Ancient Stories for New Conversations
  • Home
  • Children Lessons
  • Adult Lessons
  • Contact

Parable of the Sower

12/31/2017

2 Comments

 
Picture
Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: but when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.  

The sower soweth the word. 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. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

Introductory Discussion Questions
Have you ever sown seed? What kinds of seed have you sown?
What kinds of soil are good for sowing?
What kinds of ground are not good for sowing


Introductory Pictures for discussion
Over the years, many artists have been fascinated by the picture of the sower. Below are some of those pictures.

Why do you think these artists liked to paint the sower? 
Which of the three pictures do you like best? Explain.
What kinds of symbolic meanings can the sower, seed, and earth have? Discuss.

Synonym Matching
gladness                                                           wealth
immediately                                                    birds
riches                                                                soil
receive                                                             jumped up
hearken                                                           gave
fowls                                                                burned
devoured it                                                     quickly
earth                                                                happiness
sprang up                                                       get
scorched                                                           listen
yielded                                                             ate it

​
Antonym Matching
sower                                                                                   delayed
came                                                                                    give up
immediately                                                                        reaper
increased                                                                             unfruitful
gladness                                                                              good ground
endure                                                                                 truthfulness
deceitfulness                                                                      sadness
fruitful                                                                                 went
stony ground                                                                     decreased


Listening Blank Fill
Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: _________ it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell ________ the way side, and the fowls of the _______ came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony __________, where it had not much earth; and immediately _______ sprang up, because it had no depth of __________: but when the sun was up, it was ____________; and because it had no root, it withered _________. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew _______, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. __________ other fell on good ground, and did yield _________ that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, _________ thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.  

Word Bank Fill in the Blank

The sower soweth the __________. And these are they by the way side, where the word is __________; but when they have heard, Satan cometh ___________________, and taketh away the word that was sown in their _____________. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ____________; who, when they have heard the ____________, immediately receive it with gladness; and have no root in _________________, and so endure but for a time: _______________, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown ____________ thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, _____________ the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on ____________ ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an _______________.

sown
hearts
word
themselves
among
good
word
immediately
ground
afterwards
choke
hundred

Pair Work Discussion Questions
A

Why do you think Jesus taught in parables like these?
What happened to the seed that fell on the wayside?
To what was Jesus referring when he used the term 'word'?
What can we do to be good soil for hearing truth?
Is it possible to live life without sowing any seed (influencing people)?

B
Which would you rather do, sow or reap? Why?
What happened to the seed that fell on good soil?
What do you think Jesus meant by using the word 'fruit'?
What do people do to make themselves bad soil for hearing truth?
Is it possible to live life without reaping (receiving the results of our actions)?

Research and Writing
A: Using the internet, look up the sower in art. Try to discover who painted these pictures and what their motives were. Prepare to share your findings with the class.
B: Using the internet and a Bible program like biblegateway.com, look for other times in the New Testament when 'the word' is referred to. Be prepared to share your findings.

Chinese Version

3 他 用 比 喻 对 他 们 讲 许 多 道 理 , 说 : 有 一 个 撒 种 的 出 去 撒 种 ;
4 撒 的 时 候 , 有 落 在 路 旁 的 , 飞 鸟 来 吃 尽 了 ;
5 有 落 在 土 浅 石 头 地 上 的 , 土 既 不 深 , 发 苗 最 快 ,

6 日 头 出 来 一 晒 , 因 为 没 有 根 , 就 枯 乾 了 ;
7 有 落 在 荆 棘 里 的 , 荆 棘 长 起 来 , 把 他 挤 住 了 ;
8 又 有 落 在 好 土 里 的 , 就 结 实 , 有 一 百 倍 的 , 有 六 十 倍 的 , 有 三 十 倍 的 。

18 所 以 , 你 们 当 听 这 撒 种 的 比 喻 。
19 凡 听 见 天 国 道 理 不 明 白 的 , 那 恶 者 就 来 , 把 所 撒 在 他 心 里 的 夺 了 去 ; 这 就 是 撒 在 路 旁 的 了 。
20 撒 在 石 头 地 上 的 , 就 是 人 听 了 道 , 当 下 欢 喜 领 受 ,
21 只 因 心 里 没 有 根 , 不 过 是 暂 时 的 , 及 至 为 道 遭 了 患 难 , 或 是 受 了 逼 迫 , 立 刻 就 跌 倒 了 。
22 撒 在 荆 棘 里 的 , 就 是 人 听 了 道 , 後 来 有 世 上 的 思 虑 、 钱 财 的 迷 惑 把 道 挤 住 了 , 不 能 结 实 。
23 撒 在 好 地 上 的 , 就 是 人 听 道 明 白 了 , 後 来 结 实 , 有 一 百 倍 的 , 有 六 十 倍 的 , 有 三 十 倍 的 。

Exercise Answers:
Synonym Matching: gladness-->happiness, immediately-->quickly, riches-->wealth, receive-->get, hearken-->listen, fowls--> birds, devoured it-->ate it, earth-->soil, sprang up-->jumped up, scorched-->burned, yielded--> gave. 
Antonym Matching: sower-->reaper, came-->went, immediately-->delayed, increased-->decreased, gladness-->sadness, endure-->give up, deceitfulness-->truthfulness, fruitful-->unfruitful, stony ground-->good ground 
Listening Blank Fill: and, along, air, ground, it, earth, scorched, away, up, and, fruit, some.
Word Bank Fill in the Blank: word, sown, immediately, hearts, ground, word, themselves, afterwards, among, choke, good, hundred. 
2 Comments

    Author

    My name is Paul. I am from Michigan, USA. I am a perpetual language learner and teacher, trading my time between two continents. I obtained my MA in TESOL from Cornerstone University. 

    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015

    Categories

    All
    Aesop's Fables
    Confucius
    Epic Of Gilgamesh
    Fairy Tales
    Native American Legend
    New Testament
    Pentateuch
    Popol Vuh

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from Keith Laverack, davidmulder61, Teddy Kwok, Dorron, frederic.yvon666, profepoppins, snapshot1183, Tambako the Jaguar, Roby Morocutti, crabchick, noushka31, nan palmero, zeevveez, bdesham, Kurosawa Michiyo, infomatique, OXLAEY.com, gurdonark, DonMiller_ToGo, final gather, bertknot, fimoculous, Marxchivist, dmytrok