Jesus was from an agricultural nation. Many of his images involved farmers. The parable of the sower and the seed no doubt came from his experience. St. Paul was much more of an urbanite but he picked up farming images from the culture. For example when he speaks of the resurrection of the dead he reminds the readers that just as the seed that is sown is not like the flower that is harvested so the mortal body produces something of another order all together than death. “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.” Our faith tells us that God can transform the lowly into something marvelously re-created.
