Sown Seeds Yield Structure and Form

Figurate numbers and the parable of the sower

The parable of the sower showing birds eating the seed, the seed that fell on stony ground, the seed that was choked by thorns, and the seed that fell on good ground — Image Credit

Apparently, the authors of the synoptic Gospels used a system that encoded information using figurative numbers. In other words, numbers have shapes, and those shapes have meaning.

This is the third and final article dealing with the four possible parables that could be identified by the label: The Seed. The first article can be found here, and it deals with the parables The Growing Seed and The Weeds. The second article is here and focuses on the parable of The Mustard Seed.

These articles are all based on one in which a list of seven parables was presented. Each of those seven parables supposedly possesses a secret meaning which can be discerned through careful study. The Seed was the second parable from that list of seven.

Here we see that this parable is in all three synoptic gospels. All three end with the exhortation for those with ears to hear. This is a clear indicator that this parable contains a hidden meaning of some sort.