And when He was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned Him about the parables. He answered them, "The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that ‘they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven."’

Jesus said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. But they have no root; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold."

The Word Today

The adapted interpretation of the parable of the sower concerns the three types of motives of the negative human response to God’s Word in Jesus. One such motive is the desire for security in the world. It is incompatible with the Gospel which teaches that man’s security is only in God. But it is such a subtle temptation that a Christian disciple hardly perceives himself to be already living on compromises, on split-level faith. While open persecution challenges a disciple to take a radical, onceand-for-all decision regarding his faith-life, this subtle temptation hardly matters to anyone until he finds out too late that he has already made an irrevocable rejection of the faith by his thousand little daily compromises.