The Saints Gospel 54
The Sower and the Word
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Woven from Matthew 13:1–23 · Mark 4:1–20 · Luke 8:4–15
On that day Jesus went out of the house and began teaching beside the sea. A very great crowd gathered, with people coming from each city, so He entered a boat and sat on the sea, while the crowd stood on the shore. He taught them many things in parables.
“Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, were trampled, and the birds came and devoured them. Others fell on rocky places, where they had little soil, and immediately sprang up because the soil had no depth. When the sun rose, they were scorched; having neither root nor moisture, they withered. Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with them and choked them, and they gave no fruit. Others fell on the good soil, grew and increased, and yielded fruit: some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Let the one who has ears to hear listen.”
When He was alone, those around Him with the Twelve asked what the parable meant and why He spoke in parables.
He answered them, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy, which says: ‘You will hear and hear but certainly not understand; you will look and look but certainly not see. For the heart of this people has grown fat, and with their ears they heard with difficulty, and they closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn, and I will heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.”
He said, “For those outside, everything comes in parables, so that, looking, they may look and not see, and hearing, they may hear and not understand, lest they turn back and be forgiven. Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? Hear, then, the parable of the sower. The seed is God’s word; the sower sows the word. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand, Satan, the evil one, immediately comes and snatches what was sown in his heart, so that he may not believe and be saved. This is the one sown beside the road.
“The one sown on rocky places hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet has no root in himself and lasts only for a time. He believes for a time, but when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, he stumbles and falls away in the time of testing. The one sown among thorns hears the word, but as he goes along, the cares of this age, the deceit of riches, the pleasures of life, and desires for other things enter and choke the word. It becomes unfruitful and brings no fruit to maturity. The one sown on good soil hears the word in a noble and good heart, understands and accepts it, holds it fast, and bears fruit with endurance: some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.”
← 53 Whoever Does the Will of My Father · The Saints Gospel: all scenes · 55 The Lamp and the Growing Seed →
Saints Translation · The Saints Gospel · a harmony of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts 1 · words of Christ in red · working draft awaiting specialist review.