Sun 8 Mar

For those who grew up with a church background and attended Sunday School, this particular parable has become a favourite. Yet, as we read this parable what does it mean? A question to start our conversation would be what is a parable? At its simplest level it is a yarn with a hidden meaning.

This begs a further question of what is the hidden meaning of the parable of the sower? It could equally be called the parable of the soils or the parable of the soils. What Jesus is getting at is people’s response to the gospel, the response of people to the coming kingdom. The parable explains people’s responses but also serves as a warning to His followers that when you are out there in the world these are the responses you can expect when you start sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

What can followers of the Lord Jesus expect? One response will be a hard heart. They are simply not interested. Another response will be one of great joy and enthusiasm. That is until stress and persecution arise and they back away from the good news. A third response is likely to be one of enthusiasm until worry and riches begin to choke the life out of the plants. Then there is the response of fruitfulness. This fourth soil is productive for the kingdom of God and gladly hears and understands what the kingdom is about. Not one of the soils can say they did not have the opportunity to hear. If you read closely you discover that all soils had the opportunity of hearing the good news. Where is your heart at with receiving the good news