Read Mark 4:1-20
Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that
“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”
13 lAnd he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
Contemplation
Parables are a super effective way for Jesus to reveal wisdom and lay out how the Kingdom operates. It’s important to define the terms of this parable to truly understand what it means and, then with that understanding, we can dive into some additional allegorical meanings as the Holy Spirit leads. I have underlined the absolute truth in the scripture and then added additional thoughts and insight. Always rely on the Holy Spirit to help you navigate allegorical teachings. The absolute truth is the true seed.
Let’s break out some of the terms described in the passage.
The Seed – This is the Word. The truth. The spoken word of the Father and the written word of the scriptures. This is relayed to us through reading the bible, listening to the Holy Spirit, and listening to teachers and pastors. Much like a seed, the Word is alive and wants to grow and produce, but we must prepare and cultivate it. We must prepare the soil.
The Sower – The scripture defines this as Jesus. This is the one who sows the Word. After Jesus ascended he gave us the Holy Spirit to sow the seed.
This could be a pastor, a teacher, yourself, the disciples or pretty much anyone willing to share the word. We need to be careful of who we allow to sow seeds into our life. We can allow the seeds of good fruit or thorns to grow in our lives. The Word will always produce good fruit but if we allow, thorns can also produce and strangle the Word, the good fruit.
The Soil – We are the soil. We are the place the seed is meant to grow and flourish.
I also believe this is the truth of understanding of who we are in Christ. Essentially, our heart, our mind, and our will. We have to prepare ourselves to receive the seed. We have to make sure that we are good soil.
Let’s talk about the four places the seed is scattered. Remember, we are the soil.
The Path – First of all, what kind of good sower or farmer, wastes seed on the path? A good sower knows his soil. But since we are the soil, how do we become the path? The Path is a hardened place. A hardened heart or a hard mind that has been abused or walked on by Satan or the world. It has been used and hardened. The seed cannot grow. Think of an athiest who has hardened his heart and cannot hear the word. No matter how much truth (word) you share, it cannot grow. Rather he believes the lies of Satan and his heart is no place for a seed to grow. The birds or Satan, quickly take the seeds away and do not allow it to grow.
The Rocky Ground – This is the heart of someone who is full of fear or hurt. This is heart almost a “path”. The seeds feel good in the moment and bring joy but as soon as life gets tough the seeds die. They do not have room for the seeds to root. Maybe they are distracted by life and do not have time to allow the seeds to grow. A major part of preparing the soil is to remove rocks.
The Thorns – These are the things we allow into our lives that should not be there. This could be an addiction, lies, hatred, bitterness, hurt, shame, or anything that we have allowed to root in our lives that is not the word. A good farmer tends to the soil and weeds out the thorns. It can be a painful process. If we allow seeds to be planted in a heart for of thorns, it will choke out the fruitful plant. We are then allowing the hurt, pain, shame, and sin to dictate what can be planted. Pray that God the Father reveals the thorns in your life, so you can uproot them and pull them out. Some of those roots can go pretty deep and may take a lot of effort to pull out.
I once had a friend tell me he had a thorn of comfort and laziness in his life. He loved to be comfortable and to simply “get by”. He didn’t want to lose his comfort. His family suffered at the expense of his comfort. He prayed and sought the Lord and said that God pulled a massive root out of his heart. He said it was physically painful. Let me tell you, the evidence of change in this person’s life is very apparent. He has become a humble man with a very soft heart. He is so sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Who he was and who he is now, is night and day. Pray that God rips those thorns out. They are stealing your harvest and fruit.
Good Soil – This is us with a well-prepared heart. Soft and ready to receive the seed of the Word. The rocks have been removed and the thorns pulled out. The soil is soft and ready to receive. It will produce “thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
– Proverbs 4:23
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right[a] spirit within me
—Psalm 51:10
44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
—Luke 6:44-46
Good soil is a process. It’s work. But it produces. You don’t plant a garden without prepping the soil. And good Sower knows the solid he is working the seeds into. A good sower doesn’t scatter seed on a path, or among thorns, or on rocky ground. The Father wants to sow into your life and he can help you prepare your heart.
Truth Recap:
(provided by Mike Green LifeWithGod)
So, according to Jesus, the three main points of the Sower/Seed parable are:
1. The Truth of Eternal Life is a rare and priceless treasure.
2. After hearing the truth one must be determined to, in the face of opposition, continue to
believe the truth.
3. Remaining steadfast in one’s faith will be demonstrated by:
A. Sharing the truth with others through a spoken testimony and/or one’s sacrificial loyalty to God and,
B. By his compassionate treatment of other humans.
Application:
What are some thorns in your life? Pray and ask the Father to reveal them. Then ask got to pluck them out roots and all.
What are some ways that you can prepare yourself to receive the Seed (truth)?
Was there a time in your life when you felt rocky and hard? A time where it was hard to heard the truth (seed)? What was the cause of those rocks? Have they been removed?
In what ways are you receiving good seed from the good sower (Jesus and The Holy Spirit)?
Prayer:
Father, soften my heart and create in me good soil. Let me be a place where good fruit can grow. Identify the thorns in my life and help me to pluck them out roots and all. Create in me a clean heart, ready to receive. Help me to remove rocks and obstacles that prevent the seeds from growing. Father, let my heart be a place where the seeds grow to a hundred-fold.
Amen