Home » Posts tagged 'parable' (Page 2)
“The kingdom of heaven is also like this; a man scatters seed, and without his knowledge or assistance the seed sprouts and grows over time. The soil makes the seed grow all by itself. First there was a leaf blade, then the heads of wheat formed, and finally the grain ripened. As soon the crop was ready, the man sent for the harvesters.”
MK 4:26-29
Jesus gave the message of the Kingdom to the crowds only in parables, as they were able to hear. This fulfilled the prophecy which said “I will open my mouth in parables; I will declare things kept hidden from the beginning of the world.” However, he privately explained what he had said to his disciples.
MT 13:34-35, MK 4:33-34
“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixed into 50 pounds of flour until the yeast spread through all of it, making it all leavened.”
MT 13:33, LK 13:20-21
“How can I explain what the kingdom of God is like? What can I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed sown in the ground. It is smaller than any other seed, but when grown, it is a huge tree, taller than any vegetable. It becomes a tree big enough for birds to make nests in its large branches.”
MT 13:31-32, MK 4:30-32, LK 13:18-19
Jesus offered his listeners another parable. “The kingdom of heaven may be thought of as being like a farmer who sowed good wheat seed in his field. One night while he slept his enemy came and planted weeds in amongst the good wheat seed. Later the plants sprouted. The wheat and weeds had grown up together.
The man’s servants asked him ‘Didn’t you only sow wheat here? Then why are there weeds?’
‘This was done by an enemy!’ he said.
His servants asked him ‘Do you want us to pull out the weeds?’
‘No’ he said. ‘You might accidentally uproot the good wheat at the same time. Let them both grow together until harvest time. Then I will tell the reapers to sort out the weeds, tie them in bundles, and burn them, but put the wheat in the barn.'”
MT 13:24-30
Jesus said “Do you not understand this parable? Then how are you going to be able to understand any of them? The seed is the word of God. The sower is the one who shares it with others. The people along the path are those who have heard the message about the kingdom and don’t understand it. Satan has snatched away the words that were sown in their hearts so they would not believe and be saved.”
“As for the seed sown on rocky ground, this represents the people who hear the word and immediately receive it joyfully. However, because they are not rooted in their faith, they believe for a little while but stumble when troubles come because of the word.”
“Regarding the seed sown among thorns, these are the people who hear the word but are distracted and paralyzed by worry and greed, and the word is not able to take root in them and produce any fruit.”
“But the seed sown on good ground represents the people who hear the word with honest and open hearts. They understand it, welcome it, and through endurance are able to bear much fruit, even up to 100 times what was sown.”
MT 13:18-24, MK 4:13-20, LK 8:11-15
When Jesus was alone with his disciples, they came up and said to him “Why do you speak to people in parables? What does the parable of the sower mean?”
Jesus answered them “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been revealed to you but not to everyone. For them the information is transmitted in parables so that Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled. It says ‘They may listen but never understand, and they may look and never see. For people’s hearts have grown hard and their ears have grown deaf, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they might see, hear, and understand and turn back, and I would heal them.'”
MT 13:10-15, MK 4:10-12, LK 8:9-10.
Jesus was again teaching beside the sea. He decided to teach while sitting in a boat in the water because a large crowd had gathered around him. The crowd stood on the shore to listen to him. They had come to hear him from every town.
He taught them many things using parables, including this one: “Think about the person who went out to sow his field. While he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path and birds came and ate it. Other seeds fell where there were more rocks then soil. The seed sprang up quickly, but then withered just as quickly in the sun because it didn’t have deep roots to gather moisture. Other seeds fell among the thornbushes and the thorns made it impossible for them to produce a crop. Yet other seeds fell on good ground and were able to produce 30, 60, even 100 times what was sown. Anyone who has ears should listen to this!”
MT 13:1-9, MK 4:1-9, LK 8:4-8
There once was a very wealthy man who decided to give a large banquet. He invited a lot of people. On the day of the banquet, he sent his servants to go remind everyone who had been invited because everything was ready.
Without exception, all of them sent excuses instead of coming. Some of them said they had to work on their farm, some at their business, and some said they had just gotten married. All of them were too busy to show up to this feast that they had been invited to a long time ago. Some of the guests were quite abusive to the servants as well.
When the host learned the news, he told his servants to go into the streets and alleyways of the city and invite anyone they could find, including the poor and handicapped. The servants did this and there was room for even more people, so the host sent them out to get even more guests. The host was determined that none of the original guests would enjoy his banquet.
MT 22:1-10, LK 14:16-24
When the host came in to look at his guests, he saw a man who was shabbily dressed – not appropriate for a grand feast such as this. He asked him how it was that he was admitted in without appropriate clothing. The man didn’t know how to answer, so he didn’t. Then the host told his servants “Tie this man up by his hands and feet and throw him out with the trash. For many people are invited but few make the cut.”
MT 22:11-14
“What do you think about this story? There was once a man who had two sons. He asked the first one to work in the vineyard, and the son refused, yet later he changed his mind and went to work. When the man asked his second son to work in the vineyard, that son said he would but then he didn’t go. Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they replied.
“Mark my words, tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of Heaven before any of you! John the Baptist came to warn you about your evil ways and you didn’t repent and return to God. The tax collectors and prostitutes did. Even when you saw this happening for yourself, you refused to change your minds and believe John’s message.”
MT 21:28-32
betsybeadhead 
You must be logged in to post a comment.