Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 1 Study # 4
February 4, 2020
Moss Bluff, Louisiana

⁽¹⁴⁰⁾

1901 ASV

3 Hearken: Behold, the sower went forth to sow:
4 and it came to pass, as he sowed, some [seed] fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured it.
5 And other fell on the rocky [ground], where it had not much earth; and straightway it sprang up, because it had no deepness of earth:
6 and when the sun was risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
7 And other fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
8 And others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing; and brought forth, thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.
9 And he said, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

• I. The Parable of the Sower Continued.
  • A. The Larger Picture.
    • 1. This is the focus of the "Listen/Behold" preamble.
    • 2. A "sower" went out to sow: This is the "large" issue that stands at the root of all else.
      • a. The "focus" is not upon "the sower"; it is upon the conditions of the soil upon which the seed fell, with a particular emphasis upon what happened to the seed in the light of the condition of the soil.
      • b. The narrative begins with an articular participle (a participle preceded by the definite article, "the"), the main verb ("went out") and an infinitive; the participle and the infinitive are both forms of the same verb: "speiro".
        • 1) The articular participle is used as the "subject" of the sentence and is in the "present tense" (notable because it is "present" within "historical narrative", which typically uses "past tense" forms of verbs) for emphasis reasons.
        • 2) The main verb -- "exelthen" -- is the expected aorist (generally a "past tense" form viewed as an action already taken) of historical narrative. The "parable" is a "story" being presented as historical narrative.
        • 3) The infinitive is also an aorist and presents the "purpose" of the main verb of the sentence: "he went out" "to sow".
      • c. The narrative ends with "He was saying" (Imperfect, Indicative -- drawing the picture out in the readers' minds) and what He was saying ("The one who is having ears to hear, let him hear" -- a Present, Imperative) strongly implies some level of difficulty in understanding.
    • 3. The "seed" fell upon four different "soils": This is the "heart" of the issue.
      • a. There is the soil that is "alongside the path/road".
      • b. There is the soil that is "petrodes" (rock-like) that has the further description of "not having 'much earth' " (underlying rock with a very shallow layer of dirt on it).
      • c. There is the soil that is already heavily occupied by thorny plants which are said "to choke the seed".
      • d. There is the soil that is described as "the good earth", but is immediately described as having a certain "relative goodness" in that the production amounts vary.
    • 4. The condition of the soils determined the outcome of the sower's labor: the seed was "good", but the conditions of the soils dominated the "seed" in respect to its ability to produce a fruitful harvest.
    • 5. The general fact that the "field" where sowing takes place is generally far larger than any of the other places where the seed inadvertently falls, but this is not a factor in the parable and could easily lead to what we described in an earlier study as "the problem with parables".
  • B. The Larger Setting.
    • 1. Jesus, Mark told us, had called "those whom He wanted" and made "The Twelve" out of those called.
    • 2. This "calling" had two aspects: being "with Him" and being "sent forth to preach".
    • 3. In this "with Him" section, He is deliberately addressing "a mystery" regarding the Kingdom with a view to getting His "disciples" ready for their task.
    • 4. Without any question, the "mystery" is focused upon "the sowing of the seed and what happened to the seed because of that sowing".
    • 5. The "general" sense of this "mystery" is that the "seed's" impact is already determined by the conditions of the soils upon which it falls.
    • 6. Another "general" conclusion is that the "disciples" need to understand a most fundamental fact: neither "the sower", nor "the seed", has control over the "outcomes". This seems to be the salient "discipleship truth". At this point, there is no indication that there is anything the "sower" will/can do to "adjust" the conditions of the soils, nor is there any indication that the "soils" can "self-adjust". But, for the "disciples", there is this strong implication: "they" are not supposed to be "overly concerned" about the "outcomes". "They" are not to think that it is the "way" they sow that makes a difference, nor are they to be distressed by the negative realities of "good seed" sown upon "bad soil" as if they might take on "responsibility" for the "outcomes".

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This is article #139.
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