Jesus continues to teach by parables, patiently explaining to his disciples those things that they do not understand. He begins by offering his own interpretation of the parable of the sower.
4:14–20 The sower soweth the word. Unidentified, this sower represents anyone who sows the Word—even any of us!
Metaphorically speaking, the seed does double duty. On the one hand it is the Word of God, but it also represents the one hearing the Word. Some people are like seed along the path .... As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. NIV. The King James Version reads: "And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts." Robbed of the Word by Satan, this seed never has a chance to grow and bear fruit; it is stymied from the beginning, thwarted by a state of thought trodden with worldly affairs and thus resistant to spiritual growth.
