When we say, “The Bible is the Word of God,” we mean that it originates from God. After all, God the Holy Spirit inspired various writers of old to put words to parchment. And the Holy Spirit inspired His Church to copy, preserve, and collect those writings into what we, today, call the Bible.
But the Bible isn’t merely a collection of information. The Bible isn’t a science book, although it does tell us the origins of the universe. It isn’t a history book, although it does tell us of Israel’s history. It isn’t a book on ethics, although it does contain the Ten Commandments. Jesus says that all Scripture is to testify of Him (John 5:39).
So, the Bible isn’t a book about the kingdom of this world, but the kingdom of God. Jesus even said that when He was explaining the parable in our Gospel reading for today (Luke 8:10). That means the Parable of the Sower has nothing to do with farming, except that Jesus uses farming as a backdrop to tell us another story. And that story is to point us to Him, to “the kingdom of God” (Luke 8:10).
That also means that the Parable of the Sower is not about us. We aren’t the sower in the parable; Jesus is. He is the kingdom of God condensed into one man. And what seed is Jesus sowing? He tells us: “the seed is the Word of God” (Luke 8:11). So, once again, we are thrown back to what “the Word of God” is.
And again, the Word of God that Jesus sows isn’t merely information, as if the soil could somehow choose how it will respond to that seed. Can soil decide to receive the seed or not? No; the soil is just there! Can soil choose to bring the seed to life, to fulfill what the sower would like to happen to his seed? No; the soil is just there.
And what a reckless farmer the sower is! He casts his seed everywhere, in places where it could never grow into a full plant, let alone produce a crop. For instance, he sows his seed on a hard-packed walking path. Seed can’t germinate on that concrete-like soil; it’ll just sit there for the birds to snatch up and eat.
It’s then that we learn: “The seed on the path are those who hear, but then the devil comes and snatches the word from their hearts, so that they don’t believe and are saved” (Luke 8:12). On such soil, the seed never had a chance; the devil came and snatched it from them. Oh, the Word of God entered their ears, but they did not believe. The fault was not with the seed. It was good seed, but the devil came and snatched it away before faith could take root.
The sower also sowed the seed on rocky soil. And although the seed was good seed, the germinated plant died because the rocky soil could not hold water. “The seed on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but fall away when their faith is tested” (Luke 8:13). They believed and trusted in Jesus for a time, but quit believing when times became tough. Their faith withered away in the summer drought.
The seed also fell on thorn-infested soil. And the seed being good seed, germinated, but the thorns choked the life out of the plant from that germinated seed. They hear the Word of God, “but as they go on their way, the worries, riches, and pleasures of life choke them, and their fruit does not mature” (Luke 8:14).
Fruit that doesn’t mature is bad fruit, not even worth harvesting. A couple of chapters earlier, Jesus said, “A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit” (Luke 6:43). So the person the thorn-infested soil represents is also outside the kingdom of God, producing only bad fruit. And again, the problem for this was not the seed that was sown, but the soil, the person.
So, from these first three soils, we learn this truth: Salvation is all God’s doing. He, Jesus, sows the seed. And He only sows good seed, for the parable never tells us of bad seed, but only of bad soil.
Unlike our salvation, our falling away from the faith is our doing, our fault. We believe for a while but fall way when times get tough. We allow the cares and pleasures of this world to choke to death the good seed of faith within us. Be forewarned!
We also learn that our good works in Christ are the result of the planted seed living its life within us, and through us. If it weren’t for the thorns choking the seed of faith that germinated, good works in God’s eyes would be abounding.
So, we can’t even boast in our good works! After all, the plant produces the good works, not the soil. If you listen to the parable, the soil never gets credit for producing the crop; it’s always the plant. The soil only gets credit for killing the germinated plant. Even the lack of good works in our life of faith is our fault.
But how can the seed that Jesus sows do all that? That’s the point. The seed isn’t a powerless Word, only containing information, waiting for the soil to do with it as it chooses. The seed is powerful and brings faith, life, and good works into being, all of which are the result of the seed, not the soil.
We can’t produce faith. We can’t even choose to receive it, any more than soil can choose to receive the seed that the sower has thrown its way. The soil is only the cause of falling away from faith, not the cause of producing fruit, good works.
So, what is that seed, which the parable describes as the “Word of God”? The Word of God is, first, Jesus. As John’s Gospel tells us: “and the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us” (John 1:14). And Jesus, as both God and man, has the power to give and strengthen faith. For speaking of Jesus as the Word, the book of Hebrews says: “The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even into the place where soul and spirit meet” (Hebrews 4:12).
The Word of God does what it says; it’s that powerful. And that Word is Jesus as He comes to us is His Gospel Word. But that Word comes to us in more than one way.
Did you catch that, in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus mentioned the “secrets of the kingdom of God” (Luke 8:10). That word for “secrets” is a plural, more than one. It’s also the word for “mystery,” or “sacrament” if we used a Latin translation. So, what are the “secrets” that those in God’s kingdom are given to know that non-believers do not know? They are how Jesus comes to us in Word and Sacrament to give us Himself, the One who is the Word of God, to give us life and salvation.
But we would negligent if we didn’t look at the fourth soil in the parable. And when we do that, the danger for us is to think, “I need to become the fourth soil, the good soil in the parable.” The seed in that soil “came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown” (Luke 8:8). “The seed in the good soil, these are the ones who, hearing the word, cling to it with an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance” (Luke 8:15).
And isn’t that like us? We take what Jesus does and turn it into what we have to do. He sows the good seed, but we have to turn ourselves into the good soil. Let me ask you this: can soil change itself? Can rocky ground will itself into becoming a rock-free soil filled with nutrients and moisture for the seed? No. In the parable, what gets the credit for the crop that grew from that fourth soil, the soil or the seed? It’s the seed.
So, we are once again thrown back to the Sower and the seed He casts our way, which is the Sower Himself. You see, the hinge to understand this parable comes down to one verb, a participle: “hearing.” “Hearing the Word,” “these are the ones who cling to it with an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance.” That’s the Word of God, Jesus, doing His work within us. We can’t cling to the Word of God, Jesus, “with a good and honest heart” unless the Word comes to us first.
The soil the seed needs to thrive isn’t from soil that can change itself from bad to good. Soil can’t do that. That’s obvious. Here’s something else that obvious–if you grew up in Israel. Israel had good soil to grow crops, but only if the farmer prepared the soil. Without the farmer doing his work, the soil remained rocky and dry, suited for scrub brush and thorns.
Israel was full of the three bad soils that Jesus used in His parable. For good soil to exist meant that the farmer plowed the field, removed the rocks, and brought water to the soil, making it hospitable for his seed. Even the good soil is a result of the Sower’s doing.
We can’t even take credit for being good soil! What we are in our life with Christ is the result of His work, His Gospel. That’s the point of the parable. Knowing that we should be good soil doesn’t give us the ability become that, any more than we have the power to become sinless. Good soil requires Jesus, the Sower, to do His work.
As Jesus says, “The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me” (John 15:5). And that’s how you live–not in and of yourself–but in Christ. He strengthens you through the “the secrets of the kingdom of God,” so you yield a crop, a hundred times more than what was sown (Luke 8:8, 10). In Him, you live the life of faith, producing good works, brought about by Christ as you remain in Him, and He remains in you.
That’s how you live, and that’s also how you die–in Christ. So, come to remain in Him as He remains in you, as you receive the “secret,” the “mystery,” the “sacrament,”of the Word made flesh, coming to you in His body and blood (1 Cor 2:7-8, Eph 3:3-4, Rom 16:25-26). Amen.
