The Sixth Sunday of Easter (CL)

Mark 4:1-20

Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ² And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³ “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸ And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” ⁹ And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

¹⁰ And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹ And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, ¹² so that

“they may indeed see but not perceive,

and may indeed hear but not understand,

lest they should turn and be forgiven.”

¹³ And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴ The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. ¹⁶ And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷ And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. ¹⁸ And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, ¹⁹ but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²⁰ But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

There are many people who read a parable and want to know what it really means. One of the things I love about reading the parables in the Gospels, it is like someone giving you the answers to all your questions. What does the Parable of the Sower really mean? It means exactly what Jesus says it means. If it meant something greater or lessor, then why would Jesus tell us it means this.

The Word is sent out into the World. The Word will reach many different types of ears. These ears will receive the word in different ways. Some people will even listen to the Word of God. Some people will take it to heart. And some people will actually produce good fruit. Now you can ask what type of dirt are you? You can even ask, what you will do when danger, the devil, persecution, or even difficult times comes in your life?

I generally think about whether I have produced any fruit. But the lesson is not that you become something. The lesson is not that you should live or act a certain way. The lesson is not even that some people produce more than others. The Lesson is this, The Word of the Lord goes out into the world and it will effect people and the World.

Jesus Christ came into the World to save the world. Jesus Christ came to rescue people from their own sin and corruption. Jesus Christ came to open ears to hear the Good News. Jesus Christ is the Word of God and it comes to fulfill its purpose. He comes to save you from your sins.