Understanding the first group in the Parable of the Sower
When I started writing this blog, the plan was to talk about the parable in its entirety.
Spoiler: Jesus essentially names four groups of people who hear the Word of the kingdom and how they respond in this parable.
But as I started writing about the first group, I realized there was way too much depth to simply gloss over a few points and move onto the next one. So, to make this deep dive easier to digest (and not insanely long), I’ll be breaking up this parable into four separate posts. Starting with this first group.
The Parable of the Sower is probably one of the most well-known parables in the Bible, even by nonbelievers. If you’ve already read the gospel of Matthew or you’ve been attending church for at least a few years, you’ve likely heard this story and overall understand its meaning.
Regardless, we’re going to review it in its entirety and pull it apart to see if we can find any unique insights that might relate to the current state of the Christian body.
Let’s start with Matthew 13:3 where Jesus tells the parable for the first time to a great crowd of people:
3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
After Jesus shared this parable, His disciples came to Him and asked why He spoke in this manner to the crowds. This is where Jesus dives into the purpose of parables, and if you’re curious about further exploring His answer, I highly suggest checking out last week’s post.
But let’s get back to the Parable of the Sower. In verses 18-23, Jesus breaks down the metaphors in the parable privately to the disciples. Here’s the explanation about the first one.
“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.”
Matthew 13:19 NKJV
Here, the “seed” is the Word of the kingdom. The one doing the receiving is a person, but in this planting metaphor, the person is the surface the seed is falling on. “The wicked one” is referring to satan, or even those the devil uses to mislead humanity.
The full parable presents us with four different groups—that is, four different ground surfaces of varying fertility. The seed itself is a constant when its sown: the different patches of soil all get the same exact seed (the Word of God), but a seed needs to be properly nurtured to grow and produce fruit. With this parable, we see that the results the seeds yield are dependent on the condition of the ground surface, which is the person’s heart condition.
Out of the four, the least nurturing appears to be the first.
The seed fell by the wayside on ground that wasn’t fertile enough to begin with. The ground (the people) received (heard) the seed (the Word), but the seed couldn’t take root because it was not able to be planted.
As a result, the birds, being opportunists, always on the prowl for something to eat, saw the seed scattered on the ground, and ate it up before the seeds could disappear. Also, notice the words used to describe how the birds came. In verse 4, Jesus says the birds “devoured” the seeds. He doesn’t simply say “the birds calmly ate the seeds”. He says they devoured those seeds, which is another word for “destroy”.
In verse 19, Jesus also doesn’t say that the wicked one took his time picking up the seeds. Jesus says the wicked one snatches the seeds away. Both of the words “devoured” and “snatches” imply a sense of urgency and ferociousness. The devil isn’t taking his time trying to remove or corrupt the Word of God, he’s moving with the tenacity of a bird that is starving for its next meal. And why? Because the sower could come back and sweep those seeds onto more fertile ground, but if the birds steal the seeds before that can happen, the seeds cannot grow and yield a crop of thirty times, sixty times, or even a hundredfold (which is the fourth group mentioned verse 9 and 23).
Keep in mind that the people in this first group aren’t only Christians—notice how Jesus said “when ANYONE hears the word of the kingdom”. Since these seeds fell by the wayside, they were easy targets as they were never rooted, never able to sprout, develop, or bloom, like the other groups.
So, what do you think this looks like in real life?
Unfortunately, I think one of the most vulnerable people who fall into this group are kids and teens, especially those who grow up in the church. They may spend every Sunday in a pew, attend youth groups during the week, and learn about Christianity (whether against their will or not) but they may not grasp the true meaning of the gospel initially. I think anyone who’s grown up in a very fire-and-brimstone, strict church setting may have been fed the lie that God is this judgmental authoritarian figure, always looking to catch us making a mistake to throw it back in our faces. Or some people might have grown up feeling like the validity of their salvation was only as strong as their works and acts of service. Many kids even get chastised just for asking hard questions that the religious adults around them aren’t equipped to answer.
So, where does all this leave a young person who is still very curious about the world and trying to find their place in it? For one, they might start to develop their own misconceptions about who God really is or get led astray by sinful influences sent by the enemy. Then, what was sown in their heart when they initially heard the gospel gets snatched away or corrupted. Everybody seeks fulfillment of some sort. We were made to feel satisfied by God, but when people can’t find satisfaction in the church, they will look outside of it.
Another group of people who could fall into this camp are lukewarm Christians who are struggling with a prevailing sin. Quick definition of what “lukewarm” faith looks like: Revelation 3: 15-16 (NKJV) says, “I [God] know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”
These people haven’t fully submitted to God (which is preventing them from being fully on fire for God) or they’re not part of a church that is properly discipling them and giving them the guidance they need to overcome their sin. So because they don’t understand why they’re struggling or they don’t have enough discernment to realize that the religious environment they’re in is not beneficial, it’s easier for them to be led astray by something outside of God’s will that they think will help them, or to simply continue in their lukewarm behavior by getting better at hiding their sin.
For example: This might look like someone who works in a church but also actively struggles with adultery (and maybe it’s not such a secret to others in the church). If this person truly “understood” the word of the kingdom and the authority they have in Jesus, and if they had the right discipleship, they would surrender their own will and their sin to God and seek repentance. But because they never had that understanding of what it means to be set apart as a believer in Christ, the enemy is able to continue misleading them and “snatch away” the truth of their sin (the undebatable truth that God hates sin of any kind) AND the truth of their ability to overcome. So instead of repenting, this person might think one of two things: “I hate myself because I can’t overcome this sin” or “Once I’m saved, I’m always saved and I already do so much for God so He’ll forgive me if I continue doing this.”
Both of these statements show a lack of submission to God, which is a form of idolatry, but they also sadly show a lack of knowledge of the grace and authority that God gives to those who have faith in Him.
But being a lukewarm Christian isn’t limited to those struggling with certain obvious sins like adultery. Lukewarmness can also be seen in those who are willfully ignorant about scripture. Unfortunately, especially in western churches such as those in the United States, too many Christians depend on their pastors or their favorite podcasts to hear the Word of God. They may know John 3:16 or Jeremiah 29:11 by heart (which is great!), but the extent of their hunger for God’s Word starts and ends there.
As a result, you usually see two scenarios play out:
One: There’s the casual believer who claims the title of being a Christian but has no desire to live according to what Jesus taught. They might put a Bible verse in their social media bio or pray before a meal, but their lives are indistinguishable from those of a nonbeliever. Or…
Two: There’s the overly religious believer who just focuses on works and rituals because they believe doing these things solidifies their salvation. This unfortunately can set them up to become judgmental toward anyone who doesn’t worship or live life the way they do. Because they haven’t connected with the Word of God by studying it for themselves and cultivating a sincere relationship with God, they don’t realize what Jesus truly values in His believers.
Both of these scenarios lead to the same conclusion: being led astray by the enemy.
Being in this camp is also a breeding ground for double-mindedness. Because they lack understanding, they can’t commit themselves to a life of righteousness so they’re lukewarm. Or they may wind up leaving the church all together. A lot of people who experience church hurt also wind up in this group.
“Church hurt” is a colloquial term that refers to emotional pain or resentment felt by people who have had negative experiences within a church community. Many people who have felt “church hurt” have a valid reason for feeling the way they do. As Christians, we’re called to live and treat others as Jesus would, but often the politics and the culture of church get in the way of fulfilling this command. However, there is a tendency for some of those with church hurt to throw the baby out with the bath water.
Some who’ve had negative church experiences simply detach themselves from any Christian community, leaving themselves isolated, while others leave the faith altogether. Sometimes the pain of what they’ve experienced has made them unable or unwilling to differentiate between the church and what it means to follow Jesus. They wrap everything up into one so that the Bible, prayer, fasting, and even the process of developing a deeper connection with God become associated with the traumatic church experience.
There will always be bad actors in any community, but when we first submit ourselves to God, put our faith in Jesus, and use discernment from the Holy Spirit, we allow God to heal us of any trauma created by these experiences, and we allow Him to guide our steps so we can avoid communities that are no good as we grow in our faith.
With all this being said, the biggest flaw with this group is their inability to let the Word of God be planted or understood in any meaningful capacity. This only makes it easy for the wicked one to swoop in and snatch the Word before it can marinate.
Questions for reflection:
What do you think makes people unable to understand the Word, similar to this first group?
In what ways have you seen the Word “snatched” away from those who’ve heard it and didn’t understand it?
What are some things that every Christian could do better to help those in this group better receive the Word?
