And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 13:3-9, New American Standard Bible).

Jesus frequently taught in parables. We often think of them as allegories, where every part of the story represents something else, but that is not always the case. Some are “extended metaphors,” where the entire story points to a truth about the Kingdom of God.

However, Matthew 13:3-9 is more allegorical than many others. The seed represents the Gospel, the good news Jesus was proclaiming and we continue to preach. The sower scatters only one kind of seed. However, he scatters it on four different kinds of soil, representing four groups of people.

Jesus explains the meaning of this parable in Matthew 13:18-23, which we will read on Thursday.

To be continued….

Do you have a favorite parable of Jesus? What do you like most about it?

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