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The Parable Of The Sower And The Word Within

The Parable Of The Sower And The Word Within

Last updated on: October 18, 2026 at 1:04 am by Henry Karlson

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The Parable Of The Sower And The Word Within 2026-10-18T01:04:52-05:00 Henry Karlson

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Tangopaso: Panel about parable of the Sower of the pulpit of the church Notre-Dame des Champs in Avranches (Manche, France) / Wikimedia Commons

One of Christ’s most famous parables is that of the sower who sowed seed, some which took root, some which did not:

A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Lk:8:5-8 RSV)

When he was asked what the parable meant, Jesus replied, “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God” (Luk. 8:9 RSV). We need to ask ourselves, what exactly does this mean? What is the “word of God”? Is it Scripture? Is Jesus telling us to listen to (or read) Scripture, and just do what we are told in it? While that is a possible interpretation, we would have to ask, which Scripture was he talking about? The Torah? The Tanakh? At the time he said this, there was no New Testament, and the Jews did not have a commonly accepted canon of Scripture. Does what one choose to follow as Scripture indicate whether or not you are “good soil”? But if that is the case, wouldn’t it be best for Jesus to indicate what someone should listen to instead of making a statement like this, leaving the question open? This is why Jesus seems to be talking about something else.

From a Christian perspective, in light of the Christian tradition indicating Jesus is the Logos made flesh, the Word of God, it appears that Jesus was talking about himself. In a way, he is both the sower and what is sown. Everyone has their own connection to him because it is in and through him, as the Logos, they have been made; he has given everyone their own logos, their own inner nature, which is derivative and reflective of the divine Logos, and it is here, we find the Word of God is seeded in everyone.

How we respond to the Logos, in accordance to the way we know him, whether it is explicitly as the incarnate God-man Jesus, or if it is implicitly as the cosmic Logos who guides and directs us through our conscience, will determine the kind of soil we prove to be. We don’t have to know Jesus explicitly to be good soil, but we have to do what Jesus wants us to do, which is to embrace the way of love, the way of God. If we do so, as Jesus explained in his parable of the eschatological judgment, we be known by him, and welcomed by him even as we welcomed him with our love; we will prove, through such love, that we have been fit soil for the Word of God. On the other hand, if we deny the way of love, if we resist it and act contrary to it, our acts of unlove become thorns which risk turning us into bad soil. For, as Jesus explained, “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature” (Lk. 8:14 RSV).

Jesus told this parable, not just for listening to his preach in the first century, but for us, for those who explicitly know him and claim to follow him, so that we do not become presumptuous about our salvation. We are the ones who will hear this parable read to us in church, or read it in private. He does not want us to believe in cheap grace. He does not want us to presume our salvation, which is what happens when someone thinks grace alone brings us salvation. Grace is necessary, but we must cooperate with it, prove to be the ground which lets grace to grow and be fruitful. As we believe in him, as we are the ones who will hear or read this parable, it is a warning to us to make sure we remain open to his prompting in our lives, and to do as he asks. Those who implicitly follow Jesus, in and through the way he speaks to them in and through their conscience, will not likely use the notion of grace to excuse themselves from doing what their conscience tells them to do; it is only Christians who have taken one element from Scripture and use it to undercut Jesus’ greater message who risk using grace to excuse themselves from what they should be doing and become bad soil for the word of God. Some Christians try to pit Paul against Jesus’ expectations for them to justify doing nothing, such as when Paul wrote, “Yet who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified” (Gal. 2:16 RSV). What Paul said is true, but it was not a message of cheap grace; he was not suggesting grace saves us without our cooperation, without being watered by our penitence and good works. Water without a seed will not produce any fruit, but the seed without water will also not grow. Both are needed. Paul knew this, which is why he did not argue for cheap grace. He made it clear Jesus expected us to engage what is good and true, and not to use grace as an excuse for sin, turning Christ into an agent for sin. “But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not!” (Gal. 2:17 RSV).

If we undermine Christ’s teachings, if we suggest and tell others that he expects nothing from us but some sort of intellectual assent to who he is, to believe in him without having to be faithful to him and doing what he told us to do, we turn Christ into an agent of sin. In that way, we become like the devil in the parable, undermining the word of God. “The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved” (Lk. 8:12 RSV). Salvation is through Christ; but we must allow ourselves to be the proper ground for him; we need to allow the seed which is planted in us, the seed of the Word of God, the seed of the kingdom of God, the seed of grace, to grow and transform us from within, producing the fruit which God wants, the fruit of love. We must not strangle it in any fashion.

Those of us who explicitly follow Christ have been given the “secrets of the kingdom of God” (Lk. 8:10 RSV); the secret is not “do nothing, just believe and be saved.” The secret is that God is love. All of Christ’s teachings are to be engaged with that hermeneutical lens. Everything is connected to love. When we understand this, we will learn that to be good soil, we must become reflections of that love. Every time we act out of true self-giving love, such as when we give food to the hungry, or drink to thirsty, we nourish the seed within us, making sure it is not “choked.” That seed will grow, and we will grow and be transformed by it as we receive the benefit of its fruit, which is our salvation and deification.

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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

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