Parable of the Sower


The Parable of the Sower is a parable of Jesus found in the three Synoptic Gospels in,, and.
Speaking to a large crowd, Jesus tells of a farmer who sows seed and does so indiscriminately. Some seed falls on the path with no soil, some on rocky ground with little soil, some on soil which contains thorns, and some on good soil. In the first three cases the seed is taken away or fails to produce a crop, but when it falls on good soil it grows, yielding thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.
Later, Jesus explains to his disciples that the seed represents the Gospel, the sower represents anyone who proclaims it, and the various soils represent people's responses to it.

Text

The explanation given by Jesus.

Context

In Mark's Gospel and Matthew's Gospel, this parable, the explanation of the purpose of parables and the explanation of the parable itself form part of Jesus' third or "Parabolic" discourse, delivered from a boat on the Sea of Galilee. In each narrative, Jesus used the boat as a means of being able to address the huge crowd gathered on the lake shore. Luke's Gospel does not use a boat for the delivery of the sermon, but still has Jesus presenting the parable to a large crowd gathered from 'every city' and follows the parable with a question on the purpose of parables and an explanation of the parable of the sower itself.
While the parable was told to the multitude, the explanations were only given to the disciples.

Interpretations

Jesus says he teaches in parables because many are opposed to his direct teachings. He is too radical for them, so that they will not and cannot hear and understand his message, yet they'll enjoy his parables as stories.
Most of the crowd will leave remembering his stories. A few of the crowd will leave committed, and will understand his message also. Possibly, some uncommitted will later realize what his message is by reflecting on his stories and possibly believe him. Many will leave affirming that they will not and cannot hear, understand, or accept his message.
Jesus quotes Isaiah, who preached to Israel knowing that his message would go unheeded and not understood, with the result that the Israelites' sins would not be forgiven and they would be punished by God for them. This parable seems to be essential for understanding all the rest of Jesus' parables, as it makes clear that what is necessary to understand Jesus is faith in him, and that Jesus will not enlighten those who refuse to believe in him.
While in Matthew and Luke, the parable seems to be about the various ways in which the word of God is received, in Mark, it comes just after a description in the previous chapter of a developing hostility toward Jesus and his ministry. The Pharisees held him suspect for not holding to what they perceived as a strict observance of the Sabbath, by performing various cures. Some schools of thought found such actions permissible only if the person treated were in danger of death. Some of the Jerusalem scribes contended that Jesus derived his power through demonic sources. Even the disciples appear not to understand.
This is then followed by the Parable of the Growing Seed and that of Mustard Seed. Together they indicate that it is not about the individual's response to his message, or even the apparent failure of it to take root, but that "...in spite of the opposition of enemies of the Kingdom and in spite of the moral and intellectual failings of the Kingdom’s putative friends, the Kingdom will succeed immensely in the end." Mark uses it to highlight the effect Christ's previous teachings have had on people as well as the effect the Christian message has had on the world over the three decades between Christ's ministry and the writing of the Gospel.
According to, the Hebrew patriarch Isaac sowed seed and "reaped a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous". Anglican bishop Charles Ellicott thought "the hundredfold return was, perhaps, a somewhat uncommon increase, but the narrative of Isaac’s tillage in Genesis 26:12 shows that it was not unheard of, and had probably helped to make it the standard of a more than usually prosperous harvest"; however, Protestant theologian Heinrich Meyer argued that "such points of detail... should not be pressed, serving as they do merely to enliven and fill out the picture".