Seed, Soil and Matthew's Gospel

The Parable of the Seed   Thomas Yoder Neufeld, 1979

 Matthew 13 is a gardener’s guide to proper soil preparation, planting and harvesting of crops.  

Or is it? Jesus’ parables, allegories and metaphors follow in a long tradition of how teaching for retention has been done through the ages. Greek philosopher, Aesop, wrote the parable of “The Boy Who Cried ‘Wolf” in about 600 BC, making him contemporary to the prophet Jeremiah, Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel.

The Old Testament is primarily an account of the relationship of the Hebrew people to Yahweh and to others through the medium of allegorical stories: Creation, Tower of Babel, Jonah and the Big Fish, even the sojourn in Egypt and the celebrated Exodus through the Reed Sea may be better described as a story told for its allegorical teaching, than as an historical record.(For the debate over the historicity of the Exodus, Just search "Is

the Exodus real?" or similar.)

The chapter begins with the parable of The Sower and the Seed. It’s a frequently illustrated parable in paintings and drawings and along with The Good Samaritan and The Prodigal Son, a favourite in Christian teaching. Unlike the latter two—which are instructive for Christians—the Sower seems to exude an existential air; as if it were a philosophical description of a state of humanity affecting its receptivity for the Word/Seed. Jesus explains the use of the path, the stones, the weeds to his disciples and clarifies that by seed, he means the word and by soil, he means hearts.  

It hearkens back to that other allegory, namely the eating of the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Everything that follows in Hebrew mythology begins at the point of the realization that human consciousness endows humankind with God-like insight, not given to any other life form. From that point on, humanity chooses its paths, unlike the giraffes, the whales or the cherry trees. Good soil? Stony soil? Hard path? Bird feeder? Weed cultivator?

Evolution has no quarrel with the existence of such a threshold , except that it would likely see the awakening of human consciousness as a process of a few million years,  

The goal of a garden is fruit. Vegetables for our bodily nourishment, flowers that feed our spirit. But a garden is generous only if the soil is well-prepared, fertile. Soil and heart are alike; they both germinate seed, produce fruit if receptive to receive the Word/Seed.  

Here are two images on the same subject as the parable in question. Humanity lives in a sea of pleasures, sickness, joy, war, death ... everything possible. Christians are given lifeboats for the purpose of rescuing the willing. The unwilling will drown by choice, or ... 

All humanity is on a great ship, journeying toward the end of days. Christians are the crew, their calling to supply safety, comfort to all passengers, whether appreciative or mutinous. Fights break out, violence is frequent, but the crew are dedicated and long-suffering, confident of reaching the goal, and their example causes many to rethink how they’re living out the journey.  

Which metaphor do you prefer? Why?

(NAICA)

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