Thematic Bible: Sermon


Thematic Bible



And in that day Jesus, having gone forth from the house, was sitting by the sea, and gathered together unto him were many multitudes, so that he having gone into the boat did sit down, and all the multitude on the beach did stand, and he spake to them many things in similes, saying: 'Lo, the sower went forth to sow, read more.
and in his sowing, some indeed fell by the way, and the fowls did come and devour them, and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprang forth, through not having depth of earth, and the sun having risen they were scorched, and through not having root, they withered, and others fell upon the thorns, and the thorns did come up and choke them, and others fell upon the good ground, and were giving fruit, some indeed a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty. He who is having ears to hear -- let him hear.' And the disciples having come near, said to him, 'Wherefore in similes dost thou speak to them?' And he answering said to them that -- 'To you it hath been given to know the secrets of the reign of the heavens, and to these it hath not been given, for whoever hath, it shall be given to him, and he shall have overabundance, and whoever hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken from him. 'Because of this, in similes do I speak to them, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor understand, and fulfilled on them is the prophecy of Isaiah, that saith, With hearing ye shall hear, and ye shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and ye shall not perceive, for made gross was the heart of this people, and with the ears they heard heavily, and their eyes they did close, lest they might see with the eyes, and with the ears might hear, and with the heart understand, and turn back, and I might heal them. 'And happy are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear, for verily I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men did desire to see that which ye look on, and they did not see, and to hear that which ye hear, and they did not hear. 'Ye, therefore, hear ye the simile of the sower: Every one hearing the word of the reign, and not understanding -- the evil one doth come, and doth catch that which hath been sown in his heart; this is that sown by the way. 'And that sown on the rocky places, this is he who is hearing the word, and immediately with joy is receiving it, and he hath not root in himself, but is temporary, and persecution or tribulation having happened because of the word, immediately he is stumbled. 'And that sown toward the thorns, this is he who is hearing the word, and the anxiety of this age, and the deceitfulness of the riches, do choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. 'And that sown on the good ground: this is he who is hearing the word, and is understanding, who indeed doth bear fruit, and doth make, some indeed a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty.' Another simile he set before them, saying: 'The reign of the heavens was likened to a man sowing good seed in his field, and, while men are sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnel in the midst of the wheat, and went away, and when the herb sprang up, and yielded fruit, then appeared also the darnel. 'And the servants of the householder, having come near, said to him, Sir, good seed didst thou not sow in thy field? whence then hath it the darnel? And he saith to them, A man, an enemy, did this; and the servants said to him, Wilt thou, then, that having gone away we may gather it up? And he said, No, lest -- gathering up the darnel -- ye root up with it the wheat, suffer both to grow together till the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the darnel, and bind it in bundles, to burn it, and the wheat gather up into my storehouse.' Another simile he set before them, saying: 'The reign of the heavens is like to a grain of mustard, which a man having taken, did sow in his field, which less, indeed, is than all the seeds, but when it may be grown, is greatest of the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven do come and rest in its branches.' Another simile spake he to them: 'The reign of the heavens is like to leaven, which a woman having taken, hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.' All these things spake Jesus in similes to the multitudes, and without a simile he was not speaking to them, that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through the prophet, saying, 'I will open in similes my mouth, I will utter things having been hidden from the foundation of the world.' Then having let away the multitudes, Jesus came to the house, and his disciples came near to him, saying, 'Explain to us the simile of the darnel of the field.' And he answering said to them, 'He who is sowing the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world, and the good seed, these are the sons of the reign, and the darnel are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is a full end of the age, and the reapers are messengers. 'As, then, the darnel is gathered up, and is burned with fire, so shall it be in the full end of this age, the Son of Man shall send forth his messengers, and they shall gather up out of his kingdom all the stumbling-blocks, and those doing the unlawlessness, and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the reign of their Father. He who is having ears to hear -- let him hear. 'Again, the reign of the heavens is like to treasure hid in the field, which a man having found did hide, and from his joy goeth, and all, as much as he hath, he selleth, and buyeth that field. 'Again, the reign of the heavens is like to a man, a merchant, seeking goodly pearls, who having found one pearl of great price, having gone away, hath sold all, as much as he had, and bought it. 'Again, the reign of the heavens is like to a net that was cast into the sea, and did gather together of every kind, which, when it was filled, having drawn up again upon the beach, and having sat down, they gathered the good into vessels, and the bad they did cast out, so shall it be in the full end of the age, the messengers shall come forth and separate the evil out of the midst of the righteous, and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire, there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.' Jesus saith to them, 'Did ye understand all these?' They say to him, 'Yes, sir.' And he said to them, 'Because of this every scribe having been discipled in regard to the reign of the heavens, is like to a man, a householder, who doth bring forth out of his treasure things new and old.'

and he taught them many things in similes, and he said to them in his teaching: 'Hearken, lo, the sower went forth to sow; and it came to pass, in the sowing, some fell by the way, and the fowls of the heaven did come and devour it; read more.
and other fell upon the rocky ground, where it had not much earth, and immediately it sprang forth, because of not having depth of earth, and the sun having risen, it was scorched, and because of not having root it did wither; and other fell toward the thorns, and the thorns did come up, and choke it, and fruit it gave not; and other fell to the good ground, and was giving fruit, coming up and increasing, and it bare, one thirty-fold, and one sixty, and one an hundred.' And he said to them, 'He who is having ears to hear -- let him hear.' And when he was alone, those about him, with the twelve, did ask him of the simile, and he said to them, 'To you it hath been given to know the secret of the reign of God, but to those who are without, in similes are all the things done; that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they may turn, and the sins may be forgiven them.' And he saith to them, 'Have ye not known this simile? and how shall ye know all the similes? He who is sowing doth sow the word; and these are they by the way where the word is sown: and whenever they may hear, immediately cometh the Adversary, and he taketh away the word that hath been sown in their hearts. 'And these are they, in like manner, who on the rocky ground are sown: who, whenever they may hear the word, immediately with joy do receive it, and have not root in themselves, but are temporary; afterward tribulation or persecution having come because of the word, immediately they are stumbled. 'And these are they who toward the thorns are sown: these are they who are hearing the word, and the anxieties of this age, and the deceitfulness of the riches, and the desires concerning the other things, entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. 'And these are they who on the good ground have been sown: who do hear the word, and receive, and do bear fruit, one thirty-fold, and one sixty, and one an hundred.' And he said to them, 'Doth the lamp come that under the measure it may be put, or under the couch -- not that it may be put on the lamp-stand? for there is not anything hid that may not be manifested, nor was anything kept hid but that it may come to light. If any hath ears to hear -- let him hear.' And he said to them, 'Take heed what ye hear; in what measure ye measure, it shall be measured to you; and to you who hear it shall be added; for whoever may have, there shall be given to him, and whoever hath not, also that which he hath shall be taken from him.' And he said, 'Thus is the reign of God: as if a man may cast the seed on the earth, and may sleep, and may rise night and day, and the seed spring up and grow, he hath not known how; for of itself doth the earth bear fruit, first a blade, afterwards an ear, afterwards full corn in the ear; and whenever the fruit may yield itself, immediately he doth send forth the sickle, because the harvest hath come.' And he said, 'To what may we liken the reign of God, or in what simile may we compare it? As a grain of mustard, which, whenever it may be sown on the earth, is less than any of the seeds that are on the earth; and whenever it may be sown, it cometh up, and doth become greater than any of the herbs, and doth make great branches, so that under its shade the fowls of the heaven are able to rest.' And with many such similes he was speaking to them the word, as they were able to hear,



and having come down with them, he stood upon a level spot, and a crowd of his disciples, and a great multitude of the people from all Judea, and Jerusalem, and the maritime Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of their sicknesses, and those harassed by unclean spirits, and they were healed, and all the multitude were seeking to touch him, because power from him was going forth, and he was healing all. read more.
And he, having lifted up his eyes to his disciples, said: 'Happy the poor -- because yours is the reign of God. Happy those hungering now -- because ye shall be filled. 'Happy those weeping now -- because ye shall laugh. Happy are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach, and shall cast forth your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake -- rejoice in that day, and leap, for lo, your reward is great in the heaven, for according to these things were their fathers doing to the prophets. But woe to you -- the rich, because ye have got your comfort. Woe to you who have been filled -- because ye shall hunger. 'Woe to you who are laughing now -- because ye shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you -- for according to these things were their fathers doing to false prophets. 'But I say to you who are hearing, Love your enemies, do good to those hating you, bless those cursing you, and pray for those accusing you falsely; and to him smiting thee upon the cheek, give also the other, and from him taking away from thee the mantle, also the coat thou mayest not keep back. 'And to every one who is asking of thee, be giving; and from him who is taking away thy goods, be not asking again; and as ye wish that men may do to you, do ye also to them in like manner; and -- if ye love those loving you, what grace have ye? for also the sinful love those loving them; and if ye do good to those doing good to you, what grace have ye? for also the sinful do the same; and if ye lend to those of whom ye hope to receive back, what grace have ye? for also the sinful lend to sinners -- that they may receive again as much. 'But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward will be great, and ye shall be sons of the Highest, because He is kind unto the ungracious and evil; be ye therefore merciful, as also your Father is merciful. 'And judge not, and ye may not be judged; condemn not, and ye may not be condemned; release, and ye shall be released. 'Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed, and shaken, and running over, they shall give into your bosom; for with that measure with which ye measure, it shall be measured to you again.' And he spake a simile to them, 'Is blind able to lead blind? shall they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but every one perfected shall be as his teacher. And why dost thou behold the mote that is in thy brother's eye, and the beam that is in thine own eye dost not consider? or how art thou able to say to thy brother, Brother, suffer, I may take out the mote that is in thine eye -- thyself the beam in thine own eye not beholding? Hypocrite, take first the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly to take out the mote that is in thy brother's eye. 'For there is not a good tree making bad fruit, nor a bad tree making good fruit; for each tree from its own fruit is known, for not from thorns do they gather figs, nor from a bramble do they crop a grape. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart doth bring forth that which is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart doth bring forth that which is evil; for out of the abounding of the heart doth his mouth speak. 'And why do ye call me, Lord, Lord, and do not what I say? Every one who is coming unto me, and is hearing my words, and is doing them, I will shew you to whom he is like; he is like to a man building a house, who did dig, and deepen, and laid a foundation upon the rock, and a flood having come, the stream broke forth on that house, and was not able to shake it, for it had been founded upon the rock. 'And he who heard and did not, is like to a man having builded a house upon the earth, without a foundation, against which the stream brake forth, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house became great.'