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Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed
Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore.
Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore.
Parable of the Sower and Soils
He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.
He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.
He taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables, such as this one:
And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,
“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed.
“Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;
As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it.
as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow.
“Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.
But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died.
“And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain.
“Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
“Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant.
As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.
And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables,
so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.”
Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables?
Explanation
And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?
The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away.
“These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.
The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy.
“In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy;
But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.
and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.
The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word,
“And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.
but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
“And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
Parable of the Lamp
Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine.
And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand?
For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light.
“For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.
Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides.
To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”
“For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”
Parable of the Growing Seed
Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground.
Parable of the Seed
And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;
Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens.
and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows — how, he himself does not know.
The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens.
“The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.
And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.”
“But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Parable of the Mustard Seed
Jesus said, “How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it?
Parable of the Mustard Seed
And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?
It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds,
“It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil,
but it becomes the largest of all garden plants; it grows long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade.”
yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE.”
Jesus used many similar stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand.
With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it;
In fact, in his public ministry he never taught without using parables; but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.
and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
Jesus Calms the Storm
As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.”
Jesus Stills the Sea
On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.”
So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed).
Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.
But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.
Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.
And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”