Parable of the Sower

[Mayflower]

Parable of the Sower

When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant. And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see , and hearing they may not understand .


“Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.

*Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

*Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.

* The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

* But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.

Luke 8:4‭-‬15 NASB1995

Which ground is your heart? Is the seed (the Word of God) growing in your heart? Are you allowing God to transform every area of your life? What stands out to you in this passage?

 

[Jay Ross]

Hello,

Have you considered the similarity of the Parable of the Sower with the Prophecy given in Ezekiel 47:1-12 concerning the timeline of the nations of the earth and their coming to Christ?

The timeline in the Parable of the Sower is given in the journey of the sower towards the field where there will be a great harvest.

Yes we can draw the conclusions that you have given, but God Promised Israel that when they will be gathered to Him where they are living at that time, in our near future, that He would plant them in the fertile field/soil of Israel, and then teach them on/about the Mountain of Israel, i.e. Christ, which will become the highest mountain/religion, in all of the earth.

Shalom

 

[Mayflower]

Hello,

Have you considered the similarity of the Parable of the Sower with the Prophecy given in Ezekiel 47:1-12 concerning the timeline of the nations of the earth and their coming to Christ?

The timeline in the Parable of the Sower is given in the journey of the sower towards the field where there will be a great harvest.

Yes we can draw the conclusions that you have given, but God Promised Israel that when they will be gathered to Him where they are living at that time, in our near future, that He would plant them in the fertile field/soil of Israel, and then teach them on/about the Mountain of Israel, i.e. Christ, which will become the highest mountain/religion, in all of the earth.

Shalom

I found an interesting commentary about ezekiel 47. Here is a part I read while skimming:

i. Fundamentally, this shows us the miraculous nature of a real river in a real Messianic kingdom to come. Yet by spiritual analogy there is a powerful picture of increasing progress and depth in our spiritual life. It illustrates progression from ankles, to knees, to waist, to depths where one can no longer touch the ground and must swim. God’s people read this and feel a call to go deeper. They shouldn’t stop until they are swimming, carried along by God’s currents and comfortable in that place.

ii. “We need the ankle-depths of walking to be exchanged for the knee-depths of praying; and these for the loin-depths of perfect purity; and these for the length, depth, breadth, and height of the love of Christ.” (Meyer)

iii. Spurgeon saw a spiritual analogy between the life of faith and swimming. We start out “floating in faith,” somewhat passively, just keeping our head up out of the water. We then progress to swimming by faith. “How blessedly our friend Mr. Mueller of Bristol swims! What a master swimmer he is! He has had his feet off the bottom many years and as he swims he draws along behind him some 2,000 orphan children, whom, by God’s grace, he is saving from the floods of sin and bringing, we trust, safe to shore.” (Spurgeon)

Ezekiel Chapter 47

So yeh, I think "life of faith," "rivers of life" definitely go along with the Parable of the Sower. I personally feel a need to press deeper in my spiritual walk with God. The more I do this, the less satan and the world can steal the Word of God from my heart. I have my eyes on Jesus way too much and I go for little swims. :)

 

[JohnDB]

Parable of the Sower

When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant. And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see , and hearing they may not understand .


“Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.

*Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

*Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.

* The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

* But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.

Luke 8:4‭-‬15 NASB1995

Which ground is your heart? Is the seed (the Word of God) growing in your heart? Are you allowing God to transform every area of your life? What stands out to you in this passage?

So...
Isn't this more about a parable surrounding the soils than the Sower?

And the thorns and weeds are the "cares of this life"... Exactly what does that person look like to the rest of us?

 

[Mayflower]

So...
Isn't this more about a parable surrounding the soils than the Sower?

And the thorns and weeds are the "cares of this life"... Exactly what does that person look like to the rest of us?

I think I agree with you about the soils. Except the sower sows the Word of God, the seed. So ultimately without Him, there would be no parable

But to me, I would say the one among thorns looks like a non Christian, because they are caught up in the things of the world.

Though I used to think of anxiety a long time and used to think I was on thorny ground with all the fear in my life. I'm not sure if that is what the actual Word here is talking about. I think it is about literally caring about the things not of God.