Mt 13:1-9
1On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. 3And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, 6and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. 7Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. 8But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. 9Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
EXTRAVAGANT HARVEST: While the land of Israel could boast of fertile oasis-towns like Jericho (held to be the oldest inhabited place on earth) which produces abundant fruits, flowers, and spices, unfortunately this is not common throughout the country. In many places, farming can be difficult. As the Gospel parable points out, rocky and uneven soil predominates, and farmers have to work hard to render the ground arable (see Is 5:2).
After the early rain has softened the soil, plowing begins. Sowing is done either before or after the plowing. In the parable, the sower may be sowing with care, but he ends up wasting seed because conditions are so difficult.
But the extravagant harvest gives a clue to the message of the parable. On the average, one might expect a four- or five-fold return on sowing. So thirty-, sixty-, or a hundredfold is really unexpected. If a tenant farmer produces such a harvest, he will satisfy the landowner, provide seed for the next sowing, and leave enough for his family to eat.
The extravagant harvest, which boggles the imagination, tells us that this is clearly due to God rather than the human effort. The parable may describe an ordinary scenario, but it always points out to “something more.” The yields are clearly exaggerated, but not when applied to the sowing of the “seed of the word” done by God or by Jesus. God is a generous provider. The parable points to what the prophet Isaiah declares: just as the rain and snow do not return to the heavens without having watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, so is the word that goes forth from the mouth of God: it shall not return to him void (Is 55:10-11).