July 16, Ordinary 15A (Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23)
The sower just seems to hope that the seeds will find the right kind of soil, while doing little to ensure that is the case.
It’s a familiar parable. As Jesus explains it, we are to be the “good soil.” That is, the soil that hears God’s word, understands it, has it take root within us, and then bears fruit—leading to some kind of change and transformation within us and in the world.
Interestingly enough, however, this parable is not called the parable of the soil or the parable of the seed, although much of the explanation seems to focus on the soil and seed. Instead, Jesus himself calls it the parable of the sower. So what can we learn from this sower?
“A sower went out to sow.” This sower seems to just throw the seeds out there—aiming perhaps for the good soil, but a lot of seeds end up elsewhere. The sower just seems to hope that the seeds will find the right kind of soil, while doing little to ensure that is the case. The word parable, parabolē in Greek, literally means “to throw alongside.” That seems to be what the sower is doing.
