This is my attempt to explain a couple of items in the gospels that I have always struggled mightily with – and that I think are connected.  I’ve read lots of explanations, but never felt that any of them really shined the light on all that was there.  I realize that I have no credentials to explain the Bible, no training in interpretation, nothing like that.  So this explanation could be 100% wrong.  If so, there’s an email address where anyone who takes the time to read this and disagree with me can set me straight.  But for me, this is a more satisfactory understanding of the Parable of the Sower than what I have seen elsewhere.

The first item I’ve struggled with is the Parable of the Sower.  Since the first time I really paid attention to this, I couldn’t figure out what the four different kinds of soil really represented.  That is, was it only the good soil at the end that represented people who would be saved?  That’s what everything I read said was the case.  But I couldn’t figure out how Satan could “snatch away” the gospel, under any conditions, as he does with the first group.  That didn’t seem right to me at all, and I couldn’t accept that Satan had the power to “keep” anyone from salvation.  The next group starts off well, but then when things get tough, they bail out, abandon the gospel.  Well…how can that be?  The seed sprouted in that soil.  How could it possibly be that the gospel took root and then died???  I had a real hard time swallowing that.  Thorny ground?  To me this group just about had to be saved, they just backslid because of the urgency of the world, and they never “unslid”.  But they weren’t lost.  They couldn’t be could they?  Then that last group…the good ground?  Well sure that one makes sense.  To me, it was the only one that made sense, and I don’t think parables work like that.    

So.  I agreed with the usual interpretation in one of the four situations.  The others all just seemed to create more problems with respect to other things in the Bible than they solved.  To me, the four groups should roll up into a package that makes sense for all the groups, not just for one.  If the interpretation you accept makes half a dozen other things more difficult to understand instead of less, then you have to consider the possibility that maybe your interpretation is wrong.

So, starting with the presumption that there was more here than just the “standard answer”, I dug into the parable.  It appears in three of the gospels.  It is found in Mark 4:3-9, Matt 13:3-9, and in Luke 8:5-8.  I found very few differences, additions, or subtractions in these accounts.  It has been my experience that a lot of times, one of the versions will have an extra sentence or an extra phrase that is the key to opening the whole thing up.  While there are some minor differences, I didn’t find that the differences were a key here.

Next, I noticed that all three versions end with “he that hath ears, let him hear”.  That seems like a pretty common phrase in the NT.  Turns out “let him hear” is used exactly 15 times in the NT (ESV), all in either Matthew, Mark, Luke, or Revelation.  How interesting is it that in the gospel of John it isn’t used at all, but John uses it 8 times in Revelation!?  

Another thing common to all three versions – though not obviously phrased the same in Luke – is that even before asking Jesus what the parable of the sower means, they ask him why he is suddenly speaking only in parables.  I found Jesus’ answer to this question is just about as difficult to deal with as the parable itself.  In fact, his answer is the second thing that I have always struggled to understand.

Let’s look at Jesus’ answer first, and maybe it will shed some light on how we are to understand the parable itself.  

There are three parts to Jesus’ answer to this question.  First, in all three gospel accounts, Jesus says something along the lines of “Mysteries are being revealed here and you are privileged, you are allowed to understand them, but to others, this is not permitted.”  I am paraphrasing here, but you can read the answers yourself in Mark 4:11; Matt 13:11; and Luke 8:10.  So doesn’t that imply that there are things in the parable of the sower that are not obvious?  That there are things there that most people aren’t going to understand anyway?

The second part of Jesus’ answer is found only in Matt 13:12, and says this:  12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. [Mat 13:12 ESV].  What is it that the apostles have in more abundance than those without?  Note that phrase about the have nots – “even what he has will be taken away”.  So all have something, but in differing amounts.  And if you’re over the threshold in the amount you have, then much much more of it is coming your way.  But if you have only a little, then that little will be taken away.  Surely this thing they all have in some measure is not salvation.  You don’t get more or less of salvation.  So something else is in view, something completely apart from salvation…but what?

The third part of the answer is that the mystery is given in parables for a reason.  The reason is 12 so that "'they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.'" [Mar 4:12 ESV]  So…we don’t want the outsiders that are hearing these words to understand the words, because that would lead to forgiveness.  This sounds 1000% contradictory to what we want when we preach the gospel!!!  So this is not about the gospel.  We want the gospel understood.  Jesus wanted the gospel understood.  So what could we be talking about?  Luke’s answer is pretty much the same as Marks.  But in Matthew, we get that little “extra” that I believe holds the key to it all.  Matthew adds this extra information, and it comes right after the part about the haves getting still more while the have nots lose even what they have.  Right after that, Matthew records these words of Jesus:  13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "'"You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive." [Mat 13:13-14 ESV]

So there, in a nutshell, is the real answer.  This is prophecy fulfilled.  Prophecy from Isaiah, about 500 years before Jesus speaks these words.  So let’s go look at what Isaiah said and see if it helps us understand why Jesus is speaking in parables?  It turns out that it is not just Isaiah that says these words, but that Jeremiah and Ezekiel do also.  

1.    9 And he said, "Go, and say to this people: "'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' [Isa 6:9 ESV]  This is right at the beginning of Isaiah's ministry, before the 10 tribes fell.  Isaiah is speaking to the northern kingdom and telling them to just keep ignoring what is coming, keep ignoring his words, stay blind to what is obviously going on.  I think there is also a very real sense here that the time for their repentance is past.  The line has been crossed, and no matter what they do now, the Assyrians are coming, the Northern Kingdom is going to fall, and it will not rise again.

2.    8 Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears! [Isa 43:8 ESV]  The same kind of picture is painted here, but this is much later in Isaiah’s time.  This is after the North fell, but before the South falls.  So again, there is the implication that these people are not listening, and they are not going to listen, and possibly, they are being prevented from hearing and seeing because their rebellion has "cut them off".  God is no longer allowing them to understand, because too much sin has accumulated, and they are under God's judgement.  Forgiveness is no longer an option.

3.    Then this from Jeremiah:  21 "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. ... 23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away. ... 25 Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you. [Jer 5:21, 23, 25 ESV].  This is now in Jeremiah, as he prophesies about the coming fall of Judah and Jerusalem.  In these verses, it gets even more clear, more obvious what is really being said.  Their accumulated sins - both individually, because all have sinned, and corporately because all Israel as a nation has sinned - have shut down even the offer of forgiveness to this people.  When I read this, I thought of two more verses in Jeremiah that I think make the point that there is no longer an offer on the table:  16 "As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. [Jer 7:16 ESV], and then 14 "Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. [Jer 11:14 ESV]  This is where the light bulb went on for me.  What is happening in the NT, with the parables, is this same thing.  The parables insure that only those truly chosen will have a clue what Jesus is saying.  God's wrath against the nation of Israel is still in full force and effect, because they are to receive double punishment, and so far only one has come to pass.  This wrath won't be finished until 70 AD, and even after that the blindness God decrees for them continues to this day.  Like Isaiah and Jeremiah, Jesus is speaking to a rebellious and unruly and stubborn people.  Judgement came before.  It is still being carried out.  Just as Isaiah and Jeremiah told the people of their day that the time for their forgiveness, even if they did repent, has come and gone.  So it is with Israel in the time of Christ.  But there is still more…

4.    2 "Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house. [Eze 12:2 ESV]  Lest we think that the wrath was over at the Babylonian captivity, Ezekiel tells us from his own captivity in Babylon that this people remains rebellious, blind and deaf to the message of God, the message of salvation.  It was NEVER that Jesus didn't want the people of Galilee to be saved.  It was that they had been condemned already, by their own acts and the acts of their ancestors, and the sentence was still to be carried out.  This also explains what the "let him who has ears hear" phrase is about.  It is about all these OT references to rebellion and to judgement and to punishment for rebellion - by the nation of Israel!!!  Only a few, a remnant, are to be preserved!!!!  Most are blind and deaf, and for a reason, and that reason will stand until the last days!!!


So we have now “unlocked” a couple of quite important concepts in the interpretation of the parable of the sower.  Now we know what some have and others do not.  In Matthew’s words, it is stated this way:  19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. [Mat 13:19 ESV]  Some have an understanding of “the word of the kingdom”.  This is insight into the unfolding plan of God, as revealed in OT scripture, for the nation of Israel.  And those who already have enough of this knowledge are going to be “clued in” during Christ’s ministry, and during the 40 days after his death, to far more – an incredible abundance – of additional understanding about God’s plan.  And those who barely have a clue in the first place?  Well they are not going to learn anything more, and many of them – most of them – are going to die in their sins in just a generation or two, and the entire nation of Israel is going to be taken away from them.  What little they do know will be snatched away.  So we have that part now.  

We also know why Jesus is speaking in parables, and we know that parables are intended to be difficult – not easy – to understand.  It is because these people that Jesus is speaking to are in the same category – in a sense they are the very same people – that Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel spoke to during their times.  These people have already been condemned, the sentence is passed, and their eternity established.  They are not to be forgiven, now or ever.  They are convicted and sentenced to death, and no amount of learning, knowledge or understanding is going to change that.  How awful for them if they did understand, and how excruciatingly worse it would be for them, if they fully comprehended who they are and what awaits them and that they have no more options, no more hope?  So much better for them if they do not understand.  They are deaf and are to stay that way, they are blind and are to stay blind.

So armed with these interpretations as our foundation for understanding the Parable of the Sower, let’s think again about who is who in the four groups.  In the crowds that were coming to hear Jesus speak, some already had a cursory knowledge that Messiah was coming but little in-depth knowledge.  What they knew came from a passing acquaintance with OT scripture at best.  But these have other things to do.  They are interested in other things, in lots of things.  So Satan snatches that knowledge of the coming Messiah away.  It just doesn’t hold their interest enough to make them want to dig deeper and Satan makes sure they stay distracted by other things.  They have a little bit of understanding of the plan of God for Israel and the world, but not so very much, not enough to have made much of an impact on their lives.  So even that bit is snatched away.  These are the blindest and deafest of all.  

Then the next group.  These have heard and read and studied some about Messiah and grab onto the hope of his coming and are filled with the joy and thrill of anticipation.  They expect him to come and free them from the Romans, from poverty, from labor.  They wait eagerly for Jesus.  But he doesn't come.  Time goes on.  The joy fades.  This group knows more of the scriptures and about the plans of God, but in the face of bitter reality, these also give it up, move on...and the little they had is taken away.
 
The fate of the third group, busy with making money and getting ahead and buying toys, should be pretty obvious by now.

With those first three groups categorized, we can see that the good ground is the remnant.  The few that God has selected for himself, and to whom will be given insight and understanding from the OT that this man before them is THE Messiah, not just another prophet.  Not only do they recognize him, but all the puzzle pieces fall into place.  These, who are chosen, who still hold onto joy and hope in the face of hardship, trial, and worldly bonds, these who have the "most" compared to the others, these will be given abundantly more.  So maybe, just maybe this parable is hard to understand because we always look at it as being about salvation only, and we look at it as being universal.  But that's not all it is.  It is about the earthly ministry of Jesus to the Jews, and the reason it was presented the way it was.  Like so many other things in the Bible, these things are specifically to and about the Jews, and it is the principal of how God works that is applicable to us today, NOT the details!!!!  

I also found it very comforting that in all three versions, the apostles ask what the parable means.  They had as much problem understanding it as I had.  Studying the Bible with the purpose of shining a light on what is in darkness is not going to be like falling off a log.  It will take work, it will take time, it will require iteration.  But the reward for that is a 30-, 60-, even a 100-fold increase in our understanding of the scriptures!