Jesus meant by this that dear as his mother was to him, those who were ready to follow his teachings were dearer still.

Some of the scribes and Pharisees spoke to Jesus, saying:

"Teacher, show us some sign that you have come from G.o.d."

They wished him to work some miracle, some wonder in their sight. But Jesus never would do any of his great works merely to be seen. He cured the sick and cast out evil spirits out of pity for people in trouble, but not as a show of his power. He said to these people:

"It is a wicked and unfaithful time when people seek for a sign. I will give you no sign now, but after a time you shall see a sign, though you will not believe it. It will be the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days inside the great fish, so I the Son of Man will be three days under the ground, and like Jonah will come forth living.

"The people of Nineveh, to whom Jonah preached, will rise up in the day when G.o.d shall judge the world, and they shall show that they were better than the people of this time, for when Jonah preached to them, they turned from their sins and sought G.o.d. And One greater than Jonah is here, yet they will not listen to him!

"The Queen of Sheba will rise up in the day of judgment with the people of this time, and will prove them to be unfaithful. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wise words of Solomon; and one greater than Solomon is here, yet you will not listen to him."

The Story-teller by the Sea

CHAPTER 34

SOON AFTER his journey through southern Galilee, Jesus began to teach in a new form, that of telling stories to the people. Everybody likes to listen to a story, and sometimes a story will go to the heart when the plain truth will fail. Story-tellers have always been very abundant in the East, where Jesus lived. Even today may be found everywhere men who go from place to place telling stories, and the people flock around them and listen to their stories from morning until night.

But the stories that Jesus told were very different from those of the Eastern story-tellers. His stories were told to teach some great truth, and on that account were called "parables." A parable is a story which is true to life--that is, a story which might be true, not a fairy story--and which also has in it some teaching of the truth.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Once a sower went out to sow his seed. Some seed fell on stony ground and some fell among briers and bushes."]

One day Jesus went out of the city of Capernaum and stood on the beach by the Sea of Galilee. A great crowd of people gathered around him, for all the opposition of the scribes and Pharisees could not keep the common people away from Jesus. The throng was so great, crowding around Jesus, that as before he stepped into a boat and told his disciples to push it out a little from the sh.o.r.e. Then he sat down in the boat, fronting the great mult.i.tude that filled the sloping beach. He said to the people:

"Listen! Once a sower went out to sow his seed. And as he was scattering the seed, some of it fell on the path, where the ground had been trodden hard. The seed lay there on the path until the birds lighted upon it and picked up all the kernels, so that none of them grew.

"Some of the seed fell on places where there was a thin covering of earth over stones. There the kernels grew up quickly, just because the soil was thin. But when the hot weather came, the sun scorched the tender plants, and they all withered away, because they had no moisture and no root in deep earth.

"Some other of the seeds fell among briers and bushes, and there was no room for the grain to grow up. It lived, but it did not bring forth heads of grain, because it was crowded and choked by thorn bushes all around it.

"But there were some other of the seeds that fell into ground that was soft and rich and good. There they grew up and brought forth fruit abundantly. Some kernels gave thirty times as many as were sown, some sixty times and some a hundred times."

Jesus did not tell the people what the teaching of the parable was. He only said, "Whoever has ears, let him hear what I have spoken." He meant that they should not only listen but think and find out for themselves the meaning.

When Jesus was alone with his disciples, they said to him:

"Why do you speak to the people in parables? What do you mean to teach in this story about the man sowing seed?"

Jesus said to them:

"To you who have followed me it is given to know the deep things of the Kingdom of G.o.d, because you seek to find them out. But to many these truths 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 ears, but they do not hear. For they do not wish to understand with the heart and turn to G.o.d to have their sins forgiven. 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 G.o.d, and the seed is the word which he speaks.

"The seed on the roadside, the trodden path, means those who hear, but do not take the truth into their hearts. Then the Evil Spirit comes and, like the birds, s.n.a.t.c.hes away the truth, so that they forget it.

"The seeds on the rocky soil are those who hear the word and seem to take it gladly into their hearts; but they have no root in themselves; just as soon as they meet with any discouragement or trouble, or find enemies to the truth, they are turned away and their goodness does not last.

"That which is sown among the thorns and briers are those who listen to the word, but the worries of life, and the desire for money, and the pleasures of the world, crowd the word in their hearts, and the gospel does them but little good.

"But the seed sown on the good ground are those who listen to the gospel and understand it; who take the word into honest and good hearts and keep it and bring forth fruit in their lives."

More Stories Told by the Sea

CHAPTER 35

HERE IS another parable story that Jesus told to the people as he sat in the boat and the people stood on the sh.o.r.e. This is the parable of "The Wheat and the Weeds."

"There was a man who sowed good wheat in his field; but while people were asleep, an enemy came and scattered the seed of weeds over all the ground. Then the enemy went away, leaving his seed to grow up. When the sprouts of grain began to form into heads of wheat, the men saw that everywhere in the field the weeds were among them, for weeds always grow faster than good seed.

"So the servants of the farmer came to him and said:

"'Did you not, sir, sow good seed in your field? How comes it that it is full of weeds?'

"He said to them, 'Some enemy of mine has done this.'

"'Shall we go,' said the servants, 'and pull up the weeds that are growing with the wheat?'

"'No,' answered the farmer, 'for while you are pulling the weeds, you will root up the wheat with them. Let them both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers, "When you have cut down all the crop, then take out the weeds and put them into bundles to be burned; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

Jesus gave to the people another parable about "The Growing Grain." He said, "The kingdom of G.o.d is as if a man should throw seed upon the ground. The sower will sleep every night, while the seed will spring up, he cannot tell how. The ground bears fruit of itself, first the little shoot, then the ear of grain, and then the full head of grain.

But when the heads of grain are ripe, he puts in his sickle and reaps, because the harvest is come."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Jesus teaching by the Sea of Galilee]

His next parable was "The Mustard Seed." "The kingdom of heaven," said Jesus, "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 become a bush so large that it is like a tree, putting out great branches, and the birds light upon them and rest under their shadow."

[Ill.u.s.tration: While people were asleep, an enemy came and scattered the seed of weeds over all the ground]

Jesus gave one more parable, "The Leaven, or Yeast." He said, "The kingdom of G.o.d is like the leaven or yeast that a woman uses when she makes bread. She mixes up a very little yeast in a large ma.s.s of dough, and leaves it to rise. Presently all the dough is changed by the yeast, and made into good bread. So it is with the truth to those who take it into their hearts."

After Jesus told these five parables, "The Sower," "The Wheat and the Weeds," "The Growing Grain," "The Mustard Seed," and "The Leaven," he sent the crowd away and went into a house with his disciples. When they were alone they said to him, "Tell us what is the meaning of the parable of 'The Wheat and the Weeds.'"

Jesus answered them, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, whom G.o.d has sent into the earth. The field is the world. The good wheat are those who hear his word and are the children of G.o.d. The weeds are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil, Satan. The harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels of G.o.d. Just as the weeds are gathered from among the good grain and burned in the fire, so shall it be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all that do evil and cause harm, and shall throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and wail and gnash their teeth. But in that day, the children of G.o.d, the true wheat, shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their heavenly Father."

Then to his disciples, not to the crowd, Jesus gave three more parables.

The first was "The Hid Treasure." He said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a heap of money which a man found while he was working in a field.

He hid it again, and told no one about it; but went home, sold all that he had and gladly bought that field, that the treasure might be his own."

The next parable was that of "The Pearl." "There was a man who went into many places to find pearls, which he bought to sell to others. In one place he found a pearl of great price, far more precious than any that he had seen before. He went and sold everything that he had, and with the money bought that pearl."