NOTES for Mat 13:1-23
Thanks to the evangelists, we have access not only to the parable of the sower itself, but also to its interpretation, which the disciples heard directly from Jesus. Yet every parable He told is so multifaceted that all its depths cannot be exhausted by a single interpretation, even the wisest one. We grasp the meaning of the Lord’s words layer by layer. It is therefore not far-fetched to read this parable not only as an account of how different people receive the Word of God and respond differently to its proclamation, but also as a story about the different states of one and the same person’s soul. Throughout our lives, each of us has responded to what we heard in very different ways. Many who today, like good soil, receive and nurture the seed of the Good News were once rocky ground. Conversely, many who are now overgrown with thorns can be cleared of them.
And sometimes even good soil suddenly turns to stone or becomes thickly overgrown with weeds. We should therefore not relax and prematurely assess the successes of our spiritual life...
The disciples ask Christ a perfectly natural question: why does He speak in parables? Indeed, if parables are so difficult for people to understand, why not instruct them plainly? In reply, Christ quotes Isaiah’s words foretelling that His listeners’ hearts would become so dull that what they heard would pass them by. But then why say anything at all before such people? Is Christ not casting His words to the wind?
No, He does nothing in vain. Apparently, Christ addresses people through parables so that the grain hidden in figurative speech will nevertheless fall into their souls and begin to sprout, even if only beneath the surface. Yes, the minds of many listeners remain closed for now, but in their depths their souls are far more receptive than their superficial reason.
And if what they hear finds even a small response in the soul, this will begin spiritual growth—that is, the multiplication of what the Lord has given such people. Those who are convinced that their “spiritual level” is sufficient and have no intention of increasing it will lose it, simply because spiritual life excludes complacency and self-satisfaction.