Mk 4:1-20
1On another occasion [Jesus] began to teach by the sea. .... 2And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, 3“Hear this! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. 6And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. 7Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. 8And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.” 10And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables. 11He answered them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables, 12so that ‘they may look and see but not perceive,/ and hear and listen but not understand,/ in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.’ ” 13Jesus said to them, “... 14The sower sows the word. 15These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them. 16And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. 17But they have no root; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, 19but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. 20But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
AS HE SOWED: Compared to the Judean region, Galilee is a land of fertile valleys, fit for grazing and farming. But much of the land is also hilly and has to be terraced and cleansed of rocks and thorns in order to be cultivated.
In the parable, a hired servant or tenant farmer struggles with hostile conditions. Much of the seed is “wasted,” but the effort and the risk are rewarded by the fruitful harvest from the seed that falls on rich soil. The impossible yields are typical of the cultural hyperbole. Normally, a good yield is between two- and fivefold. This may be true of produce of the land, but it is different with the “seed” that Jesus sows on human hearts. Indeed Jesus sows “in excess”: he does not hold back or fear “wasting” his grace on arid and unresponsive hearts. He knows that his patience and grace will eventually produce the desired harvest.