Parable of the Sower

One of the most important parables Jesus told was about a sower who sowed the word of God into people (Mark 4:3-20). Jesus said that this parable is important. If  we don’t understand this parable, we won’t understand his other parables. 

In this parable, Jesus said the sower sowed the seed of the word of God. Some of the seed didn’t do anything, but other seeds produced a harvest.

Jesus explained the symbolism of this parable. The sower is Jesus. The seed is the word of God. The different grounds where the seed was sown represent different types of people.

The sower and the seed are the same throughout the parable – there is never a lack in the sower or the seed. Both Jesus and his word are perfect. The only problem is with the ground where the seed is sown. Some ground produces a harvest and some does not.

In this parable there are four places where the word of God is sown. These four places represent four types of people.

The first place where the seed is sown is on the highway. On the highway the seed is immediately gobbled up by birds, and it produces no fruit. The highway is a place of traffic. It’s where a lot of people go. The highway represents the culture or the world. Most people are going on the broad path to destruction. They are just going along with the world. The way that Jesus wants us to walk is a narrow way. This is the way that leads to life, and few people find this way.

On the highway many people trample the word of God. They don’t believe it, and they don’t want you to believe it either. There are a lot of birds on the highway of the world. These birds represent evil spirits who take the word of God out of our hearts. 

If we are going to bear a harvest for God, we can’t live our lives on the highway of the world. We have to do things differently and walk on the narrow path that God has laid out for us.

The second place where the seed is sown is the rocky place. This place represents a hard heart. God said that he would take away the stony heart out from us and give us a soft heart. This soft heart is able to receive the word of God. A hard heart cannot fully embrace the word of God.

Jesus said that one symptom of having a stony heart is being easily offended. It’s easy to be offended these days. We can get offended at other people, and sometimes we can even be offended at God. Being offended is sometimes seen as a mark of moral superiority, as we think that our indignation is righteous when someone else offends us. But this is not what the Bible says. The Bible tells us to be quick to forgive people when they offend us. If we don’t forgive, we will be caught in a trap of Satan.

Those who have a stony heart do not have the word of God rooted in themselves. The word of God sprouted in their lives, and they became very happy. But the word did not get rooted into them. The root just stayed on the surface; it didn’t penetrate into their heart. When things became hard and there was no moisture, the root withered, and the little plant died. People who have a hard heart need a lot of watering. The water doesn’t last long on top of the rock, so they need to be continually watered. If they go without water for a while, or if something offends them, then the seed of the word in their lives will wither and die.

We need to have the word of God rooted into us. For this we need genuine faith and obedience. Excitement and feelings are not enough. We need to follow God, not our feelings. Christ is not to remain on the surface of our lives, but it is to get deep inside of us. When we believe the word and obey it even at a cost to ourselves, then the word of God is rooted in us. It will grow and bring forth fruit.
The third type of person is the person who receives the word of God but their hearts are full of thorns and thistles. Jesus says these thorns represent the deceitfulness of riches, the cares of the world, and lusts. These things come in and choke the word. In this person the word of God has been rooted inside their hearts, and it has grown into a plant. That’s good. But the plant is not able to produce fruit because it has been choked out by weeds.

The solution for this person is to cut down the weeds. Stop loving money, crucify the flesh and let the lusts die, and cast all your anxiety on God. When the weeds are gone, then the plant of the word of God will be able to produce fruit.

The fourth and final category of person is the person who has a soft heart, without weeds, who receives the word of God and it produces a harvest. Some people in this good category produce a harvest of 30 times as much as the original seed, others 60 times as much, and others 100 times as much.

The word of God has power within itself to produce a harvest. As we become the ground that will bring forth fruit, we will experience more of the power of God’s word working in us to manifest this harvest.

In this important parable, Jesus reveals how we can allow the word of God to be planted in us and how it will grow strong to produce a harvest. First, we cannot just go along with the highway of the world; we have to be willing to walk in a different way. Second, we need to have a soft heart that is not easily offended, and we must be tender so the word of God can be rooted inside us. Third, we need to get rid of thorns and thistles out of our lives. As we do these things, then the word of God will bear fruit in us.

Jesus told us this parable because he wants us to bear fruit. May he help us to do so, for his glory and the expansion of his kingdom in the earth.