Parable1 (boat parables 1 - 3)
After the 2nd trip to Jerusalem
1st, 2nd, 3rd parables given from a boat on the Sea of Galilee
A. The 4 types of soil (given to the crowd & explained to the disciples, from/in the boat)
- Given to the crowd Matt 13:1-9 That same day in which He had pointed out that His disciples were His family Jesus went out of the house & sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat & sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then He told them many things in parables, saying: A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, & the birds came & ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, & they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up & choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop-- 100, or 60 or 30x what was sown. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
- Explained to the disciples Matt 13:10-23 The disciples came to Him & asked, Why do You speak to the people in parables? He replied, The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of Heaven has been given to You, but not to them. Whoever has this knowledge will be given more, & He will have an abundance. Whoever does not have that knowledge, even what "understanding" he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables-- sev. O.T. passages (Deu 29:4; Jer 5:21; Eze 12:2) describe rebellious people this way: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah (Isa 6:9-10): You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, & they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts & turn, & I would heal them without their having to the route of the Way. Thus the preaching that this parable is descriptive of hearts before the new creation, as opposed to precriptive medicine to preclude hardness of Christian hearts, is true-- but see the Luke account below: But blessed are Your eyes because they see, & Your ears because they hear. For I tell You the truth, many prophets & righteous men longed to see what You see but did not see it, & to hear what You hear but did not hear it. Listen to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message of the kingdom & does not understand it, the evil 1 comes & snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed that was sown along the path. The 1 who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the Word & at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, he quickly falls away. The 1 who receives the seed that fell among thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life & the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the 1 who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word & understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a 100, 60 or 40x what was sown. Thus ends the story here, but as we shall see in both the Mark & Luke accounts, light is meant to be shone for others-- thus those that have received the word on rocky soil or amongst thorns are not predestined to doom.
- Given to the crowd Mark 4:1-9 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowds that gathered around Him were so large that He got into a boat & sat it out on the lake, while all the people were slong the shore at the water's edge. He taught them many things b parables, & in His teaching said: Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, & the birds came & ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up & choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew & produced a crop, multipling 30, 60, or even 100x. Then Jesus said, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. This last sentence is most important to those God-the-farmer is using as tools to spread the sow the seed. Let the tool not be discouraged about the future outcome. Even if it is dispersed upon every single person, in every square inch of the earth, still only some receive it-- and then only some develop & produce.
- Explained to the disciples Mark 4:10-25 When He was alone, the 12 apostles & the others (other disciples) asked Him about the parables. He told Them, The secret of the Kingdom of GOD has been given to You. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, & ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn & be forgiven-- with no commitment on their part! Then Jesus said to Them, Don't You understand this parable? How then will You understand any parable? The disciples already had understanding (of their need of salvation)-- else they wouldn't already be disciples. All that was necessary to preclude future turmoil was to explain these 1st 2 parables, so that they & us would start on the same wavelength. The farmer sows the Word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the Word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes & takes away the Word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places that already exist, hear the Word & at once receive it with joy. But since they have no pre-existing root to connect dots to, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away because they have no perseverence-- that's the 2nd short time. Still others, like seed sown among pre-existing (inherited and/or acquired) thorns, hear & also receive the Word-- but not as quickly; but their tendency to have the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth (the love of money) & the desires for other things come in (set priority) & choke the Word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the Word, accept it, & produce a crop-- 30, 60 or even 100x what was sown. He said to Them-- & this is the value of letting Your light so shine comes in, Do You bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't You put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden (not revealed) is meant to be disclosed (uncovered), concealed (not understood) is meant to be brought out into the open-- thus we have both Sunday School & Small Groups. If anyone has ears to hear, let Him hear Consider carefully what You hear, He continued. With the measure You use your light, it will be maesured to You-- & even more. Whoever has the willingness to shine light will be given more; whoever does not have that readiness to shine, even what He has will be taken from Him.
- In SeaOfGal 1 B.2. it is noted that Matt 12:49b & Mark 3:34b have, talking about His disciples He said, Here are My mother & My brothers. But here we have Women support Jesus & His disciples Luke 8:1-3 saying, After this (selecting the 12 apostles & giving the beatitudes & teachings), Jesus traveled about from 1 town & village to another, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of GOD. The 12 were with Him, & also some women who had been cured of evil spirits & diseases: Mary (called Magdalene from whom 7 demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Suzanna; & many others. These women were helping to support Them out of Their means.
- For Given to the crowd Luke 8:4-8 & Explained to the disciples Luke 8:9-18 see Psalms 1 - 6 Psalm 6 1. Receive-n-Listen, Believe, Mature-- but take special note of the emphasis there that love, intercession, etc. on our part negates their not having a snowball's chance of coming to understand & produce. But notice another difference there-- above, in the Matthew & Mark accounts, we saw that the 2nd type had no root; whereas the Luke account says the 3rd type had no root. The traditional explanation is that after time they had developed no root. But it could also be said that when the seed 1st arrived they had no root replete with dots that could be connected to-- because their family or schooling situation was such that they could not have had roots & dots.
B. The scattered seed (given to the crowd from the boat)
C. The wheat & the weeds (given to the crowd from the boat & explained to the disciples in the house)
