Mark 4:3

“Listen. Behold a sower went out to sow.”

‘Listen.' Jesus stresses, both here at the beginning of the parable, and at the end (Mark 4:9), that men must listen carefully. He wants them to be aware that the story has hidden meaning. This dual exhortation emphasised that He saw this parable as of special significance. It was a parable about the life transforming power of His words and of His message, and their response to it was all important for it would determine their whole future.

The use of parable and allegory was well known among Jewish teachers, for it was a powerful way to grip and illuminate the mind once the parable was understood, (although none, apart possibly from John the Baptiser, spoke to the huge crowds that Jesus did) and like John, Jesus used every day illustrations familiar to all. Both men, in the light of Isaiah's teachings (Isaiah 32:15; Isaiah 44:1; Isaiah 55:10), saw the coming of the Kingly Rule of God in terms of God's activity in nature, and of the activity of the Holy Spirit pictured in terms of rain being poured from Heaven. But Jesus wanted the people to give the illustrations deeper thought. All were familiar with the problems attendant on growing food. The hard and stony ground which their primitive tools often made little impression on, the precious seed that could so easily be wasted or lost. And all grieved over the birds who ate the seed before it could take root, the grain that grew too quickly without being deeply rooted, the weeds that choked the seed. They were an everyday experience of life and a burden for many. They were a part of their struggle to survive. But Jesus' question was, did they realise that they were illustrative of what could hinder them receiving His all important message? They should have known it, for the use of such pictures were a continuation of the methods of the prophets (Isaiah 5:1; Isaiah 27:4; Jeremiah 4:3; Jeremiah 12:13; Ezekiel 2:6).

He also wanted them to recognise that for those who did listen and absorb His message there would be spiritual fruitfulness and a wonderful harvest. To these people harvest represented their hope for the future, and they recognised that no harvest was quite as important as the final Harvest in the last day. It pointed to the glorious future that could be theirs under the blessing of God. Jesus wanted them to realise that this time of harvest was approaching, and that He wanted them to partake in it fully. Those who had listened to the preaching of John the Baptiser were aware of his stress on spiritual fruitfulness, and on barrenness, in the face of the judgment, and of the coming work of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:8; Luke 3:7). Now Jesus reinforces that message and expands on it. All that they hoped and longed for was dependent on their willingness to receive and absorb His teaching.

This parable compares those who hear the word, and in three ways fail to receive it successfully, with those who do receive the word, and produce fruit at three levels. It is another presentation of the two ways (Matthew 7:13). It will be noted that the emphasis is not so much on the harvest as on what is, or is not, produced. It is a brilliantly simple analysis of men's hearts. With some there was no interest. With some there was interest but no depth of thought or understanding. With some what interest there was, was choked by other things than the word of truth, by cares, anxieties and a desire for wealth. Notice also the fate of the seed which has failed to yield fruit. Some was devoured, some withered in the sun, and some was choked. The failures thus came for a variety of reasons but the end result was the same, there was no fruitfulness. Each listener was left to think for himself what it was that might be the hindrance in his own life. And then the glorious goal was set before him that he could, if he truly responded to Jesus and His words, produce one hundredfold.

It has sometimes been argued that Jesus original intention in this parable was simply to build up to the idea of the Harvest, with that as the sole emphasis of the parable, but a moments thought will reveal that this really cannot be so unless Jesus was talking to half-wits. And He was not. He was speaking to people steeped in the Old Testament and later Jewish tradition, and inevitably when they heard of the birds swooping down to seize the seed their ears would prick up and they would think in terms of powers of evil and of demons, and even of Satan himself, in the light of Jewish tradition where birds were commonly seen in that way (compare also Genesis 15:11; Genesis 40:17; Genesis 40:19; Isaiah 18:5; Jeremiah 7:33; Jeremiah 12:9; Ezekiel 39:4; Ezekiel 39:17 where the descent of birds is something that fills men with foreboding). We can compare here Revelation 18:2, which echoes those traditions, where devils, unclean spirits and unclean birds are seen to be operating in parallel (compare Isaiah 13:21; Isaiah 34:11; Isaiah 34:14).

But even more so when they heard of sowing among thorns their minds would immediately call to mind the words of Jeremiah, ‘Do not sow among thorns' (Jeremiah 4:3), and ‘they have sown wheat and have reaped thorns' (Jeremiah 12:13). It was inevitable. They could hardly have failed to do so. And thus alert minds would already be looking into the details of the parable and asking themselves what it meant. And it can hardly be doubted in the light of this that Jesus intended them to do so.

‘Behold a sower went out to sow.' This was an everyday sight in season, and crucial to their existence., and they would see in their mind's eye the sower with his bag over his shoulder, walking along distributing the seed as he went. And in view of Who was telling the story they would be reminded of the words of Proverbs 11:18, ‘he who sows righteousness has a sure reward,' and, somewhat guiltily (because they had not done it), of Hosea 10:12, ‘Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, until he come and rain righteousness upon you.' They would recognise that this sower was therefore somehow connected with this call to repentance, and for them to become prepared ground so that righteousness might flourish in their hearts. That Jesus was therefore issuing such a call for repentance and a turning to righteousness, in the light of the presence in Him of the Kingly Rule of Heaven.

And what would He sow? They would find their answer in Isaiah 55:10. In that passage the seed for the sower resulted from God's rain falling on God's earth, producing ‘seed for the sower', a seed which would then through God's provision of rain and sun be sent forth to fulfil His will, accomplishing what He pleased and prospering in the way in which He sent it. And there it was seen in terms of the word of God going forth to accomplish God's will of salvation and deliverance. Jesus wanted them to know that John the Baptiser had been a sower (John 4:36), and that He Himself was now at that moment sowing seed among them declaring that the Kingly rule of God had drawn near (Mark 1:15). He wanted them to recognise that the fulfilling of God's promises humanly speaking depended on their responsiveness to what He said. The discerning among them would recognise that it was so. Indeed those who had responded to the teaching of John the Baptiser would instantly be reminded of it.

While the description ‘a sower' was general, Jesus was not philosophising. He was not just saying, ‘have you thought about this? Isn't it interesting?' He was too aware of the newness and uniqueness of His message that the time for response to the Kingly Rule of God was here. No. His message was that God sent sowers out to sow and now something new was being sown. And the question was, did they realise it? Would they respond? The prophets had been sowers, as had John the Baptiser (John 4:36). Now He wanted them to recognise that the Sower Supreme was here and that others too would sow as He did, who would be sent out by Him. And they must be ready to receive their words.

It is not accidental that this parable follows immediately on Mark 3:35. There we have the lesson of what Jesus was calling men to do in His teaching. He was calling them to respond to and obey the will of God. It was in that way that the Kingly Rule of God would be established. And that will was especially revealed in His own teaching. The question was, therefore, were they ready to do the will of God, or was His word to be choked by events of this life? Mark certainly intends us to see that the preaching of the Kingly Rule of God is in mind (Mark 4:11; Mark 4:26; Mark 4:30).

Some have sought to deny that this is to some extent allegorical and that the individual parts of the parable have a deeper meaning, but it is only necessary to notice the emphasis of the story to recognise that that suggestion is too restrictive. There can really be no doubt that one emphasis is specifically on reasons why the seed is not fruitful, as with the prophets before Him. This must therefore be a main lesson of the parable. And another equally important emphasis is on the final fruitful harvest.