Farming today, where we live, is high-tech with GPS-guided machines that place each seed exactly where it belongs. Those changes in agriculture have separated us a bit from one of Jesus’ best-known parables—the Parable of the Sower.
Mark records that Jesus went again to teach by the sea to a large crowd. He taught, “Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly, since the soil wasn’t deep. When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce fruit. Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.” Then he said, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.” (Mark 4:3–9, CSB)
His hearers could picture this parable in their minds. The sower takes a sling sack of seed—probably wheat, barley, or oats. As he walks over the previously loosened soil, the sower flings his seed out. He doesn’t intend to throw it on the hard surface of the road or the shallow rocky soil at the edges of his field, but some land there anyway.
Later that day, Jesus’ disciples asked Him to explain the parable. In verses 10-12, Jesus explains that Parables hide their meaning. In a way, Jesus’ parables are like the flung seed. Some will listen and understand, while others hear but don’t get it. In verses 13-20, Jesus walks through the parable’s meaning. I won’t reprint it here, so read those verses in your Bible.
Today, I want to focus on one aspect of this parable. Many have spoken and written about the different soil types, the differences in how people recieve the Word of God. But Jesus began by calling attention to the sower. “Consider the sower who went out to sow.” Other English translations begin, “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;” (Mark 4:3, NASB95). Both listen and consider are verbs that command our attention. Consider the sower.
We are told later that “The sower sows the word.” (Mark 4:14, CSB) The sower sows in hope. The farmers plant their fields each season, knowing the risk and reward. Any number of things could happen to each seed between planting and harvesting. Any number of things could go wrong. Yet, they plant in the hope of what goes right.
Likewise, God sows the seed of His Word through us into the hearts of others. We aren’t the Word; we don’t cause the growth or create the harvest. We sow the seed of God’s Word. Some of that seed will land on hard hearts. Some will land on shallow soil that only thrives in the good times. Some of the seed will get choked out by the worries of life. And some, perhaps more than we know, will take root and produce a harvest of seed to be sown by the sower into more lives.
Consider the sower and how He may use you to sow the Word in the hearts of those within your reach.
- Mark: Consider the Sower - May 28, 2025
- Mark – Family Matters - May 26, 2025
- Mark: A House Divided - May 22, 2025
