The Story of the Bible

THE SOWER

And Jesus said to them, "To you it is given to know the deep things of the kingdom of God, because you seek to find them out. But to many these things are spoken in parables, for they hear the story, but do not try to find out what it means. They have eyes, but they do not see; and they have ears; but they do not hear. For they do not wish to understand with the heart, and turn to the Lord and have their sins forgiven them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Listen now to the meaning of the parable of the sower.

"The sower is the one who speaks the word of God; and the seed is the word which he speaks. The seed by the roadside are those who hear; but the evil one comes, and snatches away the truth, so that they forget it. The seed on the rock are those who hear the word with joy, but have no root in themselves, and their goodness lasts only for a little time. That which is sown among the thorns are they who hear, but the cares of the world, and seeking after riches and the enjoyments of this life, crowd out the gospel from their lives, so that it does them but little good. But that which is sown on the good ground are they who take the word into an honest and good heart, and keep it, and bring forth fruit in their lives."

Another parable or story given by Jesus to the people was, "The Parable of the Tares:"

"The kingdom of God is as a man sowing good seed in his field; but while people were asleep, his enemy came and sowed tares, or weeds, among the wheat, and then went away. When the shoots of grain began to have heads of wheat then the tares were seen among them. The servants of the farmer came to him, and said, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How did the tares come into it?’

"He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.’

"Shall we go and pick out the tares from among the wheat?’ asked the servants.

" 'No,’ answered the farmer, 'for while you are pulling up the tares, you will root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers, 'Take out the tares first, and bind them in bundles, to be burned; but gather wheat into my barn.' "

Another parable was that of "The Mustard Seed." He said:

"The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. This is the smallest of all seeds: but it grows up to be a large bush, almost a tree, so that the birds of the air light upon its branches and rest under its shadow."

Another parable was "The Leaven, or Yeast":

"The kingdom of heaven is like a little leaven, or yeast, that a woman mixed with dough when she was making bread. It worked through all the dough and changed it into good, light bread."

These parables Jesus told to the people as he sat in the boat and the people stood on the shore. But he did not tell them what the parables meant, for he wished them to think out the meaning for themselves. After giving the parables he sent the people away, and came back to the house in the city. There is disciples said to him, "Tell us the meaning of the parable of the tares growing in the field."

Jesus said to them, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are those who belong to the kingdom of God; but the tares, the weeds, are the children of the evil one; the enemy that sowed them is Satan, the devil; and the reapers are the angels. Just as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of man shall send out his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all that do evil and cause harm, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. But the people of God in that day shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."

And in the house Jesus gave to his disciples some more parables for them to think upon He said:

"The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant who was seeking precious pearls. This man found one pearl of great price. He went and sold all that he had, and bought the pearl.

"Once more: the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea, and took in fish of all kinds. When it was full, they drew the net to the shore Then they sat sown and picked out the good fish from among the bad. The good fish they put away for safe keeping, but the bad fish they threw away. So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall come, and shall place the wicked apart from the good, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."