The Sower and the Word
(Second Story for Chapter 1 - from Mark 4:1-20)

One day Jesus was teaching by the sea. There were many people who wanted to hear him and get closed to him. They crowded all around. It was so crowded that Jesus got into a boat and sat in it. Everybody stood on the land listening as Jesus taught them from the boat.

Jesus began teaching the crowd by using parables. A parable is a story that teaches us something about God. This was the first parable he taught. And the people who understood it would be able to understand all his parables. That meant they would know God because of Jesus.

This is the parable Jesus told:

"Listen! A sower went out to sow." (A sower is a kind of farmer. He spreads seed on the ground and waits for the seed to grow. When the seeds grow they become plants that produce grain that we can eat.) "The sower spread his seed on the ground. Some seed fell onto a dirt road that went through the middle of his farm. The birds came and ate that seed.

"Other seed fell on soil that had a lot of rocks in it. And just an inch or two below the soil there was more rock. So the seed started sending roots down into the soil. The roots hit the rock underneath and stopped growing. So the seed grew upward above the ground instead. The growth looked just like other plants. But when the hot sun came up, the plants on the rocky soil died. They didn't have long enough roots into the cool, wet soil. So they couldn't survive the heat.

"Other seed fell on soil that had a lot of thorns. The thorns grew up around the seed. They choked the little plants that grew from the seed. The plants could not grow up and produce grain.

"Finally, some seed fell onto good soil. This seed grew up and produced grain, just as it was supposed to. This seed produced enough grain that some could be planted to produce even more grain. And some of it could be eaten. Some seeds grew into 30 seeds of grain. Some seeds grew into 60 seeds of grain. Some seeds even grew into a hundred seeds of grain."

Then Jesus said, "If you have ears that can hear, listen to what I'm saying!"

This parable was hard to understand. Even those closest to Jesus-the twelve apostles-didn't understand it. So after everyone else left, the twelve apostles asked Jesus about the parable.

Jesus told them, "You are allowed to know the secrets of God's kingdom. But for those outside the kingdom, everything comes in parables."

Jesus quoted the Bible, so they would understand what he meant. He said, "This happens so that they may see without really seeing. This happens so they may hear without really hearing or understanding. If they did understand, they might turn away from their sins and God might forgive them."

Jesus was telling them that God hides his truth from some people. Sometimes people hear God's word and don't believe it. That doesn't mean God made a mistake. It means that only God can make people understand his word. And if he doesn't, they will hear the word without really understanding it. Jesus was saying God does this on purpose.

In fact, this first parable is about how God does this.

Jesus said to the twelve apostles, "Don't you understand this parable? If you don't understand this parable, how will you understand all the others? Let me explain it to you.

"The sower sows the word of God. The seed in this story is like the word of God going out to everyone. Some people hear that word and don't understand it at all. Satan immediately comes and snatches the word away. This is like the seed falling on the dirt road when the birds ate it.

"Some people hear God's word and are happy. They think they love what the word says. But then they get into trouble because of the word of God. They suffer and people hate them. When that happens they turn their backs on the word. They don't believe it anymore. This is like the seed falling on rocky ground. It grew fast, but it didn't have any roots.

"Some people hear God's word and want to believe it. But they love this world too much. They love money or other things. And they know God wants to be more important than all those things. God may not help them get the things they really love. This is like the seed falling where the thorns were. That seed was choked out and couldn't grow.

"But some people hear God's word and truly believe it. God makes them grow up and teaches them to seek the things of heaven rather than the things of this world."

The sower didn't sow different kinds of seed. He threw the same seed on the dirt road, on the rocky ground, in the thorns, and on the good soil. Yet different things happened because the soils were different.

God's word never changes. It is always the same word, wherever it goes. But God uses it to do different things. Sometimes God uses his word to prove that people don't understand who he is. Sometimes God uses his word to show how people think they understand it but really don't. Sometimes God uses his word to prove that people love other things more than they love him. Sometimes God uses his word to make people alive in Christ and to make them love the things that last forever. It is always the same word, no matter how God uses it.

We thank God because he used his word to make us alive in Christ. He used his word to make us love the things that last forever. He didn't do this because we were smarter or better than other people. He did this because he loved us. God gave us eyes to recognize his word. God gave us ears to hear his word and understand it. God gave us hearts to believe and love his word. So we give God all our thanks. And we pray that he will do the same thing for many more people.

[Contents]   [Chapter 1]   [Catechism for Chapter 1]   [First Story for Chapter 1]