The Parable of the Sower

Matthew 13:1-9
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That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. 2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat
down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. 3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower
went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 “Others fell on the rocky
places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 “But when the sun
had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 “Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns
came up and choked them out. 8 “And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.
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“He who has ears, let him hear.”

Four men lived in a box that was placed temporarily upon a large table in the kingdom of God. The four
men stood continuously back to back and talked with each other. This is what they liked to say.
Man #1: “I see the white wall yonder has much improved since we last talked, wouldn’t you say?”
Man #2: “Oh yes, I certainly agree that its whiteness is much more splendid from what we saw
yesterday.”
Man #3: “I see that the floor has retained its solidity as well.”
Man #4: Yes indeed, it may even be a bit firmer today!”
And all four men in unison: “It is well that we are here and all is as it should be.”

Each day this conversation played itself out, predictably, and without much variation. The men stood
shoulder to shoulder and back to back each day, understanding their world completely and questioning nothing.
That is, until a day came when one of the men, quite by accident, leaned his head back and glanced up. ‘Up’
was a direction that they had never considered and the man soon discovered why. Because, when he looked
‘Up’ he saw space without end and color that was completely foreign and incomprehensible to him. He saw the
blueness of sky and the endless depth of a clear spring day. He quickly looked back down in fear and confusion
and promptly wiped the notion of ‘Up’ from his mind. So comfortable with what he saw before and below his
eyes, he that he never again desired to look anyplace else, and of course he never did. And so went Man #1.
Man #2, however, felt the first man’s movement and was startled enough by it to look around and see
what had happened. This in itself was a new thing for the men, caring enough about the other to actually try to
look at them and see what could be the matter, and was the first good to come from the accidental upward
glance of the first man. When Man #2 did look around he too caught sight of the sky beyond the tops of the four
white walls they so contentedly stared at each day. He too was startled by the depth and incomprehensibility of
the absence of substance that he looked into. This man however reacted against the tremble he felt in his
companion and remarked aloud, “It is a new thing, look!” He expected his brothers to respond as he did, with
happiness at the discovery of a new thing, but they all did not respond in that way. Man #3 looked and saw and
was deeply troubled. He did not fear the blueness of ‘sky’ even though it was new and inconceivable; he
worried instead about what it would mean to the order of their lives if they even attempted to understand it. So
even though the thing had always been part of their world, if outside of their consciousness, the man decided
very quickly that he would not risk losing sight of the comfort of the wall before him in order to gaze into the
endlessness of space. He turned to Man #2 and commanded him to look away and cease his reckless regard for
‘Up.’ And Man #2, being afraid of losing the companionship of his box-mates, turned his head back to front and
down and tried to re-content himself with the old-ness of white. So went man #2 and #3.
It was Man #4 who did what the others would not. And it is in no small part that his choice was only
made possible by the failure of the other three. If not for Man #1’s tremble, Man #2 would never have seen and
rejoiced, Man #3 would not have spoken out so boldly against it, and Man #4 might never have even become
aware of it. But aware he became, and in Man #4 was neither fear nor worry, but only curiosity; and curiosity
was enough. ‘Up’ he looked and he saw what was so plainly there that he laughed out loud. “We are in a box,
just as we have always known!” he said to himself. “And we’ve never even considered anything that was not
box, so content we are with our understanding and mastery of our box.” The man not only looked ‘Up’ but
actually stepped back from his companions and looked at it from every position that the box would allow. From
one corner he saw the tops of what were great trees of green and from the opposite corner he caught a glimpse
of the snow caps of mountains. None of this made any sense to the man. None of the colors were identifiable,
none of the shapes could he understand. But the more he looked the more he seemed to see, and with his sight
came the glimmer of wisdom. And with wisdom came the word, ‘Out.’
“Out,” he said. “We must get out into that place.” He waved his arm wildly and gestured both ‘Up’ and
‘Out’ to his brothers. But the other three men steadfastly refused to even acknowledge they understood his
intent. Man #3 went so far as to rebuke the man for upsetting the security of the box. The three blind men
formed a new circle in the center of the box, shoulder to shoulder and back to back, but with now only three and
not four.
Man #4 would not be deterred. He continued his study of what he could now clearly see. From every
possible viewpoint he considered up-ness and out-ness and he became convinced that they were not only real,
but more real than what was in the box. And if more real, he reasoned, then possibly there was a way to get out
there; possibly a Someone, like himself, who would help him. “Can anyone hear me?” he called out. The other
men grumbled at his foolishness, as they deemed it. To call to one who could not be seen and therefore must not
exist was even more foolish than contemplating the ‘outside’ of the box!
But Man #4 was not so easily put off and he continued to call out. “Anyone?” he called. “Please, if you
can hear me, won’t you come and help? I cannot get out by myself.” His answer came to him one night, but not
in the manner he had expected. He woke one morning and found a letter in his lap addressed to him and him
alone. Inside he found what he had so long waited for, confirmation that what he had hoped to be true was true.
Jumping to his feet he roused his three blind brothers and showed them his letter. “It tells us all that what I have
been imagining is true! There is an outside to this place, and it is far better than I had thought!”
But of course, the other men would not listen and one of them, Man #3 even tore the letter from the
hands of Man #4 and destroyed it. Man #4 was sad for the loss of his letter and for the irreparable rift that now
separated him from his brothers but the joy of his hope burned ever the more brightly in his chest. For now he
knew, really knew, that the day would come when he would be able to go outside and stay forever. His wait was
long, but not entirely unfruitful. He continued his studies of the inside and found several interesting evidences
for what he hoped existed outside. He also did what he could to help the blind men even through their constant
ridicule. And he remained resolute, he was no longer content with the world as he had once known it, he was
sure he would be leaving it for another and a better.
The day came when the three men in the center of the box found themselves alone and without the
irritation of the constant excitement of Man #4. They woke to find that he was gone, vanished from the box.
They did not know how to explain his disappearance and inside each of them the seed was planted that maybe,
just maybe, the man had indeed gotten ‘Out’ and ‘Up’ and was in a better place. But to this day they have not
done much to grow that seed. And they, the three blind men in a box, continue on much as they have always
done.
And Man #4? He is living the high life, both figuratively and literally.
He woke to find himself outside the box that wonderful morning and standing in the freshness of a great
plain of tall grass gently blowing in the breeze. The sun was rising enormous on the horizon and the mountains
towered in the distance, both majestic and serene. The table and the box stood beside him and the man peered
into it curiously. Inside his former brothers were just waking up. He could just barely make out their small
voices as they began their morning routine, “I see the white wall yonder has much improved since…
Man #4 chuckled and shook his head, “One day they will see.”
He turned his face to the sun and spread wide his arms to catch the warmth. He heard voices from across
the plain beckoning him to join them and he ran toward them, skipping and jumping like a little boy.

Matthew 13:10-23
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And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has
been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 “For whoever has, to him more
shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13
“Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they
understand. 14 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;
YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; 15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY
HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I
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WOULD HEAL THEM.’ “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 “For truly I say to you that
many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. 18
“Hear then the parable of the sower. 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 the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20 “The one on whom
seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root
in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 “And
the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the
deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 “And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the
man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some
thirty.”1

1 New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995