13:1 - That same day, Jesus left the house and went to sit by the sea.
13:2 - Because huge crowds came to hear Him talk, he got into a boat and sat, and the crowd stayed on the shore.
13:3 - And he taught them many things through stories. He said, imagine a farmer going out to plant his crop
13:4 - As he sowed, some seeds fell to the side, where fowl came and ate them.
13:5 - Some fell on stony places without much cushioning; they immediately sprang back up, because there was nothing to cushion the fall.
13:6 - And when the sun had risen, they were burned severely; and as they had not rooted, they simply whithered.
13:7 - Then some fell into the thorns, which rose up to choke them:
13:8 - Others were in good soil, and produced multitudes of fruit.
13:9 - Whoever can hear me, listen well.
13:10 - The disciples appeared, asking the man, What is it that you are saying with these parables?
13:11 - He replied to the group, saying, You understand because I have provided you with the knowledge of God’s kingdom, but to the others, I have not provided that understanding.
13:12 - For those of you who have it, I’ll give you more, and lots of it: but if you don’t have it, I’m taking everything you have.
13:13 - I speak to them in parables because they do not understand what they see or hear.
13:14 - And the prophecy of Esaias is happening now, who said, They will hear, but they won’t understand what they hear; they will see, but they won’t know what they are looking at.
13:15 - For the heart of these folks has grown waxy and puffed up, and their hearing dull, and their eyes permanently closed; unless they should at any time see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be turned around in their thinking, then I wouldn’t be able to heal them.
13:16 - Your eyes and ears are blessed as they both see and hear.
13:17 - I’m here to tell you that even though a lot of great and important people have wanted to see and hear the things you have, they haven’t been able to.
13:18 - Listen, then, to the parable of the sower.
13:19 - When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, then the wicked one will come, and take away what is in his heart. This is he that received knowledge somewhere else.
13:20 - The seed that fell on the rocky soil is like people who hear about God’s word and they take it into their lives,
13:21 - When a man does not believe in himself and the strength of his spirit from God, he can endure for awhile: but when trials and tribulations come, he loses his strength and confidence.
13:22 - The man that has received blessings from the trials in his life is he that has heard My Word; and in his quest for riches and money and power in this world makes a man forget My Word, and he loses all of his inner strength and innate greatness.
13:23 - But a person that has seed in fertile soil is the one that hears the message, and he understands it; also growing fruit, sometimes as much as a hundred, sixty or thirty.
13:24 - He gave them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who planted good seed in his field.
13:25 - while the men slept, their enemy came and scattered weeds among the wheat and then continued on their way.
13:26 - But as the plant grew taller, the weeds also grew.
13:27 - So the homeowner’s servants came to him and asked: Sir, didn’t you plant good seeds in your field? How is it you now have poisonous grass?
13:28 - He said to them, An enemy has done this. The servants asked, Do you want us to go and get them?
13:29 - And he said, No; lest perhaps while you are gathering the tares, you do it together with rooting up the wheat.
13:30 - Reapers shall gather the tares and burn them and wheat goes into the barn.
13:31 - Another parable he told them about was that Heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man sowed in his field:
13:32 - This is the smallest of the seeds: but after it’s grown, it’s the greatest of the plants, it becomes a tree, then the birds flying above can land and live in the branches of the tree.
13:33 - Then he told them another story about how the kingdom of heaven is similar to yeast. It takes only a small amount to leaven an entire batch of dough.
13:34 - Jesus always spoke in stories to the multitudes of people that followed him; he never spoke without using stories to illustrate his point.
13:35 - The prophet said, I will let loose the lessons of secrets that have been kept from the world for so long.
13:36 - The masses of people left and the disciples wished for the parable of the tares of the field.
13:37 - And He answered them by saying, The Son of man sows good seed;
13:38 - The field represents the world, the good seed the people of God, and the weeds the people of the devil.
13:39 - Satan is the enemy that planted them, the end of the world is the harvest, and the angels will be the reapers.
13:40 - Consequently, the weeds are collected and destroyed by fire; this is the way the world will expire.
13:41 - The Son of man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all things that are offensive, and all who sin;
13:42 - In the end there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth and casting into fire the evil.
13:43 - Then the righteous ones will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. He who has ears, let him hear.
13:44 - I repeat, heaven’s kingdom is like something valuable buried in a field, that when someone finds, he hides, and gladly goes and sells everything to buy that very field.
13:45 - Heaven is just like a rich guy looking for expensive, shiny things:
13:46 - When he found one pearl of great price, he went and sold everything that he had, and bought the pearl.
13:47 - Heaven is a melting pot of people of all different walks of life.
13:48 - The bad was cast away as they sat down at the shore and gathered goods into vessels.
13:49 - At the end of the world: the angels will come and cut off the wicked from the just,
13:50 - He will cast them into the burning fire where they will wail and lament.
13:51 - They made sure they truly understood all of what Jesus said.
13:52 - He answered them and said, Every scribe who knows something about the Kingdom of Heaven is like a person who owns a house and shows others what he owns–new and old things.
13:53 - When Jesus had finished telling these parables, he left.
13:54 - When he returned to his homeland he went to the temple to teach. The people were amazed and said, from where does this man draw his wisdom and great deeds?
13:55 - Isn’t this the son of the carpenter? Isn’t his mother Mary? And his brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?
13:56 - Ain’t his sisters down with us on this? Where did this guy get all of this stuff?
13:57 - And they became offended by Him. But Jesus said, A prophet is always honored, except when he is in his own country, and in his own house.
13:58 - He didn’t do many marvelous things because of their disbelief.