Mark 4:13-20

Posted by DJL on May 23, 2012 in Daily Bread | 1 comment

And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”

Do you notice the difference? Between the focus and thrust of the explanation of the parable reported in these verses and the parable itself that we read earlier, I mean. In the original parable, the focus is on the sower – the reckless, irresponsible, even wasteful farmer who sows seeds with abandon. Much of the seed won’t take root, but that’s not the point, because the farmer sows so much that eventually some will take root and grow and be harvested in abundance. Jesus tells this parable to describe a God who is similarly reckless, irresponsible, even wasteful when it comes to showering people with love.

In the explanation of the parable in these verses, however, the focus changes to the soil on which the seed is thrown. Here the seed is the word, the good news Jesus proclaims, and the different kinds of soil represent different kinds of hearers. Now the parable invites us to imagine the challenges to hearing and believing the word that confront believers.

The modern approach to this parable is to read the parable itself as the older tradition, the parable which Jesus told his disciples, and to view the explanation as a later tradition, perhaps traced back to another time of teaching between Jesus and his disciples or a later interpretation by the early Christians to understand why so many persons who first heard the word did not remain faithful. Most scholars believe that Mark’s community – the early Christian congregation for whom Mark wrote his gospel – had come through a period of significant difficulty and perhaps persecution during which many of the community left the congregation. Perhaps this explanation helped them make sense of their losses.

This reading of the parable and explanation makes a lot of sense to me, as you can feel the shift in focus between parable and explanation. Except that when you read it this way you often feel like you have to choose – parable or explanation, focus on the sower or the soil. And most modern scholars therefore privilege the original parable because a) they believe this was most likely what Jesus actually said and b) because it fits with the larger vision of the kingdom Jesus shares.

But since Mark includes both, I’m not sure we should have to choose. And the wonderful thing about parables is that they invite more than one interpretation. Parables aren’t puzzles that have only one solution. And they’re not allegories where A always equals B and so forth. Parables are more like riddles that defy settled interpretation, clues to another reality, insights into something bigger than we are.

So why not both? Why not allow – and be enriched by – both interpretations? But with one note: if the modern way to read this scene privileges the parable itself, the more traditional way of understanding this parable is to read it through the explanation, usually with the Bible study leader or preacher exhorting people to “be good soil.” This more moralistic approach to the soil makes some sense, too, and feels like a logical extension of these verses. Except for one thing: soil is soil. The various hearers in the explanation of the parable don’t do anything to become shallow or encircled by thorns, they just are. Similarly, there are no instructions about how to become better soil and Jesus doesn’t offer any advice. Good soil is just good soil. So when we preach the parable moralistically we reach beyond the scope of the parable or its explanation and give people little help to do what we are asking and end up, perhaps, only setting them to wondering if they are good soil or bad.

Which drives us, I think, back to the original parable. The only way to “be good soil,” I think, is to remember the reality and promise of the parable itself that ultimately it’s not up to us but to God, the farmer who sows with abandon out of love. We can’t simply decide what kind of soil we are, but we can trust Jesus’ promise that God will keep sowing seeds, keep showering us with the word of grace, mercy, and love. And remembering that, believing that, we may then receive this promise with joy, grow, and yield a harvest of thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.

Prayer: Dear God, remind us again and again that you will not give up on any of us, that you will keep sowing the word of your mercy and grace until it finds good soil and takes root in our hearts. In Jesus’ name, Amen.