The Sower

As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, 

hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. 

(Luke 8:15)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Patience is the heart of faith and its engenderment.

In the Parable of the Sower, found in Matthew (13:3-23), Mark (4:3-20), and Luke (8:5-15), Jesus likens himself to a farmer sowing seed:

“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matt 13:3-9)

The life of the farmer starts and ends with a patient heart. In the rocky soil of Palestine, it is not always obvious where one will dig up a rock, which makes planting a crap-shoot. Neither is the weather reliable and predictable. Modern Israel has lush crops, but only where irrigation is available. Time and patience are requisite for a farmer to gain a harvest.

In further discussion, Jesus explains that the soil in this parable is the word of God (e.g. Luke 8:11), which makes this parable an allegory. Substituting the revealed context of the parable, the preaching of the word of God, the meaning of the parable is clarified.

The Character of Patience

You may be wondering why I chose to talk about patience in the Parable of the Sower. The parable is not about patience; the parable is about the character of good and bad soil (Matt 13:19-23). The reason is this—there is no such thing as a impatient farmer. One cannot be a farmer without patience. Farming requires patience. The parable assumes that the farmer is patient, which allows a story to then be told about soils. Not coincidentally, time and patience are also required to be a good parent, one of the chief characteristics of God that Jesus leaves us with.

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

The Matthew account of the Parable of the Sower is followed immediately by a second farming story, the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares—a tare (KJV) is weed with poisonous seeds (darnel) that resembles wheat (ζιζάνιον BDAG 3384). Roman law specifically forbad the sowing of darnel in the wheat fields of an enemy, suggesting that this parable has a basis in ancient practice (Keener 2009, 386–387) Matthew writes:

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, An enemy has done this. So the servants said to him, Then do you want us to go and gather them? But he said, No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matt 13:24-30)

In the parable, the master of the house specifically directs his servants not to pull the weeds, lest the wheat get pulled up as well. This direction requires that the servants be patient to allow the wheat to grow.

The fruit of patience in this parable is faith. The eschatological judgment of God is deferred, we surmise, so that the faithful can be revealed and the unfaithful winnowed out. Patience has its limits in the parable as the winnowing is done at the time of harvest.

The Sower
Also see:
The Face of God in the Parables
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
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Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com




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