We begin with the large crowd. One version translated it multitudes. There were a lot of people. We assume there were different hearts, people having different opinions and needs. They were sitting all around the lakeshore listening to this man in the boat. They could all relate to the story.

Large crowds are not uncommon for Jesus. It still is not uncommon for large crowds to gather at Christian events today. The issue for Jesus wasn't the size of the crowd, but what is going on in their heads and hearts.

There was a large crowd that original Palm Sunday when Jesus rode on a donkey coming into Jerusalem. It was a large crowd that wanted to make Him king. It was a large crowd that gathered to sing praises to God and recite the Shema and observe the Passover. It was a large crowd five days later that shouted with fists “Crucify him, kill him.” It was a large crowd that left when they were confronted with the cost of what it would be to actually follow Jesus. Jesus knew, when He taught crowds, only a few really listen.

Today we have crowds in many religious activities. Sometimes I am encouraged when there are lots of people and discouraged when there are few. That is the American way. We want more in numbers, but Jesus could dwell on the sincerity of the soul not the size of the crowd. So, when He had a chance to speak, He shared from His heart things that He was seeing with perceptive understanding of those standing there. It isn't the quantity of the spectators that impresses Him, but the hearts of the spectators that He is interested in.

The Sower reveals.  the one who sows the seed. There is a farmer that goes about spreading seed all around the fields.  He sows liberally. In another lesson Jesus said if you sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly, but if you sow in abundance you will reap in abundance. A farmer will take whatever seed he has and scatters it freely.

Since I was raised in Detroit, I admit I do not have first-hand knowledge about farmers and rural life. I thought an eggplant was a chicken factory. I knew the difference between a cow and a bull, but I didn't know a heifer, a Holstein, a Jersey or steer. So, when I got married Judi thought it was a good idea for me to help her in the garden. I wondered why you go through all this work when you can buy this stuff at a store. "Oh,” she would tell me, “It is relaxing and fun and the stuff tastes so much better when it is home grown."

Stake out the plot, dig, rototill; I'd throw rocks from the soil and somehow was waiting for the fun part. She'd do the rows and planting of the seed and the watering. And then we watched what came up. Friends, the job wasn't done.

I discovered there was lots more fun to come. It was called weeding the garden, which wouldn't have been so bad except in the back of the garden were burdocks and thistles. I've never experienced burdock in all of my life. I've never seen a potato bug in all of my life in Detroit. I was exposed to more fun, with dusting and picking bugs off plants. And killing them.

But then came the time of harvest. Tomatoes for lunch and for supper, tomatoes for snacks and in soup, in sandwiches, in cans and bottles. Judi would tell me; we have to eat them because they are ripe and we don't want them to spoil.

I had my fill tomatoes, not to mention the zucchini and squash that I'm told if kept in the basement can be eaten all year long. I had squash once a year growing up and was forced to eat it by Mom. I didn't want squash all year. I gained a new appreciation for the labor of the sower who would be patient and passionate about what he did.

Then there was the seed scattered. What the seed looked like in those little packages didn't look like what grew either. I found that you didn't put just one little seed in a hole, you put in a few and see what grew and then paired down the extras in favor of the best.

Jesus tells us the sower represents those who are willing to spread the Word of God while the seed represents the "Word of God" or the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Application: We have the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ and cannot be content to keep it to ourselves. His command is to take it to the world and spread it all over so people will know.

Prayer: Lord, teach me to sow Your Word generously, trusting you to nourish and water the seed that is planted.