According to the standards of the Pharisees and Scribes Jesus was a self-made man. They used to wonder where he got all his knowledge. He did not sit at the feet of a famous Rabbi as did St. Paul nor did he attend any school in Jerusalem or Jamnia where they educated rabbis . Though they see the wisdom of Jesus they did not give credence to him and his apostles – an uneducated lot. They tolerated them at best and the time came they could no longer tolerate him. Many came to believe in him and in his words. They had to kill him.
The parable of the sower is about the unstoppable work of God’s work namely of introducing and building the kingdom of God. This parable is a parable of optimism. Some seeds may fall on grounds not favorable for seeds to grow. However, Christianity is a religion of optimism our human words are often just words but the Word of God is creative: let there be light and it was so; let there be the moon and stars and so on. When asked by his disciples why Jesus spoke in parables with the authorities of the temple he answered that hearing they might not hear and seeing they might not see. They hear Jesus the man but not the father, they see him and his works and but could not see where it came from. It was a way of saying to them that all your knowledge about the Scriptures is of human origin. The human mind cannot fathom the very depths of God’s word. God’s word is the source of all existence. God has to come from the outside and has to be received by us. Salvation does not come from within. The words of Jesus prepares one to receive the coming of the living God and his kingdom. It is effective in those who accept him and his words in total trust and humility. It is also a word of comfort and consolation for the disciples who are simple people certainly not dumb or unintelligent. It is this simple hearts that Jesus wishes to reveal the mysteries of the kingdom. God is their father and teacher.
The seed bear fruits depending on the receptivity of the soil, the soul and heart of a human being. A person who is preoccupied by many things, with worldly affairs and who hardly has any time for other things at all, who never had a moment of rest trying to preserve his or her life will not bear fruit. A person who can no longer be a receptive soil for at least some moments of each day, who never allows himself to be “plowed” and opened up, and never waits for what God drops into his furrow, that person has already lost his life. Activities are not the fruit of our labor but only lost motion. The parables are for everyone with a simple guileless life. It is not only for people with great knowledge and fame. The humble poor and the neglected are often times the richest soil that bears much fruit. If we do not bear fruit in our lives it is because of the forces within us that prevents us from pausing for the word of God, like our desire to be acknowledged and affirmed, our fear of rejection, the resentment that we would not let go, our anger against a community or society which no longer believe, a world that is not according to our view. We are in true danger of no longer able to wait for God’s revelation. We want answers right away. We could not think of a happy life without answers to all the question we raise up. We have no patience for the parables in our own lives. Parables are there so that we may pause and think and venture into the inner meaning of life which is true and lasting. We want Siri to tell us all the answers to all the questions we raise up. The Pharisees and the scribes thought they had all the answers about life and when they saw and heard Jesus talk about life in a totally different way they were threatened, and hearing they could not hear and seeing they could not see. Parables, so to speak, are doors for God to enter into our hearts. We could not open the doors of heaven by ourselves so heaven comes to us to speak of the mysteries of the parables of ourlife. The parables open our eyes and mind to the newness of life, a further interpretation of the beauty and truth of our faith. Those who do not see life as a parable has entered into a very narrow lonesome world of existence.