Parables are stories using everyday life to teach spiritual truths about God, about His Kingdom, and about our lives. The word “parable” refers to a short narrative that has spiritual value, even if it is not necessarily literally true. There may be several connections between a specific parable and the reality it portrays. Parables are the teaching method Jesus chose most often to explain eternal life, and to show the love of God and the expectations He has for us.
In this passage, the Lord tells a parable of a sower sowing a field. The parable teaches us about our choices and the dispositions of our hearts. We may sometimes find ourselves not keeping the Word of God, and not bearing fruit, that is, not having our hearts open to Christ. Nevertheless, God calls us to recognize the hardness of our hearts, and to turn to Him so that we may be filled with the Holy Spirit and bear fruit.
Behind every parable, there is a deeper meaning of our faith. The Sower, who is God, goes about in a field that has been plowed, walking in between the crevices with a bag of seeds, throwing them on both sides. He sows the Word of God, who is Christ, so that He may take root in our hearts and bear many blessings in our lives and the lives of others.
In the first case, the seed falls by the wayside, so the devil plucks it because it does not take root and, therefore, is not “profitable.” It never bears fruit. In the second case, the seed falls on the rocky part of the field and does not grow any lasting roots. The temporary growth disappears when harmful things, like temptation or a trial of suffering, come to us. We might mistakenly think God has abandoned us when, in reality, He is providing us the space to exercise our free will, so that we may approach him voluntarily. When grace seems to withdraw, we may turn our backs on Him and take comfort in worldly pleasures. So, we fall away. Again, the seed bears no fruit. In the third case, the seed falls in the part of the field with thorns, and these thorns represent the riches, cares, and pleasures of life. In other words, the Word of God does not take root because the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life choke it. In the last case, the seed falls on noble and good hearts which hear it and keep it and, therefore, become profitable, as they bear much fruit and yield a crop. These are the hearts that are open to God, hear His Word, and keep it. The Word of God, which is the presence of Christ, transforms the hearts that long for God to dwell in them.
Difficult situations may occur to us at times, but they are not necessarily permanent. As such, the parable is both a warning for us to guard our hearts in God, and an invitation to turn around when we have not kept the Word of God in our hearts. Saint Cyril of Alexandria says that some of us might enter the church and feel joyful that it is full of people. We hear the Gospel and praise God, and we hear the sermon and praise the preacher, but when we go out, we forget what we heard and go about our usual business without storing the words of God in our hearts. So that the Divine Seed, the Word of God, may blossom in us well, he says, let us first cast out of our minds worldly cares and unprofitable anxiety which makes us seek the things of this world. God the Sower sows and teaches, and His Word falls upon His listeners everywhere. We might choose to become like hard soil, that is, we might choose to harden our hearts to Christ and His Word. We might also choose to forget the Word of God when we hear it, so we become like a rock, where roots cannot get water. We might even prefer to follow the things of this world, so that they become thorns and choke the Word of God in us.
On the other hand, like good soil, we may choose to open our hearts sincerely to Christ, so that He, the Word of God, will take root, change us, and cause us to be fruitful. Jesus says that those who become fertile soil do three things: keep the Word, bear fruit, and do so with patient endurance. Holding the Word with an honest and good heart, we bring forth fruit with patience. This is a powerful message for all of us today.
We rush daily to achieve our goals, even materialistic ones, in this life. Most of the time, we realize that we need patience to accomplish our goals. More importantly, as we grow in Him through His Word, we begin to understand and be inspired to rush with great zeal to grow spiritually. As we open ourselves to His Word, our hearts are set aflame to seek spiritual goals in our lives. Through patience, humility, prayer, participation in the Holy Sacraments of the Church, and continued study of the Scriptures and Church Fathers, we achieve our goals.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear, the Lord says. Jesus often uses this phrase to teach us to keep our spiritual senses awake so faith can take root in our souls. We have human senses such as sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. We also have spiritual senses that we obtain in baptism and the Holy Spirit. We hear God’s Word, and we open the eyes of our hearts (also known as the nous) by participating in the work of the Holy Spirit.
We taste and see that the Lord is good, as we receive His Body and Blood in Holy Communion. We smell the prayers through the incense, and we touch the physical creations God has sanctified, such as icons, water, and oil. As we develop our spiritual senses, we naturally begin to spread the Gospel and invite everyone on earth to experience the love of our God and Creator.
The positive impact of the parables depends on the hearers’ willingness to hear. Jesus often calls upon His hearers to listen carefully. We, as human beings, are created by God through the Word, Who is Christ, in the Holy Spirit. As such, we have the potential to respond to God’s Word if we do not choose to close our ears to Him. Jesus speaks not only the words of life, but He is the Word and the Light, Who is life-giving power. God
calls us to receive that Light and life by opening our ears and opening our hearts. As the seed grows in the field and bears fruit when it finds good soil, water, and sun, so also does the Word of God grow in our hearts to transform us into new people. When He finds the soil of faith, the water of good works, and the sun of grace, we become the vineyard of the Lord and we bear everlasting fruit.
The Son of God is the Vine, and we are the branches. The Father is the Sower, He is the Vinedresser, that is, the one who cultivates vines. Jesus is the Seed and the Sun, and the Holy Spirit is the water. We receive His Life, His Word, His sacraments, and eternity, as He is the Tree of Life Who nourishes us, the branches. We bear fruit for our own salvation, as well as the salvation of others. The Lord asks us to open our hearts to Him, to become hearers of the Word. We have the free will to make our hearts and souls fertile ground for the grace of God. When we pray and read the Scriptures daily, we become fertile ground for the Word of God. When we prepare our hearts to hear and participate in the words of the Divine Liturgy, which contains the Word of God, Jesus Christ, we become soil that bears much fruit. When we partake of His Body and Blood, we eat of the Tree of Life and inherit Paradise. By opening our ears and hearts to Christ the Logos, we are transformed, and with patience, we bear much fruit for our salvation and the whole world’s salvation.
