Matthew 13:7

“And others fell on the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.”

Other seed would fall in places where, try as he would, the sower had been unable to eradicate the weeds. He had cut them back, and even possibly ploughed the ground, but he could do little else with regard to them, for his tools were primitive.

And many a listener would inevitably turn his thoughts towards Jeremiah 4:3, ‘sow not among thorns', which was immediately followed by a call for a change of heart. So even before reaching the final phase many diverse thoughts would be possessing the minds of the listeners.