Next day, Yeshua withdrew toward the lake. Followed by throngs as he was, he went out onto the water in a small boat, and from there answered questions and taught them in metaphors.
Once, a man went out to sow seed in his field. Some seed fell in the road, and the birds came and at it up. Some seed fell in a rocky ground, where there was little soil; the seeds germinated and the plants came up quickly, but had no roots, so they were scorched by the sun and withered away. Some seed fell into a patch of thorns, where the plants were choked off. Some fell in good soil, grew to maturity and yielded a good crop. Hear what I say!
A student asked, Why do you speak in metaphors?
Some people hear and understand; others do not. I want you to hear and understand.
Another student asked: So what does this metaphor mean?
And he said, The seed that fell in the road is the word about the realm the holy one that was heard but the person was robbed of the opportunity to understand. The seed that fell in the rocky ground, whose plants have no deep roots, that represents to person who hears and understands the word, but cannot stand up to the challenge of other people’s persuasion, and so they abandon their understanding. The seed that fell in the patch of thorns hears and understands the word, but then tries to scheme how to have one foot in the realm and the other in this world; the plants from that seed can never bear fruit. The seeds that fell in good soil represent the person who hears and understands the word; that person has deep roots and bears good fruit.
Before another question could be asked, he went on.
The realm of the holy one is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but in the night, someone sowed weeds where the good seed was. The good and bad seeds sprouted and grew together. The man’s servants asked, ‘Do you want us to pull out the weeds?’ But he said, ‘No, because the good plants might also be uprooted. Let all grow together, then at harvest time, we’ll pull the weeds and bundle them into the fire, then collect the wheat into silo.’
He went on, so as not to be interrupted, The realm of the holy one is like the seed of the mustard plant. Though the smallest of all seeds, it grows into a bush large enough for birds to nest in.
And he said, further, The realm is like the yeast that a woman mixed in with three bags of flour, until it all doubled.
After that, he to dismissed them, returned to the shore, and headed back to his house. But they wanted to hear more.
Here are some short ones about the realm of the holy one. It is like a treasure hidden in a field, is found and by a person and reburied. That person then joyfully sells all he has to buy the field.
The realm is like the merchant in search of quality pearls. He finds the single most precious one, and sells all that he has in order to purchase it.
Or this one, the realm is like the fishermen who throw out their net and drag it in when it’s full. They sort the good fish into their creels, and the bad fish they throw back. This is how it will be at the end, the just will be culled and the unjust will be cast away. Do you understand?
They said, Yes.
© 2020 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen and songsofasouljourney.blogspot.com
A brief note about my literary exploration of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth: I have undertaken this exercise having read, sung (in several languages), meditated and prayed on the contents of the Synoptic Gospels (as well as the Non-Synoptic Gospels) for at least 45 years. In that time, I’ve accumulated a bit of a library (which comes as no surprise to those who know me), and I try to follow modern scholarship. Here is a partial list of the authors and books that come to mind as I write these episodes:
Ballentine, Debra Scoggins, The Conflict Myth & the Biblical Tradition; Oxford University Press 2015
Erdman, Bart, various titles
Gaus, Andy, The Unvarnished New Testament; Phanes Press, 1991
Herzog, William R., Parables as Subversive Speech; Westminster John Knox Press, 1991
Louden, Bruce, Greek Myth and the Bible; Routledge, 2019
Tatian, Diatesseron; www.earlychristianwritings.com/diatessaron.html
Wajdenbaum, Philippe, Argonauts of the Desert, Routledge, 2011
Ward, Keith, The Philosopher and the Gospels, Lion Hudson, 2011
Yosef ben Maityahu (Titus Flavius Josephus), various writings
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