We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, who are still here, and we honor with gratitude the land itself and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.

The Sower in Matthew – VOICES

A collection of thoughts about Matthew’s scripture and Van Gogh’s painting.

A collection of thoughts about Matthew’s scripture and Van Gogh’s painting.

1. “Christian Faith and How it influenced his Life and Art” – Yongnam Park

Sower and the arrival of the Kingdom of God

“It has been shown that the parable of the sower was a most important metaphor for Van Gogh. Whilst the term Kingdom of God is nowhere to be found in the parable, it can be interpreted as the sower who is also the reaper in the harvest which is a common figure for the arrival of the kingdom and its fullness. The parable of the sower in the New Testament contains imagery and themes that express Christian concerns such as sowing the seed as sowing the word, and persecution as occurring on account of the word.”

2. Van Gogh Museum Sower as a Saint. “Here, Van Gogh used colours meant to express emotion and passion. He assigned the leading roles to the greenish-yellow of the sky and the purple of the field. The bright yellow sun looks like a halo, turning the sower into a saint.“

3. WorkingPreacher. – Elisabeth Johnson Jesus will not give up on his disciples or us

“The sower scatters his seed carelessly, recklessly, seemingly wasting much of the seed on ground that holds little promise for a fruitful harvest. Jesus invests in disciples who look similarly unpromising. He squanders his time with tax collectors and sinners, with lepers, the demon-possessed, and all manner of outcasts. Yet he promises that his profligate sowing of the word will produce an abundant harvest.

Jesus’ investment in his disciples shows that he simply will not give up on them, in spite of their many failings. We trust that he will not give up on us either, but will keep working on whatever is hardened, rocky, or thorny within and among us. We trust in his promise to be with us to the end of the age.”

4. Scott Hoezee Parables force people to go slow with the Gospel “Jesus says he tells parables because somehow doing his teaching this way matches the spiritual cluelessness of most of his listeners. Looking out over that big crowd and scanning not only the shining faces turned his way but scanning also the hearts of those people with a kind of spiritual MRI, Jesus could see the hard hearts, the shallow hearts, the thorny hearts, the pure and unencumbered hearts.”

5. Jo Anne Taylor God sows as well as the sower

“It’s what God does. It’s what God keeps on doing. God keeps throwing seeds, regardless of where the seed might land.

“Whether on the path, on rocky soil, among thorns, or in the good dirt, the Good News cannot be contained. God does not discriminate between good soil and bad soil. God throws the seed of the Kingdom everywhere! It goes out into all the world, to transform any who will accept it. And that’s the whole point of seed – transformation. You see, seed can only become fruitful when it stops being a seed.

“A seed must die to become a plant. It breaks open, just as God has broken into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. As it grows, it becomes something that is not a seed anymore – it becomes a plant that bears more seed!

“The Sower does not do that. The Sower accepts the reality that a good quantity of seed will fall on bad soil. Yet the Sower keeps sowing. Jesus keeps spreading the word, and he calls us to do the same. But Jesus calls us to something even more in this parable. He calls us to hope.

“Jesus challenges us to believe in God’s abundance.”

6. Van Gogh, Nature, and Spirituality– Emma Krall.

In summary, this parable is an allegory about God’s kingdom, and the growth of the word of God within the people who believe in him. The birds who “snatches away” the seeds represent Satan. Vincent saw sowing as a way for people to work with the power of nature and life, which is something he struggled with in his mental health, as mentioned in a letter saying “”the sower and the wheat sheaf stood for eternity, and the reaper and his scythe for irrevocable death.”

7. “Working Preacher” – Holly Hearon

We are the soil. “So, while the parable of the sower appears to be about the seed, I suggest (because I am a gardener) that it is really about the soil. This means that the parable is really about us—those who hear the “word of the kingdom” (or “kindom” for those who seek less kyriarchal language). We are the soil.”

“Soil, like human beings, is shaped by its environment. So, if soil is walked on over and over again, beaten down so that it becomes packed hard, it is no longer fit for the planting of seeds. We see this in the human community too. People who have been walked on over, and over, and over again often develop a hardened exterior to protect themselves. Rocky soil, says Jesus, describes those who lack the staying power to deal with—well, rocky ground. When the going gets rough, they go into retreat. The soil filled with thorns easily translates into our overcrowded lives; there is no room in an already overplanted plot for anything more, even with double-digging the beds.”

8. Working Preacher-Jennifer T. Kaalund

We can deduce that the heart is the soil and the seed is the word of the kingdom. The disciples are the sowers. The sower must share the good news with everyone.

“Unlike the crowd by the sea, we have the benefit of knowing the deeper meaning of this parable. Jesus further explains the parable to his disciples in Matthew 13:18-23. Jesus clarifies that the seeds that fell on the path and were eaten by birds is: “when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches it away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path” (13:19). So from this explanation we can deduce that the heart is the soil and the seed is the word of the kingdom. But why does Jesus offer this explanation to his disciples and not to the crowd? I would suggest that it is because the disciples are the sowers. Jesus concludes his explanation to the disciples: “But as for what was sown into good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty” (13:23). The sower plants into good soil not knowing what the yield may be.”