The Sower

by R.I. Shaw, Wembley, England. | Category: The Lord's Parables | Apr 1991

There is a sense in which the sun is hidden by a piece of smoked glass and yet without such it is often not possible to look at the sun at all.

So Christ taught and revealed by illustration. Some familiar thing of earth was placed alongside some mysterious thing of heaven that our understanding of the one might help us to understand the other. Christ never attempted to hide the truth from those who were ready to hear. His parables were an aid rather than a hindrance.

The Lord's disciples had received Jesus Christ as Saviour, Lord and King and by reason of that they were able to receive the mysteries of the kingdom. For the most part the Jews had rejected Christ as their Messiah and King and without the King they had no key to the mysteries of the kingdom. Because of this, in infinite pity and grace, He addressed them in parables. This was such a method of teaching as would constrain those who were undecided to see and hear. It was adopted in grace to meet the need of their nearsightedness.

The Outline:

The seven parables of Matthew 13 relate generally to conditions obtaining between that moment in which He spoke and the consummation of the age. The first four were apparently spoken outside the house where He was staying, to the multitude of people who stood on the beach. The latter three, together with the interpretation of the parable of the tares, were spoken inside the house privately to His disciples.

The first of these parables, the parable of the sower, is not introduced, as are the others, by any reference to the kingdom, although that follows later in the, chapter. It is the story of the initial work of sowing. Subsequently, and in a series of parables, the Lord proceeded to refer to the issues of that work. In each case the story itself was simple to interpret and the figurative terms He employed, such as the seed, were consistently used.

This is one of two parables which the Lord explained. The other is the parable of the tares of the field. It is obviously fundamental because He said that if men were unable to understand this one they could not understand the others (see Mark 4:13).

The Parable:

The parable refers to the kingdom of heaven in Matthew and to the kingdom of God in both Mark and Luke. It is not our intention to deal at length with comparison and contrast in relation to these kingdoms. It is sufficient to say that the issue of the parable is evidently equally relevant whether we

are considering the particular sphere of Christ's rule as Lord in the subject hearts of the kingdom of God or in the sphere of God's rule in the kingdom of heaven.

The work of the King was to scatter seed to produce results for the kingdom. The work of the enemy was to attempt to prevent results by injury to the seed because of the soil into which it fell. Such is the continuing conflict in which, it appears, failure predominates because "the whole world lieth in the evil one" (1 John 5:19).

The picture is perfectly natural by eastern standards. In "The Land and the Book" by Dr. Thomson, the sower is said to have lived in a hamlet and did not sow adjacent to his house. He "went forth" into open country where there are paths, thorns, rocks and fertile places. There was, therefore, a trampling down by passers-by, and birds picked up the seed. The farmer worked with the mattock rather than the plough near to rocky places so that there was no depth there to the soil. Some of the most tangled of thorn bushes grew in such areas. So the sower sowed one kind of seed into different kinds of soil and the sequence of events thereafter depended on the nature of the soil.

The Teaching:

The Lord makes no reference in His explanation to the sower himself. The main focus of the parable is on the reception by the soil of the seed that was sown. The soil is the heart of a person in his age and generation and the introduction of the seed, the Word of God, is that which can make the life fruitful. In the establishment of the kingdom some are productive and some are non productive. Those who are productive can influence the age and generation in which they live by creating the knowledge of God, His Word and His authority. Others, alas, produce no such fruit.

The wayside sowing explains the heart which has heard and never understood the Word. The beaten way of the age is hard and the Word is to such only a form, a jingle of sound. If it is snatched away from a man's ht there is no issue; no fruitfulness of any kind.

The sowing in rocky places goes farther than the first. This heart not only recognizes the Word and is familiar with it, but also rejoices in it and consents to its claims. Sadly, however, he does not allow the Word to take a grasp of his life so as to take root. When persecution and testing come in one form or another his witness fails. He then is no influence and dies away.

The sowing among thorns signifies the man who has the Word within him but who becomes so occupied with the interests of the age that the press and crush of material things, the methods, maxims, cares or pleasures of the present, so act as thorns, choking the vital principle of life that such a man becomes entirely ineffective and fruitless.

The sowing in good ground indicates the heart of a man who hears, understands and responds fully to obey the voice of the King such that,

in his personal life he bears fruit for the kingdom.

The Sequel:

What effect are we producing upon our age and generation? The answer depends upon the extent to which the Word we know has affected our lives. What use, if we can repeat the Word, talk of it, sing of it, appear to love it and yet there is no resulting harvest in our home life, social life, business life, church life or any other life?

There are men and women in different ages and generations whose names have never appeared in newspapers who have lived in quiet obedience to the Word of their heavenly King. Angels alone may write their epitaph. They have witnessed for the King; souls have been won, hearts touched, disciples made. Let us follow in their steps and never forget that a man, woman or child won for the kingdom is the planting of a seed in our day which will result in a fuller harvest for the King.

R.I. Shaw, Wembley, England. | Apr 1991
The Lord's Parables