Why do some not respond to the gospel? The parable of the sower explains why. In the ancient world, a good yield for a crop was 10:1. A yield of "thirty, sixty, a hundredfold" is a fantastical amount of abundance. The point is that the message of the gospel is extremely fertile, capable of producing abundant growth. The condition of the soil, not the quality of the seed, is responsible for disparity.
The excluded interlude, when the disciples ask Jesus why he teaches in parables, is key for the preacher’s understanding of its message. Parables, unlike bullet-point propositions, require active listening. The gospel requires engagement from heart and mind to bear fruit. Those who hear but don’t engage their minds to understand have no root, and become easy prey for the devil’s tricks. Religious enthusiasm is nothing without commitment. Worldly wealth, like weeds, encroaches on our affections, until they crowd out love for God and neighbor.
The preacher should take care not to explain the parable in terms of eternal election. The point is exhortation: "How is your soil today?" might be a good question.
