Parable

The Parable of the Sower

I. The Parable of the Sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

“Jesus of Nazareth could have chosen simply to express Himself in moral precepts; but like a great poet He chose the form of the parable, wonderful short stories that entertained and clothed the moral precept in an eternal form. It is not sufficient to catch man’s mind, you must also catch the imaginative faculties of his mind.”

Dudley Nichols

II. The Purpose of the Parables

10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

“ ‘ “You will indeed hear but never understand,

and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

15  For this people’s heart has grown dull,

and with their ears they can barely hear,

and their eyes they have closed,

lest they should see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

and turn, and I would heal them.’

16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

--Christ’s habit, therefore, was not so much to tell what things were, as to draw pictures of them and mention some familiar thing they were like; as a boy really knows more about the earth when told that it is shaped like a big basketball, than when taught to say that it is an oblate spheroid with a polar diameter of 8,000 miles.

--Thus Christ was continually telling, in an easy way, what this and that was like (drawing pictures), which is to say that He taught by parables. “and without a parable spake He not unto them.” … A truth felt is more than a truth stated.

Their question implies that they understand (contrast Mark 4:10, 13) but want to know, “Why do you speak to them in this way? Why don’t you come right out and say what you mean?”

1. The parable was useful for various reasons. It made truth memorable (all you need to do is say, “The prodigal son” and the whole story with its teaching comes back to you).

2. It also made it possible to reveal truth to those that were open to it and to conceal truth from those who were not.

3. Many parables take an unexpected turn and make their point by shocking or, at least, surprising the reader.

II. The Parable of the Sower Explained

18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

1. Some seed falls on the hard road. It does not take root. Birds eat the seed.

2. Some falls on ground with a thin layer of dirt over rock so that the roots cannot find purchase and wither away in the sun.

3. Some falls among thorns that choke the young plant so that it dies.

Rather than being driven from the truth by hardship, this person is lured away from the truth by promises of something better.

Praying and sinning will never live together in the same heart. Prayer will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer.

J. C. Ryle

4. Then, some seed falls on good ground which produces fruit of a hundredfold, sixty-fold and thirtyfold (vv. 3–9).

The promise we see here is that these seeds will produce.

Imagine walking a trail and you see a man who looks to be dead. As you assess him for life you discover there is a slight rise to his chest. The man is alive even though he may appear dead. The life in his body has many possibilities. So it is with many of us, we appear dead and forget the possibilities with in us.