Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A
ISAIAH 55: 10-11
ROMANS 8: 18-23
MATTHEW 13:1-23
The background to the first reading is the exile in Babylon. The people of Israel had been in exile for many years and were wondering if they would never return to their homeland. In The midst of their disappointment, God raised a prophet from among them to proclaim that their liberation was at hand, that the hour of their salvation was at hand. The people get ready, but years go by and nothing happens and the people are discouraged again. Why has the Word of God not become a reality? Is God behaving like humans who do not keep their promises?
Then prophet Isaiah proclaimed that the Word of God is “Yes and Amen,” it is like the rain that always produces the effect for which it was sent. The Word of God will bring about what it promises. No obstacle can prevent it. Some years later as the prophet foretold, the first group of Hebrews were permitted to leave Babylon. Are we not often seized by doubt and distrust when we don’t see the immediate realization of the Word of God? God’s Word is never spoken in vain. His Word will not return to Him void but must accomplish that for which it was sent. We need a lot of faith, patience and perseverance to accept this truth. If the Word of God does not bear fruit in our lives, it is not because the Word of God is ineffective or impotent but because of our personal disposition towards it. To drive this message home, Jesus told the parable of the sower.
Matthew says, Jesus taught them many things in parables. The Greek word for parable – parabole which translates the Hebrew word mashal which literally means a riddle or a proverb. So, the idea of Jesus teaching in parables in Jewish context isn’t just comparison stories though that’s the primary meaning of the Greek word parabole, but it is based on the Hebrew word which has the connotation of a proverb or a riddle. The first thing I will like to say is that many of Jesus’ parables are riddles. Whenever you read a parable of Jesus, ask yourself, is there anything unusual or unexpected going on in the story. There is always something unexpected, a twist which is usually the key to unlocking the meaning of the parable.
Jesus said, ‘a sower went out to sow, as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path way.’ What will a first century Jew have thought about this? That is the first twist, an unexpected element. This would have struck the attention of His listeners as odd. Any first century Jew knows that if you are going to sow seeds which is usually expensive and is your livelihood, you take care that none of the seeds gets lost. The sower being described here is a careless farmer. A sower prepares the soil and carefully plants the seeds in the right spot. They will say this is a terrible sower. He drops seeds on path ways, on patches of rock and among thorns. The people would have been asking themselves, “Who is this crazy sower and what has he got to do with the kingdom of Heaven?”
Notice how many-fold those that fell on good soil produced. A good harvest can be seven-fold, maybe ten and maximum twenty; never, thirty or sixty, much less one hundred-fold. The life bearing potential of the seed, the Word of God is beyond imagination. It is earth shattering – one hundred-fold. What Jesus is describing is miraculous, it is a superabundant harvest. Again, this is unexpected because this sower does not know what he is doing, yet when he gets it on a good soil, it is a miraculous harvest. In the end, the parable portrays the sower as lavish and extravagant but not foolish or wasteful.
Jesus is Himself the sower and the seed is the Word of God. In His characteristic generosity, he scatters the seed everywhere. Why does he scatter the seed everywhere even to places where there is no possibility of producing fruit? He doesn’t just bring it to those who are going to respond, He brings it to everyone. He does this because of the character of God’s love which is universal. God is not partial. He does not measure out His love according to what we do. He simply loves us. It is us who limit the amount of love we allow into our hearts to transform us. We are often afraid of loving much to avoid doing things that only great love can do. Remember the sinful woman at Simon’s house, how she washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and anointed them with expensive oil – because she loved much.
Reflect for a moment on the lavishness and extravagant generosity of God – throwing seeds in every direction. The Word of God is preached to the proud, the avaricious, the unbelieving, the wicked, the worldly and to all. And sometimes it seems to be spoken in vain and so destined to return empty. It never does. God always has some design in it and will accomplish it. Where the Word of God does not bring conversion, it leaves people without excuse.
Everyone has the opportunity to bear fruit. We must take care to be good soil and cultivate the seed planted in us. We cannot let our hearts become a games field for birds and passers-by, nor are we to allow preoccupation with worldly things symbolized by thorns and thistles to choke the Word of God in our hearts. To be good ground, you must listen to the Word of God with a humbled contrite heart, be earnest in prayer and mortification, never be discouraged even if your effort of many years appears not to bear fruit, be eager to rise again when we fall. Mary is our model in cultivating the Word of God within us. She pondered the Word of God in her heart. Psalm 1, 2 proclaims the blessedness of the man who ponders the Word of God. Such shall be our blessedness, and verse 3 says, he shall be like a tree planted by the waters of the river that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf shall never wither. And whatever he does shall proper. May this be our blessedness through Christ our Lord.
Happy Sunday
Fr Chidi Onwuka M.Ss.Cc