Luke 8:4-15: Parable of the Sower; purpose of parables

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Some wonder if parables are an example of God’s cruelty or trickery, purposefully blocking people from repenting, turning their lifestyle around and heading back to God by having the Messiah obscure God. Yet Yeshua’s goal toward clarity about God seems to be what He meant when He said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Texts: Luke 8:4-15; Mark 4:1-20; Matt. 13:1-23; Isa. 6:1-13

The answer to that dichotomy is in Isaiah 6, in which Yeshiyahu has a vision of the Lord. There seems to be a parallel between Yeshiyahu’s reaction to being in the presence of the Lord in the temple and Israel’s vain search for truth other than from God.

“Heart of this people fat”

We find the phrase “render the hearts of this people insensitive” in Isa. 6:10.

הַשְׁמֵן לֵב־הָעָם הַזֶּה

ha-shmeyn leyv-ha-’am hazeh

The phrase in Hebrew literally means, “make the heart of this people fat.” 

“Their ears dull” 

Literally means, “ears weighed down or wearied” from the root Hebrew word כָּבַד kabad (H3513), which is used in good and bad contexts for being heavy, weighty, made insensitive, burdensome, honored. 

In modern times, we have a fancy word for the extreme condition for such people: sociopath. Across the range of emotion, this kind of people don’t have feeling during times when other people would respond to the same situation.

You see this perfectly played out in the Pharaoh of the Exodus, and kabad is used to describe his “hardened” heart. When the plagues came upon the Egyptians, they responded and pleaded for mercy. Pharaoh was totally dull to the pain of his citizens until God had completely decimated the land of Egypt with the plagues. 

“Their eyes are dim”

The word “dim” is שָׁעַע sha’a in Hebrew (H8173a) which is a primary root verb for “to be smeared over, blinded or sealed tight.” The verb also is used to mean “delight” and, by extension, “flattery.” 

Yeshua compared some of the Pharisees — “hypocrites” (literally, “actors”) — when He said, “For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” (Matt. 23:27). 

Yeshua is speaking in a story form called in Greek παραβολή parabole (G3846) which means “from beside, by the side or beside” and “to throw, cast” It’s a way of placing one thing by the side of another, and comparing one thing with another. 

The word parabole is used 45 times in the Septuagint for the Hebrew word mashal (H4912), translated as parable, proverb, discourse, oracle, byword or taunt. 

The Hebrew word mashal is traced to the root verb מָשָׁל mashal (H4910), which means “to rule, have dominion, reign” in the sense of superiority in mental action.

A common problem in modern “wisdom” is the illogical argument of equivocation, or incorrectly equating teachings from God with their evil counterparts. We study the entire word of God as one message, one story, not in small snippets and stories. When we look at the entire word of God in its context and let it speak for itself, we exercise true wisdom. 

Yeshua quotes from Isa. 6:1-13 in this text, so it’s a text we need to look closely to help us understand this particular parable and its purpose.

Symbols in the parable

Yeshua describes four types of soil, which represents four types of people who hear God’s words. 

Seed = “The word of God” (Luke), “the word” (Mark) or the “word of the kingdom” (Matthew)

Ground = “The heart”

Roadside = Ones who hear but do not “understand” (Matt. 13:19)

The word for “hear” in this text is the Greek word akouo (Strong’s G191), that means listen, attend to, understand. This word is used more than 1,000 times in the Septuagint for the Hebrew word shema, in the sense of simple hearing as well as understanding and obeying. 

 The word that is tranlsated into English as “understand” is the Greek word suniemi (G4920). It means “to set together” and is used in the Septuagint 97 times for three different Hebrew words. 

• חָכְמָה khokhma (H2451), “wisdom”
• בִּין bin (H0995), “to understand”
• שָׂכַל sakhal (H7919a), “to be wise,” “prudent,” “understand”

The birds of the air = “the Devil” (Luke), “Satan” (Mark) or “the evil one” (Matthew)

How does the Devil “snatch away” the word of God from our hearts? A common technique he uses is recorded in the book of Genesis when he first speaks with Eve and asks her, “Indeed, has God said…?” (Gen. 3:1) The result is “they will not believe and be saved.” Those who take away from the word of God are messing with belief in God. If one were to say, “That doesn’t mean what it means” or “That text doesn’t apply anymore,” one is eroding people’s confidence in God’s word.

Rocks, rocky soil = “No root in themselves” leads to temporary yet joyful trust in God, but it is susceptible to withering when that faith is challenged by persecution or makes life inconvenient. 

Thorns = One who hears the word of God but don’t trust it over daily problems, distractions and desires for stuff, entertainment. 

Good soil = One who hears and understands with a “beautiful and good heart” then guards against losing the word from his heart will diligently make the word of God get bigger in his heart and others.  Different Gospel writers describe the person who is like this good soil in different ways:

• honest = καλός kalos (G2570), “good, beautiful” 
• good = ἀγαθός agathos (G0018), “good”
• hold it fast = κατέχω katcho (G2722), “to hold fast, keep secure, keep from possession of” 
• perseverance = ὑπομονή hupomone (G5281), “endurance, staying”

The other soils are passive, but the good soil is active in receiving and keeping. You have to remember where you came from. You don’t stay where you came from, but you continue to grow from that point. You should always look for parables in your own life. How does your life stack up against the word of God?  

Reader: Dave De Fever. Speaker: Jeff Quackenbush. Summary: Tammy Quackenbush.