That was the dream in the farmer's hopeful eyes as he sows the wheat. Sure, a few grains may fall on the path, some on the thin soil over a limestone shelf, and some in a thorny area. That's the parable Jesus tells this day. And then he stops. All over the hillside are hundreds, thousands of eager listeners pondering, thinking.
Good parables can both clarify and confuse.
The meaning may not be immediately at the surface, but once figured out, the parable can be recalled and retold to pass the truth onto others. But Jesus is challenging the hearers to understand what they are hearing, to be discontent until they understand and apply and obey what they have heard. His disciples asked him what this parable meant. While parables illustrate truths, some require knowledge of the meaning to understand the parable. Those who are hungry for this knowledge will, as the disciples did, seek it out.