Dear Partner in Preaching, I have to confess I’ve always had a certain bias against this parable. Actually, not the parable as much as the interpretation. You probably know the generally accepted theory of the history of composition behind today’s passage. Since Joachim Jeremias published his seminal The Parables of Jesus, biblical scholars have pointed out the shift in emphasis from the parable proper and its explanation nine verses later. The parable is all about the extravagance of the sower, the farmer foolish enough to throw seed anywhere and everywhere, even on paths and patches of stony ground. The explanation, however, shifts...