Jesus said to the crowds: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”- St. Matthew 13:3-9
Christ’s method of teaching often was by using parables. A parable is “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” Something on earth is compared with something in heaven, so that the heavenly truth may be better grasped in light of the earthly illustration.
So as Jesus speaks to the crowds in Galilee, He begins with the “here and now” and moves to the “there and then.” In other words, He started from a thing that was happening at that moment before their eyes. They could see the fields. They knew how seeds were planted, and how they would grow, depending upon the soil.
This was the very essence of our Lord’s teaching, that He started with the simplest things that even a child could understand, and then led people to truths they had never realized before, showing that there is a direct relationship between earth and heaven.
It isn’t just possible - but indeed it is necessary - to see the things of God in common and ordinary things. Life is filled with things which can lead us to God, if we will only look at them with eyes of faith. The soil before their eyes became for the people a picture of their own lives as they heard it in Christ’s parable. The seed in the parable became the Word of God. And through this parable we can learn how to cultivate God’s truth, and so grow in God’s Kingdom.
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Painting: “The Sower” by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836-1902)