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I have a love affair with The Saint John’s Bible and this is an illumination of the Parable of the Four Soils from that Bible (Mark 4:1-20). Notice it is an “illumination,” not an “illustration.” An illustration is the artist’s representation of a story. An illumination goes beyond only representing what is happening to striving to shed light (illuminate) on the meaning of the story. We have several St. John’s prints hanging in our Gathering Place. I invite you to check them out sometime.
In 2015, I attended a “Praying with Imagination” retreat at St. Benedict’s in Collegeville, Minn., where the St. John’s Bible is kept. Each day we would meditate on various illuminations. We would view the artwork while the scripture the artwork was based on was read aloud, listening for a word or phrase that had meaning for us. We then would meditate on that word or phrase and gaze at the illumination, looking for images, thoughts, or impressions. Then we listened to a reading that focused on “seeing the word.” Then we ended with prayer. It was one of the most relaxing and meaningful retreats I have been on.
This is what was read aloud as we were in the “seeing” phase of this illumination: “We are puzzled by the seeming foolishness of this sower. He doesn’t choose the best ground; he doesn’t prepare the ground where the seed will be sown. He simply scatters the seed, letting it fall anywhere. Consider the illumination. We see the seed beginning to sprout where we expect it from the parable: on the rocky ground, the road, amid the thorns. But the sower seems to have moved on. The sower has actually broken out of the frame, out of our comfortable expectations.”
I love the idea of a farmer freely sowing without paying attention to where the seed is landing. This sower is not simply generous but perhaps downright irresponsible. Doesn’t he know that seed is too valuable a resource to scatter with such reckless abandon? Yet the sower walks undeterred. His outstretched arm like that of the Savior preaching the Word.
This, of course, is Jesus’ point. God is not like any other farmer. God is generous, reckless, wild, and heedless in showering God’s people with grace, not just saving it for the “good soil” folks. No wonder Jesus said, “Let anyone with ears to hear, listen!” Apparently, God’s grace is for everyone.
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