Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop-thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown." NIV
For some: they get things straight away
For others: it takes ages for the penny to drop and for understanding to come
You must have been so patient with these dear followers of Yours. You had invested Your life into them, taught them, encouraged them, stretched them - but even they were mystified with the parable - perhaps the simplest of parables.
Perhaps the sheer simplicity was the problem. It was such an everyday scene to them that they couldn't look beyond the visual to the invisible meanings and explaination. It is very easy for us in hindsight to criticise them for their ignorance but we can see the wider perspective.Your life giving word is sown like seed - not concentrated in fertile places alone but scattered far and wide. There is opportunity for the word to fall into any person's heart and to either be snatched away or to begin the process of germination.
For some hearers there isn't even the slightest hint of change. The seed, with all its potential for life, is snatched off the dry path by the ever watchful birds. Satan, who opposed You in the wilderness, was responsible for not allowing the seed to find a place of germination.
Still other seed finds some soil amongst the stones where the warmth and shelter provide the conditions for germination. The word takes root in a heart. The spark of life ignites and there is an initial response and joy of heart. But the word not only brings life, it also brings with it the potential for difficulty and even persecution from those who have resisted its impact. Many follow You when times are easy and life flows well, but soon abandon You when things get difficult.
Still others are choked by cares and worries that sap all the life out of the word making it unfruitful. But no-one sows their seed just to get a bit of greenery or a few leaves. The sole aim is to achieve a crop. Anything less is a failure.

So that begs the question - What constitutes true life? An initial growth or a full crop of life bearing seed? Perhaps the phrase "By their fruits you shall know them" brings the answer. It is not the quantity (30, 60 or a 100 fold) that seems to be what is relevant - it is that there is a crop at all.

The disciples had been in the crowd, probably looking pleased with themselves to be seen as part of Your inner company of followers. Like the crowds they had heard Your teaching and in particular this parable of the sower. They had probably nodded knowingly as You spoke, but inwardly it was obvious that they hadn't got a clue. Seed, birds, stones, sun, thorns - what was it all about, especially as You had said "He who has ears to hear, let him hear". It probably didn't help that You told them that they ought to be in the ‘know' as opposed to the crowds who would struggle to understand.

Outwardly, the agricultural meaning was obvious for all to see, if you want to get a good crop then you need to make sure that the seed falls into prepared ground. But inwardly, there is a deeper meaning that only those who have spiritual insight can grasp an understanding of. It must have been a bit like those pictures where the subject is so obvious that you don't give it a second glance until you are told that there are two very different subjects. A shift in perspective suddenly makes it obvious.

For Your disciples, it wasn't sufficient to be just hearers of the parable, they needed Your Holy Spirit to give true understanding. But what of the crowds? Elsewhere we are told that You had compassion for the crowds. We know that You spent hours and hours ministering to them. So were You really wrapping Your words in impenetrable packages? Was the object of Your teaching to prevent people from finding You? Or was there something deeper at work. As You sowed the word so Your Holy Spirit caused germination in those You had revealed Yourself to.

The devil - the birds- could never snatch them away. How that process works and how that choice is made is one of the mysteries that You have chosen not to reveal.

Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." NIV
Another day. Another venue. Another crowd. Another crowd so large that as they squashed down closer and closer to the edge of the lake You had to get into a boat to avoid being pushed into the water. Can you imagine the scene today. Health and Safety would have a field day. Crash barrior fences would be erected to keep people away from the water's edge. The crowd would be marshalled and thinned to avoid a crush. And You and the disciples would have to wear life jackets and safety lines. It's just as well that You chose the 1st century Palestine rather than 21st century England. Presumably the disciples are crowded in the boat with You. No doubt Peter, Andrew and John were taking charge and looking authoritative and perhaps those like Matthew who were unused to the water were a bit anxious but all of them would be as attentive as the crowd to Your teaching.

Here were the crowd, eager, anticipating, hanging on to Your every word. It wasn't dry, lifeless teaching like the Pharisees or the Teachers of the Law, but stories full of life, of everyday things and situations. They caught the attention because they were so obvious and everyday. Something they could all associate with.

But they also had a meaning, a hidden depth that wasn't so obvious on the first hearing. Take this one about a farmer. Everyone in that rural community had seen farmers. Many of them probably were farmers with small plots of rocky, fertile soil where they scratched a living. Scattering the seed by hand as they walked along would see them used to the occupational hazards of birds finding the seed, of stones that hadn't been removed and weeds that choked the growth. The aim of course would be to achieve a crop.

You said "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" and as the crowd trudged back along the lake shore in the evening to return to their homes they would be deep in conversation. "What do you think he meant by that?" "You know that's so true, I get that every time I sow seed" "Those birds are real pests". I would imagine it was the centre of conversation for days.

Of course, once the crowds disappeared and the disciples were alone with You, then they asked their questions. "What did You mean Lord?"

Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." NIV

First it was Your close relations who had come to sort You out and now Your mother and brothers have arrived. They can't come in to the house where You are because the house is heaving with people so all they could do was to get a message to You by word of mouth. I wonder what they were thinking? Mark doesn't tell us like he did with the more distant relations. We know that Your mother Mary was witness to all the miracles at Your birth and she treasured them up in her heart. Perhaps curiosity had got the better of her and she had asked Your flesh and blood brothers to bring her to You.

I'm sure that Mary wasn't like so many mums who treat their 30 something sons as little boys. She had seen You grow up. She had seen You with the teachers of the Law in the temple, deep in conversation, when You were just 12 in the temple.
She had seen You in the carpenter's shop and she had seen You respond to Your true father at the age of 30 and leave the family business and head for the lake of Galilee to begin choosing Your disciples. The brothers likewise would have known much of this.

So what would You do? Your mother and brothers are outside waiting.

But Your response, like so many of Your responses, totally took their breath away. "Who are my mother and brothers?" Gazing around at the crowd in the house, who are waiting on Your every word, You say "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother. Those who do God's will are my family now".
Was it an insult to Mary? No. She would always be Your physical mother. But those who do the will of God are no longer outcasts but adopted into Your family.
Wow. What a privaledge