Parable of the Sower
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- For the novel by Octavia Butler, see Parable of the Sower (novel).
The Parable of the Sower is a parable attributed to Jesus, and found in all of the Synoptic Gospels (at Mark 4:1-20, Matthew 13:1-23, and Luke 8:1-15) as well as in the Gospel of Thomas (Thomas 9). In the parable, a sower dropped seed on the path, on rocky ground, and among thorns, and the seed was lost; but when seed fell on good earth, it grew, yielding thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.
The parable has sometimes been taken to mean that there are (at least) three levels of divine reward for the saved depending on one's degree of holiness [1]
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[edit] Parable Text from the Gospel of Matthew (NIV)
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear."
The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand."
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah (1):
"You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But 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."
[edit] Comparisons Between Gospel of Thomas and Synoptic Gospels
Thomas, as usual, provides no narrative context whatsoever, nor any explanation, but the synoptics frame this parable as one of a group that were told by Jesus while he was standing on a boat in the middle of a lake. The parable tells of seeds that were erratically scattered, some falling on the road and consequently eaten by birds, some falling on rock and consequently unable to take root, and some falling on thorns which choked the seed and the worms ate them. It was, according to the parable, only the seeds that fell on good soil and were able to germinate, producing a crop thirty, sixty, or even a hundredfold, of what had been sown.
Though Thomas doesn't explain the parable at all, the synoptics state that the disciples failed to understand, and questioned Jesus why he was teaching by parables, but the synoptics state that Jesus waited until much later, until the crowds had left, before explaining the parables, stating to his disciples:
- the secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside, everything is said in parables so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding
The synoptics go on to state that Jesus quoted the Book of Isaiah, stating that by hearing you shall hear but not understand, by seeing you shall see and not perceive, and that the people were hard of hearing, with closed eyes Isaiah 6:9-10. After this, the synoptics provide an explanation of the parable:
- The sower sows the word
- The seeds falling on the road represent those who hear the word but dismiss it straight away - the synoptics state that the wicked one (Matthew's wording)/Satan (Mark's wording) is what takes the word away
- The seeds falling on the rocks represent those who hear the word, but only accept it shallowly - the synoptics state that these sorts of people reject the word as soon as it causes them affliction or persecution
- The seeds falling on thorns represent those who hear the word, and take it to heart, but allow wordly concerns, such as money, to choke it.
- The seeds falling on good soil represents those who hear the word, and truly understand it, causing it to bear fruit.
[edit] Religious perspectives
[edit] Interpretations among Latter Day Saints
According to the various interpretations by members and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or "LDS Church"), the word generally refers to the whole of the Canonical Gospels, and that not everyone accepts the gospel with the same degree of commitment:
- The parable taught clearly where the responsibility lay with regard to the kingdom of God and the reception of the gospel. It was not with the sower and it was not in the seed - it was in the 'soil,' the heart of man. - E. Keith Howick, The Parables of Jesus The Messiah (pg. 30)
Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the LDS Church, suggested that the Parable of the Sower demonstrated the effects that are produced by the preaching of the word, and he believed that the parable was a direct allusion to the commencement/setting-up of the Kingdom in that age[2].
In the 19th century, President Heber C. Kimball spoke about a condition that illustrates the need for a deeply rooted, living faith capable of enduring challenges; a statement that is regarded by many Latter-day Saints as an increasingly important message for the LDS Church in modern times. Kimball stated, The time will come when no man nor woman will be able to endure on borrowed light. Each will have to be guided by the light within himself. If you do not have it, how can you stand. [3]
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin in the October 2004 General Conference interpreted the parable of the sower as teaching the doctrine of patience—enduring to the end—and reinterpreted the meaning of each of the fates of the seeds. Wirthlin considered that each of the three negative fates referred to one of three obstacles to endurance:
- the cares of the world, being pride. Wirthlin argued that one should never allow intellect to take priority or precedence over one's spirit. He states that "our intellect can feed our spirit and our spirit can feed our intellect...[but] we must be careful not to set aside our faith in the process, because faith actually enhances our ability to learn."
- the deceitfulness of riches, being the fixation on wealth. Wirthlin argued that wealth was a means to an end, but materialism should not be allowed to take precedence over spiritual things.
- the lusts of other [things], being pornography. Wirthlin argued that, like quicksand, pornography can easily trap people, and it is better to seek never step into it than to need to seek help once one has fallen. [4]
[edit] Jesus Seminar analysis
The Jesus Seminar rated the parable as probably authentic ("pink"). Like authentic sayings of Jesus, it uses simple imagery and an oral (rather than written) style. The seminar, however, rejected the allegorical interpretation in Mark as an elaboration originating not with Jesus.
[edit] References
James E. Talmage, Jesus The Christ, pg. 263-266 Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, Vol. I:289
[edit] Notes
- ^ For example, Irenaeus writes, 'there is this distinction between the habitation of those who produce an hundred-fold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, and that of those who produce thirty-fold: for the first will be taken up into the heavens, the second will dwell in paradise, the last will inhabit the city; and that was on this account the Lord declared, "In My Father's house are many mansions." Book V:36:1 (against heresies)
- ^ Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 97.
- ^ Quoted by Harold B. Lee in Conference Report, October 1965, pg. 128; see also Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, pg. 446, 449-50.
- ^ See Joseph B. Wirthlin, Press On Ensign, November 2004, 101.
