by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
We now explore another passage in the Gospel according to Matthew that is also the third of the five (5) major discourses of this Gospel. This 3rd discourse reveals more about the Kingdom of God and discipleship via the technique of using Hebraic parables. A parable (Greek παραβολή, “parabole”) or a similitude is a literary form of comparing or illustrating something that is well known to the listeners, on the surface, with something else that has another meaning or deeper significance. Our Lord Jesus used parables to teach a moral or spiritual lesson.
Our text deals with the parable about the Sower and the Seed that fell on 4 different types of Soils. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 starts off a clutch of 7 parables in this chapter alone. The other parables in this chapter are about the ff.: the Weeds, the Mustard Seed, the Yeast/Leaven, the Hidden Treasure, the Pearl of great value, and the Net. In the synoptic gospels, Luke’s Gospel has the most number of parables; next is Matthew’s Gospel; with Mark’s Gospel having only a handful. John’s Gospel does not use parables; the Gospel writer uses other literary forms.
This well-known parable about the Sower is paralleled in Mark 4:1-9, 13-20 and Luke 8:4-8, 11-15. All the 3 synoptic gospels include the explanation of the parable itself and the reason or purpose why our Lord Jesus used parables/similitudes in the first place. Matthew says that the Lord’s use of parables point to another fulfillment of Old Testament (OT) prophecy (Isaiah 6:9-10). Likewise, Mark and Luke also cite or allude to these Isaiah verses in their parallel passages. [Note that John 12:39-40 also quoted Isaiah 6:10 in the similar context of continuing Jewish unbelief. The Apostle Paul likewise quoted Isaiah 6:9-10 in Acts 28:26-27 and alluded to it in Romans 11:8 in the similar situation of unbelief. Paul even attributed the inspiration for Isaiah 6:9-10 to the Holy Spirit and declared that because of Jewish rejection of Messiah Jesus, salvation has now been made widely available to the Gentiles.]
For other parables, the Lord does not explain the clear meaning but in this parable, the message is made explicit, but only to his disciples. This is part of the mentioned fulfillment of Isaiah 6:9-10. Apparently, for anyone who becomes a true believer and committed disciple, the meaning is made succinctly clear. In context, the Lord had already made 2 great discourses about the Kingdom he was inaugurating (Matthew 5-7 Sermon on the Mount); and the following this up with the Sending out of the Twelve (Matthew 8). Slowly but surely, his identity as Israel’s long-awaited Messiah and Kingship in the Davidic line plus the extraordinary signs, miracles and wonders that accompanied his and his disciples’ preaching and teaching, was being revealed. Matthew’s Gospel also emphasized his fulfillment of Old Testament (OT) prophecies, including Isaiah’s 4 Servant Songs about the Messiah that we had already taken up earlier. Hence, the Lord expected his disciples would understand the true meaning of his parables. And he took pains to fully enlighten them further to comprehend the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Opposition to the Lord’s message was also growing amongst the Ἰουδαῖοι (antagonistic Jewish authorities; from the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, the ruling elite, etc.) and their supporters. In the next immediately following chapters, this opposition and rejection would progressively grow and lead to the Suffering of the Messiah. From this surrounding context, we are now better prepared to look into the meaning of the Parable of the Sower, the Seed and the 4 Soils.
As the parable narrates, some of the sower’s seed fell along the path; some seed fell on rocky places; some seed among thorns; and finally, some on good soil. The seed that fell on good soil produced a crop, a hundred (100), sixty (60) or thirty (30) times what was sown (see Matthew 13:1-9 and parallels). The Lord explained why the outcomes came to be. The seed was the Word and it was the same, but the 4 soils were different. The different soils stood for the different situations people who hear the Word of God are and how they might respond to the Good News. This much is crystal clear.
If we assume that the sower had sown nearly the same number of seed on each soil, we can say that roughly 1/4 or only 25% of the hearers responded to the Gospel persistently and with perseverance. This means only a remnant will be saved, if we were to view the parable as addressing the question of personal salvation. However, I believe that it is also about the matter of discipleship and not just being a believer. More about this later…
If we assume that the number of seeds allotted to each soil increased because of the knowledge of the sower about the soils, we can still conclude that only a remnant, albeit larger in number, will be saved. On the matter of discipleship, a bit more people will be true disciples.
If we assume, on the other hand, that the sower had sown a decreasing number of seeds for each respective soil, then the size of the remnant saved would be even smaller. The same logic holds for the ones who can be more active and productive disciples. Still it is a remnant only.
But these observations must now account for the part of the parable saying that the seed that fell on good soil produced a crop, 100, 60 or 30 times what was sown (Matthew 13:8; Mark 4:8; and Luke 8:8). As explained by our Lord, these are the good people who retain the Word, persevere through trials and produce a crop so much more than what was planted (Matthew 13:23; Mark 4:20; Luke 8:15).
By any reckoning, even a remnant really matters in the Kingdom of God. The combination of the Seed sown (i.e., the Good News) and the Good Soil (i.e., the remnant) outputs miraculous productivity because it is from God.
One only has to hear or read about one or a very few number of missionaries able to make disciples of thousands of people in their mission fields. Everyone knows about pastors, teachers, prophets and other ministry workers who are making a difference in our fallen world – winning souls, one person at a time. Truly, these disciples with the Holy Spirit’s empowerment, enabling and gifts of evangelism are making many more disciples! From the Twelve, the disciples multiplied to 120 then to thousands at Pentecost, and then millions, then billions of people in the entire world. And many more Jews are now believers in our Lord Jesus as their Messiah, indeed. Thanks be to God!
We will go on to a new topic from Matthew’s Gospel next week.
God bless us all.