THE NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE STORY #8

 THE  NEW  TESTAMENT   BIBLE  STORY  #8

Especially  written  for  children

Chapter Sixteen:

Parables and Miracles

FARMERS  SCATTERING  SEEDS

     Later that same day Jesus left the house and went down and

sat by the sea. But the people followed and soon there was an

immense crowd all gathered about Him. It was too large a crown

for comfort as they say, so He got into a small fishing boat and

taught them as they listened on the shore. He told them many

stories such as this one.

     "A farmer went out to plant some seed, by hand as usual. 

As he scattered it across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath,

and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on thin soil

with underlying rock. The plants sprang up quickly enough but

they soon withered under the hot sun and died because the roots

had no depth in the shallow soil and had no nourishment. Some

other seeds fell among the thorn bushes that engulfed the tender

shoots and choked them, so they died also. But some seeds fell 

on fertile ground, with good top soil, and they flourished and

produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times

as much as had been planted. Anyone who has ears to hear with

should take note and listen and understand what this means"

(Mat.13: 1-9).

     Story after story  Jesus related to the people. His

disciples finally came to Him and said, "Why do you always tell

stories when you talk to the crowds of people?" (Mat.12: 10).

     Jesus answered: "It is you my disciples that have been

permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven, but

others have not been permitted. To those who are of a ready mind

to receive my teachings, more understanding will be given them,

and they will have an abundance of knowledge on spiritual

matters. But to those whose heart is not really acceptable of my

teachings, even what they have will be taken away from them. 

That is why I tell stories to the crowds, because people see what I

DO, but they do not really see what they should. They hear what 

I SAY, but they do not really hear what they should, and do not

understand the depth of true meaning I have for them. And

in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says, 'You will

hear my words, but you will not understand them: you will see

what I do, but you will not perceive its meaning. For, the hearts

of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and

they have closed their eyes, so they do not see, and their ears

cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot

turn to me and let me heal them' " (Isa.6: 9-10) (Mat.13: 11-15).

     Here is how Mark worded the last phrase, "...lest at any time 

they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them" 

(Mark 4: 12, KJV).

     It is quite a shock to many if they slowly read these words

of Jesus and just believe them for what they say and tell us.

Jesus here clearly proves to us that some in this physical life

time are NOT called by God, they are not given the spiritual 

eye to see with, to comprehend, to understand the truths of the

Father. They are blinded by the way of their society they live

in, they are blinded by their own heart and mind that does not

want to really see God and all of His word and ways and truths.

And as shocking as it seems to many, God and Christ are leaving

them in their blindness. They are not being called to be

converted and to have their sins forgiven in this age they live

in. We have already seen that God has a plan of salvation, 

and that such individuals will be resurrected in a large general

resurrection, with those of Sodom, Nineveh, the Queen of

the South, and millions of others, who also lived and died

without being offered salvation. Their day of salvation will 

come at the end of the 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth, in

the period called in Revelation 20, the GREAT WHITE THRONE, 

and Jesus we saw earlier called it "THE judgment" when people 

from the past would rise with people of His generation.

     We see here that many of Jesus' generation were left in

their blindness of hard-heartedness. Jesus was not trying to

converted them and hence forgive their sins. This is very

difficult for some to understand and to believe, but it is

nevertheless a very true teaching of Jesus' and the New 

Testament (see also how Paul wrote about it in Romans 

chapter 9 through 11).

EXPLANATION OF THE SCATTERED SEEDS

     Jesus then looks at His disciples and says, "But blessed are

your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I

tell you for sure, many prophets and godly people have longed to

see and hear what you are seeing and hearing, but they could not,

it was not to take place in their life time. 

     Now, here is the explanation of the story I told about the

farmer scattering seeds of grain. The seed that fell on the hard

pathway represents those who hear the good news about the 

Kingdom and just don't understand it. Then the evil one comes 

and snatches the seed away from their hearts, as quick as the birds

come to eat it off the pathway. The seed that fell on the thin

rocky soil represents those who hear the message of the Kingdom

and receive it with joy. But like young plants in rocky soil,

their roots do not go down very deep. At first they grow some,

but then they wilt away when problems, trials, tests, or

persecution comes upon them. The seeds in the thorn bushes

represent those who hear and accept the word of the Kingdom, 

but all too quickly the message and truths they have are crowded 

out by the cares and concerns of this life and the lure of

physical wealth, so they produce no lasting crop. 

     Ah, but the good soil represents the hearts and minds of

those who truly accept God's message of the Kingdom and 

salvation and produce a huge harvest - thirty, sixty, or even a 

hundred times as much as had been planted" (Mat.13: 16-23).

     Once more Jesus teaches us that it is not just good enough

to start on the narrow road to the Kingdom and salvation, one

must stick with it, never give up, "endure to the end" as Jesus

said later in Matthew 24. Then we shall produce a crop that can

be harvested, we shall be saved, harvested into the Kingdom of

God.

STORY OF THE WHEAT AND WEEDS

     Another parable Jesus puts before them, saying: "The Kingdom

of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his

field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed

weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came 

up and produced grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the

servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you

not sow good seeds in your field? How then are there these

weeds?' He answered them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants

said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and pluck them out?' But

he said to them, 'No; because in gathering the weeds you may root

up the wheat also with them. Let them both grow together until

the harvest time, and at the harvest I will tell the reapers to

gather the weeds first and bind them up in bundles to be burned,

but gather the wheat into my barn' " (Mat.13: 24-30).

EXPLANATION OF THE WHEAT AND WEEDS

     Jesus left the crowd and returned to the house. His disciples 

were very puzzled about what the parable of the wheat and weeds 

meant. "Master, please explain to us the meaning of the parable 

you gave about the wheat and the weeds in the field," they said 

to Him. Jesus answered:

     "He who sows the good seed in the field is the Son of man;

the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons or

children of the Kingdom; and the weeds are the sons of the evil

one, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is 

the close of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Just as the

weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the

close of the age. The Son of man will send His angels, and

they will gather out of His Kingdom all causes of sin and evil

doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire. There will be

weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine

forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has

ears to hear with should make sure he hears" (Mat.13: 36-43).

     Jesus talks about His angels gathering the elect, the saints, 

the children of God, together when He comes in Matthew

24: 29-31. Paul talks about this same event in 1 Corinthians 15.

It will be at the end of the age, at the "last trumpet" sound

(Revelation 11:15-19). We find from passages such as Revelation

19; Zechariah 14; and others that many of the wicked at that same

time will be cast into a lake of fire (Rev.19: 20; 2 Thes.1: 7-10). 

This harvest will continue through the 1,000 year reign of

Jesus on earth (see Isa. 66: 15-24). At the end of the thousand

years more harvesting of the righteous from the wicked will take

place as we have seen in the "White Throne Judgment" period 

(see Rev.20:7-13). Finally all the wicked will be burnt up in the 

lake of fire (Rev.20: 14-15; Malachi 4: 1-3 with 2 Peter 3: 8-13), 

and then will come the new heaven and the new earth wherein 

dwells only holy perfect righteousness (Rev.21; 22).

     The harvesting of the righteous wheat and the evil weeds

will start at the end of this age when the angels are sent forth,

at the coming of Jesus again to earth, but the harvesting of the

wicked and the righteous will continue until the final earth-wide

lake of fire and the new earth and heavens come into being.

GOOD SEED AND FERTILE EARTH PARABLE

     And He said to them, "The Kingdom of God is as if a man

should scatter seed upon the ground, and should sleep and rise

night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows 

not how. The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear,

then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once 

he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come" 

(Mark 4: 26-29).

     The Kingdom of God will take time to develop and finally 

be harvested. God's seed, His word, will go forth into all the

world. Often people will not even know where and how it is

developing, and bringing forth mature grain ready for the

harvest, but it will be so. God's word will go forth and it shall

not return unto Him void of fruit. When it has accomplished 

what God desires for His harvest, then as we have seen the sickle 

or the angels will go forth and the harvest will be gathered in.

THE MUSTARD SEED AND THE LEAVEN

     And he said, "With what can we compare the Kingdom of God,

or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard 

seed, which, when sown in the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds 

on earth; yet when it is planted it grows up and becomes the greatest 

of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the 

air can make nests in its shade" (Mark 4: 30-32).

     He told them yet another parable, "The Kingdom of heaven is

like leaven which a woman took and hid in a large pan of bread

flour, till it was all leavened or risen up" (Mat.13: 33).

     The Kingdom of God and all within it may start out few in

number, just a small seed, or a small bit of leaven, but it will

grow and grow until the whole world is finally under its shade

and filled with it. This will not all come about until Jesus returns 

to reign on earth for a thousand years. But as the prophets  have 

written, there is coming an age when the knowledge of the  Lord 

shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea beds.

JESUS ONLY USED PARABLES TO THE CROWDS

     Matthew and Mark once more make it abundantly clear to us

that Jesus only spoke to the crowds of people in parables, but in

private He explained what He was meaning in the parables,

concisely and clearly to His disciples. Matthew tells us that He

did this to fulfil what the prophet Isaiah had spoken, "I will

open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden

since the foundation of the world" (Mat.13: 34-35; Mark 4:

33,34).

THE HIDDEN TREASURE; THE PEARL; THE NET; 

TREASURES OLD AND NEW

     "The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field,

which a man found and covered up; then in his joy goes and sells

all that he has so he can buy that field. Again, the Kingdom of

heaven is like a merchant in search of a fine pearls, who, on

finding even just one pearl of great value, went and sold all

that he had to buy that pearl. And again, the Kingdom of heaven

is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of

every kind, when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down 

and sorted the good into baskets but threw the bad away. So it 

will be at the close of this age. The angels will come out and

separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into a

furnace of fire; and men will indeed weep and gnash their teeth"

(Mat.13: 44-50).

     The Kingdom of God and being a part of it, should be the

most valued treasure we have. We should be willing to give up

everything, or count everything we have in this physical life as

sellable, in order to be in the Kingdom of God. It should be in

our eyes as the hidden treasure in a field or the pearl of great

price. We should be doing as Jesus said in the sermon on the

mount, seeking God's Kingdom first and then knowing that all

the physical things we are in need of for this life time will be

given to us from the Father.

     And yes, the Kingdom of God will be offered to all people

eventually in God's time frame. The ones who accept it and live

within its framework will be the righteous who are brought into

the Kingdom, starting at the time when the angels are sent forth

to gather in the righteous, then the harvest will begin and will

continue for one thousand years plus the white throne judgment

period (Rev.20). Then all the bad, the wicked who would not

accept the Kingdom and repent and live within its precepts, 

will be gathered and put into the lake or furnace of fire and will

suffer the punishment of the second death (Rev.20 last few

verses).

     Jesus looked at His disciples and said to them, "Have you

understood all this?" "Oh, yes," answered the disciples. "Then,"

He replied to them, "every scribe who has been trained for the

Kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his

treasure things that are new and things that are old" (Mat.13:

51-52).

     The Kingdom of heaven and all it stands for is the whole

Word of the Lord, from Genesis to Revelation, the Old and the 

New Testaments. Those instructed in the Kingdom, who accept it, 

are to do as Jesus said, live by EVERY WORD of God (Mat.4:4), 

live by the Old Testament and live by the New Testament.

MORE GREAT MIRACLES - THE STORM IS CALMED

     Jesus had worked hard all that day. It was now evening time,

and exhausted and weary, He said to His disciples, "Come, pull

out and let's go across to the other side of the sea."  Other

boats of people went with Him for they did not want Him to

disappear from their sight. 

     The wind began to pick up its pace. The waves were splashing

pretty hard against the sides of the boat. The wind blew stronger

still. Smash, thud, smash, thud, came the sea waves against the

boat, with every increasing speed and power. Then the full force

of the storm came upon them, waves now higher than the sides 

of the boat, throwing it around like a rag doll. Now, each time a

wave came it not only smashed into the boat  with a great

thunderous roar but quite a lot of the wave cascaded into the

boat itself, and within minutes the boat was filling with water. 

     The disciples looked around to see where Jesus was, and

found Him sleeping contently on a pillow in the back of the boat.

He seemed to not have a care in the world as to what was going 

on all around Him. The boat was now dangerously close to sinking.

"Master, master," cried out the disciples into Jesus' ear, "do you 

not care that we may perish in this storm?"

     Jesus awoke from His deep sleep, and rebuked the wind and

said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And immediately the wind

ceased its violent blow and the sea became quitetly very calm.

     Looking around at His disciples Jesus said to them, "Why is

it you are afraid? Have you not any faith?"

     The disciples were awe struck, for a few moments they were

speechless with wonder and amazement, and then finally began 

to say among themselves, "Who then indeed is this man, that 

even the wind and the sea obey Him?" (Mark 4: 35-41).

JESUS CASTS OUT DEMONS AND 

SENDS THEM INTO PIGS

     Arriving on the other side of the sea in the country of the

Gadarenes, and coming out of the boat, there met Him a wild

demonic man from among the tombs (Matthew records that there 

were two men not just one, but even he goes on to speak in the

"singular" not the plural. Mark and Luke speak only in the

singular from start to finish. The answer probably is that of the

two men one was the leader and maybe the most demon possessed,

while the other, though also demon possessed stayed in the

background).

     Luke tells us that for a long time now he had worn no clothes. 

Mark tells us that no one could bind him. Some had tried to put 

chains on him but he just snapped them apart, and not even

a number of men could subdue him, he was too strong for them all.

He would constantly cry out and bruise himself with stones as he

lived among the tombs.

     This demoniac sees Jesus coming, even a long way off as yet,

but he sees Him and runs to be near Him and begins to worship

Him. 

     "Oh, what have you to do with me, Jesus, you Son of the Most

High God" the demoniac cries out with a loud wailing voice, "I

implore you by God, do not torment me before the time appointed,"

the wild man beseeched Jesus, who had commanded the unclean

spirit to depart from him.

     Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" 

     "My name is legion," replied the demoniac, "for we are

many."

     The demons through the man's voice begged Jesus not to send

them out of the country into thin air so to speak. Such demons as

these were, love to possess live flesh and blood creatures of

some kind.

     Now there happened to be on the hillside nearby a great herd

of swine or pigs. The demons begged Jesus to send them to the

pigs so they could at least enter into them. And Jesus complied

with their wishes and told them to go to the swine. Many indeed

were the demons in this man. The swine numbered about two

thousand. They entered the herd, and immediately the herd rushed

down into the sea and all of them drowned.

     The herdsmen, when they saw what had happened to all the

swine they were taking care of, fled as fast as their legs would

move. They ran into the city nearby and told the people all they

had seen. And the people came out of the city to see what all the

fuss was about. When they arrived they saw the demonic man

sitting there, clothed, and in his right mind. People who had

been there all the time through all the events, told the ones

coming later from the city what had happened to the demonic 

man and to the herd of pigs.

     Such fear fell upon the people of that region that they just

wanted Jesus to leave and get away from them and from their land.

Jesus obliged them and was getting back into the boat when the

man who had the legion of demons cast out of him, came and 

begged Jesus that he might follow Him, but Jesus refused saying 

to him, "You go home to your friends, and tell them how much the 

Lord God has done for you, and how He has had mercy upon you."

     The man went his way and began to do what Jesus said, and in

that area called Decapolis the people marvelled greatly at what

they saw and heard (Mat.8: 28-34; Mark 5: 1-20; Luke 8: 26-39).

     The question may be asked about a herd of swine, two

thousand, being allowed by Jesus to rush down into the sea and

drown. This was obviously a cultivated herd of swine because it

had herdsmen tending it. Swine were created by God to be the

wandering garbage cleaners of the land. Pigs are "unclean" as

classified in the "clean and unclean" food laws of the OT (Lev.11

and Deut.14). They were never intended by the Lord to be

cultivated and used for food or animal sacrifices in the Temple.

Obviously this herd of swine was for one or both purposes. One or

the other or both purposes would have been against the laws and

commandments of God. Jesus, hence had no trouble in allowing 

this herd of pigs to perish in the sea, and so not be used for human

food or animal sacrifice.

     Did the demons who entered the pigs also drown in the sea?

The angel world (and demons are fallen sinful angels) is not

subject to physical laws as we are or physical substances such as

water. They did not drown in the sea with the swine. The Gospel

writers do not tell us what happened to them after the pigs were

dead. They probably went hurrying away to find another warm 

flesh and blood body or bodies to dwell in.

JAIRUS' DAUGHTER AND THE WOMAN 

WITH HEMORRHAGE

     Jesus again crossed to the other side in the boat and a crowd 

welcomed Him, for they were there waiting for Him as they

hoped He would return. Then came one of the rulers of the local

synagogue, Jairus by name, and he knelt before Jesus at the same

time he besought Him saying, "My little daughter is at the point

of death. Please come and lay your hands on her, so that she will

be made well and live." 

     Jesus said He would come and heal his daughter. The huge

crowd continued to follow Him, thronging about and sometimes

pushing and shoving so that Jesus was often being touched as He

walked along. 

     There was a woman in the crowd who had a flow of blood for

twelve years. She had been to many doctors who tried many of

their medicines to heal her. She had spent all of her money on

these doctors, but they had not been able to help her, and the

problem was just getting worse all the time. She had heard the

reports about Jesus and His healing powers from many in the

crowd, so she just came up from behind and touched Jesus'

garment, for she had said to herself that if she just touched His

garment she would be made well and healthy once more. And so 

it was. Immediately her hemorrhage or blood flow stop, and she 

felt in her body that she was indeed healed. 

     Jesus knew that power had gone from Him and straightaway

turned around and asked who had touched Him. 

     "Master, you see the crowd pressing in on you from all sides, 

evening pushing you at times, and you ask who was it that

touched you" said His disciples with wonderment as to why He

would ask such a question.

     Jesus, said nothing more, but looked here and there in the

crowd.

     The woman was shocked that He knew someone had touched 

Him for a special reason. She was fearful and trembling, but she 

came forward and told Him the whole truth of why and what she did.

Jesus looked at her with great love and compassion and said,

"Daughter, your mighty faith has made you whole and well. Go in

peace, fear and tremble not, and be healed of your disease."

     Even while He was still speaking to the lady and telling her

to be at peace, there came someone from Jairus' house who said,

"I'm sorry to tell you but your daughter is dead. No need to

bother the Teacher any more."  Jesus, ignoring what was said,

simply looked at the ruler of the synagogue and said, "Do not

fear, only believe, have faith."

     Jesus then instructed that only certain ones were to follow

Him. They were Peter and James and John the brother of James. 

As they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue there was

great weeping and wailing, very loud indeed was the moaning of

those present there.

     "Why do you make such a sorrowful tumult, the child is not

dead, but merely sleeping," said Jesus in a calm and reassuring

voice. "Oh, what you say is crazy, we know enough about death to

know she is indeed very dead," said the people in the house, and

they just all started to laugh at Jesus. He told them to all go

outside, and with the child's mother and father and those

disciples He had brought along to the house, He went in where 

the child was laying. He took her by the hand and said, "Talitha

cuni"; which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise." And

immediately the girl got up and started to walk around, as she

was twelve years old. 

     All five person present were (the parents of the girl and

the three disciples) overcome with utter amazement, as they 

stood there speechless.

     Jesus told them in a no nonsense and serious tone of voice

to make sure they told no one about what they had just seen 

and witnessed. And then He told the girls parents to give her

something to eat (Mark 5: 21-43; Luke 8: 40-56; Mat.9: 18-26).

TWO BLIND MEN AND A DUMB DEMONIAC

     As Jesus passed on from there, two blind men started to

follow Him, and began to cry aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of

David." Jesus continued to walk on and finally entered a house.

The blind men came up to him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you

believe I am able to do this thing, and give you your sight?"

They quickly answered back, "Oh yes Lord, we believe you can." 

He then touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith be it

done to you." And their eyes were opened and they who were blind

could see. Jesus sternly told them to tell no one about the miracle. 

But they could not contain themselves with such a healing that had 

been bestowed on them, and they spread His fame all over that district.

     As they were going away, a dumb demoniac (some demons make 

a person dumb, unable to speak) was brought to Him. And Jesus cast

out the demon and the man began to speak. The crowd marvelled at

what they had seen saying, "Never was anything like this seen in

Israel." But the Pharisees, always tagging along and watching,

once more exclaimed, "Oh, he casts out demons by the prince of

demons" (Mark 9: 27-34).

     Yes, some people it seems, just never learn, never learn the

truth. Paul, years later wrote about some people that "they are

always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the

truth" (2 Tim.3: 7).

JESUS RETURNS TO NAZARETH 

BUT IS NOT HONORED

     Jesus went from there, after doing all those great miracles,

and after the people gave Him such honor and glorified God, 

and He returned to His home town of Nazareth.

     The Sabbath day came and He went to the synagogue and 

began to teach the words of the Lord to all present. The people 

were astonished, but not in the way you might think. They said 

among themselves, "Where did this man get all this from? What

University did He go to? Which theologians have instructed Him in

this wisdom of theology? What mighty works are wrought by His

hands, we do not see them. Is this not just the carpenter, the son 

of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon,

and are not His sisters also here with us? This fellow is just

one of us, really a no body to speak of." They were greatly

offended in Him, and could not imagine He was someone special.

     Jesus knowing their thoughts and attitude towards Him, said

to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own

country, and among his own kindred, and in his own household.”

     And He could do no mighty work there, except lay hands on a

very few sick people and heal them.

     He marvelled greatly because of their unbelief (Mat.13: 53-58; 

Mark 6: 1-6).

     Sad to say but it is often today the same. People can be

honored in their own town for being a great "sportsman" or

"musician" or "artist" or "filmstar" etc. but if they come

speaking the truth and words of the Lord God, with power and

conviction, calling people to repent of their sins, showing what

sin is, and what the true ways of God are, people  who knew them

as a child, or as a neighbor friend, will just not honor them, or

take much notice of them. They often cannot bring themselves to

realize and accept that God can be working through that

individual in a great and mighty way.  It is often true as the

old proverbs says, "familiarity breeds contempt." Even Jesus

found it coming His way, and had it flung in His face.

     We need to be careful that we never allow familiarity to

come into our mind to where we may make the biggest mistake 

of our lives.

                 ...........................

Written September 2002