July 12, 2020
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The readings for today contain a common theme, one which uses a metaphor to compare the sowing of a seed to the spread of the word of God. The first reference is from the prophet Isaiah, one of the most influential prophets throughout the history of Israel in whose name prophecy extends for several decades.
The Book of Isaiah is believed to be the work of two or three different authors. The chapters in the first portion of the book (Isa. 1-39) are said to reflect the words of Isaiah himself. While the writings in the later chapters are theorized to be the compilation of one or two anonymous authors given the pseudonyms Second or Deutero-Isaiah (Isa. 40-55) and Third or Trito-Isaiah (Isa. 56-66).
The original prophet’s ministry is located in the Southern kingdom of Judah where Isaiah of Jerusalem delivers warnings to the people in outrage for their oppression and injustice toward the poor and their abandonment of God during the time before the exile into Babylon (740 to 700 BC). In a heavenly vision of seraphim praising God, Isaiah is chosen to spread his message to those whom God will make sluggish of heart, dulling their ears and closing their eyes, effectively disabling them from understanding Isaiah’s message and preventing their repentance and escape from punishment.
Second or Deutero-Isaiah is the work of a follower of Isaiah from the 6th century BC who writes during the latter part of the Babylonian exile. This portion of Isaiah (Isa. 40-55) marks a shift in themes from the first thirty-nine chapters of the book, with an emphasis on a new place and time. The new message becomes one of hope emphasizing the end of punishment and the restoration and return of the exiles.
Today’s First Reading from Deutero-Isaiah (Isa. 55:10-11) comes from a chapter which offers an invitation to the grace of God to the people of Israel and a reassurance of God’s providence and protection. It includes a continuation of God’s promise to return the exiles home: “Yes, in joy you shall go forth, in peace you shall be brought home.” (Isa. 55:12a).
The two short verses we hear today are where we find the comparison between the seed that is sown and the word of God. The rain and snow come down to water the earth making it fertile so that the seed yields a fruitful harvest of wheat. Similarly, the word of God, like the seed fertilized in the rain-soaked earth, offers a prosperous bounty for Israel and a joyous return to their homeland as God’s chosen nation.
In the Gospel from Matthew for today (Mt. 13:1-23), Jesus uses this metaphor again in his well-known Parable of the Sower. He compares the word of God’s kingdom to seed scattered by a sower and predicts the results that will occur depending on where the seed falls, with the types of soil representing the recipients of God’s word.
The seed that falls on the path is one who hears the word of the kingdom but does not understand it nor produce any harvest. The seed sown on the rocky ground is the word received with joy but, lacking roots, quickly withers during times of tribulation. The seed sown among the thorns is one who hears the word but loses it, becoming choked by anxiety and the lure of riches. Finally, the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, bearing fruit and producing an abundant spiritual life.
Jesus speaks the parable to the multitudes but offers no explanation like the one he later gives to his closest followers. Because of this the disciples ask him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” (Mt. 13:10).
Jesus responds, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside, everything comes in parables, so that ‘they may look and see but not perceive and hear and listen but not understand…’” (Mt. 13:11, 13).
Jesus continues his explanation with reference to the prophet Isaiah in one of the many fulfillment verses we find in the Gospel of Matthew: “Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: ‘You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see.’” (Mt. 10:14).
The disciples of Jesus, those specifically and personally chosen by him, are given the special privilege to understand the mysteries of the kingdom. They are then tasked to spread the good news of the gospel to the ends of the earth.
The same is true for Christians today who study and reflect on the teachings of Jesus, the Word of God. We, too, are privy to the unique way in which God has worked in the world through the person and ministry of Jesus, and who continues to work at the hands of the Holy Spirit.
The question then becomes, are we the seed that falls on the path, the rocky ground, or among the thorns? Are we blind to social injustice and deaf to the cry of the poor like the people at the time of Isaiah? Or do we see and hear their pain and rescue them as the seed that falls on the fertile soil spreading the word of God and performing the work of Jesus?
