<p>4:3 <i>Listen Behold, the sower went forth to sow</i>- The Lord&rsquo;s teaching in Mt. 12:43 that the Jews had not responded to John the Baptist lays the basis for the parable of the sower, which was told the same day (Mt. 13:1)- the seed initially experienced some growth, but then the 'evil one', the Jewish system, stunted that growth. Who is the sower? The preacher, or the Lord Jesus? Some Greek texts read &ldquo;<i>a&nbsp;</i>sower&rdquo; (followed by the AV), others &ldquo;<i>the</i>&nbsp;sower&rdquo; (cp. the Diaglott). Perhaps the Lord said both: &lsquo;A sower, the sower, went out...&rsquo;. Surely the sower is the Lord Jesus, but in&nbsp;<i>our</i>&nbsp;work of witness we are&nbsp;<i>His</i>&nbsp;witnesses. For we represent Him to the world. This is why &ldquo;the Spirit (the Lord the Spirit, Jesus) and the bride (the ecclesia) say, Come&rdquo;; ours is a united witness with Him.</p><p>&quot;Went forth&quot; is the same Greek word has just been used in Mt. 12:1 to describe how Jesus had 'gone forth' out of the house to preach by the lakeshore. Although multitudes were there listening, the Lord knew that only a few would be good ground for the word. The word is several times used of the Lord 'going forth' to teach, and four times He uses it about His 'going forth' to hire workers for His harvest (Mt. 20:1,3,5,6). The 'sowing' of the word was therefore not merely a placing of ideas and theology in the minds of men, but in practice it was (and is) a call to go out and work, to harvest others for the Kingdom. The Lord 'came forth' in order to preach (Mk. 1:38 s.w. &quot;... that I may preach there... for&nbsp;<i>therefore came I forth</i>&quot;). Note that He didn't 'come forth' from Heaven as a pre-existent person; rather Matthew begins his Gospel by using the word about how the Lord 'came forth' from Bethlehem, His birthplace (Mt. 2:6). John's Gospel records the Lord as saying that He 'came forth' from God (Jn. 16:28 etc.), but this was in a spiritual sense; this is John's spiritual equivalent of Matthew's statement that He came forth from Bethlehem.</p><p><br />The condemned man in the parable of Mt. 25:24-26 complained that the Lord expected to reap where He had not sown. But the parable of the sower makes it clear that the Lord sows, even fanatically, everywhere. We perhaps would've reminded the man of the Lord's parable and His unceasing work of sowing, and reasoned 'That's not true'. But this isn't the Lord's style. He takes people where they are and uses their own words and reasonings as if they are true- and shows by an altogether higher level of reasoning that they are not true. This explains His approach to the issue of demons.&nbsp; Luke's account stresses the seed: &quot;A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed...&quot; (Lk. 8:5). This appears to state the obvious- a sower sows seed. But &quot;his seed&quot; can also mean 'the seed of Him'. There is an obvious connection with the great Messianic promises to the Jewish fathers about their &quot;seed&quot;. The seed is God's word, but it is also effectively 'Jesus'. For He personally is the essence of the Gospel message. This parable of the types of ground is explaining to the disciples why the majority of Israel were failing to accept Him, and thus had rejected the ministry and message of John.</p>