The Sower and the Seed: A Meditation on Matthew 13 for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost

The same day went Jesus out of the house,

and sat by the sea side.

And great multitudes were gathered together unto him,

so that he went into a ship, and sat;

and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

 

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying,

Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side,

and the fowls came and devoured them up:

 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth:

and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

And when the sun was up, they were scorched;

and because they had no root, they withered away.

And some fell among thorns;

and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit,

some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 

Jesus’ parable of the sower and the seed was given to the people following Him amidst many other parables and teachings.  At this time, Jesus was so surrounded by people that He elected to sit in a small boat in the water, while the people gathered on the shore to hear Him teach.  While St. Matthew apparently did not include the totality of what Jesus spoke that day in his Gospel account, he did make sure to include this parable which was both descriptive and instructive regarding not only the teaching ministry of Jesus, but also the different ways in which people would receive Him.  Some people would have the Word bounce off them like seed skittering across hardpacked ground, only to have the devil come and whisk away any traces of it from their memory.  Some people would give Jesus a superficial hearing with all the outward signs of exuberant acceptance, but deep down they wouldn’t believe it, as any temporal testing would reveal.  Some people would hear it earnestly, but sadly choose to value the vanities of this world over the eternal riches of God’s Word, and whatever fruit they might have born as disciples of Jesus would be choked out by competing interests.  And yet some people would receive the Word of Jesus, not only understanding it but embracing it, living it, and bearing fruit from it in their lives.  This teaching of Jesus was true in Matthew’s day, and it is true today, as well, offering every generation an opportunity to reflect upon it.

 

Then as now, Jesus’ parable is descriptive:  it reflects the reality of the Word of God at work in the world.  There are sowers of the Word who follow in Jesus’ stead and by His command through the Office of the Holy Ministry, speaking, preaching, teaching, and administering His Word and Sacraments according to His institution.  Around the sowers would be people of every walk of life, with every kind of disposition and conviction and aspiration known to mankind.  The Word will bounce off some, be superficially embraced by others, and be choked out in the lives of yet more.  And still, in some, the Word will root deeply and bring forth a new life that results in fruits of that Word and Spirit which bore it, multiplying its effect in the world by tens and hundreds.  Today, as in Jesus’ day, and in every age of the world, there are people with stony hearts who refuse to believe, with ears they close up to prevent hearing, and eyes they close to prevent understanding.  Jesus noted that His particular generation was a specific fulfilment of the Prophet Isaiah’s warning of the same, perhaps in the magnitude of its local impact upon the Jewish people rejecting their long promised Messiah.  But what was true then is true now, if only the localities and relative magnitudes change from time to time, and place to place—the contemporary populations of Seattle or New York or Wichita or Great Falls, or any hamlet that dots the countryside, all have their relative mix of these continuing dynamics.

 

But if this parable of Jesus still describes the world around us, what are we to do with it?  Jesus’ instruction in this parable is also helpful, as there is a measure of personal responsibility acknowledged with each condition of the human heart.  Jesus Word calls people to avoid being hard hearted and rejecting Him out of hand, lest the devil come and remove all traces of the Word which was given to them.  He calls people to be more than superficial and outwardly pietistic, but rather to have a strong root in themselves so that their deep conviction can weather the storms of life.  Further, He calls people to let go of their earthly idols which compete with His saving Word, so that the love of money, power, pleasure, reputation, or fame would not choke out the efficacy of His Word in their lives.  Lastly, there is an imperative to be good ground for the hearing of the Word, to receive it thoughtfully and joyously with firm conviction and resolve, so that one might not only flourish by that Word but bring forth good works which cause others to flourish, also.  These would be the firm demands of the Law, and they are altogether righteous and good.  The hard hearted, scornful, impudent, vapid, shallow, conflicted, and those whose works in this world reveal their prioritization of personal lust or ambition over holiness, righteous, and virtue, are all guilty by their own personal fault.  There is no one whose evil is not their own, nor anyone who has not earned their own destruction.

 

But there is more instruction in Jesus’ parable than just the Law.  Notice how the sower continues to sow seed, regardless of the ground upon which it falls.  Unlike the seed sown by farmers in their earthen fields, the divine Seed of God’s Word comes with the power to transform the souls into which it is cast, through the working of the omnipotent Holy Spirit.  It is not we who have the power to change our own hearts and minds, but the Word and Spirit of the Living God which has created in us the faith to receive His grace unto eternal life.  The fruitfulness of the Word is not a human work of persuasion or charisma, nor of setting, ambiance, costume, or ritual—rather, the fruits of the Spirit are the works of the Spirit, and the Spirit of God always works through the Word of God to reconcile fallen sinners to their Heavenly Father by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  While a person cannot change their own sinful nature, they can be changed by the Word of God to repent before the Law and to live in the Gospel, all by the power of the Holy Spirit who always and without fail accompanies the Word of Jesus.  A person may have power within themselves to reject God and His Word, but only God and His Word can transform a fallen nature into a forgiven and free child of His own making.  The Eternal Word is everything in the salvation of mankind, revealed as the singular great work of the Holy Trinity to reconcile God and men.

 

And thus the Word of the Lord comes to all, seeking and saving all who will repent and believe in the Savior.  Hear the Law which rightly calls you away from the deadly paths, deceptions, and fascinations of this world, and the Gospel which declares to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, eternal life, and salvation in Jesus Christ alone.  Rise up in that Word and Spirit, knowing that the world will go as it is ordained to go, but as a forgiven and free child of God, it is your duty and privilege to bear in yourself the inestimable works of the Holy Spirit, that the Word which enlivened you might enliven others around you.  The Eternal Word is the whole of your life and your salvation, as it is for all who will receive it—and so may it be multiplied in you by the hundreds, and unto ages of ages without end.  Soli Deo Gloria!  Amen.