“Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Mathew 13:8 – 9

It is all worth the effort because some of the seed fell into good soil where it took root and grew into plants that produced a harvest of good grain, assuring good seed for the following season and plenty to use now. Why the difference?  It was the same farmer, the same seed, the same day!  Clearly, Jesus pointed out, the difference was in the readiness of the soil to receive the good seed and nurture it into full maturity at the time of harvest.

Because of my familiarity with the ways of God in Christ I find the parable heavy with meaning.  Jesus’ listeners, who presumably followed him because he performed one amazing miracle after another, had no idea what Jesus was talking about.  We have the privilege of hind-sight and teaching so that we not only see meaning in the parable but are amazed at the truth it uncovers.   We have the Holy Spirit to instruct us and to put the finger on the main points. Jesus uses the expression, “Whoever has ears, let him hear.”  We get these “ears” as a free gift of God’s grace.

From one seed – thirty.  From one seed – sixty.  From one seed – a hundred!  From one seed – nothing.  This they knew, no doubt, but maybe they did not realize that Jesus was including all of them in the scene.  What about them?  How about the seed that comes from above, into our soils?  Snatched up by the birds before they can sprout?  Failed to get its roots into fertile soil?  Show promise of growth but are choked out by parts of us that hate the seed?  Or produced an amazing crop that will provide food for now and seed for the future?  It is up to you, to me, to determine what we do with the seed of God’s grace.  We are the soils.