Jesus Christ - His Life & Teachings
SOME STORIES THAT JESUS TOLD BY THE SEA
Jesus Christ - His Life & Teachings
SOME STORIES THAT JESUS TOLD BY THE SEA
Matthew 13:1-53; Mark 4:1-34; Luke 8:4-18
After Jesus had journeyed through the southern parts of Galilee, teaching and healing the sick, He came again to Capernaum; and one day went out of the city to a place where the beach rose up gently from the water. There He sat in Simon Peter's boat, as He had sat before, and spoke to a great crowd of people who stood on the beach.
At this time Jesus began teaching the people by parables; that is, by stories which showed the truths of the gospel. Everybody liked to hear a story; and the story would often lead people to think and to find out the truth for themselves. The first of these parables or stories that Jesus gave was called "The Parable of the Sower."
"Listen to me," said Jesus. "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, where the ground was hard, where some of the seed was trodden down, and other seeds were picked up by the birds. Some of the seed fell where the soil was thin, because rocks were under it. These seeds grew up quickly, but when the sun became hot, they were scorched and dried up, because they did not have enough soil and moisture for their roots. Other seeds fell among briers and thorns, and the thorns kept them from growing. And some seeds fell into good ground and brought forth fruit, thirty times as many as were sown, sixty times, and even a hundred times. Whoever has to hear this, let him hear!"
When Jesus was alone with His disciples, they said to Him, "Why do you speak to the people in parables? What does this parable about the man sowing his seeds mean?" And Jesus said to them, "To you it is given to know the deep things of the kingdom of God, because you seek to find of all seeds; but it grows up to be almost a tree, so that the birds light upon its branches and rest under its shadow."
Another parable was "The Leaven or Yeast": "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, or yeast, that a woman mixed with dough when she was making bread. It worked through all the dough and changed it into good, light bread."
These parables Jesus told to the people as He sat in the boat and the people stood on the shore. But He did not tell them what the parables meant because He wished them to think out the meaning for themselves. Then He sent the people away and came back to the house in the city. There His disciples said to Him, "Tell us the meaning of the parable of the weeds growing in the field."
Jesus said to them, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are those who belong to the kingdom of God; but the tares, the weeds, are the children of the evil one; the enemy that sowed them is Satan, the devil; and the reapers are the angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of man shall send out his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all that do evil and cause harm, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. But the people of God in that day shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."
And in the house Jesus gave to His disciples some more parables for them to think on. He said:
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure which a man found hidden in a field. He was glad when he saw it, but hid it again; and then went home and sold all that he had and bought that field with the treasure in it."
"The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant who was seeking precious pearls. This man found one pearl of great price. He went and sold all that he had and bought the pearl."
Once more: "The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and took in fish of all kinds. When it was full, they drew the net to the shore. Then they sat down and picked out the good fish. The good fish they put away for safe keeping, but the bad fish they threw away. So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall come and shall place the wicked apart from the good and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
