The Four Sons in the Pesach Haggadah and the Four Types of Soil in Matthew 13

PASSOVER  -  THE FOUR SONS                by Herschel Raysman

Last year, when I taught on Passover on this program, I mentioned that the number 4 features prominently in the Pesach service called a seder. In the prayer book that is used during the Passover seder called a haggadah, we see FOUR THEMES OF REDEMPTION, which are symbolized by:

•          the Four Cups of wine,

•          the four questions – mah nishtana - the transmission of the Passover teachings to new generation of children

•          the story of the Four Sons, the human characteristics and hope for total redemption for all in future times

All these stories, rabbinic commentaries, prayers, blessings, and songs ultimately serve to reinforce the idea of learning from the past so that in the present one can choose to be personally responsible for achieving, maintaining, and enhancing one's personal and social freedoms.

Today, I want to examine in more depth the teaching of the 4 sons. They are referred to as:

1.         the wise son

2.        the wicked son

3.        the simple son, and

4.        the son who does not know how to ask

Now, these 4 sons represent the ancient way that Judaism perceived humanity. Greek thought divided humanity into only 2 categories – good and bad. However, Jewish thought recognized various nuances in between the very good and the very bad. The Jewish worldview recognized that life is complex and complicated, with more shades of grey in between. In first century Judaism, humanity and everything else in life was divided into 4 categories:

•          good

•          bad

•          and 2 shades of grey.

Hence, the 4 sons and the multiplicity of the number 4 in the Passover celebration. We see that Yeshua followed this pattern and his parables also display multiples of 4. In the parable of the sower recorded in Matthew 13:1-9, we read:

Matt 13:1-9

1          On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.

2          And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3          Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. 

4          And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 

5          Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.

6          But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 

7          And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 

8         But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 

And then, Yeshua said in verse 9, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  This is a phrase that Yeshua used frequently in His teachings. It is an invitation to seek Yeshua’s deeper meaning and respond with one’s whole being. Yeshua said ‘where your treasure is, there your heart is also’ (Matt 6:21). If your heart is directed toward G-d and you are passionate about Him, Yeshua’s words are directed toward you and they will be words of life!

So then, how do you understand this parable?

Firstly, it is worth noting that there are 5 collections of Yeshua’s teachings in Matthew which correspond to the Five Books of Moses.

1.         the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5–7), was for the multitude;

2.        the commissioning (chapter 10), was for the talmidim;

3.        is for both but is presented at two levels through the medium of the parable (Greek parabôlê, Hebrew mashal).

4.        Matthew 18 is the fourth, and

5.        the Olivet Discourse (chapters 24–25) is the last.

Yeshua teaches 8 parables which reveal the “secrets” (v. 11) of the Kingdom of Heaven. So, the focus of the teaching of the 4 types of soil has to do with the kingdom! So then, how do we interpret Messiah’s teaching on the 4 types of soil? Do we interpret then through a Greek or a Jewish lens. Remember that the Greek lens says that only 1 soil is important; the rest failed to be worthy of any merit whatsoever.

But, not so in the Jewish world view. If Yeshua’s parables reveal kingdom secrets, then ALL soils are worthy to be studied, interpreted and understood!

The same good seed is thrown onto 4 different types of soil, which are characterized by external circumstances.

•          One soil was so hard that the seed did not even penetrate it and the birds came and enjoyed a free meal.

•          the 2nd soil was shallow and stony and although the seeds began to germinate and grow, once the hot sun began to blaze, they began to wilt and wither away.

•          the 3rd soil was thorny and soon, the thorns overwhelmed the young seedlings and soon, they too perished.

•          only the 4th soil was good and it gave a good but not uniform yield. Some yielded a harvest that was 100 fold; others, 60 fold and yet another part  of the same soil, only a 30 fold increase.

Most western teaching on this parable says that only 1 soil was good and the rest, worthless. This is Greek thinking.

Now, we know that Yeshua was rejected by the mainstream religious leaders of his day but he found acceptance with the marginalized – the tax collectors and the prostitutes and with those, whom Paul describes as ‘are not’:

1 Cor 1:26-29

26       For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 

27       But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

28       and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,

29       that no flesh should glory in His presence.

The Greeks delighted in those who were strong, handsome and noble. They were treated with deference and respect. The foolish and weak things – those rejected by the Greeks – are the ones Yeshua related to and identified with. Our Master said in Luke 5:31-32:

31    It is not those who are well who need a physician , but those who are sick. 32   "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." 

A friend of mine, Rabbi Russ Resnick, who is the Executive Secretary of the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, delivered a major paper several years ago titled “Residing at the centre; living at the margins”. Yeshua is at the very heart of the Father’s plans for the redemption of the world. Yet, he was rejected by the mainstream religious leaders of the day and instead, the Lord closely associated with those who themselves were rejected and marginalized. He hung out with those ‘who are not’!

So, the Jewish world view does not just see black and white; it also acknowledges various shades of grey in between! Yeshua’s world view was  ‘both/and’. In my walk with the Lord, one of the greatest mind renewal moments was to realize that it is both/and rather than the Greek either/or!

John 3:1 – ‘There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews’. Yeshua engaged with the full spectrum of mankind as revealed in the Gospels. He spoke to Nicodemus and he spoke to tax collectors and prostitutes. He spoke to all 4 sons, not just the wise!

This section on the 4 sons found in the Jewish prayer book that is used at Passover called the haggadah, is preceded by asking 4 question called the ‘Ma nishtana’ – ‘why is this night different from all other nights”. These questions are intended to provoke the interest of all types of children present. There is a sense of mystery, of intrigue, in the whole process, so as to provoke a response from the children, no matter their personalities and the level of their maturity and understanding.

The instruction to the father who leads the seder is to “tell it to your children , and let your children tell it to their children , and their children to the next generation’ (Joel 1:3).

The father leading the seder was tasked with communicating the message of the exodus from Egypt in such a way that no matter, the type of child present, they would all learn something that would help them to cope with life’s challenges by trusting in the Almighty!

Each of the 4 sons asks a specific question and the leader endeavours to answer the question according to the level of that child’s understanding and maturity. All sons are treated respectfully and given a complete answer so that they might learn something from the process.

•          The wise son asks about the Jewish observance of Passover practice and he wants to learn more. He is described by all present as wise seen as he has a teachable spirit and desires knowledge about the ways and customs of his people.

•          the wicked son is called wicked because he literally asks his father in the haggadah “what are these testimonies, statutes and ordinances that G-d has ask YOU to do’? He is called wicked not because he committed an evil deed but rather, because he excludes himself from his immediate family and from the broader family of all Israel. He displays a measure of rebelliousness that the father attempts to deal with in the context of the Passover explanation.

Now that we have dealt with the wicked and the wise, let’s briefly examine the 2 intermediate shades of grey!

•          The simple son enquires broadly about what is special about Pesach. Because of his youth, he is disinterested in the specifics and only wants broad sweeps on the canvas of Passover. However, he understands that there IS something special about Pesach. Those responding remind him of how HaShem extended favour towards His elect people and how, at the appointed time, He acted to bring His people out of the Egyptian bondage with ‘a mighty hand and outstretched arm’. Their answer is intended to stir the simple son’s curiosity about the Almighty and to provoke to keep on asking question so that he may grow in his understanding.

•          The 4th son is probably too young to even know how to formulate a question. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the leader and others present to patiently explain the basics to him. To him, the Passover story is like a bed time story.  But, the following year, the likelihood is that he curiosity will grow and the elders can lead him forward to the next stage of his growth. The 4 sons react and respond differently to the account of the exodus story.

Back to Yeshua’s parable of the 4 types of soil which one can link to the 4 sons.

•          the bad soil can be likened to the wicked, rebellious son.

•          the good soil is the wise son

•          the thorny soil is likened to the simple son

•          the rocky soil is equated to the son who does not know how to ask

An Israeli Yeshua believing teacher suggests that we can talk about a 5th son, one who is altogether absent from the seder observance and claims grace is sufficient. This reminds me of the grace vs law dichotomy  which presents grace as ‘all good’ and Torah or law as ‘all bad’. This argument has no substance whatsoever because when Paul uses this phrase in Romans 6, he is talking about sin! In the Messiah, we have grace because we are no longer subject to the law of sin, is Paul’s argument which has been misinterpreted for centurioes because teachers and preachers have ignored the immediate context!

So, accordingly, this 5th type of son has no interest in any of the traditions and customs that HaShem has commanded. He level of understanding and practice is the consequence of poor exegesis and poor teaching. This 5th son represents human secularism whether of the Jewish or Christian kind. He is completely disinterested in pursuing the knowledge of G-d.

You will probably be surprised to find that many professing believers who fall into the category of the 5th son, are found in the Synagogues and the churches today. Reaching out to those who are considered to be the lost - what is commonly called the ‘unsaved’ – should, in my opinion,also  be directed within mainstream Judaism and Christianity, as much as it needs to be directed without!