Yesterday, I reflected upon Jesus’ explanation of why he taught in parables rather than indirect speech. Today we go straight into Jesus’ own explanation of the parable of the sower.
Jesus’ parables are like puzzles. They challenge us to take his word painting and work out the answer. He wants us to find. Each parable has one correct answer, and many blind alleys and irrelevant pathways which either delay and divert us, or prevent us from ever arriving at the truth.
The parable of the sower is a powerful challenge in its own right. It challenges us to examine where and how we are planted in a world full of rocks and thorns and worse. Then it challenges us, to turn the environment we inhabit into the good soil, where we will see the word of God flourish and thrive.
We are challenged, in fact, to be the seed of the good soil, that will allow self to die, in order that the word of God, that is Jesus Christ himself, might grow into the strongest, the tallest, the most powerful of plants in this world.
We all see people who are so caught up in their own worlds of self-interest that the word of God will probably never penetrate the path they have laid all around themselves.
We have all met people whose enthusiasm for the Christian message seems to be a shining example for others – that is, until something difficult comes into their lives.
We have all encountered people, who have become so overwhelmed with the difficulties of daily life, that their Christian lives have been either put on hold or abandoned completely.
And, mercifully, we have all seen those, comparatively few, who are totally rooted in their faith, no matter what may happen to them.
Jesus’ solution to the puzzle of the parable of the sower is not one of agricultural economics. His solution is one of faith, and nothing else. His solution challenges us to become one of the totally rooted Christians, whose example leads others into his nearer presence, through our acts of love and service.
I hope and pray that we may all join that blessed company of faithful souls, who, through our words and our deeds, bring many, many others, into a true relationship with Jesus Christ, the one who died and rose again for us all.