Parable of the Sower

Parable of the Sower

We're going to visit this handsome Gothic church in Dorset, England and see beautiful stained glass windows that illustrate the Parable of the Sower, found in three of the gospels, Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8.  St. Edward, King and Martyr Church, the parish Church of Corfe Castle, was originally built in the 13th century.  This massive tower is all that remains of the original church, the remainder was built in 1859.  The stained glass windows inside are unique and special.

We'll start with a panorama look at the three lovely windows which make up the whole of the Parable of the Sower before we see a close-up of each panel that illustrates the story.  I've chosen Luke's version in chapter 8 for this post.  Jesus shared this story/parable with a great multitude of people who had gathered to listen to Him:

"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.

Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.

And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.

But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.  Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

Jesus then explained the parable to His listeners, saying that the seed is the word of God that is sown into the hearts of men and women.  In the Wayside picture, the devil comes and takes away the word from a person's heart, lest they should believe and be saved.

The Rock picture represents people receiving the word with joy, but without root.  They believe for a little while, but soon fall away because of temptation.

Seed that falls among thorns show us people who hear the truth, but they are choked with cares, riches and pleasures of life.  They bring no fruit to maturity.

Jesus said, "But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience."

The Sower is illustrated here by Jesus Christ who sowed the Word of God to many during His lifetime here on earth, and still offers the wonderful Word to any who have ears to hear.

We obviously want to be "good ground" and bear much fruit for our Master.  Galatians 5:22 gives us a glimpse of some of that good fruit we want to produce, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."

Now, that's a fruit bowl I'm sure we would all love to have sitting on the table of our lives!