Thematic Bible: Beside lake galilee


Thematic Bible



That same day Jesus went out of his house and was sitting on the seashore. And such great crowds gathered about him that he got into a boat and sat down in it, while all the people stood on the shore. And he told them many things in figures, and said to them, "A sower went out to sow, read more.
and as he was sowing, some of the seed fell by the path and the birds came and ate it up, and some fell on rocky ground where there was not much soil and it sprang up at once, because the soil was not deep, but when the sun came up it was scorched and withered up, because it had no root. And some of it fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it out. And some fell on good soil, and yielded some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty-fold. Let him who has ears listen!" His disciples came up and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in figures?" He answered, "You are permitted to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but they are not. For people who have will have more given to them, and will be plentifully supplied, and from people who have nothing even what they have will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in figures, because though they look they do not see, and though they listen they do not hear or understand. They are a fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy, " 'You will listen and listen, and never understand, And you will look and look, and never see! For this nation's mind has grown dull, And they hear faintly with their ears, And they have shut their eyes, So as never to see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their minds, and turn back, And let me cure them!' But blessed are your eyes, for they do see, and your ears, for they do hear. For I tell you, many prophets and upright men have longed to see what you see, and could not see it, and to hear what you hear, and could not hear it. "You must listen closely then to the figure of the sower. When anyone hears the teaching of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and robs him of the seed that has been sown in his mind. That is what was sown along the path. And what was sown upon the rocky soil means the man who hears the message and at once accepts it joyfully, but it takes no real root in him, and lasts only a little while, and when trouble or persecution comes because of the message, he gives it up at once. And what was sown among the thorns means the man who listens to the message, and then the worries of the time and the pleasure of being rich choke the message out, and it yields nothing. And what was sown in good ground means the man who listens to the message and understands it, and yields one a hundred, and another sixty, and another thirty-fold." Another figure which he used in speaking to them was this: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while people were asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. And when the wheat came up and ripened, the weeds appeared too. And the owner's slaves came to him and said, 'Was not the seed good that you sowed in your field, sir? So where did these weeds come from?' He said to them, 'This is some enemy's doing.' And they said to him, 'Do you want us to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No, for in gathering up the weeds you may uproot the wheat. Let them both grow together until harvest time, and when we harvest I will direct the reapers to gather up the weeds first and tie them up in bundles to burn, but get the wheat into my barn.' " Another figure which he used in speaking to them was this: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it is grown it is the largest of plants and grows into a tree, so that the wild birds come and roost in its branches." Another figure which he used with them was this: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took and buried in a bushel of flour until it had all risen." Jesus said all this to the crowds in figures, and told them nothing except in figures, to fulfil what was said by the prophet, "I will open my mouth in figures, I will utter things that have been hidden since the creation." Then he left the crowds and went into his house. And his disciples came up to him and said, "Explain to us the figure of the weeds in the field." He answered, "The sower who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world. The good seed is the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the wicked. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned, this is what will happen at the close of the age; the Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather up out of his kingdom all the causes of sin and the wrongdoers and throw them into the blazing furnace; there they will wail and grind their teeth. Then the upright will shine out like the sun, in their Father's kingdom. Let him who has ears listen! "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a hoard of money, buried in a field, which a man found, and buried again. And he was overjoyed, and went and sold everything he had and bought the field. "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dealer in search of fine pearls. He found one costly pearl, and went and sold everything he had, and bought it. "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net that was let down into the sea, and inclosed fish of all kinds. When it was full, they dragged it up on the beach, and sat down and sorted the good fish into baskets and threw the bad away. That is what will happen at the close of the age. The angels will go out and remove the wicked from among the upright, and throw them into the blazing furnace. There they will wail and grind their teeth. "Do you understand all this?" They said to him, "Yes." He said to them, "Then remember that every scribe who has become a disciple of the Kingdom of Heaven must be like a householder who can supply from his storeroom new things as well as old."

He taught them many lessons in figures, and said to them in the course of his teaching, "Listen: A sower went out to sow, and as he was sowing, some of the seed chanced to fall by the path, and the birds came and ate it up. read more.
Some of it fell on rocky ground, and where there was not much soil, and it sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, but when the sun came up, it was scorched, and withered up, because it had no root. Some of the seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it out, and it yielded no grain. And some fell on good soil, and came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold." And he said, "Let him who has ears be sure to listen!" When he was by himself, those who stayed about him with the Twelve asked him about the figures he had used. And he said to them, "To you has been intrusted the secret of the reign of God, but to those outsiders, everything is offered in figures, so that " 'They may look and look and yet not see, And listen and listen and yet not understand, Lest possibly they should turn and be forgiven.' ", And Jesus said, "If you do not understand this figure, then how will you understand my other figures? What the sower sows is the message. The ones by the path are those into whose hearts the message falls, and as soon as they hear it Satan comes and carries off the message that has been sown in their hearts. It is so too with the ones sown on the rocky ground; they gladly accept the message as soon as they hear it, but it takes no real root in them and they last only a little while; then when trouble or persecution comes because of the message they give it up at once. It is different with those sown among the thorns. They are people who listen to the message, but the worries of the time and the pleasure of being rich and passions for other things creep in and choke the message out and it yields nothing. And the ones sown in good ground are the people who listen to the message and welcome it and yield thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold. "Do people get out the lamp," he said to them, "and then put it under the peck-measure, or under the bed, instead of putting it up where it belongs? For no one hides anything except for the purpose of sometime bringing it to light again, and people keep things secret only to reveal them some day. If anyone has ears let him be sure to listen. "Take care what you hear," he said to them. "The measure you give will be given to you, and even more besides. For people who have will have more given them, and from people who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. "The reign of God," he said, "is like a man scattering seed on the ground, and then sleeping at night and getting up by day, while the seed sprouts and comes up, without his knowing it. The ground of itself is productive, putting forth first a blade, then a head, then fully developed wheat in the head. But as soon as the crop will let him, the man goes in with his sickle, for the harvest time has come. "How can we find any comparison," he said, "for the reign of God, or what figure can we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown in the ground, though it is the smallest of all the seeds in the world, yet once sown, comes up and grows to be the largest of all the plants, and produces branches so large that the wild birds can roost under the shelter of it." With many such figures he told them the message, as far as they were able to receive it.