Today we have a familiar Gospel reading (Lk. 8:5-15), the parable of the sower. There’s always a danger, though, with familiar readings, that we think we understand them because we know the usual interpretation, and therefore we fail to reflect upon them 
deeply enough to discover the ways in which God wants us to apply them to our own lives. The disciples of Jesus tried to reflect on what He said to the crowds when He first told this parable, and since they didn’t quite get it, they asked Him privately what it meant. This extra step of seeking fuller understanding was rewarded by Jesus, who then began to open to them the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.
Perhaps when Jesus originally told the parable, nobody really could figure out the meaning of it. He just spoke of a man rather indiscriminately scattering seed, which fell in various places and which, in three out of four scenarios, failed to produce fruit. Having said this, Jesus then said to the people, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Evidently Jesus expected that anyone with the ability to understand the things of God would know what He was talking about.
When his own disciples came up empty and therefore asked Jesus to explain the parable, He said something to them which He also says to anyone who has been granted the grace to meditate upon the word of God: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God.” This doesn’t mean that they had already possessed some extraordinary capacity to understand divine mysteries—since they were the first to admit that they didn’t understand. For them to have been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom simply means they were chosen to hear the Son of God Himself reveal these secrets. And since Jesus’ explanation of the parable has been written down, we who read it have thereby been likewise chosen, and so we have at least the potential to benefit from this revelation.
We learn from Jesus’ explanation of the parable that the seed which is sown is the word of God, and that the places in which it is sown are human hearts. Jesus describes what happens in various ascending degrees of response to the word of God. The first and lowest degree is that of people who don’t even believe in the word that is sown. Jesus says that the devil immediately takes away the word from these unreceptive hearts, “that they may not believe and be saved.” My guess is that those of us who call ourselves Christians are unlikely to be identified with this group, though that doesn’t mean that the devil has nothing more to do to us, since I think he is also involved in the failures of the next two groups that do not bear fruit.
Faring somewhat better, at least initially, than those from who the word is immediately taken away, are those who at first receive the word with joy. These, however, might be called Jesus’ fair-weather friends. They are not deeply rooted in Him but accept his word only as long as fidelity to Him is not demanding or painful or costly. When their faith is tested by trial or temptation (the Greek term means all three of these), they fall away, having believed only for a while.
This may sometimes be the case of new converts or people who have experienced a time of special grace that eventually yields to a time of testing for the sake of spiritual maturity. What happened to that original joy, they think, when they were coasting along upon waves of grace and blessing? Now they’ve run into struggles again, inner turmoil and confusion and groping around in apparent darkness. If they were only in it for pleasant spiritual experiences, this rude awakening may prove too difficult and they withdraw from the God they think has withdrawn from them. I didn’t sign up for this, they may indignantly declare, and so accuse Jesus in effect of false advertising, and they move on to something less demanding, but thereby exclude themselves from the deep mysteries of God and his Kingdom. The Lord calls these people “rootless” and they bear no fruit.
The next group manages to get a little farther in spiritual life, but still not far enough. Evidently they don’t give up so easily, because they begin to show signs of bearing fruit. But Jesus says that their fruit does not mature, so it remains sour, undeveloped, and hence unacceptable to God. These don’t give up at the sudden onset of trials, but they allow themselves to be choked off—at first imperceptibly, but gradually more and more—by the “cares and riches and pleasures of life” and so get stuck in a state of spiritual immaturity that does not fulfill the will of God.
Perhaps the majority of Christians who are at least making some effort to be faithful fall into this category. They believe in the beginning, don’t fall away at the first provocation, but little by little they get worn down. So they retreat, make some compromises with the world, lose their original focus, start living more for this life than for the next, just getting more preoccupied with worldly affairs than with the things of God. One might have little sympathy for those who are simply seeking riches and pleasures, but the word I pause on is “cares.” Sometimes the cares of life really are legitimate ones, and it may even be part of our vocation to attend to them.
I think, however, that Jesus is here asking us to arrange our priorities. It is similar to the passage in which Jesus talks about not worrying about food and clothing. These might be symbols of the “cares of life.” Jesus said, “The Father knows you need these things.” Thus He pronounces them legitimate cares. Yet He still urges us to “seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.” Evidently the reason that the fruit never matures in the hearts and lives of those who get choked by the cares of life is that they place these cares above the need to seek the Kingdom of God. Having their priorities disordered, they do not advance toward a deeper life in God but gradually crowd out his presence with other interests and cares.
There is one group left, the ones who actually do bear much fruit for the Lord, the hearts in which the seed of the word of God takes root and manages to avoid those spiritual thorn bushes that choke off its true life. There’s a certain kind of heart in which this can take place. The usual English translation is an “honest and good” heart, but I wondered about that. “Good” doesn’t seem to need further elucidation, but what about “honest”? An honest heart is certainly an asset in any human endeavor, and dishonesty disqualifies us for receiving God’s favor, but is “honest” the best translation here? I looked it up and noticed that the kind of heart the Lord really wants us to have for receiving the word is a kalos heart. There, that is clear now, right? What, do you not have ears to hear and understand? All right, I will explain this mystery of the Kingdom.
The term kalos usually means “beautiful,” but it has numerous shades of meaning. The famous title for Jesus, “Good Shepherd,” is actually the Pimen Kalos, the beautiful or noble shepherd. Kalos can also mean excellent, of good quality, honorable, worthy, delightful, just, or virtuous. That is the kind of heart that is fertile soil for the seed of the word of God. In fact, in Matthew’s version, he actually uses the word kalos to describe the good soil itself in which the seed falls, so in this context the word can mean rich and fertile as well. So, a worthy, noble, virtuous—and thus beautiful—heart is to the word of God what rich and fertile soil is to good seed. When God’s word is implanted in such hearts, they bear a hundredfold fruit for the glory of God and the service of his Kingdom.
This fruit is not borne all at once, however. Even in a heart that offers favorable conditions for receiving the word of God, the seed still has to take root, grow, flower, and finally bear fruit. That is why Jesus says such hearts will bear fruit with patience, with perseverance, with steadfast fidelity to God. He therefore goes on to say, a few verses later: “Take heed, then, how you hear, for to him who has, more will be given…” There is more than one seed of the word of God, more than one secret of his Kingdom. The Lord would like to see a whole garden of divine mysteries flourishing in our hearts! So if we are faithful to the graces He grants to us, responding with love and zeal, sparing no effort in cultivating the spiritual fruit, He will honor our faithfulness by granting more. But if we are lazy or preoccupied or self-indulgent, we will bear either no fruit or immature fruit, and both of these are unacceptable to God. In fact, failing to bear fruit is not a neutral state of affairs. If the devil couldn’t steal the word from us in the beginning, he’s still close at hand to take over our hearts when he sees evidence of negligence, disobedience, or any signs in our hearts that we are not putting the will of God first in our lives.
So, we have heard today the word of God, and thus a seed is planted in our hearts. Shall we forget it as soon as we walk out the door? That is like the devil stealing it away. Will we end up rootless or choked by cares and pleasures simply because we did not seek first the Kingdom of God? Or will we receive it in noble, worthy, upright, honest, and fertile hearts, so that we can be God’s delight by bearing fruits that please Him?
Another “seed” is about to be planted in us, in a very tangible way. That is the Body and Blood of Christ, literally placed within our bodies so as to reach the depths of our hearts with his grace and love. Will this divine “seed” take root in us and flourish? What will He find when He enters our hearts—a hardened footpath, or rocks and thorns, or instead a welcoming environment of faith and love and willingness to serve? If we are faithful, more will be given and we will go deeply into the mysteries of God—or rather, they will go deeply into us, putting forth deep roots, so that nothing in this life will be able to trouble us or shake our peace. The humble are never disturbed by what others say or do to them, for the word of God is planted deeply in the humus of their humility. It is only pride that stirs up resentment, grumbling, and self-pity, and pride is the ruin of the rootless.
So let us bring forth fruit humbly, patiently, with steadfastness and perseverance. Thus in looking we will see, and in hearing we will understand, and we will be assured of a place in the Kingdom of God.
