Templeton Project: Parable of the Sower, Seed, and Soils–Part V
Back in October 2015 I wrote about the inauguration of the Abington Templeton Foundation (see here). The project is now underway (see here) and I will be posting our writing here.
Check out the latest piece entitled “Parable of the Sower, Seed, and Soils–Part V.”
See also:
- Grounds for the Project
- The Biblical Foundation – Apology
- Apology in the New Testament II
- Apology in the New Testament III
- With Gentleness and Respect
- Elect Exiles of the Dispersion – the Importance of Identity
- The Present Cultural Environment in America
- Flannery O’Connor’s ‘Push Back’
- Saint Paul’s Civility
- Unbelievers
- Christ, Culture, and Christians
- Jesus and His Opponents in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew
- The Holy Spirit as Apologist
- On Listening to God and One Another
- Deep Conviction and Commitment
- Questions Unbelievers (especially Atheists) May Ask in Dialogue
- Waning Faith and Yearning Heart
- The Apostle on Mars Hill (Areopagus)
- A Fire, a World of Unrighteousness
- Civil Blood Makes Civil Hands Unclean
- Examples of Uncivil and Civil Speech
- Of Self-Control
- Humor in Dialogue
- Utopian Dreams
- Do we understand each other?
- When We Differ
- Dialogue and Personality
- Of Anger
- Discipleship and Apologetics
- Nurturing Christian Disciples
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics I
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics II–Wise as Serpents and Innocent as Doves
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics III–Endurance
- Discipleship and Apologetics IV–Family Conflict
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics V–Doing the Will of the Father as Peacemakers
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XII–“The Tree is Known by Its Fruit”
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VI–A Sword, Not Peace
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VII–Repentance and the Forgiveness of Sins
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics VIII–Mission to the Gentiles
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics IX–The Parable of the Sower
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics X–“Fear not, do not be afraid
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XI–“Come to me, . . . and I will give you rest
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XIII–Humility
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XIV–Woes Turned to the Wisdom of Christ and the Blessings of the Kingdom
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XV–The Sign of the Cross
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVI–The Resurrection
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVII–The Judgment
- Discipleship in Matthew and Apologetics XVIII–The Vision
- Templeton Project: Inside the Heart and Mind of an Atheist
- Spare, Knowledgeable, and Wise Speech
- Truth as the Only Solid Foundation for Inquiry and Dialogue
- What is Bigotry
- What is Bigotry? Part II: Ideology
- Establishment and Distortion of the Facts
- Confused Mind and Inconstant Heart
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–John the Baptist
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Mother of Our Lord
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Nicodemus
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Samaritan Woman
- The Need for Self-Control
- Self-control and American Culture
- Is Transformation Possible?
- Values and Virtue–the Difference
- The Coronavirus
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Healing of an Official’s Son
- Coronavirus Update
- A Prayer in a Time of Pandemic
- A Troubled Nation
- Articulation of the Faith in Times of Crisis
- Father Seraphim on Nihilism
- Day to Day Nihilism
- Who or What is Absurd?
- Christian Leadership
- The Power of the Invisible
- The Great Revolution
- Religious vs. Spiritual
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–The Man at the Pool of Siloam, the Blind Man, and the Dead Man
- The Ideological Use of a Virus (Covid-19)
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–His Enemies
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–His Enemies Part 2
- What Fire Cleanses?
- Babel–A Confusion of Tongues
- Babel and Jerusalem
- The American Olympians
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Pilate
- Who and What is Evil?
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Peter
- Gratitude, Humility, and Wonder–Key Words for Christian Living
- Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John–Thomas the Doubter
- The Early Christian Apologists–The Letter of Mathetes to Diognetus
- Dogma and Bigotry
- Squeeze Out the Spiritual Life–A Dictum of Our Secular Culture
- The Early Christian Apologists–Aristides
- Our Aspirations
- The Promise
- To Be Like God
- The Misuse of the Word Eternal
- The Sacred Obscure Amidst the Secular
- An Overall Idea
- Symbolism and Orthodoxy
- Witnessing and Division in the Church
- Camus, Absurdism, and the Faith of the Church
- Overcoming Evil without Being Overcome
- The State of the United States
- Did the Last Post Show Disrespect?
- With Gentleness and Respect
- Athenagoras’ A Plea for the Christians
- Defy and Deify
- At Present
- At Present Revised
- Musings during the Hours of Night
- Mysterium Tremendum–A Day at Hawk Mountain
- The Lower Yellowstone River Falls
- He Turned Aside
- Emptiness (A Sonnet)
- The Brazen Eagle Soars
- Emptiness Part II
- Lenten Reflection
- Chaos Set Right
- The Holy Sepulcher
- A Press of Leaves
- The Prairie– The Flint Hills
- The Sanctuary Light
- The World and the World
- Authority
- Two Novels
- To the Unknown God or a God Unknown
- Gospel in Saint Mark
- Evangelization in Kensington
- What is New is Old; What is Old is New
- Kensington II
- Virtual or Virtuous?
- Obstacles to Christian Witness
- Judgment and Apologetics
- Worship as Witness and Apology
- Apologetics, Apology, and Witness
- O Source and End
- It is I
- From O My God to O My God to OMG
- Water Is Thicker Than Blood
- We Rather Than I
- The Nativity
- The City of God and the City of Man
- Rules of the Community
- Mixed Together until the End
- Minucius Felix–Christian Apologist–The Problem with Hearsay
- The Will of the Father–Part I
- The Beatitudes–Part II
- Sending Out–Part III
- Confronting Nihilism
- The Judgment and Utopia–Part IV
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Because of a technical glitch, you did not receive the articles sent to you in December and January (of which there are many). If you wish to read them, go to the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church website (holytrinity.net) under “News and Blog: The Templeton Project.
We now move to the parables that are found at Matthew 13. The first of them is the parable of the sower, seeds, and soils. Jesus tells the parable to a crowd that has gathered on the beach while He sits in a boat. In the story He describes a common sight in ancient Galilee–a sower sowing seed. The sower scatters the seed on the ground, and not very carefully. The waste would not be a common sight; seed is valuable. The careless distribution represents a disruption of a common, daily scene in Palestine. It should jolt us into the world of the parable and its extraordinary message.
The first of the seed falls on a path where birds quickly retrieve it. Seed is also scattered on rocky and thorn-infested ground. Finally, seed falls on good soil, producing a bumper crop. After telling the parable, Jesus calls the people to attend to what he says.
The parable itself contains a message that the people don’t seem to understand. We know this; because, Jesus gives a certain answer to the disciples who ask, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” Jesus tells them that the disciple has been given knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven; but, not all have been given such. It may be perplexing to the reader that Jesus would keep salvation from any one; but, He seems to be doing exactly that. Knowledge of the kingdom is a gift that some have been given and others have not. In the Gospel no explanation is elaborated for this fact.
Matthew then cites words of Jesus not found in Mark and Luke: “For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” (Matthew 13:12 ESV) The parables function to keep some people from knowing the secrets or mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. It is a troubling verse, but is not to be explained away. It is not the fault of Jesus or His message that many do not hear and receive the message. It is the non-receptivity of Christ’s gracious and merciful message that prevents them from participating in the kingdom of heaven.
The same saying about giving and taking away is expressed later in the Gospel in another parable where a man entrusts his servants with money during his absence so that he can acquire greater wealth. Two servants invested their share and increased their master’s wealth. The third servant buried his and made nothing more. The master dispossessed the servant of the one talent and had him thrown into the outer darkness. The master said to the servant, “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” (Matthew 25: 29 ESV) This parable is found in the context of judgment at the end of time. We may understand the earlier parable in Matthew 13 as pointing to the judgment where the faithful who represent the good soil bring forth a rich harvest. One could assume that the harvest has to do with both those who accept Jesus’ message and the fruit produced from that acceptance.
Matthew uses the word, fruit, more often than Mark and Luke. John the Baptist calls people to bear good fruit in light of the prospect of the judgment of God. Those trees that do not bear good fruit are thrown into the fire. In The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasts the tree that bears good fruit with the tree that bears bad fruit. The disciple who bears good fruit does the will of the Father in heaven. Those that do not bear good fruit are thrown into the fire. The theme of bearing fruit is found in the context of judgment.
Responsibility for not understanding the parables is placed in the laps of the people. It is the people who have dull hearts; they neither see not hear. To those who hear, understanding comes as a gift from God. Despite all of the wasted seed, the harvest is superabundant. Our proclamation will have a great effect, even if the actual numbers are modest. Christ’s message always has very productive results.
Michael G. Tavella
January 29, 2024