A Story About a “Foolish” Farmer
Matthew 13:1-9,18-23, NIV - That same day Jesus
went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he
got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying:
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As
he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and
ate it up. Some fell on rocky places,
where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was
shallow. But when the sun came up, the
plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up
and choked the plants. Still other seed
fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what
was sown. Whoever has ears, let them
hear.”
(v. 18) “Listen then to what the
parable of the sower means: When anyone
hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one
comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown
along the path. The seed falling on
rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with
joy. But since they have no root, they
last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word,
they quickly fall away. The seed falling
among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this
life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to
someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a
crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Long
reading today but I’ll keep the comments short.
Today we encounter the first parable of Jesus in Matthew. It is also one of the few parables that Jesus
actually interprets. We’ll talk more
about that next time, but for now, go back and read the scripture one more time
slowly. Not a lot of modern day folks
are farmers, but most of us have been able to observe how plants do well in
some environments and don’t do well in others.
And because of this, we tend to focus on the environments, or as the parable
talks about, the soil. We ask ourselves,
“what kind of soil/environment am I?” While that might be a fruitful(double meaning
intended) question, it’s not what Jesus intends for us to get from this story. If it was, in v.18, He would have said, “listen
to what the parable of the soils means.”
But Jesus plainly states that this story is about the sower.
The
original audience, who were much more familiar with farming than most
modern-day people, would have honed in on this because the sower in this story
is quite odd. The actions of the sower
would have seemed foolish to anyone who has ever planted seeds. Seeds
are a valuable and scarce commodity. A
good sower ONLY plants seeds in good soil – not on the road, rocky ground,
shallow soil, or among thorns. Because
the sower in Jesus story is so haphazard with the seeds, Jesus’s audience would
have known that this is the detail of the story Jesus wants them to notice.
God is
the Sower and unlike a sower of plants, God is lavishly haphazard in where the message/seed
is spread. Whether you are “receptive
soil” or not is not the point; God gives the opportunity for the Kingdom seeds
to take root in you anyway. And not just
you, but everyone! While we might think
that foolish . . . while we might not
even like that, God gives everyone an opportunity. That’s the kind of Sower God is and that’s
Jesus’s point here.
Questions: If you
were in God’s place, would you give all an opportunity even if you knew in
advance that most would not take advantage of that opportunity?
Prayer: God of all creation,
thank you for deeming us worthy of an opportunity to participate in the growing
of Your Kingdom. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for people who, in your estimation, will never take advantage of the
opportunity God has offered them. I know.
I know. I know. Pray for them anyway.
Song: The Sower's
Song - Andrew Peterson
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