It was springtime by the Sea of Galilee. Great numbers came enthusiastically to hear our Lord preach, v2, but would they remain faithful? The seed was being faithfully sown, but what would the harvest bring? We can picture Jesus sitting in the prow of a boat, pointing his hearers to the fields where the green corn shoots a promising a rich harvest. But how much of the seed scattered by the sower would be fruitful?

Our Lord, knowing that many who thronged to him would, sooner or later, neglect, or misunderstand, or reject his message, gives a solemn word of warning in the form of a parable. Cf. Lk 8:18.

We should see the sower as Jesus himself, in the first instance.  As Garland says:

‘Mark has framed his mission as one who goes out to sow the word: “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come [out]” (Mk 1:38). “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mk 2:17).’

This idea of effective hearing is central to the meaning of the parable.  Each type of soil receives (‘hears’) the word, but reacts to it differently.  See also Mk 4:23f.

1. The pathway hearer – the unresponsive heart

The seed just remained on the surface and was gobbled up by the birds.

This is a picture of the unresponsive heart, in which the word of God takes no hold. The heart has been trampled over by the traffic of many things, and the evil one has no difficulty in snatching the word away before it has any effect on the heart. The hearer sees no importance in the great issues of eternity. He sees neither his own sinfulness and danger, nor the suitableness of God’s grace offered in Christ.

Hearts may be sin-hardened – especially hardening are those self-sins which freeze the heart over with an impenetrable layer of ice: self-interest, self-advancement, self-esteem. Habitual sin tramps over the heart until it becomes as hard as pavement. Truth has no more chance of taking root there than a seed of corn has of sprouting in the middle of a busy road. Think of Judas: how tenderly the Lord spoke to him on the night of his betrayal; but covetousness and dishonesty had crusted his heart over, and he went out, coldly and callously.

Hearts may also be gospel-hardened – it is possible to sit under the sound of the gospel week after week, becoming more and more impervious to its overtures. In the words of Billy Graham: they have just enough religion to inoculate them against the real thing. For this reason God sounds a warning note in Scripture: ‘today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.’ The preacher can do much to prevent this happening, but seeking fresh ways of presenting age-old truths. But hearers too can take steps to neutralise this tendency, by thoughtful prayer and preparation before attending the means of grace, by engaging our attention during, and by meditation afterwards.

To be specific, what are the ‘birds’ which can gobble up the seed before it takes root in the heart? (a) Wandering thoughts; (b) Idle chatter; (c) Weariness.

William Gurnall writes:

‘It is not enough to sit under the means; woeful experience teacheth us that there are some no sun will tan; they keep their own complexion under the most shining and burning light of the Gospel.’

2. The stony ground hearer – the impulsive heart

The seed falls on soil which is just an inch or so thick and underneath is a shelf of rock. The seed appears to flourish and to show exceptional growth, but because it cannot put down roots it is scorched and finally killed by the heat of the sun. Note: that energy which was meant to strengthen and ripen the seed, scorched and destroyed it.

Given the aorist tense in Mk 4:16, the implication here (and in vv17-19) that the word is quickly and superficially heard ‘in one ear and out of the other’, as Edwards puts it.

This describes those who readily receive the Christian message, and show great enthusiasm at first, but when trouble or temptation arise, they forsake their Christian profession and return to their former lives. They are the superficial and the impulsive hearers of the gospel. They go so far: they hear the gospel; they receive it readily. While some others are still pondering, and wondering, and questioning, these have already made their decision. But there is no root, no staying power: they are attracted by the peace, the joy, and the security which Christ offers; but they do not reckon that faith in Christ also involves self-denial and possibly persecution. So it is a case of ‘easy come, easy go’. Such people fail to count the cost, Lk 14:27-33, and so became too easily discouraged. Examples: 8:19f; 19:16-22; also Judas, 26:14-16; and Demas, 2 Tim 4:10. Christ had ‘fair-weather’ friends who shouted ‘Hosanna!’ and then just few days later, ‘Crucify!’ Think too of the relatively small proportion of those who ‘make a commitment’ at evangelistic rallies, who remain faithful.

In these people, the very hardships which are designed by God to promote Christian growth and fruitfulness, prove to be the undoing of what had appeared to be real signs of life. That which causes constancy in some, causes apostasy in others. See 1 Jn 2:19. The cross of Christ, which is the fragrance of life to some, is the smell of death to others, 2 Cor 2:16.

These hardships are identified as ‘affliction’ and ‘persecution’. Remember: true discipleship – the way of the cross – involves sacrifice and suffering. Fair winds of opportunity are quickly followed by storms of affliction, and we must be able to keep afloat in both.

“In a time of testing [they] fall away” – Blomberg (Preaching the Parables) speaks from the North American perspective, but are applicable to many in the West:

‘We know very little of intense trouble and persecution because of the word in contemporary America, and what little we do know about, we often avoid by silence. Yet as we speak this morning, Christians are being martyred in Sudan, Iran, China, and various other countries around the world.  Children are being sold into slavery. Christians are meeting secretly for fear of imprisonment or execution. In certain Latin American countries those who speak out against totalitarian regimes simply disappear, presumably imprisoned and/or assassinated. In the twentieth century there were more martyrs for the Christian faith worldwide than in all nineteen previous centuries of church history combined. And as America becomes increasingly post-Christian, we will see more overt persecution. Those friends of mine who are active in sharing their faith and trying to take a stand for ethical behavior in secular companies—in the cutthroat, often unethical workplaces of multinational corporations—can attest to the attempts to silence them or the outright discrimination that they have often experienced. There is a time and a place to witness simply by good behavior and a Christian work ethic, and we don’t always do that well either, but there also is a time and a place to take a stand unequivocally for what we believe to be right and true according to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Are we prepared to do that, and if not, what does it say about the genuineness of our Christian profession?’

Thomas Boston warns:

‘All pangs are not the pangs of the new birth. The tree may blossom fairly in spring on which no fruit is to be found in harvest.’

‘They believe for a while (Lk).  Calvin writes:

‘Though only those predestined to salvation receive the light of faith and truly feel the power of the gospel, yet experience shows that the reprobate are sometimes affected by almost the same feeling as the elect, so that even in their own judgement they do not in any way differ from the elect. (cf Acts 13:48) Therefore it is not at all absurd that the apostle should attribute to them a taste of the heavenly gifts (Heb 6:4-6) – and Christ, faith for a time; (Lk 8:13) not because they firmly grasp the force of spiritual grace and the sure light of faith, but because the Lord, to render them more convicted and inexcusable, steals into their minds to the extent that his goodness may be tasted without the Spirit of adoption.’ (Institutes, I, 555)

We are too apt to misjudge others: we prefer the enthusiastic convert to the calm and cautious disciple, cf. Mt 20:16.

We should beware of announcing to soon the results of evangelistic activity.  C.H. Spurgeon urges:

‘It is a serious injury to a person to receive him into the number of the faithful unless there is good reason to believe that he is really regenerate…What mean these despatches from the battle field? “Last night fourteen souls were under conviction, fifteen were justified, and eight received full sanctification.” I am weary of this public bragging, this counting of unhatched chickens, this exhibition of doubtful spoils. Lay aside such numberings of the people, such idle pretence of certifying in half a minute that which will need the testing of a lifetime. Hope for the best, but in your highest excitements be reasonable.’ (The Soul-Winner, 2)

People without principles are like ships without ballast: they travel faster at first than those laden with cargo, but soon capsize when the weather turns stormy.

3. The thorny ground hearer – the pre-occupied heart

Here the seed falls on ground which has been imperfectly weeded: the roots of thorn bushes have still been left in the ground. The thorns grow up with the seed, depriving it of nourishment and preventing it from reaching fruitful maturity.

Here is a partial, incomplete, or half-hearted response to the gospel. The hearer goes just so far in Christian things, but stops short of real fruitfulness. He does not cast off his profession, but the promise of faith is killed off by preoccupation with other things.

The cares could be those of a Martha, whose world does not extend beyond her home; the riches those of a young man, too in love with his money to give it up for Jesus; the ambition that of a Pharisee, more eager for the approval of others than for the approval of the Lord; the pleasures those of any one of us in this hedonistic age: and how can true Christian faith be combined with the fashion frivolity that characterises so much of this world?

The desires for other things – On the effect of ‘the desire for other things’ (Mk; ‘the pleasures of this life,’ Lk), RWP notes: ‘The world of sense drowning the world of spirit’.

Note that these things are like ‘thorns’: they came in with the fall, and are a result of the curse. ‘They are entangling, vexing, scratching’ (Henry); they distract and divert us, they sap our energy. They do not have eternity in them, and the land that produces them will be burned, Heb 6:8; cf 1 Cor 3:11-15.

‘Whatever things pertaining to this life go so near to a man’s heart as to take up the room, time, travel and affections which heavenly things should have, they are but thorns which choke the seed of God’s word.’ (Dickson)

‘Open sin is not the only thing that ruins souls. In the midst of our families, and in the pursuit of our lawful callings, we have need to be on our guard’ (J.C. Ryle).

How many of us need to be delivered from ‘gnawing anxieties and delusary fantasies’? See Pr 30:7-9; Isa 26:3; Mt 6:19-34; 19:23-24; Lk 12:6-6,13-34; 1 Tim 6:6-10; Heb 13:5-6.

4. The good ground hearer – the responsive heart

The aorist tense is now replaced by the present tense, signifying careful and continuous hearing (Edwards).  They hear, receive and bear fruit.

The abundant yield is all the more striking, given the fruitlessness of the three other kinds of soil.

The ‘climactic focus…remains on the astonishing impact of those who are faithful. Jesus provides his followers with an important reminder of God’s continued blessings on their work, even as large numbers of people become increasingly hostile to the gospel.’ (Blomberg, on Matthew)

‘Despite resistance and rejection, there is an irrepressible empowerment behind the work of Jesus, as momentous as the generative agency of the seed that “grows, produces, and multiplies.” Let not hearers suppose the opposition of scribes, Pharisees, crowds, and even his own associates, as adversarial as the hardpan, rocks, and thorns of Galilee, will be the last word. Despite discouraging odds, the harvest in Jesus’ ministry will be beyond compare.’ (Edwards)

Edwards notes: ‘The parable of the sower, like the parables of sowing to follow (Mt 4:26–29, 30–32), reports astounding results in spite of inauspicious beginnings.’

Such was Cornelius, Acts 10:23, and the Bereans, Acts 17:11.

According to Calvin, ‘these three gradations are tortured by Jerome in an absurd manner, as if respectively the indicated virgins, widows, and married people.’!

The responsive heart is characterised by:- (Lk 8:15)

(a) Attention: he listens to the word; he refuses to be distracted. How often our Lord and his ministers urge their hearers to ‘listen’, Mk 4:2-3; Lk 19:48; Acts 8:6; 10:33; 13:16; 16:14; Rev 2:7. Attend especially to the Scripture itself as it is read and explained; to those words which speak to your own spiritual condition; and to those things which the preacher declares with special warmth and conviction. Resist especially wandering thoughts and drowsiness.

(b) Retention: there is an inward digestion of what was heard. 1 Thess 5:21; Jas 1:21. As the seed must be able to germinate in the soil, so the word in the heart. Let both the reading and the hearing of the word be followed by thoughtful meditation. This is a neglected duty. Ps 119:97,148. Cf. Deut 4:9; 6:6-7; Lk 24:32; Acts 17:11; 27:29. Ask the Lord to help you in this, 2 Tim 1:14.

‘The challenge of the parable of the sower is focused on one word, the word which explains what is lacking in the first three soils and what is present in the fourth, the fruitful one. ‘When any one heareth the word of the kingdom,’ says Jesus, ‘and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.’ And then, at the end, ‘he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.’ The word, precisely because it is a word, does its work not by bypassing human understanding but by enlivening it. If the word of God is to produce the mission of God it must and will do so through the understanding of the people of God.’ (N.T. Wright)

(c) Production. They ‘produce a crop.’ ‘To hear without obeying is to harden the heart.’

See Acts 16:14: ‘One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.’

To ‘bear fruit with steadfast endurance’ (Lk) is to exhibit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

On spiritual fruit-bearing, see Ps 1:1-3; 92:14; 104:13; Mt 3:10; 7:17-20; 12:33-35; Lk 3:8; Jn 15; Acts 2:38; 16:31; Rom 7:4; Gal 5:22; Eph 5:9; Php 4:17; Col 1:6; Heb 12:11; 13:15; Jas 3:17-18.

Let preachers and congregations remember that it is not the number of hearers which is the important thing (cf. v2), but their response.

Note, every believer is fruitful, although not all in the same degree. Let us all be enrolled in Christ’s school, even though not all in the same class. We are members of his body, though not all equally prominent parts of it. But let us aim for the highest degree of fruitfulness of which we are capable, Jn 15:8.

What sort of soil are you? How has the word of God taken root in your heart?

Among the theological points identified by Kenneth E. Bailey are these:

1. There are various kinds of impediments to the Word
2. The sower sows liberally, despite these impediments
3. If the seed fails the sower is not necessarily to be blamed
4. A harvest is assured
5. Fruit is expected
6. There is no instant discipleship