Remember what happened after Jesus gave the parable about a farmer sowing seeds into different kinds of soil? The crowds went home. His students stayed on - seeking answers.
Now they alone receive the truth hidden in the parable. To them - and no one else - the Teacher says, Listen then to what the parable of the sower means.
They find out the parable wasn’t a class on Agricultural Science. If anything it was Spiritual Horticulture 101! They learn the farmer's seed was the message of the kingdom and the soil types were human hearts!
In fact, in this parable the Teacher displays an amazing ability to reduce the human response to God’s message to four soil types: pathway, rocky, thorny, and good.
Pathway Soil - those who don’t receive the message at all.
Rocky Soil – people who quickly accept it but without a survivable commitment.
Thorny Soil – a degree of allegiance but are too focused on things of this world.
Good Soil – people for whom the message of Jesus is a priority.
Which soil type describes a good student of Jesus? One whose main concern is producing the fruit of Christ likeness?
The one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Hearing and understanding seem to be a theme to the Teacher!
ReplyDeleteTherefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Mt 7:24)
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. (Mt 13:16)
The difference seems to come from the heart - wether it is calloused, or if we can understand with it (Mt 13:15)
May we have ears to hear,
Eyes to see,
Wisdom to perceive
and hearts that seek Him
- and gain understanding!