Matt 13 Parable 1 -- Seed and Sower

[mikew]

This is a branch off of another discussion Hiddeness of God

Basically I'll provide some thoughts on the parable of the Seed and Sower of Matt 13:3-8, which also has some scriptural explanation in Matt 13:18-23.
13:3 He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow. 13:4 As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. 13:5 Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. 13:6 When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. 13:7 Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them. 13:8 Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. 13:9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (WEB)

Here's the break off point of the earlier discussion

...snip...
So this seemed to apply only to Jesus' walk on earth and when He preached; the parable wasn't about people hearing the gospel today.

So what is the original application of the parable? Did Matthew include it in his gospel just so people like me, who wonder how people could be so unbelieving after the saw and heard Christ, would have a bit of an explanation? It seems like a lot of wasted words if it was just to explain a short phenomenon which has little application for future generations. You did give a slight application for today
...snip...

The best application today will be gained through understanding the mysteries of the kingdom.

The original application is understood by first seeing Jesus as the Sower. This is revealed in the parable of the Wheat and Tares. And there are some more contextual issues that have to be established to get to this original application.

Since the parable of the Wheat and Tares was that actual situation when a field was sown, seeing a sower on the road shows that the first parable was an earlier event. Jesus then in the first parable is seen as the Sower on the way to the field. Such description then matches best with the time before His death on the cross and the resurrection.

The sowing of the field then would be the time after the resurrection but applying to the first generation -- the crop planted by Jesus.

So in a sense, the parable of the Sower and Seed can be seen to describe what happened to people hearing the gospel and responding to the gospel before the Day of Pentecost. Though some more flexible interpretation could be acceptable. The parable may not fit this strictest limitation.

In this light, the parable doesn't have to be interpreted as a reference to predestination.

The original application was to help the early disciples understand why some of the supposed believers among them were falling away. The quickest to fall were described as being seed eaten by birds. The longer lasting ones were like seed in the rocks.

A separate problem is shown later about another type of people that fell away. This situation was described where actual bad seed, tares, were intentionally planted by Satan. This is different from good seed, the word of the kingdom, being planted.

[darinhouston]

In this light, the parable doesn't have to be interpreted as a reference to predestination.

I agree with you -- I thought you were describing it that way in your earlier post.

[mikew]

In this light, the parable doesn't have to be interpreted as a reference to predestination.

I agree with you -- I thought you were describing it that way in your earlier post.

My earlier study saw this more in a manner of predestination, but looking at it today, with your question, I saw it a little differently. That's one reason I like discussing this stuff.