And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
The disciples' question asks for the meaning of the parable of the sower, taught to the crowd from a boat by the Sea of Galilee after the call to hear and the promise of a hundredfold harvest, which Christ then explains to them privately. The seed is the word of God, the truth about the Saviour that gives eternal life when cherished and kept with deep understanding rather than heard superficially. It names four kinds of hearers: the wayside from whom the devil takes the word, the rock who fall away in temptation, the thorns choked by cares and riches and pleasures, and the good ground who keep the word in an honest heart and bring forth fruit with patience. The sower and the seed are the same in every case, so the outcome rests with the hearer, who by choice determines what he becomes and must have the heart broken up by repentance, cleared of evil growths, and cultivated in cooperation with God. Those who scatter present truth will meet the same responses, and when sermonizing and argument fail, earnest personal sympathy and self-denying labor can soften hard hearts while God quickens long-dormant seed to life and fruit.
Context and Interpretation
The question belongs to the telling of the parable of the sower to a crowd gathered by the Sea of Galilee, taught from a boat after the people pressed around Jesus. The teaching was given through familiar scenes from nature, so that seeing them later would remind the listeners of the instruction. The disciples asked what the parable might be after the call, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear, and the promise of good ground bringing forth fruit an hundredfold. Needing fuller understanding, they received Christ's explanation privately.
The parable illustrates the things of the kingdom of heaven and the work of the great Husbandman for His people. As a sower in the field Christ came to scatter the heavenly grain of truth, and His parable-teaching itself was the seed sowing the most precious truths of His grace. Though its simplicity has kept it from being valued as it should be, the natural seed cast into the soil is meant to lead minds to the gospel seed whose sowing brings man back to loyalty to God. He who gave the parable is the Sovereign of heaven, and the same laws that govern earthly seed-sowing govern the sowing of the seeds of truth.
The seed is the word of God, the truth about the Saviour that can lead to eternal life if cherished and kept. It must be sought with deep, faithful understanding rather than heard superficially, lest it be taken away or fail to benefit the hearer when not received deeply and with faith. The explanation names four classes of hearers: the wayside from whom the devil takes the word lest they believe and be saved, the rock who receive with joy but fall away in temptation, the thorns who are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection, and the good ground who in an honest and good heart keep the word and bring forth fruit with patience. In this setting of hearing and receiving God's word, the parable illustrates the spread of the gospel and the different ways people respond, with some quickly losing the impression of the teaching while others carry its principles into a holier life.
Hearts and Responsibility
The question about what the parable might be opens the meaning that the sower illustrates the different tendencies of human hearts and the kinds of people taught, and this explains why the ministry yielded limited immediate results. Some quickly lose the impression of the teaching while others carry its principles into a holier life, showing the spread of the gospel and the different ways people respond. People were left free to accept or reject Him rather than forced into belief or obedience. Overcoming sin required them to join their own efforts with His divine power.
In every case the sower and the seed are the same, while the different results of the sowing depend upon the condition of the soil. If the word of God fails to accomplish its work in the heart and life the reason is therefore found in the hearer himself. The result is not beyond control, for although no one can change himself the power of choice remains and each person determines what he will become, so the wayside, stony-ground, and thorny-ground hearers need not remain such. The Spirit of God is ever seeking to break the spell of worldly infatuation and awaken desire for imperishable treasure. Men become inattentive or neglectful of God's word only by resisting the Spirit, and are themselves responsible for the hardness that prevents the good seed from rooting and for the evil growths that check its development.
Therefore the garden of the heart must be cultivated and can be prepared, with the soil broken up by deep repentance for sin and poisonous satanic plants uprooted. Thorn-overgrown soil is reclaimed only by diligent labor, for the evil tendencies of the natural heart can be overcome only by earnest effort in the name and strength of Jesus in cooperation with the work God desires to do. Learning to follow Christ in self-denial and service helps prevent worldly concerns or shallow roots from choking the word. The burial and growth of the seed also teach Christ's death and the resurrection.
Sowing Seed Today
The parable holds a lesson to be closely studied because those who preach present truth and scatter the good seed will meet with the same results. The inquiry of the disciples about its meaning opens the explanation of the gospel sower and the four kinds of hearers.
Wayside hearers are moved by pointed truth yet have not cultivated the moral powers, having followed inclination rather than duty, and by evil habits have hardened their hearts like the hard-beaten road and like an unfenced field. They may profess to believe but have no just sense of its sacredness, do not separate from lovers of pleasure and corrupt society, place themselves where they are constantly tempted, invite the enemy's temptations, and lose the regard they once seemed to have when the seed was dropped into their hearts. Stony-ground hearers readily receive anything new and exciting with joy and with ardor and zeal talk of faith and hope and even reprove those of long experience, but are controlled by feeling and have no depth and stability of character, with principle not reaching deep into the springs of action. The seed has not rooted below the surface and the heart has not been renewed by the transforming influence of the Spirit, so when tested by the heat of trial and temptation and when the pruning-knife is applied that they may bring forth fruit unto perfection their zeal dies. When working men and women and sacrifices are called for they are elsewhere, and when plain pointed close truth bears upon the heart and reveals deformity of character they close their eyes though conscience tells them the messengers speak truth, are offended because of the word, and yield the truth rather than submit to be sanctified through it, flattering themselves they may get to heaven by an easier way.
Another class hear and are convinced and accept the truth without seeing the sinfulness of their hearts, while love of the world holds a large place in their affections. In deal they love the best of the bargain and by prevarication and deception and fraud gain means that proves a thorn overbalancing good purposes, and the good seed is choked because they are anxious and full of care fearing loss, make temporal matters primary, do not nourish the seed nor attend meetings where hearts are strengthened, and excuse toil for gain as duty to help the cause while deceitfulness of riches turns the heart from loved truth, until overgrown with unnecessary worldly cares and needless anxiety and love for earthly pleasures and worldly honors which riches give. Hearts may be as hard as the beaten highway and stony, so that presenting the Saviour can appear useless, for logic fails to move and argument is powerless to convince such hearts. Love of Christ revealed in personal, Christlike sympathy coming close to men individually in heart-to-heart ministry to awaken interest in eternal life can soften the stony heart so the seed of truth can take root, so ministry requires more than sermonizing and requires earnest personal labor for souls.
The question shows the divine Teacher sowing the seeds of truth with care, anxiety, self-denial, and a life of continued sacrifice for others' good, and the seed of truth must be sown in that same way with the mind of Christ so as not to become weary in well-doing, trusting God to quicken it to life. The precious seed may lie dormant for some time, then the grace of God convicts the heart and the sown seed is awakened to life and springs up and bears fruit to the glory of God, making unselfish, earnest, persevering missionaries co-workers with Christ and the heavenly angels in the salvation of their fellow men. Truth is good seed sown upon the soil of the heart, and sown upon good soil it bears fruit unto eternal life, so since in early life the mind is impressible good soil the good seed must be sown then. Parental errors and mistakes are reproduced in children, and a parent's wrong example in absorbing reading injures the child's mental powers and leaves no taste nor aptitude for study.
The soil must be carefully prepared to receive the Sower's good seed, and parents are to do this preparing work for little children. They are to keep them at home under their own teaching until eight or ten years old rather than sending them away to school too early or trusting the molding of the infant mind to other hands. They are to make the open air amid flowers and birds the schoolroom and the treasures of nature the textbook and to open the great book of nature before them as fast as their minds can comprehend so the lessons will not soon be forgotten, and to devote the time and labor now wasted on following worldly fashions to cultivating their minds and forming correct habits. The disciples' request for fuller understanding, answered privately by Christ, upholds explaining Scripture to younger workers who wish to understand what they hear.
The disciples' question asks for the meaning of the parable of the sower, taught to the crowd from a boat by the Sea of Galilee after the call to hear and the promise of a hundredfold harvest, which Christ then explains to them privately. The seed is the word of God, the truth about the Saviour that gives eternal life when cherished and kept with deep understanding rather than heard superficially. It names four kinds of hearers: the wayside from whom the devil takes the word, the rock who fall away in temptation, the thorns choked by cares and riches and pleasures, and the good ground who keep the word in an honest heart and bring forth fruit with patience. The sower and the seed are the same in every case, so the outcome rests with the hearer, who by choice determines what he becomes and must have the heart broken up by repentance, cleared of evil growths, and cultivated in cooperation with God. Those who scatter present truth will meet the same responses, and when sermonizing and argument fail, earnest personal sympathy and self-denying labor can soften hard hearts while God quickens long-dormant seed to life and fruit.
Context and Interpretation
The question belongs to the telling of the parable of the sower to a crowd gathered by the Sea of Galilee, taught from a boat after the people pressed around Jesus. The teaching was given through familiar scenes from nature, so that seeing them later would remind the listeners of the instruction. The disciples asked what the parable might be after the call, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear, and the promise of good ground bringing forth fruit an hundredfold. Needing fuller understanding, they received Christ's explanation privately.
The parable illustrates the things of the kingdom of heaven and the work of the great Husbandman for His people. As a sower in the field Christ came to scatter the heavenly grain of truth, and His parable-teaching itself was the seed sowing the most precious truths of His grace. Though its simplicity has kept it from being valued as it should be, the natural seed cast into the soil is meant to lead minds to the gospel seed whose sowing brings man back to loyalty to God. He who gave the parable is the Sovereign of heaven, and the same laws that govern earthly seed-sowing govern the sowing of the seeds of truth.
The seed is the word of God, the truth about the Saviour that can lead to eternal life if cherished and kept. It must be sought with deep, faithful understanding rather than heard superficially, lest it be taken away or fail to benefit the hearer when not received deeply and with faith. The explanation names four classes of hearers: the wayside from whom the devil takes the word lest they believe and be saved, the rock who receive with joy but fall away in temptation, the thorns who are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection, and the good ground who in an honest and good heart keep the word and bring forth fruit with patience. In this setting of hearing and receiving God's word, the parable illustrates the spread of the gospel and the different ways people respond, with some quickly losing the impression of the teaching while others carry its principles into a holier life.
Hearts and Responsibility
The question about what the parable might be opens the meaning that the sower illustrates the different tendencies of human hearts and the kinds of people taught, and this explains why the ministry yielded limited immediate results. Some quickly lose the impression of the teaching while others carry its principles into a holier life, showing the spread of the gospel and the different ways people respond. People were left free to accept or reject Him rather than forced into belief or obedience. Overcoming sin required them to join their own efforts with His divine power.
In every case the sower and the seed are the same, while the different results of the sowing depend upon the condition of the soil. If the word of God fails to accomplish its work in the heart and life the reason is therefore found in the hearer himself. The result is not beyond control, for although no one can change himself the power of choice remains and each person determines what he will become, so the wayside, stony-ground, and thorny-ground hearers need not remain such. The Spirit of God is ever seeking to break the spell of worldly infatuation and awaken desire for imperishable treasure. Men become inattentive or neglectful of God's word only by resisting the Spirit, and are themselves responsible for the hardness that prevents the good seed from rooting and for the evil growths that check its development.
Therefore the garden of the heart must be cultivated and can be prepared, with the soil broken up by deep repentance for sin and poisonous satanic plants uprooted. Thorn-overgrown soil is reclaimed only by diligent labor, for the evil tendencies of the natural heart can be overcome only by earnest effort in the name and strength of Jesus in cooperation with the work God desires to do. Learning to follow Christ in self-denial and service helps prevent worldly concerns or shallow roots from choking the word. The burial and growth of the seed also teach Christ's death and the resurrection.
Sowing Seed Today
The parable holds a lesson to be closely studied because those who preach present truth and scatter the good seed will meet with the same results. The inquiry of the disciples about its meaning opens the explanation of the gospel sower and the four kinds of hearers.
Wayside hearers are moved by pointed truth yet have not cultivated the moral powers, having followed inclination rather than duty, and by evil habits have hardened their hearts like the hard-beaten road and like an unfenced field. They may profess to believe but have no just sense of its sacredness, do not separate from lovers of pleasure and corrupt society, place themselves where they are constantly tempted, invite the enemy's temptations, and lose the regard they once seemed to have when the seed was dropped into their hearts. Stony-ground hearers readily receive anything new and exciting with joy and with ardor and zeal talk of faith and hope and even reprove those of long experience, but are controlled by feeling and have no depth and stability of character, with principle not reaching deep into the springs of action. The seed has not rooted below the surface and the heart has not been renewed by the transforming influence of the Spirit, so when tested by the heat of trial and temptation and when the pruning-knife is applied that they may bring forth fruit unto perfection their zeal dies. When working men and women and sacrifices are called for they are elsewhere, and when plain pointed close truth bears upon the heart and reveals deformity of character they close their eyes though conscience tells them the messengers speak truth, are offended because of the word, and yield the truth rather than submit to be sanctified through it, flattering themselves they may get to heaven by an easier way.
Another class hear and are convinced and accept the truth without seeing the sinfulness of their hearts, while love of the world holds a large place in their affections. In deal they love the best of the bargain and by prevarication and deception and fraud gain means that proves a thorn overbalancing good purposes, and the good seed is choked because they are anxious and full of care fearing loss, make temporal matters primary, do not nourish the seed nor attend meetings where hearts are strengthened, and excuse toil for gain as duty to help the cause while deceitfulness of riches turns the heart from loved truth, until overgrown with unnecessary worldly cares and needless anxiety and love for earthly pleasures and worldly honors which riches give. Hearts may be as hard as the beaten highway and stony, so that presenting the Saviour can appear useless, for logic fails to move and argument is powerless to convince such hearts. Love of Christ revealed in personal, Christlike sympathy coming close to men individually in heart-to-heart ministry to awaken interest in eternal life can soften the stony heart so the seed of truth can take root, so ministry requires more than sermonizing and requires earnest personal labor for souls.
The question shows the divine Teacher sowing the seeds of truth with care, anxiety, self-denial, and a life of continued sacrifice for others' good, and the seed of truth must be sown in that same way with the mind of Christ so as not to become weary in well-doing, trusting God to quicken it to life. The precious seed may lie dormant for some time, then the grace of God convicts the heart and the sown seed is awakened to life and springs up and bears fruit to the glory of God, making unselfish, earnest, persevering missionaries co-workers with Christ and the heavenly angels in the salvation of their fellow men. Truth is good seed sown upon the soil of the heart, and sown upon good soil it bears fruit unto eternal life, so since in early life the mind is impressible good soil the good seed must be sown then. Parental errors and mistakes are reproduced in children, and a parent's wrong example in absorbing reading injures the child's mental powers and leaves no taste nor aptitude for study.
The soil must be carefully prepared to receive the Sower's good seed, and parents are to do this preparing work for little children. They are to keep them at home under their own teaching until eight or ten years old rather than sending them away to school too early or trusting the molding of the infant mind to other hands. They are to make the open air amid flowers and birds the schoolroom and the treasures of nature the textbook and to open the great book of nature before them as fast as their minds can comprehend so the lessons will not soon be forgotten, and to devote the time and labor now wasted on following worldly fashions to cultivating their minds and forming correct habits. The disciples' request for fuller understanding, answered privately by Christ, upholds explaining Scripture to younger workers who wish to understand what they hear.