Three Against One
Luke 8:4-15
Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
4 Now when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: 5 “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky ate it up. 6 “Other seed fell on rocky soil, and when it came up, it withered away because it had no moisture. 7 “Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. 8 “And yet other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as much.” As He said these things, He would call out, “The one who has ears to hear, 1let him hear.” 9 Now His disciples began asking Him what this parable meant. 10 And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest they are told in parables, so that while seeing they may not see, and while hearing they may not understand. 11 “Now this is the parable: the seed is the word of God. 12 “And those beside the road are the ones who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. 13 “Those on the rocky soil are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and yet these do not have a firm root; they believe for a while, and in a time of temptation they 2fall away. 14 “And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked by worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity. 15 “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word with a good and virtuous heart, and hold it firmly, and produce fruit with perseverance.
In the Gospel of Luke chapter eight verses 4 to 15, we have the famous parable of the Sower of the seeds and a biblical explanation of what it means. Jesus was the best parable teacher of all the rabbis of his time and of today. In order to understand the parable of the Sower, we just have to look at what each of the four types of seed is referring to.
The seeds that fell upon the path and were eaten by the birds are people who grow up without the Word of the LORD. These people would not understand what it means to live in the world, according to the Torah. Therefore, they would grow up and do whatever they pleased. These people would not have any moral or ethical problem with murdering someone whom they disagreed with or if they coveted something their neighbor possessed. Therefore, upon death, this soul would be placed in the hollow for the murdered.
The seeds that withered in the sun would be the sinners. These people would have learned about the Torah. However, their study of the Torah would be superficial. They would not understand the truth of the LORD’s word and would sin against the LORD because they did not know any better. They would go to the sinner’s hollow upon death.
The people who were seeds that the weeds choked off would be the non-pious. These were Judeans who were influenced by the Greek-Roman lifestyle and preferred it over the lifestyle that the LORD created for His people, which is defined in the Torah.
The seeds that grew on the good soil are the righteous people who follow the Laws of the LORD from the Torah. When they die, they will go to the hollow of the righteous.
The hollows for the sinners and evil people can be rearranged in several orders. Jesus’s parable of the four types of people gives a stern warning that it is imperative not to be a sinner. This is done by one’s behavior and studying the LORD’s words so that one would know what the LORD expects.
Jesus offers this parable as a complement to the Book of the Watchers, 1 Enoch, chapter one to thirty-six. Enoch said that he wrote the book to warn his children and the generations to come about what happens if one does not obey the LORD. It does matter which hollow one goes to upon death. Enoch and Jesus said that the righteous hollow is where you want to be when life on earth is complete.
Now what do we do with these explanations? The answer is basic, and that is that there are more paths to evil in the world than there are to righteousness. Wow! That sounds sorrowful to say, but when you look at the world today, it’s pretty obvious that there are more paths to evil. One thing that is very disturbing is that the news broadcasts and the newspapers are more interested in telling us of the bad things that are happening in the world rather than telling us about the good things are happening in the world.
I was at a new church assignment for two weeks. The church was holding a vacation Bible school program. The church was on the west side of the city of York, Pennsylvania. I was thrilled to see that so many kids were there who came from the city. The program was excellent and the people who put it together did a fantastic job. On the second day of the vacation Bible school week, some person, or persons decided to put some graffiti on the church.
Today I don’t know who called the local news broadcasters but channel 8 of Lancaster showed up at the church. I don’t remember the name of the anchor who came in and talked to me, but I can tell you that his questions had to do with the graffiti. I asked him if he would cover the vacation Bible school that we were holding for kids in the west side of the city because it was far more important than giving airtime to some unknown person because they decided to put graffiti on the church. I was not that surprised by the anchor’s answer. That anchor said that he only reported on bad news.
Why did he only want to report bad news? It is believed by news organizations that people will only listen to their broadcasts if they are telling us about the bad things that happen in life. By doing that, we never get to hear much about the good things that are happening. I will admit that every so often a good story comes across, but when you look at the ratio of bad stories to good stories, the bad stories win.
The parable tells us that there are three ways for the sinner. There is only one way for the righteous. Jesus wants us to follow that one path that leads to righteousness. It is something that each of us has to decide on our own. However, if you call yourself a follower of Jesus Christ, then you want to follow Jesus’ way. You would like to become the good soil so that Jesus can plant seeds in use so that you can become righteous. Of course, Jesus is planning the seeds virtually, and it’s actually because of each of our attitudes towards his teaching.
Therefore, I believe that if you want to be righteous, you need to become receptive to the seeds of truth and knowledge that Jesus will plant inside of you. If you are not on the path to righteousness, I highly urge you to consider doing it. It is not that difficult to do, and it is necessary for your individual salvation. An individual cannot change the world; however, an individual can change their destiny. May your destiny be in heaven with Christ.
