<p>4:6<i> And when the sun had risen, it was scorched- </i>Literally, burnt. John the Baptist had presented a powerful logic- either baptism by fire by the Jesus whom he preached, or being burnt up with figurative fire at the last day (Mt. 3:10-12). The Lord clearly has that in mind here- those who had refused John's message about Him were even now burnt up, for judgment in its essence begins now, according to our response to the word of Christ.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><i>And because it had no root, it withered away</i>-The sun arising and withering the seed is a symbol of tribulation arising in the life of the believer (Mk. 4:6). But the sun arising is also a clear symbol of the day of the Lord&rsquo;s return. Thus whenever we encounter tribulation, our response to it is in some sense a preview of our response to the Lord&rsquo;s coming in judgment. Trials and reproofs from God are Him &ldquo;entering with thee into judgment&rdquo;, here and now (Job 22:4).</p><p>The same word for &quot;withered&quot; is used by the Lord about how Israel were the fig tree who had once had promise of fruit (in their initial response to John) but was now withered (Mt. 21:19,20). Those who initially accept Christ but do not abide in Him are likewise &quot;withered&quot; (Jn. 15:6). John's emphasis upon 'abiding' in Christ likely has reference to the need to accept John's message about Christ and abide in it, rather than wandering off and back to Judaism. Both James and Peter seem to allude to this point of the parable in their teaching that the word of God stands forever, whereas flesh withers away (James 1:11; 1 Pet. 1:24). As we will note on 13:22, the seed is to become the person. Those who do not wither are those who have the seed within them, the power of eternal life which endures. &quot;Because they had no root, they withered away&quot; (Mt. 13:6) is alluded to in Jn. 15:6 concerning the branches of the vine withering as a result of God's word not abiding in them. The connection between the plants of the sower parable and the branches of the vine is further evidence that the sower parable mainly concerns the response to the word of those&nbsp;<i>within</i>&nbsp;the ecclesia.</p>