“For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned” (Hebrews 6:7-8).
The contrasting images of an uncultivated field that bears thorns and briers along with a fruitful and productive farmland are two elements that also appear within Jesus’ Parable Of The Sower…
“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred” (Mark 4:3-8).
One of the first things to note regarding this parable has little to do with the parable itself. Rather, it is Jesus’ opening admonition to listen, a word that encourages us to “consider what is or has been said” or, “to understand, perceive the sense of what is said.” (1) This small detail informs us that there is more to this narrative than a story about crop yields. Instead, there is a “message behind the message” for those who are willing to pay attention.
While this parable has come to be known as “The Parable of the Sower,” it is really more about the different types of soil the sower encountered. In light of this, we might ask why the farmer did not simply utilize the good soil and avoid the others. We can find an answer to that question in the farming methods of Jesus’ era.
You see, a modern-day farmer has the benefit of 21st century agricultural tools to help ensure the greatest production. In contrast, a first century farmer often had little more than an ox pulling a piece of metal in the ground to prepare a field for planting. When finished, the farmer was left with a field that seemed ready to produce a good crop. However, there were several other factors that might negatively affect the harvest. We’ll look at some of those factors next.
(1) G191 akouo Thayer’s Greek Definitions https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g191/mgnt/mgnt/54-1/