The Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 16, 2023

Matthew 13, 1–23

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”  The disciples approached him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” He said to them in reply, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see, and hear but do not listen or understand. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted, and I heal them. But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. Hear then the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”    

“On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.”  Earlier on this day, according to St. Matthew, Jesus had been teaching in “the house”, presumably that of St. Peter and his family, and his own Mother and relatives came from Nazareth to see him.  Unable to get through because of the crowd, they sent word to him that they had come, and the Lord used the occasion to teach that “whosoever shall do the will of my Father, that is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12, 50).  Immediately after relating these words, Matthew reports, “On that day, Jesus went out of the house, etc.”  Matthew does not tell us whether Jesus eventually met with his Mother and brethren and we are left to speculate.  

“Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore.”  The Lord Jesus assumes the posture of the teacher by sitting, and the crowd as students by standing.  Very likely these crowds consisted mostly of people from other towns, given the relatively small population of Capernaum.  This tells us of the tremendous attraction the people felt for the Lord.  He taught them about God in simple ways, often using similes drawn from everyday life or the natural world.  He plainly did not do this for money, but out of love for his Father.  His words were underlined by the miracles he wrought, refusing no one’s request for healing or deliverance.  He was the preeminent sign for them that God was with his people, and they wanted to be with him.

“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up.”  The Lord himself gives a detailed explanation of this parable which is recorded in the latter part of this Reading.   We should note that this is the only parable which is told by all three of the Evangelists who give us the Lord’s parables (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), and this tells us of the significance in which they — and the early Christians — held it.  In fact, it is the Lord’s explanation for why so many people would reject him.  Those early, zealous, adherents of the Lord Jesus were baffled by the refusal of the bulk of the Jews to believe in him.  The Gentiles to whom they preached would have wanted to know why they should believe in him when his own people did not.  This parable answers this question.  The fault lies not with the Lord or the Gospel he preached, but with the actions of the devil and the pride and other weaknesses of the fallen human race.  The Lord  divides these into three categories: the preference for sin (the seeds on the path); fear of the opinion of others (the seeds on rocky soil); and materialism / consumerism (the seeds among thorns).

The Apostles are curious about the Lord’s method of teaching through parables, which would seem to confuse rather than enlighten.  But the skillful the use of parables imparts greater understanding of a subject than a series of long lectures.  And the crowds could understand if they wanted.  “Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”  That is, it is granted to the Apostles because they asked Jesus to explain the parables to them.  The crowds did not.  This reflects their faith, which grows through understanding, while those with little faith will lose what they have through a lack of interest in growing their understanding of heavenly mysteries.  The Lord continues: “This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see, and hear but do not listen or understand.”  That is, they look, but see only what they want to see, and they hear and understand only what they want to hear and understand.

How necessary it is for us to treasure and nourish our faith!  We should continually pray to persevere in it, and strengthen it by studying the teachings of the Lord as well as by reading the lives of the saints, those great heroes who went before us, full of faith, and who stand ready to help us with ours.