The Parable of the Sower: The Soil of Discipleship

“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 8:5-8 ESV)

Reading the parable of the sower yesterday, I was stuck anew by the explanation that Jesus gives his disciples. Let me take this verse by verse.

Verses 9 & 10: And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ (Luke 8:9-10 ESV)

As has been mentioned in the past, Jesus was not using simple illustrations to help people understand the truths of the Kingdom. The parables were intentionally meant to obfuscate the truth so that those who ‘did not have ears’, presumably the God-given ability to understand, could not grasp the things he said. The idea that he was telling these stories as a means of allowing his hearers to grasp deep truth through human reasoning is preposterous. Anyone who has read the gospels may well testify that the parables are often some of the most confusing and seemingly irrational parts of the New Testament.

Verse 11: “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.” (Luke 8:11 ESV)

We must analyze what ‘word’ of God he is talking about. Is it the law? Since his hearers had the law and it was clearly not leading them to live the fruitful life he describes, he must be speaking of the gospel. The gospel is the seed that bears fruit in the life of his hearers. We must be careful which seed we are choosing to plant. The law reveals the God not preached (see this post) which does not bring people to the Kingdom of heaven. The law is meant to prepare a person to receive the good news, but it is not the seed that produces salvation.

Verse 12: “The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.” (Luke 8:12 ESV)

This verse certainly lends credence to the Lutheran view of preaching. If, as Paul states in Romans 1:16, the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, then the gospel must be preached for people to believe. The seed must be scattered. Luther believed that God’s election occurred by the act of sending a preacher to preach the good news. If Jesus is right (and he is Jesus after all) then in the process of this elective preaching the devil may interfere and steal the word before it can reach the hearer’s heart. It is important to note that these have still ‘heard’ but cannot respond because of the interference of the enemy.

Verse 13: “And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.” (Luke 8:13 ESV)

Here we have a group of people who receive this good news with joy, but do not to sink roots into it. Somehow we forget that the new believer needs to hear this good news over and over again. If he doesn’t, there is nothing into which he can sink his roots. If we try to teach new believers about obeying laws and rules and commands, we place them on an impenetrable rock where they cannot become rooted in Christ. When they are tested, they simply fall away.

Verse 14: “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.” (Luke 8:14 ESV)

These may outlast the ones planted on the rock, but they end up fruitless for the same reason. After receiving salvation they do not continue to seek out the good news. Rather than finding their joy, acceptance, security and identity in Christ (as they undoubtedly did at first) they begin to look to the things of the world. They are swallowed up by idolatry, not having continued in the good news.

Verse 15: “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15 ESV)

These in the good soil, as with all the others, hear the good news. The difference is that they hold it fast. This does not necessarily mean ‘doing it’ but continuing to keep it in their hearts and minds. That the term hold the word fast (or keep the word) does not indicate that they keep it in the sense of a commandment is clear because the ‘doing’ part of the relationship is identified as bringing forth fruit. Fruit is that which is born of a seed. Since the gospel is not a demand, it cannot be ‘kept’ in the traditional sense of a commandment. But to be a healthy Christian you must hold it fast, continually seeking out the good news so that you may hear it.

Verse 16: “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.” (Luke 8:16 ESV)

Often interpreted as it is in the children’s song “This little light of mine”, I think this verse has far deeper meaning. In the case of the rocky and thorny soil hearers, the lamp was initially lit and shining brightly. But they did not keep that lamp trimmed. They covered it up with rules, regulations and ‘Spirit-led’ living to the point that it got snuffed out. To hold fast to the word is to continually trim the lamp wick and keep it shining brightly.

Verse 17: “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” (Luke 8:17 ESV)

If we fail to keep the lamp trimmed, it begins to grow dark. We recede easily into the darkness when the light is not burning bright. But when the light of the good news is burning brightly in us, it will reveal the hidden things in our hearts and allow us to come boldly before God without fear of condemnation to deal with them. Remember that in John 3 Jesus said, “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (vs.19-21) To know the gospel is to know Jesus. Jesus is the light of the world. Any time we begin to avoid the light (and we do love the darkness so) we are in danger of becoming rocky or thorny soil hearers.

Verse 18: “Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” (Luke 8:18 ESV)

If we are not careful to continue hearing the good news, the light will be taken from us. If we listen to the word of God as law, the light grows dimmer. But when we seek out the word of grace it will build on itself, continually increasing the light which drives out our darkness.

Finally, it is not that each person is actually in a different type of spiritual soil, so to speak. Perhaps the local church is the soil. Every seed has the potential to be the seed planted in the good soil. We are the soil to the believers around us. If we are rocky, laying down the law, they will fall away. If we are worldly, seeking our security in the law or the pride of life or possessions, they will fall away. We are not only responsible for sowing the good seed, but we are the soil into which that seed is sown. May we be good soil watered with the good news of the gospel.