0421009 Parables by the sea – Matthew 13:1-35, Mark 4:1-34, Luke 8:4-21, A.D. 27 Sea of Galilee
And on that day, again, Jesus went out of the house and he was sitting by the sea and began to teach by the seaside. And when great multitudes came together and gathered to him, and people from every city were coming to him, he entered into a boat in the sea and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea and stood on the beach. And he spoke to them and taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching, saying, ”And listen! Behold, a farmer sower went out to sow his seed. And it happened, as he sowed, some seeds fell along by the roadside, and it was walked on under foot and the birds of the sky came and devoured them. And other seed fell on the rocky ground, where they did not have much or little soil, and immediately, as soon as it grew, they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth and soil. And when the sun had risen, they were scorched. They withered away because they had no root and no moisture. And other seed also fell among the thorns and the thorns grew up with it and choked them and it yielded no fruit. And still other seed fell on good soil and into the good ground and grew and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some brought forth fruit one hundred times as much, some sixty times and some brought forth thirty times.” And as he said these things, he called out, “He and whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
And then when he was alone, those who were around him with his twelve disciples came and asked him about the parables and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables? What does this parable mean?” And he answered and said to them, “To you it is given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven and the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. But to those who are outside, it is not given to them. For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken from him. Therefore, I speak to them and to the rest in parables and all things are done in parables because seeing they do not see or perceive; and hearing, they do not hear, neither do they understand; lest perhaps they should turn again, and their sins should be forgiven them.’” In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says,
‘With hearing you will hear, and you shall not understand;
And seeing you will see, and you shall not perceive:
for this people’s heart has grown callous, and their ears are dull of hearing,
and they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes,
hear with their ears, understand with their heart,
and should turn again; and I would heal them.’
And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all of the parables? But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For most certainly I say to you that many prophets and righteous did desire to see the things which you see and did not see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”
“Hear, then, the parable of the farmer. Now the parable is this: The farmer sows the word. The seed is the word of God. The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown. And when anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, when they have heard and do not understand it, then immediately Satan (the evil one – the devil) comes and snatches away the word from their heart which has been sown in his heart and in them, that they may not believe and be saved. This is what was sown by the roadside. And these in like manner are those who are sown on the rocky places. And those on the rock are they who, when they hear the word, immediately with joy receive the word; yet they have no root in themselves, but they believe and endure for a while and are short-lived, and then fall away in the time of temptation. And then when oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble. And others are those which fell and who are sown among the thorns. These are those who have heard the word, and as they go on their way they are choked with the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches, and pleasures of life. And the lust of other things entering in, choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful and bring no fruit to maturity. And those which were sown on the good ground, these are those who, having heard the word in an honest and good heart, accept it, hold it tightly and understand it, who most certainly bears fruit, and brings forth fruit with patience, some one hundred times as much, some sixty times, and some thirty times.”
And he said to them, “Is the lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed and not put on a stand? And no man, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a container, or puts it under a bed; but puts it on a stand, that those who enter in may see the light. For there is nothing hidden, that will not be revealed; except that it should be made known; neither was anything made in secret, that will not be known, but that it should come to light. If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.” And he said to them, “Be careful therefore and take heed how you hear and what you hear. With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you. For whoever has, to him will more be given, and he or whoever does not have, even that which he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”
And he said, “The Kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed on the earth, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he does not know how. The earth bears fruit of herself: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he puts forth the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
And he set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, and while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then the darnel weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did not you sow good seed in your field? Where did this darnel come from?’ “And he said to them, ‘A man, an enemy has done this.’ “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’ “And he said, ‘No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel weeds, you root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will say to the reapers, “First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’
And he set another parable before them, saying, “How will we liken the Kingdom of God? Or with what parable will we illustrate it? The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is sown and grown up in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth, it becomes greater than all the herbs, and becomes a tree, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the air and sky can come and lodge under its shadow and rest in its branches.”
And he spoke another parable to them. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened.”
And Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and with many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. Without a parable, he did not speak to them, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”
And his mother and brothers came to him, and they could not come near him for the crowd. And it was told him by some saying, “Your mother and your brothers stand outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered and said to them, “My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
