Hear Then the Parable: A Sower Went Out to Sow; Mark 4: 1-9; Matthew 13: 1-9; Luke 8: 4-8; SAPC, June 22, 2025
The Parable of the Sower
Luke 8:4-15
4 When a large crowd was gathering, as people were coming to him from town after town, he said in a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed some fell on a path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on rock, and as it grew up it withered for lack of moisture. 7 Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8 Some fell into good soil, and when it grew it produced a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!”
9 Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets[a] of the kingdom of God, but to others I speak[b] in parables, so that
‘looking they may not perceive
and hearing they may not understand.’
11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. 14 As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with endurance.
Introduction: This morning, we begin our summer series on parables. Each week, we will read and reflect on at least one parable that Jesus told.
Teaching it in Pastors’ class this summer, so you might want to sit by someone from the pastors’ class and get some good information!
We begin by noting that a parable is a story Jesus told to teach people.
a. Parable literally means “a throwing alongside.” (George Buttrick)
Tom Long: two things are laid side-by-sde – on one side is something literary and on the other side is something theological. a parable is a literary performance in wihc a story, example, or image from our world of experience or imagination is compared to God’s kingdom.
b. The parables Jesus tells are grounded in the reality of the world.
Parables set in the context of real-life actions of people, often agricultural and relational (client-owner or master-slave).
c. You may notice that when we name the parables in the sermon titles, we are not using traditional names.
the names of the parables were not given to them by Jesus, but were imposed later.
Those names dictate, or at least give direction to how we interpret the parables. For example, the title “the prodigal son” means we begin our interpretation already focused on the younger son and we already have pre-concieved notions about him.
so “the prodigal son” becomes “a man had two sons.” Thus, we might decide the parable is about the man, or the older son, or the younger son.
d. Parables are great because they give us lots of different places to find ourselves in the story: this morning, we might image we are the sower
or maybe the seed
or perhaps your hear about the soil and reflect in what type of soil
it did not make the cut for the sermon theme, but at one point this week, I was reflecting on who prepares the fertile soil!
Move 1: Let’s look at the parable this morning - a man went out to sow
a. One of the few parables found in all three synoptic gospels.
1. In the three-year lectionary cycle of biblical readings for worship, the version of this parable from Matthew is the only one found. So, we read Mark and Luke today!
2. Mark is the earliest and is considered a source for both Matthew and Luke.
b. I want to focus on how the parable is told in the Gospel of Mark, so here are a few Attributes of parables in Mark.
1. In Mark, parables come early and are grouped together.
2. Fewer parables than the other gospels. Although the Gospel of Mark is much shorter than the other gospels, so maybe that is to be expected.
3. In mark, Jesus is a man of action:
no birth story, the gospel just begins with Jesus doing ministry;
lots of verb forms in Mark.
c. This is the parables of the parables when the disciples ask Jesus why he speaks in parables! Jesus says, If you don’t grasp this one, it spells trouble for grasping any of the others. 4:13
Move 2: Notice the way in which Jesus tells this parable in Mark.
a. Jesus has been casting out demons, and now he sits on a boat near the beach so he can teach all those who gathered to hear his words.
1. Symbolically, Jesus sits between the land and the sea.
2. In his commentary on parables, Tom Long reminds us that the Seaside is the border where the land meets the sea – where ordinary life meets the demonic.
3. The Sea is chaos, threat, danger
remember the waters of chaos that God calmed when he brought created the world and brought order to it.
Remember the different stories of Jesus and the storms on the sea.
One of the things we did on our trip to Israel several years ago, we take a boat out on the Sea of Galilee.
We did not have storm, but the tour guide told us how quickly storms arise on the Sea of Galilee because of its placement.
4. Land is order, promise, security.
5. Jesus stands in the breach as he tells this parable.
b. We also have Jesus speaking words to those gathered about a sower who throws seeds across the fields.
1. The sower trows seeds;
Jesus speaks words.
the harvest will grow out of how the fields receive the seeds,
how the people will receive Jesus’ words.
2. Jesus is modeling the work of the sower as he throws his ideas about God,
Move 3: As I noted earlier, there are lots of places in the story where you can find yoruself,
where you can learn about what God is doing.
With that in mind, I invite you to look at the yield of the sower.
a. Jesus sows the word, and so often it seems like the word is failing.
1. Jesus has run into all the places he describes where the seed gets sown.
In fact, I bet most of us can imagine how we have been that type of soil.
2. some of the seed is sown on the path - well, worn path.
Hard ground.
Not receptive to receiving the seed.
Like the Pharisees and religious leaders who are not looking for Jesus to give them new insights. They will trample on his message as they busily clear the path to righteousness through their rules and regulations.
Perhaps you know what it is like to be unreceptive to what Jesus has to offer because you have your path already figured out.
4. Some of the seed falls on rocky ground
people hear the word, or discover the call to be disciples of Christ and are ready to go.
But then trouble comes along.
For the disciples, who should have had strong roots, they discover how shallow their roots are when Jesus is arrested,
and tried before the authorities,
and then crucified
maybe you now what it is like to feel that surge of commitment to following Christ that too quickly wanes.
5. Some seed falls on a thorny path that chokes out the growing seed.
we can point to the rich young ruler who meets Jesus;
he is prepared to follow Jesus.
but he cannot give up the ways of the world he loves to give himself over to Jesus.
b. Do you notice that 3 of the 4 options in the parable for where the seed is sown end up in failure.
1. That gets you in the Hall of Fame of Faitlue.
2. Tom Long describes this parable as a story of loss,
waste,
adversity,
and hopelessness.
3. We know the world in which the sower lives and sows the seed.
We are not surprised that the seed cannot get sown,
or does not grow deep roots,
or gets choked out by other things.
c. But, surprise - the sower still finds fertile ground - a hundredfold harvest.
1. Some scholars go down the road of saying this was a normal harvest;
others counter by saying that it was a miraculous harvest in first-century Palestine.
2. Others say listen to how Jesus is telling the story – there is a narrative crescendo
I find that compelling, particularly as Mark tells the story with jesus describing the harvest as “thirty, sixty, and hundredfold”
I may not know the average yield of a crop in the Galilean countryside at the time of Jesus, but I know when someone is exaggerating to make a point!
3. Despite all the challenges,
all the rejection,
all the reasons for the crop to not grow,
the seeds to now sow
God brings forth a bounteous crop.
4. Tom Long tells the story 1950’s mental hospital.
They had a back ward where they kept those who were considered hopelessly untreatable. They were fed and kept safe, but basically unresponsive and abandoned.
A group of church women asked if they could visit patients. The administrator does not want to deal with the women, so he sends them to the back room. The women bring brownies, flowers, blankets, clothing, and good cheer.
over time, the unresponsive chanced an occasional smile, some of the mute begin to tell stories, and friendships developed.
The staff was astonished. look at the harvest!
Was there a cure? No, but there was healing and hope?
the harvest grew forth from unexpected places.
5. this is the story Jesus tells
This is the story Jesus lives.
The sower will keep sowing seed and miraculously, the crop with be bountiful.
Sort of like death on a cross giving ways to resurrection and new life.
Conclusion: hear then the parable!
Our hope is in the God who will bring forth an abundant harvest!
Mark 4: 1-9 4 Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on a path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!” 10 When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret[a] of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything comes in parables, 12 in order that
‘they may indeed look but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’ ”
13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones on 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: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.[b] 18 And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the age and the lure of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. 20 And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
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