The Sower Still Sows
Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
Leaving the house where
He was staying in Capernaum, Jesus went out and sat by the lake. As large
crowds gathered around Him, Jesus got into a boat and sat down to teach. With
the rise of land on the west serving as a natural amphitheater, the people
stood on the shore and listened as Jesus told a series of parables.
Parables are stories of
comparison, using something familiar in human experience to teach and to bring
home a better understanding of the kingdom of God. The Greek word means
literally “to throw alongside,” as in “throwing” a story of something well-known
alongside a corresponding lesson with a deeper, hidden meaning. So, in more
ways than one, “The Parable of the Sower” is a fitting example for Jesus to use
to explain to His disciples how to understand parables.
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| "The Sower" by Eugene Burnand |
Much of Palestine
consists of rocky elevations where the underlying rock comes close to the
surface and has only a thin covering of earth. Some of the seeds fall in this
stony soil. Since the rock holds the heat, there is a quick sprouting and
shooting up out of the ground, but a still quicker scorching by the sun, since
the roots have no chance to enter deeply into the ground to find life-giving
water.
Other seeds fall among
the thorns, where the plow was used, but had not succeeded in clearing away all
the thorn roots. The hardier weeds steal air, light, and moisture from the
tender stalks of grain, and choke them out.
But other seeds fall
upon good soil. The good soil produces one hundred, sixty, or thirty times what
is sown—yields unheard of until the last century with modern tillage practices,
herbicides, and hybrid seed.
Jesus’ closing words:
“He who has ears, let him hear,” hint that there is a hidden meaning in the
story, and that every hearer should find this meaning and apply it properly to
spiritual life. Later, as He’s alone with His disciples, Jesus explains the
parable, providing them a concrete example of how they can find the hidden
meaning in other parables and apply them to their own spiritual lives.
The seed that is sown
for the kingdom is the Word of God. Jesus is the Sower. He sows the seed of the
Word, either personally, as in the days of His earthly ministry, or through His
servants, as now.
But there are also four
distinct kinds of spiritual soil.
There are some that
come into contact with the Church. They hear about Jesus. But they do not take
the Word into their hearts and minds. It never becomes a real factor in their
lives. In this case, the Evil One, Satan, has little difficulty in snatching
away the truth, which they’ve just barely grasped.
Some people accept the
Word eagerly. But their faith is not rooted deeply enough to withstand
disappointment, tribulations, or the resulting persecution on account of the
Word. It is interesting that in this parable the sun is used to represent
tribulation and persecution. The seed that is sown must have sun to grow as it
should. That’s what makes it produce a crop. Just as little as grain grows
without the sun, so little does the Word thrive in us without our suffering
“because of the Word.” In good soil, the sun (or persecution) encourages and
enables growth. But where the soil is shallow, where the rock (the hidden
hardness in a man’s heart) is found, the same conditions that cause others to
grow in faith, lead to falling away.
Not much different are
those who hear the Word with at least an intellectual acceptance, but their
hearts have not been properly cleared. The cares and worries of this world, or the
love and desire of riches, fill their hearts and capture their attention, and
choke out any faith in their souls.
But by God’s grace,
some hear the Word and listen to it.
Some would try to limit
the parable to what happens in the very first contact of the Word with the
human heart. But that puts the emphasis in the wrong place. It would simply
suggest that some soils are fitter for receiving the seed of everlasting life
than others. But by nature, none of us is fit soil for the seed of the Word. Our
hearts are hardened like stone, full of thorns and thistles and all kinds of
noxious weeds. We need to be prepared and tilled by the Sower.
What the parable and
its explanation describe is the final fate of the Word in the hearts of men. When
life is done, some show a harvest, all the rest show none. Some never let the
Word in, some never let it root, and some choke its growth. But this final fate
of the Word is shown us now, before life is done. This is done because, though
no man can change himself, God has means to change us all into good soil for
His Word—that very same Word.
Jesus, the Sower, comes
to sow His Word. Wherever He goes, He proclaims His Law and Gospel. In His Law,
He declares that we are sinful, prone to worship all sorts of false gods, and
have no hope of saving ourselves, any more than a field of grain can sow and
harvest itself. But Jesus also announces the joyous news that all who trust in
Him will be saved. He sows this seed of salvation everywhere, because He has
died for all and desires all to believe and be saved.
Sadly, not all will
believe. In fact, even as Jesus proclaims this message, His enemies are growing
in numbers and are plotting against Him. Giving in to the temptations of the
devil, the world, and their own sinful flesh, they have Him arrested, tortured,
and crucified. But three days later, He rises from the dead.
Risen and ascended, Jesus
still comes to His people. The Sower still sows His seed of the Gospel so that
many might hear and believe. He sends His apostles to make disciples of all
nations. How? By baptizing and teaching all that He has commanded. In other
words, He sends His apostles to sow the Word.
The apostles have long
since been called to glory, but the sowing continues.
The task of the Church
is to sow the Word—to proclaim our Lord’s Law and Gospel, the Word of the Lord, whom the devil, the world and the sinful flesh can no longer attack. But here’s
the rub. Since the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh cannot attack the
Lord of the Church, they do the cowardly thing. They attack His Bride. They
seek to assault, defile, shame, and destroy His holy Church.
We Christians must be
aware that the Word will be met with resistance. The devil will bombard those
who hear the Gospel with all sorts of other messages to confuse them, snatch
away the Word, and lead them to unbelief instead.
Satan will incite
pressure and persecution upon the Church—sometimes in the form of physical
violence, sometimes in the form of bad press or ridicule from popular culture. His
purpose is to lead the weak and uninformed away by promising peace instead of
strife; and, tragically, many will listen and follow. This is the stony ground
of the parable, where the plants are scorched by the sun.
The world will also
assault those who hear the Word with all sorts of cares of this world—it will
tempt them to compromise or ignore the faith because it’s far more profitable
to do so. It will tempt them to fill their life with too many other
activities—even otherwise good activities—that will take away from the limited
time and resources they could use to grow in their faith and serve the Lord and
neighbor. This, our Lord says, is the weedy ground of the parable.
Christians must expect
attacks when we faithfully proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When tempted to
compromise, we must remain faithful to Christ alone. When such pressure comes, we
are to hear the Word, meditate upon it, commend all things to the Lord in
prayer, and proclaim the Word even more, as we rejoice in the salvation bought for us by Christ’s precious blood.
This is the Law; but we
dare not ignore the rest of the parable, for there is such joyous Good News
here, too. The Sower still sows. He will see to it that the Word is proclaimed. And,
you see, wherever the Word is, He is.
The Sower still sows! By
His Word, the only Son of God gives you forgiveness today. He who washed your
sins away in Holy Baptism continues to keep you cleansed now. He speaks His
Word of Holy Absolution, declaring that He has died for all of your sins. He
feeds you with His own body and blood, to strengthen and preserve you in the
one true faith until life everlasting.
This Sower is your
Savior, and He does not abandon you. In Him you have forgiveness, life, and
salvation. This is why we remain faithful to the message. True, we remain
faithful to His Word because His Law warns us that to abandon it leads to
eternal judgment. But there is a better reason. His Gospel gives eternal
life—nothing else does. Why would we ever leave it, taint it, or turn from it
to another message? And how can we not proclaim it to others? The Lord
promises:
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do
not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving
seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes out
from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that
which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah
55:10-11).
The Sower, who shed His
blood for you, still sows. He plants His Word of grace in you to give you life.
He sustains you in your Baptismal life by feeding you with His Word and
Sacraments. The devil, the world, and the Old Adam will rage and spit. But
they’ve already lost. The Sower has defeated them at the cross, and He gives
that victory to you. Nothing will keep Him from sowing His Word. Nothing will
keep Him from declaring to you this Good News: You are forgiven for all of your
sins.
In the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English
Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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