THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER [B] (Mt. 13:3-8)
Not only will "gospel sowers" find hard and rocky soil, they will also scatter the seed for heaven's kingdom upon 2 other types of soil.
Thorny Ground Ù Crowded (v. 7)
This metaphor used by the Lord does not refer to a visible infestation of weeds and other brush that had overgrown a plot of ground. After all, why would one throw good seed into an overgrowth of thorns? Rather, it describes soil which is adulterated with seeds of useless & burdensome plants. Mark's account states "...the thorns came up and choked it..." (4:7). Such "thorns" will only grow up to burden the soil and sap any strength and nourishment that would have gone to the good seed.
The problem with the "thorny ground" is that it has become too crowded with competing concerns. Truthfully, the word of God cannot prosper within a divided heart. Such "thorns" as worldly worries, deceitful riches (Mt. 13:22) and "pleasures of this life" (Lk. 8:14) will never help us, and only destroy us. Such "double-minded hearts" are always in need of purifying (Jas. 4:8) if they hope to see heaven's kingdom.
Good Ground Ù True Hearts (v. 8)
This is the soil Jesus really wanted to emphasize. The other soils (resistant, inadequate, unproductive) tell us how to fail. This ground tells us how to succeed in gaining the kingdom.
Luke's account uses the well-known expression "honest and good heart" (8:15). A heart will never be "good" if it is not first "honest." Neither does it describe a person who is essentially righteous or already upstanding. No, the type of soil the Lord extols here is the person, no matter how wicked it may have been, who is now sincere and devoid of any hypocrisy, and open to whatever the Lord would have him do. Such a heart "hears and understands" (Mt. 13:23) or "hears and accepts" (Mk. 4:20). Only in this heart will there be fruit...more than ever could be imagined (Mt. 13:8).
What this parable finally reminds us is that much of the sowing of the gospel seed goes for naught. Only the few will see this kingdom (Mt. 7:13-14). Everything depends upon the soil. The question is...are you & I the right type?
