PARABLE, MIRACLE, AND SIGN
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whole course of kingdom progress. The Lord, with wonderful fitness, depicts the conditions which were
predominant in relation to the four periods of kingdom ministry.
The first ministry mentioned in the New Testament is that of John the Baptist. He preached the good news
of the kingdom, and baptism unto remission of sins. Each ministry, however, had something of the four kinds of
ground represented among its hearers, but the special characteristic of John's sowing was that it fell upon hearts
which, like the wayside, had become hardened with continual treading and tradition, and consequently very few
believed his message. Those who heard him `understood not', and the Lord tells us that the Wicked One
`caught away that which was sown in their hearts'.
Before we proceed further it will be necessary to call attention to an interpretation of this parable which has
a great deal of truth in it, but which may be pressed too far. There are some who tell us that this parable of the
Sower does not refer so much to the word sown in the heart of the hearer, but to the environment in which the
hearer (represented by the seed) is placed. We must not summarily dismiss this from our notice, inasmuch as
there is a certain amount of truth in the statement; but, like so many things, it is not all true. If we use the
Revised Version instead of the Authorized Version we shall see a little more clearly that the seed sown not only
represents the word of the kingdom, but the children of the kingdom as well.
In Matthew 13:18-23 we have the Lord's own interpretation of the parable. Note the words in italics in the
following extracts. `This is he that was sown by the wayside'. `And he that was sown upon rocky places, this is
he that heareth the word'. `And he that was sown among thorns, this is he etc'. `And he that was sown upon
the good ground, this is he that heareth the word'. The same intermingling is seen in Mark 4 and Luke 8.
Nevertheless, both passages definitely tell us that the `seed' is the `word'. The primary meaning of the seed is
certainly `the word', for the Lord Himself says so. The inclusion of the hearer within the meaning is rather by
implication than by definite statement. It appears, then, that fully to understand the parable we must allow its
double application. When the application is to those who reject the word, then the seed sown is the word of the
kingdom, and the grounds represent the characteristics of the hearers. When the application is to those who are
really children of the kingdom, then their identity is lost in that of the seed sown, they are linked in type to the
truth. Then, the various grounds speak not of the state of the heart of the hearers, but of their environments
during the various phases of the history of events.
A characteristic example is found in the cases of Peter and Judas. Satan had dealings with each (Matt.
16:22,23; Luke 22:3,31). Peter denied the Lord with oaths and curses; Judas betrayed Him. Peter went out and
wept bitterly; Judas went and hanged himself. Peter was a child of the kingdom, but for a while the thorns
overcame him. Judas never was a child of the kingdom (John 6:70,71), he was one of the thorns, or, as in the
next parable, one of the tares, and his heart is represented by the thorny ground itself.
It is evident that the great majority of the Pharisees, and indeed of the multitude that came forth to be
baptized of John (Luke 3:7) did not understand the import of his message and baptism, for looking upon them he
cried, `O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?' Their trust was in
`Abraham their father', but John bade them `bring forth fruit meet for repentance'. These multitudes and
Pharisees, who would have submitted to the rite of baptism as some new ceremonial which pleased their
ritualistic self-righteousness, were repulsed by the stern rebuke of John, and Satan, taking advantage of the
moment, snatched the seed away, and occupied their heart the more for his own fell purposes, for later we find
the same people, who boasted of being `children of Abraham', called rather the `children of the Wicked One' by
the Lord in Matthew 13:38 (cf John 8:44).
There were stony ground hearers among the followers of John; of them it is written, `Ye sent unto John, and
he bare witness unto the truth ... He was a burning and shining lamp; and ye were willing for a season to rejoice
in his light'. These stony ground hearers heard the word, `and anon with joy received it', yet they had no root,
persecution for the sake of the word discovered their shallowness, and soon they were offended. It was for such
that the Lord uttered the words, `Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me' (Matt. 11:6).
The prominent characteristic of John's ministry was, `to prepare the way of the Lord and make His paths
straight'. It was hard work, with little apparent result. Two of his own followers proved to be hearers of the
good ground variety, for on the second day of his proclamation, `Behold, the Lamb of God', they followed the
Lord, one of them being Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. The first sowing of the parable of the Sower is
peculiarly descriptive of the first preacher of the kingdom - John the Baptist.
Following immediately upon John's ministry was that of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord commenced His
ministry with the same words as John used, `Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand' (Matt. 4:17 with