The Sower and the Soils: A Parable About Telling Parables

Have you heard this joke?  “Mooo!”  Forgive me.  I just gave you the punch line before the joke.  Let me try again:  “Knock, knock.”  “Who is there?”  “Interrupting cow.” “Interrupting cow wh…”  “Mooo!”

Good joke telling takes timing, builds tension and fosters curiosity.  It is the same with parables.  Those who want to hear what Jesus is saying are intrigued by his story.  Their curiosity is peaked.  They are on the edge of their seat, hoping to understand, but those who don’t care about what Jesus is saying are even more baffled by these ridiculous stories.  It is what Jesus says between the parable and the parable’s explanation that seems to be the key to unlocking it’s riddle:

Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in

parables?”   He answered….“The reason I speak to them in parables is that

‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they under-

stand.’  With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:

“…This people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and

they have shut their eyes; so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen

with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn– and I would heal them.”

(Matthew 13:10,13-15)

The underlying question is, “Jesus, why is it that some accept your message and others reject it?  Why doesn’t everyone get it?  And what are you doing about it?”  Jesus’ answer, “I tell parables”.  This is a parable about telling parables.  Essentially, the disciples are asking, “Why don’t you just give us the punch line already!?  We’re tired of hearing these jokes.”  To which Jesus replies, “Not everyone is ready to laugh and I want to split your sides with laughter!  Therefore, I am cultivating in them the desire to hear me.  To really hear me, not just what they want to hear.”  (For a further explanation of this read Jean Dominique Crossan’s Dark Interval and In Parables)

This is illustrated in the parable as well.  The sower of this story is one lousy farmer, throwing seed all over the place.  Any careful farmer would hear Jesus’ story and say, “What on earth are you doing!  That’s perfectly good seed you are wasting.  Only plant the seed in good soil.”  While Jesus might not be commending best practices for farming, he is describing an extravagant grace that is a surprise to the listener.  At God’s expense this gracious word is for everyone everywhere.

So how do we get good soil?  Good soil can’t make itself.  Someone else has to do that.  Even by the act of describing the poor soils, Jesus is doing the hard work of tilling the earth, pulling the weeds, and creating nutrient rich dirt.  The thing that is being spoken of happens by the speaking of it. (In the world of counseling this relational dynamic is called Parallel Processing.)

Jesus is creating good soil, that is to say, Jesus is creating receptivity to his message in his listeners simply by telling the parable, sparking the desire within their hearts to listen, turn to God and be healed.  In the larger context of the Gospel, the good news is that Jesus himself is the “word of the kingdom” that is “eaten up”, “scorched” and “choked out” on the cross for the healing of the world.  So have a seat and put your listening caps on.  Jesus has a story to tell.