“The one who hears the Word and understands it . . . Bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirty fold.”

The people who heard Jesus tell the parable of the sower would have understood: seeds that fall on fertile ground would have a better chance of producing better than seeds that land on a path or rocky ground. Jesus was aware that they may not have understood the deeper spiritual and philosophical meaning of the story. Recalling the words of Jeremiah [5:21] “You foolish and senseless people, who have eyes and do not see, who have ears and do not hear” and quoting Isaiah [6:9] Jesus said, “Whoever has ears ought to hear.” When the others departed the disciples asked Jesus to explain to them the meaning of the story. He reveals that the seed represents the Word he has come to proclaim and live. Some will hear the Word but loose interest; some will they will abandon it or they will find it challenging and abandon it; but some will hear the Word and accept it and live it regardless of the difficulties and risk. The disciples understood and produced “a hundred or sixty or thirty fold.” Do we understand? How much are we producing?