Jesus said to his disciples, «Now listen to the parable of the sower. When a person hears the message of the Kingdom but without taking it to himself, the devil comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed that fell along the footpath. The seed that fell on rocky ground stands for the one who hears the word and accepts it at once with joy. But this fickle and has no roots. No sooner is he harassed or persecuted because of the word, than he gives up. The seed that fell among the thistles is the one who hears the word, but then the worries of this life and the love of money choke the word, and it does not bear fruit. As for the seed that fell on good soil it is the one who hears the word and under-stands it; this bears fruit and produces a hundred, or sixty, or thirty times more».
Source: http://evangeli.net/gospel/
Analysis
Today's passage is quite intriguing as it is almost very much straightforward, as this is literally Jesus explaining the meaning of one of His parables, that is the parable of the sower. As such, I'll only tell the meaning of the parable itself along with Jesus' explanation of it. In summary, the parable is about a sower who accidentally dropped some seeds unknowingly in their way to the garden. Some fell on a footpath but was eaten by birds, some fell on rocky ground but when grown had no roots and died, some fell among thistles but when it grew, the thistles choked the seedling and it died, the ones actually sown on good soil grew and bear fruit. It produced a hundred, or sixty, or thirty times more.
As Jesus said, the seed that fell on the footpath represented people who heard the truth, but didn't took it seriously. As such the seeds were taken away by the devil, though of course it's metaphorical. Having the truth taken away by the devil simply means the distortion or the loss of the truth. As when we don't care about it, it will eventually be replaced by the devil, that is the materialist desires. The seed that fell on rocky road has a straightforward explanation by Jesus, it is those who think they're on to something big with the truth, only to realize they're going to suffer. Though in my opinion, people should expect suffering, as Jesus Himself said that we will suffer inevitably if we wish to serve the truth and follow Christ. As such, I'd like to warn others that if you seek the truth, don't expect an easy road, as you are contradicting much of the world, and contradictions are sources of conflict.
The seed that fell near thistles represent those who can't commit themselves to the truth, as Jesus said, those who are distracted by their earthly worries and their love of money. Sometimes people seek the truth, but they are too focused on their materialist problems and monetary desires. Eventually, the truth will die within them and thus replaced with their materialism. This is like the seed that fell on the footpath, the difference being here the person actually cares about the truth. However they can not choose between God and mammon, and unlike mammon, the truth needs active effort to maintain and follow as we are fighting the current. While with mammon, we're just relaxing, as such if we don't make a choice, we'll most likely have the truth uprooted forcibly by the materialist system. This is especially true with rich people, specifically "philanthropists". What does it mean to be a philanthropist? You're still rich and conflict still happens, if a rich person truly cares about the world, they would surrender all of their wealth and power for the world, like what Jesus did.
The final group of seeds represent those who heard the truth and understood, as Jesus said. These are people who truly care about the truth, and is willing to face anything to fulfill their commitments, they are also willing to sacrifice all of themselves to do so. Of course, as of now only Jesus actually did it completely. Yes, there have been people doing similarly, but none has matched Jesus' act of sacrifice, just so that others can live. I am not saying what the selfless people did are pointless, it's that it is not whole, and just because something is not pure or perfect, does not make it worthless. People like Einstein, Newton, Comte, Marx, and all other people have contributed a lot of progress to the society. It's just that it does not fully encompass the truth, and thus the duty is now passed to us. Are we ready to give our all and let go of all for the truth and only the truth? That is all I have to say for now, have a nice day and see you tomorrow.
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