Kathleen Rushton discusses the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-23.

AS WE READ through Matthew’s Gospel we can see how Jesus’s identity as Emmanuel, God-with-us, and through his words and actions we encounter God's presence and empire (basileia). In Chapters 11-12, we read how the religious elites do not recognise that Jesus is ushering in God’s empire (basileia) and they oppose his ministry. We come to see that God’s empire is opening a division.

Chapter 13 addresses the division. Those who do not receive God’s basileia are so inclined not because of failure by God or Jesus, but because of their own sinfulness and the Evil One’s actions. Those who experience and welcome “the empire of the heavens” (literal translation) are affirmed.

The divisive impact of God’s empire is central to Chapter 13. The word “reign/empire” (basileia) is found 12 times in the chapter: eight as “the empire of the heavens” (Mt 13:11, 24, 31, 33, 44, 45, 47, 52), three times by itself (Mt 13:19, 38, 41) and once as “the empire of their Father” (Mt 13:43).

God’s Empire

Biblical scholar Warren Carter explains that God’s empire is shown in the words and deeds of Jesus and is God’s gracious gift, initiative and action. It resists Rome’s empire. And so it is divisive in that some welcome God’s empire while others resist what God offers. God’s basileia is “disruptive and disturbing, reversing previous commitments, imperial structures, practices and priorities, while creating a new way of life which counters dominant societal values.” God’s empire conflicts with and competes with the devil’s empire. While God’s basileia is partially realised, for many life remains unchanged. God’s empire will be fully present when it is established among all, including Rome’s empire.

Biblical Parables

The seven parables in Chapter 13 confirm the growing presence of God’s empire. Although already we have encountered several parables in this Gospel, the word “parable” appears for the first time in Mt 13:3 and then 11 more times in this chapter. “Parable” comes from the Greek word “to throw alongside” and suggests a comparison in which one thing (God’s empire) is set beside something else. These short stories often begin with a comparison: “The empire of the heavens is like …” (Mt 13:31,33,44,45,47).

God’s empire is compared with everyday life situations familiar to Jesus’s listeners. The stories of the parables contain a surprise or twist that forces listeners to reconsider an aspect of the status quo in light of the comparison to God’s empire. Parables are rarely explained because their open-ended structure requires listeners to wrestle with their meanings. However, the parables of the sower (Mt 13:18-23) and the weeds and wheat (Mt 13:36-43) in this chapter, are exceptions.

Parable of the Sower, Seed, Soil and Harvest

Each “character” in the parable offers a different insight: the sower, the seed, the soil or the harvest.

The sower represents God or Jesus while the seed is the word of God (Mt 13:18-23). When we read the parable from the point of view of the sower, the emphasis is on his acts. He sows seed indiscriminately, casting it wildly onto every type of ground inviting everyone to accept the word regardless of their potential to accept it (cf. Mt 5:45).

“Let anyone with ears listen” (Mt 13:9) recalls the Shema’ (“Hear, O Israel.” Deuteronomy 6:4-5) which faithful Jews pray daily. While the unique relationship between God and Israel is acknowledged, Jesus extends the invitation to all.

When we focus on the seed, we can see its reliability in yielding a harvest even though at first this seems impossible. It is a reminder of Isaiah 55:10-11, where God’s word accomplishes its purpose even when it falls on deaf ears. Such a harvest, assures us that the seed will bear fruit eventually in unimaginable ways and proportions — just as the amounts of a hundredfold or 60 or 30 in the parable exaggerate the abundance of the yield. This theme of harvest — in this parable and in the three following — emphasises the unstoppable expansion of the empire of God.

When we consider the path, the rocky ground, the thorns and the good ground, it’s clear that three-quarters of the seed comes to naught. This ratio highlights that work in God’s mission does not always yield the hoped-for results. The type of ground influences how the seed is received.

Transformation of Our Hearts

The empire of God is concerned with human hearts. According to our readiness, we receive the word which will transform our hearts. Jesus reminded the disciples that they know the mysteries of God: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the empire of the heavens.”

Jesus quotes two verses from Isaiah: “You will indeed listen but never understand, and you will indeed look but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, so that they might not look with their eyes, and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn and I would heal them” (Is 6:9-10). Jesus states that “this people’s heart has grown dull” (Mt 13:15). On the other hand, the disciples are blessed because their hearts comprehend Jesus and his message (Mt 13:16).

Soil of Our Hearts

The good soil of the parable would have been as well known to Jesus’s first listeners as to gardeners, farmers and horticulturists today.

In Genesis 2, we have the poetic description of humanity’s intimate relationship with fertile soil. The Creator sculptured the earth creature (‘adam) from the dust of the ground (‘adamah). “Groundling from the ground” or “earthling from the earth” is a translation of this poetic Hebrew description of humanity's intimate relationship with the soil. The Creator placed the “groundling” in the garden to “till and keep it” — to cultivate and care for it. This caring extends to the soil as much as to the garden.

We can think of the care we give the physical soil so that its fertility is not depleted. And we can think metaphorically of the soil of our hearts in which grows the word of God. Both need nurturing. Farmers and gardeners today understand seed and soil in much the same way as those who first heard Jesus. A timely harvest is not guaranteed but can be threatened by rain, drought, barren soil — and also war, climate change, cyclones. But with hope and confidence in God’s mercy and love, we can heed the promise that the scattered seed of the Word “will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Is 55:10-11). 

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 283 July 2023: 24-25