The Gospel & Humanity’s Heart

Opening Prayer with emphasis on Thanksgiving and Adoration.

Imagine walking into a church where some listeners are deeply invested in the message, while others zone out, distracted by their phones. This modern scene reflects the ancient Parable of the Sower. The sower's seeds fall on varied soils, symbolizing the diverse ways people receive God's Word. Some find joy and growth, while others let the message slip away. Are we present and ready to nurture the seed of faith planted in us?

Read Mark 4:1-9

Mark 4:1–9 LSB

1 And He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and it happened that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 “And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 “And after the sun rose, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 “And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 “And other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they were yielding a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

What does the parable of the sower reveal about the different responses to God’s Word among believers?

What is a Parable?

The parables of the soils not only says that the kingdom advances slowly and with varied responses to the proclamation of that kingdom but implicitly challenges hearers to ask themselves what kinds of soil they are.

D. A. Carson

The Greek, Parabole, is used to express a juxtaposition, a saying, or a proverb.

The term Parabole is connected to the Hebrew concept of a wise saying, or proverb. The Hebrew word is Mashal.

True to God’s character and word, Jesus teaches the newly minted Apostles and the crowds via parables as a form of spiritual affirmation for those who understand them, as well as judgement against those who would not receive the message given in their hearing.

Jesus Teaches in Parables

Psalm 78:1 LSB

1 Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

Jesus, the Second person of the Trinity is accomplishing what God promised to accomplish redemption for humanity.

The words of Jesus, speaking in parables, give a positive fulfillment to the words of Proverbs 18:15 “15 The heart of the understanding acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”

This is what is described in 1 Corinthians 2:9, speaking of the message of salvation made clear by Jesus’ teaching, life, and resurrection.

Let Us then turn to the details in the text.

The Sower Spreads the Seed

The means by which God begets his people is the seed of God’s word, the preaching of the gospel.

Thomas Schreiner

Here we see the personage of a farmer, going about his task, to grow crops for his family and for the community.

The focus is on the action of spreading the element that has the power to produce life from a lifeless ground.

The audience is not called to act in a physical manner. The people are called to act as a means to listen and heed the truth of the parable.

The Seed is Life-Giving, The Soil Must Surrender to It

The general truth conveyed is, that the doctrine of the Gospel, when it is scattered like seed,3 is not everywhere fruitful; because it does not always meet with a fertile and well cultivated soil.

John Calvin (French Reformer); William Pringle

The power is in the seed, which the soil does not control or influence, but it must receive it and take it deep within.

The Gospel message has many adversaries upon its arrival to the world:

In verse 4, Satan is the enemy who uses the hardness present to simply snatch away the hope of eternal life from the hearer.

In verse 5-6, The hearer is his or her, own worst enemy as shallow theology, appreciation, and understanding of the Gospel and its rich nature.

In verse 7, The World and its leisure are more appealing to the sinner’s heart. The Gospel does not show its luster and glimmer.

In verse 8, the hopeful picture rises, as the soft, malleable, and broken ground gives way to the promise of life after the seed dies within the dirt, giving way to a greater vision.

Notice here, that the seed is the effective power to give life, while the soil does nothing regarding its effects. Notion of that is that the Gospel goes forth and lands indiscriminately in every which way.

The text leads us to the ultimate call of obedience.

Hearing Deeply, Responding to the Truth About Us

Personal ambition and empire building are hindering the spread of the gospel.

John Robert Walmsley Stott (English Preacher)

Jesus calls on the audience to take account of themselves, personally; intimately; cautiously.

The call to hearing is a call to heed the truth of the Scriptures with a sense of eternal urgency.

Here, the very call is a judgement that will divide the crowd between those who are hardened, shallow, thorn-filled, or fruitful in their heart’s reception of the Lord’s message of salvation.

So What Are We to Do?

Gospel Call to Obedience

Repent of Your Sins & Confess Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior.

Repent of Your Wandering From God and Return to the Father.

Join the Lord’s Church—A Family of Faith for God’s Glory.