Introduction
A remarkable commonality in Jesus’ parables was the rhetoric, particularly the imagery used to describe the Kingdom of God, which drew on mundane/earthly objects. Jesus told parables that suited an audience’s imagination by using terms relatable to their experiences at that time, implying that some metaphorical objects are meaningless in modern contextualization. All lessons delivered to disciples in the form of tales and parables remain potent in the modern Christian worldview, primarily because biblical truths have not changed. Therefore, Jesus’ description of God’s experiences, His expectations for Christian lifestyles, and general calls to religious commitment can be replicated in modern parables with similar rhetorical styles to the ancient teachings.
This paper analyzes the parable of the Sower, especially the comparison between the parable’s teachings and contemporary truths in Christianity and biblical worldviews. The primary argument is that although some objects featured in Jesus’ colorful poetry and metaphorical illustrations are obsolete, their potent truths and teachings can be reflected in modern imagery.
The Parable of The Sower
Jesus attracted crowds who became ardent and active listeners due to his meticulous storytelling. Whereas Jesus used simple words commoners could relate to, the hidden meanings and Godly truths remained elusive even to the disciples (Tame, 2005). Such is the case of the Parable of the Sower, as told in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13. A farmer set out to sow his seed, which he scattered along the way as he headed to the prepared grounds. In the parable, some seeds fell on the road, which birds ate (New International Version, 2011, Matt. 13: 4). Some seeds that fell on rocky places germinated and sprouted quickly, only to wither when the sun came.
Some of the farmer’s seeds that fell among thorns germinated but got choked by weeds. However, the seeds that fell on prepared soil grew and produced a crop. The crescendo of the parable is that none of the seeds produced a single crop as it was sown. The Bible records that it produced a hundred, sixty, and thirtyfold of what the farmer had sown (New International Version, 2011, Matt. 13: 8). Even if the audience could not fathom the parable’s meaning, they could relate to the rich historical and cultural context conveyed in the short story.
Cultural and Historical Context
The parable conveys a culture where people prepared the land, sowed seeds, and waited for the crops to grow without attending to them. According to Pilch (2020), most of Jesus’ listeners were farmers who had prior experience with sowing. There are several contextual meanings, ranging from the farmer leaving home with seeds to the crops producing yields of hundreds, sixty, and thirtyfold.
One such context is that farmers used primitive/ineffective farming methods, such as scattering seeds carelessly (Onwuka, 2020). In the parable, seeds that fell on the path did so as the farmer scattered them. Unlike an imagination that seeds might have fallen from a bag as the Sower advanced towards the prepared ground, Jesus clarified that the Sower placed them on paths, on rocky places, and amidst thorns. The most probable reason Jesus makes the Sower responsible for where seeds fell is that if seeds represented spirituality, there must be supernatural control over how spirituality is distributed in human lives.
Historically, the parable conveys the years of human existence spent laboring for food production. The main character in the parable is the Sower, whose further description Jesus did not provide. Although the issue of peasantry and classism may not be relevant to the parable analysis, the role of agriculture in human survival through food security is clearly evident in the story.
The greater impact of Jesus’ parables is that they encouraged participation in economic development (Gardiner, 2018). The concrete contextual analysis of the lifestyles led by Jesus’ audience is that people got immersed in hours of hard work, and labor was not communal. However, the hidden teaching behind the sloppy and wasteful sowing is that if the farmer put one hundred percent of the seeds on good ground, he would have realized a bigger profit (Gardiner, 2018). The bigger question in connecting the parable to the audience’s daily lives is why God would knowingly scatter spiritual seeds on unfit grounds.
Considering God as the Sower, seeds as spiritual teachings, and human hearts as the soil where seeds grow, the farmer appears so generous that he does not discriminate which soil to sow seeds in. A key takeaway from the culture-based scenarios in Jesus’ parable is that spiritual truths have a significant impact when they are confrontational or reveal something to the audience’s hearts (Onwuka, 2020). Jesus gave out a parable with several blanks in between, leaving the listener to connect mundane events in the story with the spiritual truth. The insider language appears confrontative when a farmer knowingly casts seeds amidst thorns, rocks, and paths. An audience that does not connect the Kingdom of God’s generosity towards humans would despise the careless and sloppy Sower. However, even modern cultural contexts can convey similar generosity and love as Jesus portrayed the Kingdom of God.
The Parable of the Traders
The Kingdom of God is like a father with three sons who traded oil in the Middle East. The three sons traveled several miles, signing deals and reporting trade results to their father, who founded the oil business startup. The eldest son was a skilled negotiator who had little difficulty negotiating deals and reaping profits. He invested in an engine manufacturing business with proceeds from the oil trade and stopped depending on his father three years after the startup. Two other sons were avid travelers who used proceeds from the oil business to explore the world. They had the best services in the world because their father had been a reputable businessman years before the sons traded in the family empire.
The oil business declined when Middle East traders privatized supply and eliminated intermediaries. Therefore, the two sons turned to their father and said, “Pray, Lord, that you start a business for us too.” The father granted their request and started a yacht-building business, which the sons brought down within a year. The eldest son expanded his engine-building business to multiple countries, became the world’s most affluent investor, and his father took great pride in him.
Explanations and Similarities with The Parable of the Sower
Historical and cultural contexts in the parable of the traders reflect the capitalistic paradigms of economic advancements in contemporary societies. As peasants in Jesus’ time found fulfillment in labor and productivity, populations in the 21st century use trade to address resource shortages while investing proceeds in self-gratification. The father represents God, whereas the three sons represent the grounds on which seeds fell in the parable of the Sower. Capital investment in the oil business is the seed in Jesus’ parable, whereas profits are similar to crop productivity.
Both parables reflect a biblical truth about the Kingdom of God’s generosity and indiscriminate mercy despite human shortcomings. Moreover, like the Sower, the father appears to be a careless investor who puts money in two wasteful sons. However, biblical truth offers a different interpretation from what human emotions and sentiments would suggest in a story. Jesus’ parable taught about the nature of the Kingdom of God, being hopeful that, regardless of the ground conditions on which seeds fall, they could grow and produce crops.
A similarity between biblical truths in Jesus’ and the contemporary personal parable is that the Kingdom of God extends equal spirituality to everyone. All humans have an equal chance to walk the talk, exemplifying Christianity and biblical worldviews through sustainable and ethical behavior (Astrachan et al., 2020). God remains faithful to his people by showing a willingness to accept everyone regardless of their weaknesses. Moreover, God expects all humans to be good stewards of both spiritual and material wealth, a probable reason why Jesus compared spiritual bequeathment to earthly investments.
Conclusion
Modern imageries portray biblical teachings using relatable cultures and activities that historically reflect common global socioeconomic dynamics. The parable of the Sower resonated with the audience because most people in the countryside tilled land and grew crops. Subsistence was beneficial if crops grew thirty, sixty, or hundredfold, a similar situation in modern times, where traders sought to maximize business profits. Similarly, the parable of the travelers would resonate with modernists who are aware of the uncertainties associated with the business.
The Kingdom of God equips humans with spiritual talents, expecting multiple outcomes reflected through adherence to biblical ways of life. However, humans must try to provide suitable grounds for spiritual growth. A faithful steward ensures productivity regardless of the spiritual investment conditions. However, the scale to which seeds multiply after being sown remains a mystery to ordinary humans.
References
Astrachan, J. H., Binz Astrachan, C., Campopiano, G., & Baù, M. (2020). Values, spirituality and religion: Family business and the roots of sustainable ethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 163, 637-645.
Gardiner, B. (2018). Christ’s parable of the Sower: Intellectual property rights in gossip and testimony. Literature & Aesthetics, 28(1), 193-220.
New International Version. (2011). Biblica.Inc. (Original work published 1973).
Onwuka, P. C. (2020). Understanding the parables of Jesus. Sapientia Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Development Studies, 3(2), 301-310.
Pilch, J. (2020). Historical cultural context 15th Sunday of ordinary time year A.
Tame, K. (2005). And finally… The Kingdom of God is like this…The Expository Times, 116(7), 252-252.