spirit as a regular practice (Ephesians 5: 18). So we should be asking Jesus to help and enable us in following through on what He is prompting us to do.

Personal Question

• Is there something you feel prompted by the Spirit to do that you find hard?

• Ask the Holy Spirit to help you, that the seed in your heart may take root and bear fruit.

The Rock

“Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.”

Luke 8: 13

“Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.”

Mark 4: 16-17

There are some key lessons, or points to observe here.

• We need to get deep roots.

• A time of testing, or temptation as it is in the Greek, will come.

• Following Jesus brings testing.

It can be easy to receive the word of God with joy. The truth rings out so clear and with such appealing beauty that we can take it in so readily. We can even long for more. But if we do not get some depth, some roots, then we are like the thin layer of soil over the rocky place and we will not stand when temptation or testing comes our way.

These verses do not say “if a time of testing comes”, they say “when a time of testing”. Jesus is telling us that testing and trouble is part of following Him.

So, how do we get deep roots?

“Indeed to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.”

Ezekiel 33: 32

Once again putting into practice is key. As we examine the context of this verse in Ezekiel we see that being part of a community is key. People spoke of Ezekiel in such ways, “come and hear Ezekiel, he speaks so well, his words are so good”. This may seem positive but this builds an audience not a congregation. There is nothing wrong with listening to guest preachers, or visiting a different congregation from time to time, especially to hear someone God is speaking through so clearly. The problem arises when that is all we do. When seeking out the best speaker, the latest gifted person is all we do, we do not connect to a local expression of the family of God. Then we hear with joy, but we have no roots.

If we want to be those with roots that can stand in the time of temptation and trouble, we must be an active part of a local church family.

“Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Hebrews 10: 25

Meeting together is a place of support and encouragement, a place where we can help one another receive the word in joy, and put down deep roots.

Personal Question

• Are you an active member of a local church family?

• Ask God to help you get deep roots and to be a connected and active member of your local church family.

The Thorns

“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

This third soil type shows that even if we are receptive to the word, even if there is depth to the soil and roots can be put down, there can still be distractions. We can still be pulled away from the word.

What is it that can pull us away? The enemy comes, with lies, to steal and destroy. Matthew records another parable about weeds being sown amongst good seed, Matthew 13: 24-29 and it is explained in 13: 36-43. Jesus is teaching that the enemy is the one who sows such distractions, such troubles, or deceptions. It is these things that pull us away from Jesus and the truth.

As I think about this type of soil I am reminded of Genesis 3. The serpent comes with lies and half truths and turns Eve away from the full truth. This can so easily happen to us. The worries of life, the desires and promises of the world can distract us and draw us away from the truth. As that happens the truth of the word is choked, and our focus moves, our joy is depleted, and we lose sight of Jesus.

“They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless.They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”

2 Kings 17: 15

This chapter in 2 Kings is part of the explanation of what has happened, religiously, to the nation of Israel. As we consider it now, in light of Jesus’ teaching and the parable of the sower we can see how important it is to pursue truth, to pursue Jesus. To pursue anything else is worthless.

How do we do this? How do we ensure our focus is on Jesus, that we are not distracted to the point of losing sight of Him?

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.”

Psalm 1: 1-3

By delighting in God’s word we naturally turn away from sin and avoid such associations, as described at the start of Psalm 1. In such action we are blessed; here meaning we find happiness. In verse three the image of the tree speaks of fruitfulness, much like the good soil in our current parable. Being those who actively seek the truth and pursue Jesus is the way to avoid being choked by the weeds. The more we seek Jesus, the better the soil of our hearts becomes.

As we read the word, as we study the word, individually and corporately, we need to be those who hear, those who accept, and those who obey. In that way we will keep our focus on Jesus.

Personal Question

• What distracts you from Jesus the most?

• Confess that to Jesus, and ask for His help in keeping your focus on Him.

The Good Soil

“Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop – thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what was sown.”

Mark 4: 20

By examining the other soils we’ve already come to a point of understanding what it means to be good soil, and what that might look like. Here we see the result - fruitfulness.

All three accounts of this parable speak of a harvest. This can be true of us. As we hear, accept, retain, and persevere in the word we can expect to see fruit. The fruit in our lives and in the lives of those around us as we scatter the seeds of the word.

It may seem hard to live this way but Jesus has provided for us.

“But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

John 16: 7

Jesus has sent His Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables us to live as those whose primary focus is on Jesus, He helps us to understand the word of God and to live it out, even in our broken world.

Personal Question

• Which soil are you most like right now?

• Ask Jesus to show you the action to take next; it may be joining a local church or community, it may be reading the Bible more, or sharing your faith more freely. He will show you.

• Think about your field, where you sow and ask God for boldness as you spread His word.