In past years I have written blogs on the Parables. Sometime after that I found a book by one of my favorite authors, William Barclay, “The Parables of Jesus” The book is still available and I recommend it for an a quick read and better understanding of this particular method used by Jesus to teach by using a story that uses things that we see in everyday life to help us understand the message Jesus is sharing. I am going to attempt to share with you some of the things about Parables that Barclay shared in his book… for your consideration…some of which you may not agree with. Parables in the time of Jesus’ ministry were quite popular in a time when few men knew less about the Bible and to be honest could care less. Even with this being the prevalent attitude of that time, it  cannot be denied that these stories Jesus told remain the best stories in the world. What is a “Parable”? 

noun

a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels. (Oxford Language Dictionary)

Again, why a parable? The Jews were very familiar with teaching through the use of parables. After all a parable is nothing more than a good story and who doesn’t like a good story? 

Many of us overlook the fact that there are parables in the Old Testament. As Barclay shares with us, 2 Samuel 12:1-7 and Isaiah 5:1-7 are a couple of the better known ones. We can also add that others also taught in such a way. Prophets, Rabbis and the great scholars and teachers of the day to name a few. The point here being that the parables were and still are a powerful means of teaching and getting a message across. Today we will examine one parable that is found in three books of the New Testament, the one about the farmer scattering seed. In my years of reading and studying the Bible from a layman’s point of view there is a thought here which is shared by many of the different commentaries I have read over the years. The Greeks loved to argue just for the sake of the argument. It was not necessary to reach a conclusion, it didn’t matter. Not so with the Jews… they preferred and most always insisted on a conclusion, not just any conclusion but one that led to action. Another way of saying it makes those who listen to the story say”what must I do?” Now I do not want to lose you in a sea of detail so as we move on consider these points. There is the mater of how we interpret the parable. Like what were the circumstances surrounding this story. Do the people, places or things in the story have a meaning that stands for something else. So we end this section by asking ourselves if we understand the circumstance in which it was spoken? Does the parable meet a need of that moment and will it cause some to act upon its message? Let’s move to the Parable of the Farmer Sowing Seed. 

Matthew writes that this is the first parable Jesus ever spoke. As Jesus was walking along the shore, he was of course followed by the twelve and also by a small but growing crowd. It was a custom of the day that people would often follow a Rabbi, which is often also referred to as Teacher, hoping to catch some pearl of wisdom which might come from his mouth as he spoke as they walked. The crowd had grown to such a size that Jesus had stepped into a boat and sat down speak. In his day it was the custom to sit to teach and stand to preach. It is the thought of many that at that time he saw a sower, sowing in the fields a ways up from the seashore. We will note today that the story contains four different kinds of ground.

There was the Wayside ground– common ground was divided into narrow strips and a man could use these to plant what he wished. Between them were narrow strips which were considered rights of way and anyone could walk on them. They were often beaten down by the foot traffic, you might say hard ground that was not fit for planting and any seed that fell here had little chance of growing.

Next was the rocky ground.- To make this plainer, the ground in Palestine was was simply a small skin of earth over a shelf of limestone rock. There was no depth in such soil and whatever seed fell on this ground could sprout quickly but the heat, sun and lack of retained moisture would not support the nourishment it needed and the plant would wither and die. 

Now the Thorny Ground- Sometimes things are not as they appear. You can turn the ground over and make the area appear clear and ready to go. The problem that happens is that if you have waited to long and those weeds have been allowed to seed… the problem is still there. You see the weeds will always grow stronger and quicker that the good seed. The result will be that the good seed will have the life choked out of it by the weeds that grow much quicker.

Then there is the Good Ground- Good ground accepts the seed because it has the depth and resources to give that seed time to take root and provides it a chance to grow. Here is a great example of the power of a Parable. In any field in Palestine a man will find these different kinds of soil…Jesus uses words to paint a picture that everyone would recognize. Some points to ponder here. Perhaps it means that the word of God is always good. But our mortal behavior within our hearts and minds are sometimes like that hard ground and won’t let those words take seed. Then there is the possibility that we are just plain lazy… with all the resources we have in the digital world we have gotten to lazy to think for ourselves. Here is one that drives the nail home. Is it possible that we believe we know everything? God has provided many ways to come to him and those that shut their mind to any and everything that is not of their own thinking is doomed.

This next point could best be related as mental fear. Many people refuse to believe there is a God, they shut their mind to such a possibility…the best term for this action is denial. This next one is not hard to understand. This is about people of little or no faith at all, to me it is an understandable condition in this world of so many distractions. One stone in the foundation of Christianity is we must be able to think things through. If we can’t do that, then in times of stress we will not be able to stand firm in our faith. Thorny Ground exists when our life is so crowded with other things… there is no room for Christ. There is much more to share about this Parable but for now I believe I will wrap it up with this thought. Back to Matthew again…

Matthew 13:8-9

Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

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Life is Good

jk