The Parable Of The Sower
Preaching
Preaching Mark's Gospel
A Narrative Approach
We have indicated a number of times that the Parable of the Sower plays a crucial role in the overall structure of Mark's Gospel. One aspect of its importance is the amount of space it takes up in Mark's Gospel. It can be argued that Mark 4:1-34 is part of a whole in this crucial teaching of Jesus. Another aspect of the parable's importance is that it is told twice. Jesus tells the parable (4:3-9). Then he explains the parable (Mark 4:14-20). The second telling is more of an allegory.
In the Preface we set forth some basic realities about this par-able based on the insights of Donald Juel and Mary Ann Tolbert. Tolbert comes to her study of Mark with a background of research in the ancient novels of the Hellenistic world of Jesus' day. She believes that it is possible to assume that the readers of Mark's Gospel were familiar with this genre of literature. She is convinced, furthermore, that the Gospel of Mark has many similarities to these ancient novels. She concludes her remarks in this area with the following summary:
While the Gospel of Mark and the early examples of the ancient novel obviously do not share the same story line, their rhetorical, stylistic, and linguistic similarities are conspicuous. Both are synthetic, conventional narratives that combine historiographic form with epic and dramatic substance. Episodic plots, central turning points, final recognition sequences, dialogic scenes with narrative frames, sparing but crucial use of monologue, repetition, narrative summaries, foreshadowing, and monolithic, illustrative characters are some of the elements the Gospel and ancient novels have in common ƒ If the Gospel of Mark is an example of Hellenistic popular literature, we have uncovered a major reason for its opacity and apparent muddle for modern readers ƒ If Mark is a popular literary text, modern readers absolutely must discern some of the competencies of the authorial audience in order to have any hope of following the story. 1
We cannot, in a work of this nature, pursue each line of endeavor that Tolbert outlines. One of the characteristics of ancient novels and the Gospel of Mark is the use of plot synopses. We touched upon this in the Preface. Tolbert sees these plot synopses as a key to unlock the overall meaning of Mark's narrative. She identifies the two lengthy parables told in Mark's Gospel as the keys to the plot of the entire narrative. These parables are the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (12:1-12). She asserts that the Parable of the Sower is the plot synopsis of the first ten chapters of Mark; the Parable of the Tenants is the plot synopsis of the last six chapters. This analysis fits the "geography" of Mark's narrative. The first ten chapters take place in Galilee. The last six chapters occur in Jerusalem. So it may be that each "geographical" area of the Gospel contains a parable or parables of Jesus which summarize the plot thereof.
Jesus' story of the Sower is the first time in the Gospel that we have before us a sustained teaching of Jesus. This alone marks it as important! We set the context for the parable in the last chapter in discussing the two chapters (Mark 2 and 3) of constant rejection of Jesus and his mission. It is helpful to see the Parable of the Sower in this context. Rejection of the coming reign of God is answered by agricultural stories of the coming reign of God. Much of the soil on which the Sower sows the seed is not good soil. That's the problem. But, in spite of this problem, there will be in many hearts an exceedingly abundant harvest: thirtyfold, sixtyfold, a hundredfold! The coming of God's reign is not a lamp to hide under a bushel! God's reign is a light that should show forth throughout the whole world (Mark 4:21-22). "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" (Mark 4:23).
This plea to listen is a key part of the story of the Sower and of Mark's Gospel. The parable begins with an imperative: Listen! It ends with an imperative: "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" (Mark 4:9). In Jesus' interpretation of the parable it is clear that the parable is told about different kinds of hearing. The Sower sows the word. Some hear and some don't hear. It may look for a time that no one is listening. But the harvest will come in incredible plenty.
The verses between the telling of the parable and its allegorical explanation are difficult (Mark 4:10-13). Those who listen to Jesus are the insiders. To them the secret of the kingdom has been given. For the outsiders everything is in parables "ƒ in order that 'they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven' " (Mark 4:12). These are hard words from the Old Testament story of the call of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10). There is no escaping the intent of these words. Jesus intends that a veil be cast over the minds of many at the sound of his word. Juel puts the matter thus:
God alone can open eyes and ears, and will not. The present, Isaiah is told, is a time of veiling and punishment. There seems no escape from the implication: God has the sovereign right to determine who will and who will not see and hear „ and repent ƒ [Jesus] intends „ at least at this stage in his ministry „ to keep outsiders in the dark ƒ The one who told parables was hung on a cross. That does not remove the offense, however, it only deepens the mystery ƒ The statement is of a piece with Jesus' silencing of the demons and his injunctions to people he has healed not to make him known. We are not given an explanation of his reasons ƒ We learn only a few verses later that Jesus' ultimate intention is not veiling and concealment. The goal of his mission is disclosure. Nothing is hid except to be made manifest (4:22). The story is headed somewhere. Jesus' sowing will lead ultimately to the harvest ƒ .2
Juel also helps us interpret the soil. There are many readings of this parable which put much emphasis on the soil. We must be good soil! We must be good listeners! We must get it right! Juel sees a problem here. A promise has been turned into a demand. Soil, he maintains, is a passive image. "The soil will produce „not because it can make some Herculean effort but because it is good soil and the farmer knows his business."3 This promise of a harvest stands over the rest of Mark's story. What we do not know at this juncture of the story is for whom the promise is intended. Who are the ones who listen and believe? Who are the good soil people? We don't know. We have heard and are called to believe that the promise will bear fruit. There is more to this story! We must read on.
In another work, Juel turns his mind to this parable. He reminds us again of how crucial the narrative setting is for understanding the parable. We must remember two things about this parable above all else. "First, the parable needs to be read as speaking about the Kingdom of God. It is, after all, God's work that the parable „ and the Gospel „ seek to understand ƒSecond, the parable is interpreted as having to do with reception of the Word."4 The emphasis here is on reception. The emphasis in the parable is on what kinds of hearers we are. Hearing is passive! It does not depend upon human efforts! The kingdom comes through the work of the Sower and not through the work of the soil!
This is true of the Gospel writer, Mark, as well. His Gospel sows the seed. It doesn't end. There is no ending to this Gospel. Just sowing. Sowing that ultimately falls upon our hearts. At this point we must simply trust the promise of the parable that the harvest will be plentiful in our lives and in the lives of all who hear. Faith comes through what is heard!
In the Preface reference was made to Tolbert's attempts to align the characters in other stories in the Gospel as examples of different kinds of hearing.5 In examining the Gospel she finds that the scribes, the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Jerusalem Jews are examples of seed sown on the way, seed sown that Satan immediately takes away. Tolbert has said that once we have the plot synopsis of the Parable of the Sower we ought to be on the lookout for people in Mark's story who are like these different kinds of soil. For the ancient reader/listener the suspense in a story was not about what would happen. They knew that from the plot synopsis. What they didn't know was how the plot would play itself out. We can be alert, as well, to stories that relate to the different kinds of soil. An occasional sermon in the year of Mark might work with these narrative connections.
For the seed sown in rocky ground Tolbert turns to the disciples as exemplars. We have noted earlier her identification of Simon, surnamed Peter/rock by Jesus, with the rocky ground that is the disciples. Rocky ground people respond immediately to the sowing of the word. When the first disciples were called it was noted that immediately they followed Jesus (Mark 1:18). Another link to the disciples is the language in the parable of falling away (Mark 4:17). This is just the language Jesus uses of the disciples in Mark 14:27, 29. On this basis Tolbert identifies the disciples, especially Peter, James and John, as the exemplars of the rocky ground.
The exemplars of those sown among the thorns are the rich man in Mark 10:17-22 and King Herod, Mark 6:14-29. [The story of Pilate might well be added to this list (Mark 15:1-15).] Both the rich man and Herod are sorry for what they are asked to do. Both men are prevented from acting on their better instincts by other things. "ƒ The cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing" (Mark 4:19). A sermon on these two men (and also Pilate?) in relation to the thorny ground might be very relevant in our day. The cares of the world, the lust for wealth and the desire for other things live strong in our land! (See chapter 17).
And the good soil. Tolbert's identification of these hearers focuses primarily on the three stories in Mark 5. Before we come to these stories, however, we must note the story told in Mark 4:35-41. In this story the disciples stand before the two possibilities of life in the presence of the coming-near reign of God. They can evidence fear or they can have faith. The disciples will be seen to be people of fear quite often in Mark's story. But the people in Mark 5 „ a man who lives in the Greek cities of the Decapolis and is possessed by a demon, a poor woman with a flow of blood, and a leader of a Jewish synagogue „ are people of faith. In them the word produces thirtyfold, sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
It is quite amazing to look again at the narrative context of the Parable of the Sower. The chapters leading up to this parable tell story after story of the rejection of Jesus. The Parable of the Sower is addressed to this rejection and indicates that some soil is not ripe for the reception of the kingdom, but the day will come when an abundant harvest bursts forth. Mark 5 seems to chronicle the abundant harvest! All of a sudden, following the parable, people respond to Jesus and amazing fruit is borne in their bodies. There is much fruit for narrative preaching of gospel stories here!
At the end of her analysis of the four kinds of soil, Tolbert makes an interesting assertion about the kingdom of God in Mark. She is convinced that the Greek word for kingdom (basileia) stands behind Mark's thinking. The Greek word for kingdom, in contrast with the Aramaic word, has a stronger spatial perspective.
By explicating the kingdom of God through the metaphor of good earth, Mark appears to be developing the concept in its Greek form ƒ For Mark, the kingdom of God is God's ground which produces of itself and in transforming abundance. It is not so much God's reign that is at issue but the land over which God legitimately rules, a land that has at least in part been usurped by evil powers ƒ The parables of the Four Types of Earth ƒ demonstrate a remarkable confluence of ground imagery for the kingdom of God: it is the good earth that yields fruit; the earth that, once sown, produces of itself; the earth that can transform a tiny seed into a magnificent bush; and a lovingly created and planted vineyard now in the hands of tenants who refuse to provide fruit to the lord of the vineyard. 6
Still, Tolbert notes, the agricultural metaphor for the kingdom can be taken too far. "ƒ The mystery of the kingdom is not agricultural but human. It is the human heart, not land, that is the seat of God's domain." 7
Mark tells the story of the Sower of the Word who liberally sows his seed on human hearts. If anything, the story is left in mystery concerning human response to the generosity of the Sower. Always, always, Mark's story ends in human hearts, in our human heart. The promise of the Sower is that this sowing will one day produce an abundant harvest in our lives. We are among those privileged to be called to sow this Word on the soil of human hearts. We sow the word trusting in the promise of the Sower!
____________
1. Mary Ann Tolbert, Sowing The Gospel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989), pp. 78-79.
2. Donald H. Juel, Mark (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1990), pp. 71-72.
3. Ibid., p. 75.
4. Donald H. Juel, A Master of Surprise (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994), p. 59.
5. Mary Ann Tolbert, Sowing the Gospel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989), pp. 148-175. Material in this section is dependent on Tolbert's discussion.
6. Ibid., p. 172.
7. Ibid., p. 173.
In the Preface we set forth some basic realities about this par-able based on the insights of Donald Juel and Mary Ann Tolbert. Tolbert comes to her study of Mark with a background of research in the ancient novels of the Hellenistic world of Jesus' day. She believes that it is possible to assume that the readers of Mark's Gospel were familiar with this genre of literature. She is convinced, furthermore, that the Gospel of Mark has many similarities to these ancient novels. She concludes her remarks in this area with the following summary:
While the Gospel of Mark and the early examples of the ancient novel obviously do not share the same story line, their rhetorical, stylistic, and linguistic similarities are conspicuous. Both are synthetic, conventional narratives that combine historiographic form with epic and dramatic substance. Episodic plots, central turning points, final recognition sequences, dialogic scenes with narrative frames, sparing but crucial use of monologue, repetition, narrative summaries, foreshadowing, and monolithic, illustrative characters are some of the elements the Gospel and ancient novels have in common ƒ If the Gospel of Mark is an example of Hellenistic popular literature, we have uncovered a major reason for its opacity and apparent muddle for modern readers ƒ If Mark is a popular literary text, modern readers absolutely must discern some of the competencies of the authorial audience in order to have any hope of following the story. 1
We cannot, in a work of this nature, pursue each line of endeavor that Tolbert outlines. One of the characteristics of ancient novels and the Gospel of Mark is the use of plot synopses. We touched upon this in the Preface. Tolbert sees these plot synopses as a key to unlock the overall meaning of Mark's narrative. She identifies the two lengthy parables told in Mark's Gospel as the keys to the plot of the entire narrative. These parables are the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (12:1-12). She asserts that the Parable of the Sower is the plot synopsis of the first ten chapters of Mark; the Parable of the Tenants is the plot synopsis of the last six chapters. This analysis fits the "geography" of Mark's narrative. The first ten chapters take place in Galilee. The last six chapters occur in Jerusalem. So it may be that each "geographical" area of the Gospel contains a parable or parables of Jesus which summarize the plot thereof.
Jesus' story of the Sower is the first time in the Gospel that we have before us a sustained teaching of Jesus. This alone marks it as important! We set the context for the parable in the last chapter in discussing the two chapters (Mark 2 and 3) of constant rejection of Jesus and his mission. It is helpful to see the Parable of the Sower in this context. Rejection of the coming reign of God is answered by agricultural stories of the coming reign of God. Much of the soil on which the Sower sows the seed is not good soil. That's the problem. But, in spite of this problem, there will be in many hearts an exceedingly abundant harvest: thirtyfold, sixtyfold, a hundredfold! The coming of God's reign is not a lamp to hide under a bushel! God's reign is a light that should show forth throughout the whole world (Mark 4:21-22). "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" (Mark 4:23).
This plea to listen is a key part of the story of the Sower and of Mark's Gospel. The parable begins with an imperative: Listen! It ends with an imperative: "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" (Mark 4:9). In Jesus' interpretation of the parable it is clear that the parable is told about different kinds of hearing. The Sower sows the word. Some hear and some don't hear. It may look for a time that no one is listening. But the harvest will come in incredible plenty.
The verses between the telling of the parable and its allegorical explanation are difficult (Mark 4:10-13). Those who listen to Jesus are the insiders. To them the secret of the kingdom has been given. For the outsiders everything is in parables "ƒ in order that 'they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven' " (Mark 4:12). These are hard words from the Old Testament story of the call of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10). There is no escaping the intent of these words. Jesus intends that a veil be cast over the minds of many at the sound of his word. Juel puts the matter thus:
God alone can open eyes and ears, and will not. The present, Isaiah is told, is a time of veiling and punishment. There seems no escape from the implication: God has the sovereign right to determine who will and who will not see and hear „ and repent ƒ [Jesus] intends „ at least at this stage in his ministry „ to keep outsiders in the dark ƒ The one who told parables was hung on a cross. That does not remove the offense, however, it only deepens the mystery ƒ The statement is of a piece with Jesus' silencing of the demons and his injunctions to people he has healed not to make him known. We are not given an explanation of his reasons ƒ We learn only a few verses later that Jesus' ultimate intention is not veiling and concealment. The goal of his mission is disclosure. Nothing is hid except to be made manifest (4:22). The story is headed somewhere. Jesus' sowing will lead ultimately to the harvest ƒ .2
Juel also helps us interpret the soil. There are many readings of this parable which put much emphasis on the soil. We must be good soil! We must be good listeners! We must get it right! Juel sees a problem here. A promise has been turned into a demand. Soil, he maintains, is a passive image. "The soil will produce „not because it can make some Herculean effort but because it is good soil and the farmer knows his business."3 This promise of a harvest stands over the rest of Mark's story. What we do not know at this juncture of the story is for whom the promise is intended. Who are the ones who listen and believe? Who are the good soil people? We don't know. We have heard and are called to believe that the promise will bear fruit. There is more to this story! We must read on.
In another work, Juel turns his mind to this parable. He reminds us again of how crucial the narrative setting is for understanding the parable. We must remember two things about this parable above all else. "First, the parable needs to be read as speaking about the Kingdom of God. It is, after all, God's work that the parable „ and the Gospel „ seek to understand ƒSecond, the parable is interpreted as having to do with reception of the Word."4 The emphasis here is on reception. The emphasis in the parable is on what kinds of hearers we are. Hearing is passive! It does not depend upon human efforts! The kingdom comes through the work of the Sower and not through the work of the soil!
This is true of the Gospel writer, Mark, as well. His Gospel sows the seed. It doesn't end. There is no ending to this Gospel. Just sowing. Sowing that ultimately falls upon our hearts. At this point we must simply trust the promise of the parable that the harvest will be plentiful in our lives and in the lives of all who hear. Faith comes through what is heard!
In the Preface reference was made to Tolbert's attempts to align the characters in other stories in the Gospel as examples of different kinds of hearing.5 In examining the Gospel she finds that the scribes, the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Jerusalem Jews are examples of seed sown on the way, seed sown that Satan immediately takes away. Tolbert has said that once we have the plot synopsis of the Parable of the Sower we ought to be on the lookout for people in Mark's story who are like these different kinds of soil. For the ancient reader/listener the suspense in a story was not about what would happen. They knew that from the plot synopsis. What they didn't know was how the plot would play itself out. We can be alert, as well, to stories that relate to the different kinds of soil. An occasional sermon in the year of Mark might work with these narrative connections.
For the seed sown in rocky ground Tolbert turns to the disciples as exemplars. We have noted earlier her identification of Simon, surnamed Peter/rock by Jesus, with the rocky ground that is the disciples. Rocky ground people respond immediately to the sowing of the word. When the first disciples were called it was noted that immediately they followed Jesus (Mark 1:18). Another link to the disciples is the language in the parable of falling away (Mark 4:17). This is just the language Jesus uses of the disciples in Mark 14:27, 29. On this basis Tolbert identifies the disciples, especially Peter, James and John, as the exemplars of the rocky ground.
The exemplars of those sown among the thorns are the rich man in Mark 10:17-22 and King Herod, Mark 6:14-29. [The story of Pilate might well be added to this list (Mark 15:1-15).] Both the rich man and Herod are sorry for what they are asked to do. Both men are prevented from acting on their better instincts by other things. "ƒ The cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing" (Mark 4:19). A sermon on these two men (and also Pilate?) in relation to the thorny ground might be very relevant in our day. The cares of the world, the lust for wealth and the desire for other things live strong in our land! (See chapter 17).
And the good soil. Tolbert's identification of these hearers focuses primarily on the three stories in Mark 5. Before we come to these stories, however, we must note the story told in Mark 4:35-41. In this story the disciples stand before the two possibilities of life in the presence of the coming-near reign of God. They can evidence fear or they can have faith. The disciples will be seen to be people of fear quite often in Mark's story. But the people in Mark 5 „ a man who lives in the Greek cities of the Decapolis and is possessed by a demon, a poor woman with a flow of blood, and a leader of a Jewish synagogue „ are people of faith. In them the word produces thirtyfold, sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
It is quite amazing to look again at the narrative context of the Parable of the Sower. The chapters leading up to this parable tell story after story of the rejection of Jesus. The Parable of the Sower is addressed to this rejection and indicates that some soil is not ripe for the reception of the kingdom, but the day will come when an abundant harvest bursts forth. Mark 5 seems to chronicle the abundant harvest! All of a sudden, following the parable, people respond to Jesus and amazing fruit is borne in their bodies. There is much fruit for narrative preaching of gospel stories here!
At the end of her analysis of the four kinds of soil, Tolbert makes an interesting assertion about the kingdom of God in Mark. She is convinced that the Greek word for kingdom (basileia) stands behind Mark's thinking. The Greek word for kingdom, in contrast with the Aramaic word, has a stronger spatial perspective.
By explicating the kingdom of God through the metaphor of good earth, Mark appears to be developing the concept in its Greek form ƒ For Mark, the kingdom of God is God's ground which produces of itself and in transforming abundance. It is not so much God's reign that is at issue but the land over which God legitimately rules, a land that has at least in part been usurped by evil powers ƒ The parables of the Four Types of Earth ƒ demonstrate a remarkable confluence of ground imagery for the kingdom of God: it is the good earth that yields fruit; the earth that, once sown, produces of itself; the earth that can transform a tiny seed into a magnificent bush; and a lovingly created and planted vineyard now in the hands of tenants who refuse to provide fruit to the lord of the vineyard. 6
Still, Tolbert notes, the agricultural metaphor for the kingdom can be taken too far. "ƒ The mystery of the kingdom is not agricultural but human. It is the human heart, not land, that is the seat of God's domain." 7
Mark tells the story of the Sower of the Word who liberally sows his seed on human hearts. If anything, the story is left in mystery concerning human response to the generosity of the Sower. Always, always, Mark's story ends in human hearts, in our human heart. The promise of the Sower is that this sowing will one day produce an abundant harvest in our lives. We are among those privileged to be called to sow this Word on the soil of human hearts. We sow the word trusting in the promise of the Sower!
____________
1. Mary Ann Tolbert, Sowing The Gospel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989), pp. 78-79.
2. Donald H. Juel, Mark (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1990), pp. 71-72.
3. Ibid., p. 75.
4. Donald H. Juel, A Master of Surprise (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994), p. 59.
5. Mary Ann Tolbert, Sowing the Gospel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989), pp. 148-175. Material in this section is dependent on Tolbert's discussion.
6. Ibid., p. 172.
7. Ibid., p. 173.
