The Sower is given in three Gospels; four casts of the seed, of which three are the same in result, as recorded by each Evangelist. But there is a marked difference in the result of the fourth, and each is in harmony with the Spirit’s teaching in each Gospel. In Matthew the return from the good ground is “some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” In Mark, the order is reversed; “some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.” Is this difference of order a mere accident? No, it is designed, and there is a divine purpose in it. In both Gospels there is the diversity of fruit-bearing, which, doubtless, is to be seen among Christians at all times. But the order of the words in Matthew points to the declension of the corporate body of profession, even in the fruit-bearing of the good seed. Not through defect in the good seed, which is the Word, but through some bad quality in the good ground. In Mark the emphasis is on the servant character of our Lord, and on the individual responsibility of the disciples. In every dispensation, as the corporate body of profession declines, individual faithfulness shines brighter than ever. It was so in Israel, and it is so in the profession of Christianity.
R. Beacon