Everybody knows the parable of the sower. A sower scatters some seed, Jesus explains the seed is the Word of God. It then falls on four different kinds of ground representing various responses to the gospel. Not only does almost everybody know it, it is a very simple and straightforward parable. So much so, JC Ryle said this about it:

Of all the parables spoken by our Lord, none is probably so well-known as this. There is none which is so easily understood by all, from the gracious familiarity of the figures which it contains. There is none which is of such universal and perpetual application. So long as there is a Church of Christ and a congregation of Christians, so long there will be employment for this parable. The language of the parable requires no explanation. To use the words of an ancient writer, “it needs application, not exposition.”

The problem with over-familiarity, however, is it can tend to cause us to skip over the details because we assume we know it already.

The parable (I think) would generally be explained in the following way. The first ground represents those who never come to trust in Christ; they hear the gospel and reject it out of hand. The second ground represents those who profess faith and seem to press on, but they encounter some trial or suffering and then fall away. The third ground represents those who appear to press on for a time and then ‘the cares of the world’ cause them to fall away later. The final kind of soil are believers who are genuine and continue to press on with Jesus.

I have no particular quibbles with the descriptions of the first and fourth kinds of ground. I think the second kind of ground may have a bit more to it, but again I think I can essentially go along with that. But I think the third kind of soil is typically the most poorly applied.

Let’s just look at what Jesus says specifically in Matthew 13:

20 And the one sown on rocky ground – this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 21 But he has no root and is short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 Now the one sown among the thorns – this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

This is Jesus’ specific description of the second and third kinds of ground. I think there are two crucial bits of information here that help us understand who Jesus is speaking about.

First, in v21, Jesus specifically speaks about the one who ‘falls away’ because of distress or persecution. I think ‘distress’ probably has a fairly broad meaning here. Second, v22 specifies various things ‘choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful’. Jesus seems to be speaking about two different kinds of people here, notably one who falls away (v21) and one who doesn’t appear to fall away but is nevertheless unfruitful (v22). Taken together, the second kind of ground represents people who fall away for “reasons” because their faith was shallow whilst the third kind of ground represents those who may well remain in the church throughout their lives and never walk away but they nevertheless produce no fruit.

It is typically the third group of people that we tend to poorly apply. This is deeply unfortunate because it is most likely these are the very people in our churches who most need to be warned about the point of this parable. Those who have ‘fallen away’ are unlikely to be in the room; those who produce no fruit because the worries of the age and deceitfulness of wealth choke the word may well be.

Our churches – good, bible-believing, gospel-preaching, evangelical churches – are quite likely to have people who consider themselves to be believers but who produce no fruit in keeping with righteousness. We are quite likely to have people who allow every other concern to take priority over Jesus or who are so consumed with money, wealth and comfort that it stymies their love for Jesus. These are the very people we ought to be most pointedly applying this parable to because they are there and yet we are least likely to do so because we often badly apply – indeed, misdirect altogether – who Jesus was speaking about in the third kind of ground. These are the people Jesus said will claim they did all sorts in the name of the Lord and yet he will say to them, ‘depart from me, I never knew you’.

I think this is important inasmuch as we need to warn those who need to be warned. We need to be clear who Jesus was speaking to here so that they might understand what genuinely resonding to the word looks like. It is no small matter.