Parable of the Sower

c. AD 28 Traditional dating

Teaching from a boat on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus tells the parable of a farmer scattering seed on four kinds of soil — a picture of how differently hearts receive the word of the kingdom.

The event

As crowds press in along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus gets into a boat and teaches from just offshore, using the region's own agricultural life as his illustration. A farmer scatters seed that falls on a hard path, on rocky ground, among thorns, and finally on good soil — with wildly different results ranging from birds snatching it away to a harvest thirty, sixty, or a hundred times what was sown.

When his disciples ask privately why he teaches in parables, Jesus explains that the stories both reveal and conceal, entrusting insight into "the secrets of the kingdom of heaven" to those who truly seek while leaving surface-level hearers with only a memorable story. He then interprets the parable plainly for his own: the seed is the word of the kingdom, and the four soils represent the range of human responses to it — indifference, shallow enthusiasm, competing worldly cares, and genuine, fruitful reception.

Scripture references

Matthew 13:1-23
Mark 4:1-20
Luke 8:4-15

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