Dr Paul Allen

The Sower (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) MATTHEW 13:18 –23 “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit ” (v. 23) Matthew groups Jesus ’ teaching into five major discourses, and the parables in chapter 13 constitute the third of these collections. Of these parables, few are more well known than the parable of the sower (vv. 1–9, 18–23). Though this parable is more commonly named after the sower of the seed, the “parable of the soils ” is a more fitting title. The role of the sower in the story is important, but the parable’s point is twofold: first, to explain why different soils—different people—respond differently to the Gospel and, second, to invite us to examine ourselves to think about the kind of soil we hope to be. The parable and its explanation are straightforward enough. All of the first three people portrayed are ultimately hard in heart, but the hardness is especially clear in the person described in ver

Landscape with the Parable of the Sower (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 13:18–23 “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit” (v. 23). Matthew groups Jesus ’ teaching into five major discourses, and the parables in chapter 13 constitute the third of these collections. Of these parables, few are more well known than the parable of the sower (vv. 1–9, 18–23). Though this parable is more commonly named after the sower of the seed, the “parable of the soils ” is a more fitting title. The role of the sower in the story is important, but the parable’s point is twofold: first, to explain why different soils — different people — respond differently to the Gospel and, second, to invite us to examine ourselves to think about the kind of soil we hope to be. The parable and its explanation are straightforward enough. All of the first three people portrayed are ultimately hard in heart, but the hardness is especially cl