This is The Way – Devo Day 19

The Parable of the Sower – Mark 4:14-20

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.”

Mark 4:14–20 (ESV)

This is a familiar parable for most but if you have time go back to Mark 4 verse 1 and read the entire parable as Jesus taught it. In our passage today, Jesus is explaining the parable to his disciples that he taught earlier in the day with the crowd. The parable was of a farmer sowing seed in his field to illustrate the preaching (sowing) of the Gospel. It explains the different impacts that the Word of God (seed) has on different people (soil). It reveals that it is not the weather, not the neglect of the farmer nor the virality of the seed. The results totally depend on the condition of the soil (the human heart). Only one of the four soil types yields a harvest and it is bountiful.

It seems a little odd that Jesus had to explain the parable to the disciples but he often takes the time to explain things privately to them. Not surprisingly, even this interaction is real-life proof of the meaning of the parable. While Jesus was teaching he was sowing the Word, and the hearers (the disciples included) were responding in the different ways he was teaching in the parable. They (and we) are all a part of the Parable of the Sower.

In a very real sense, this parable is the key to all of Jesus’ parables, because the purpose of each is to convey (sow) God’s truth. Jesus starts this conversation in verse 13 saying, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” Jesus is describing how we receive the Word as well as telling us what we can expect of our proclamation of God’s Word. His parable is a vivid illustration of what really happens. There will always be a spectrum of response to God’s Word going forth, some too stubborn and hard to receive, some too busy to hear, some too consumed with life and its pursuits, and some where the Word takes root and blossoms.

The sower sows the word.

Mark 4:14 (ESV)

The sower in Jesus’ parable is both God and those of us who, like Jesus, proclaim the Gospel and share the Word. But it is God alone that provides the seed (the Word) and He has amply supplied seed for all his sowers. What’s interesting for us as sowers (and we are all called to be that) is that the fertile seed that we have to sow is from the harvest of God’s Word in our own heart.

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.

Mark 4:15 (ESV)

The farmer is sowing his seed liberally into his field but the field has different areas with different soil conditions. The first soil he mentions is a path whose soil is compacted by the traffic it has born. It is hard on the surface leaving the seed exposed. The birds (Satan) devour the seed before it can take root.

I grew up and raised my family in the upper Midwest. The ground there freezes in the winter (The Frozen Tundra). What is interesting is that undisturbed soil only freezes down about 18 inches but if there is traffic on the surface (a vehicle road, a walking path, a cross-country ski trail, or even a wild game trail) it not only compacts the soil but it also drives the frost deeper into the soil. All of us understand how the world we live in and our sinful past can harden the human heart. The soil under the path must be tilled and prepared for the seed.

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.

Mark 4:16-17 (ESV)

The second soil type (rocky) is familiar to us on the Western Slope. It’s not hard for us to imagine seed taking root in the rocky soil with a little water but when the desert sun (tribulation and persecution) bears down the seedling withers because it is not rooted. Some of these rocks in our lives are the people we run with, the places we traffic, and the pleasures we pursue. This soil too must be prepared (the rocks removed) to receive the seed if it is to survive and mature.

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.

Mark 4:18-19 (ESV)

The third soil type (overgrown with thorns) is also easy for us to relate to. The “cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for other things” describe the normal American life. It is the default setting on the human heart. Most of us have experienced the cares and pressures of this life squeezing out the Word and God from our daily lives. It’s no wonder that we are “unfruitful” in the Kingdom. Anyone who has ever done gardening or farming knows that unless you do something – weeds spring up and grow. They don’t need to be planted and they don’t need to be nurtured to grow and take over. This soil must be prepared as well by pulling out the thorns by the roots and then continually weeding so they don’t return.

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.”

Mark 4:20 (ESV)

The last soil type (the good soil) is one who hears the Word of God, receives it, accepts it as true, and then acts on that belief. It is only then that it produces a harvest, seed in greater numbers than what was planted – thirty, sixty and even a hundred times. The parable helps us understand the critical importance of the condition of the heart (soil) for the germination of the Word and the propagation of the Kingdom (harvest). It encourages us to be careful with the care of our hearts so that the Word can take root in us and produce a harvest of righteousness.

The parable also instructs us as sowers, just like the farmer in the parable, that we do not create the seed, we should not try to control its distribution, and we can not determine its effects. Our job is to faithfully sow the seed and it is not our skill, not our knowledge, and not our industry. To be sure, we have a part to play but we must risk frustration and even our success in sowing, and trust God with the results. Listen to the Apostle Paul’s perspective:

1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,
4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
– This is The Way

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 (ESV)

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

1. What has or might be hardening your heart to make it unreceptive to God’s Word? What could you do to prepare the soil of your heart?
2. What rocks have you left in your life that are keeping the Word from penetrating and growing in your heart? What needs to go?
3. What things or pursuits of life have strangled and choked out the Word and God from your life? What needs to be pulled out by the roots?
4. Is there Kingdom fruit (harvest) in your life? Is that important to you? What are you going to do about it?

IF YOU ARE JUST STARTING AND WANT TO GO BACK AND READ THE PREVIOUS POSTS IN THIS SERIES