Friday, Sept. 13

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The Parable of the Sower is one of the best known of  the more than 40 parables of Jesus in the gospels.  This famous parable has many components and layers of meaning, but it is really all about how the gospel penetrates a human heart. It is not insignificant that this parable is recorded in 3 out of the 4 gospel accounts; Matthew, Mark and Luke.  Did you know that in Mark 4:13, Jesus says that if you do not understand this parable, you will not be able to understand any of His parables?  “And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?”  

We have been examining the parable out of Matthew’s gospel this week, but today let’s look at Luke’s version of this story.

And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  - Luke 8:4-8

The story is told that one of Napoleon’s officers was badly shot in the chest. As they operated without anesthesia just above his heart, the soldier said, “One inch lower you will find the Emperor.”  What is in your heart?  If it were possible to open up your heart, what would we find?  Would we find Jesus Christ there?  Or would your heart be hard and calloused and empty, or would it be shallow and full of stones, or cluttered and distracted and choked with thorns?

Although the seed is the living word of God, and it alone has the power to transform hearts, it must fall on good soil to bear fruit.  Jesus outlines four different kinds of soil, only one of which is fruitful.  When Jesus mentions four types of soils, He is not giving percentages. Rather, He is showing four general responses to the gospel. At various times there will be more in one category or another, according to the sovereign moving of God’s Spirit. 

The four soils can be grouped into two categories: the unfruitful and the fruitful. All four soils hear the Word. The first soil is the only one not to accept it at all. The second soil accepts the seed briefly and shows initial promise, but it soon dies out. The third soil seems to make even further progress, but eventually the thorns choke it out. Only the fourth soil eventually bears fruit.

In Jesus’ audience that day were some who immediately shrugged off His teaching. Some welcomed His message but fell away as soon as persecution arose. Others, like Judas, allowed the thorns of greed to choke out the word.  But many heard His word eagerly, took it into their hearts, and it brought forth fruit for all eternity!  

You know, I have always thought of the hard soil along the path, in terms of the hard-hearted person who will not listen to the truth of the Gospel.  But recently I have realized that even those of us who have received the message of the Gospel can also become hard-hearted, especially toward those who seem hardened toward God.  Perhaps you can relate to this?  Perhaps you too have become hardened and even given up praying for a person who continually resists the message of God’s love.  Let me remind you, that you never know what God is doing beneath the surface in a person’s heart.  Don’t ever give up sowing the seeds of the Gospel!

God wants each of us to check the soil of our hearts. Is it hard and resistant? Is it shallow and impulsive? Is it divided and distracted by the cares of the world? Or, is it soft, humble, and responsive to His Word over the long haul?  

When Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (8:8), He is encouraging each of us to examine our own heart and do whatever is necessary to become good soil.  Ask God for a responsive heart. Cultivate the seed of His Word every day. You will reap the fruit of eternal life in yourself and in others.

Jeff Frazier