4While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5″A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”
When he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

9His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
” ‘though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.’[a]

11″This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

This past week I began reading a new book (no surprise there!) and a conversation broke out between myself and the Lord regarding the Parable of the Sower (see above).  This same parable is found in Mark 4:1-20, Matthew 13:1-23, and Luke 8:1-15.  Upon review of this passage, a list of questions flooded my mind:

1. Who is the farmer?
2. What is the seed?
3. Why is the farmer so reckless in scattering the seed?  He throws it on rocks, on the path, etc.
4. Why is the farmer scattering seed over thorny patches of the garden infested by weeds?  Shouldn’t he/she weed first?
5. What is the meaning of the crop that is yielded “a hundred times more than was sown”?  That means the entire garden was filled to capacity!
6. Why does Jesus “call out” after this parable, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”?  Isn’t this passage simply about spreading the word of God?
7. What is the “knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God”?
8. What is the word of God?

I have read and re-read this passage for years.  Everytime the point seems to be painfully clear, be like the good soil and receive the word of God.  I’ve also heard this passage evangelistically, as we spread the good news, some people will be receptive to it and others will not.

It is not that these explanations are false.  We should all seek to live lives that are prepared for the goodness and richness of Christ Jesus.  Likewise, out of our lives should flow the good news of Christ to those around is.  And, some people will receive that news and others will not.

The power of this passage lies in what the language we take for granted would have actually meant to Jesus.  This parable is so important that in Mark’s version of it Jesus asks His disciples, “Don’t you understand this parable?  How then will you understand any parable” (v. 13)?  So powerful is the message of this parable that Jesus stakes His entire teaching/training ministry in its contents.  Why?

As I encountered this passage in reading I am immediately drawn to this farmer.  It is not strange for Jesus to use an agrarian parable.  Agriculture was of great importance to those He was speaking.  This farmer, however, seems to be a little sloppy.  If you live a life totally dependant upon the harvest you receive back and you have a limited amount of money with which to buy seed, why would you scatter it so haphazardly as to cover the pathways, rocks, and weeds?  Furthermore, why wouldn’t you first weed the garden?

Verse 8b shows us an amazing feat, “[The seed] came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”  It seems that the farmer knows the quality of the seed he is spreading.  He knows there is no need to uproot the weeds or chase away the birds.  True to his foreknowledge, the seed produces a crop a hundred times more than was sown.  The garden is filled to capacity (and overflowing)!

This brings us back to a question, if this parable is all about being faithful, why does Jesus  to his followersm “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand’” (v. 10).  This language finds its roots in the commissioning of Isaiah.  God is calling for a prophet to go forth and do two things: 1) Warn the people of God’s anger and judgment for them to repent AND 2) to proclaim a day that is coming; a most blessed day of Yahweh.

In this little parable found in three of the four gospels, Jesus utilizes that same language.  Kind of odd if this message is incredibly simple for Jesus to 1) hinge the meaning of all other parables in this one, 2) to declare that the meaning of this parable is enveloped in the “secrets of the kingdom”, and 3) to have the people recall the commissioning of the great prophet Isaiah.

As I said early, the traditional understandings of this passage are not incorrect.  But, I want to argue that they are not complete either.  There is a grand story at play in this parable.  In verses 11-17 of the passage above, Jesus offers the pieces of the puzzle.  Scripture is forcing us to put the pieces together.  It’s asking us, you’ve read this passage many times BUT do you know the larger story of my narrative?  Do we know the fuller story of Scripture and why this parable is so radical?

The radical piece of this story lies in the discovery of the identity of the seed and the farmer.  The seed is the word of God.  What, then, is the word of God?  It is not the Bible.  The Bible finds its ultimate purpose in meaning flowing out of the true word of God.  John’s Gospel declares, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He [the Word] was with God in the beginning.  The Word became flesh and made his [the Word's] dwelling among us” (1:1,14, NIV).  The seed is Jesus.

The farmer is us, the Church.  We are called to proclaim the identity (the Savior, Lord and King) of Jesus Christ.  The fascinating thing of this story is that the weeds, the rocks, the birds are not eliminated.  Think for a moment the implications of this for our journeys of faith.

Too many Christians spend inordinate amounts of time petitioning Congress, their city councils, etc to remove things they find offensive and sinful.  Here lately, the rhetoric of America as a Christian nation has been written everywhere.  Many Christians think the way to change America is to get rid of all the sin.

I want to argue counter to this.  I find that many people who live according to the above philosophy have golden hearts.  They truly want to see Jesus manifested and people coming into a beautiful relationship with Him.  But look at this parable, the weeds, rocks and birds are not removed.  Instead, the seed is scattered and the crop, in spite of the weeds, grows a hundred times more.

What would it look like if instead of trying to remove the problem of evil, the Body of Christ began to exemplify the overhelming goodness of the Gospel?  What if instead of trying to shut down a strip-joint the people of God sought ways to truly love those entrapped to a life of lust and shame and bring freedom to the captives?  What if instead of saying how much you hate abortion you began to fight for better adoption education and stood in the gap for women who feel they have no other choice?

All throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, he would declare that the kingdom of Heaven (or God) is at hand.  This parable does not show the destruction of the garden but an all out restoration of it.  The barren spots, weedy spots, rocky spots…they’re all overtaken by the unstoppable growth of a hundred fold crop.

There comes a time where the people of God need to stop picking weeds and need to start planting seeds.  You can pick all the weeds out of the garden and be left with a garden even more barren than it was before.  If you plant seeds, you not only grow a crop.  The crop that is grown has the capacity to produce seed for future crops.  This grassroots, organic, everyday-person adventure allowed the Church to spread like wildfire in the early Church and begs of us to experience it afresh today.

For Jesus, Heaven is not something we wait for.  It’s not something we purify the world for.  Instead, it is something we look forward to, walk lovingly towards, journey with others in the mindset of, and seek to be ambassadors of right here and right now.

May we recognize that the farmer is not God.  The farmer is us!  May we recognize that the seed is the relational good news of Jesus Christ and spread it everywhere we go to produce a harvest for which we will be told, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”