When Jesus was alone, His disciples came and asked Him to explain this parable to them. He answered, that the seeds meant the words which He preached. Some of the people who heard those words did not understand what He said, nor care to remember them. Then Satan came and made them think of other things, and took His words out of their hearts as quickly as the birds ate up the seeds that fell on the pathway. And some who heard Him, remembered His words, and tried for a little while to obey them. But it was only for a little while. As soon as they had trouble, or were blamed by others for doing it, they ceased trying, and forgot them. This was the seed that fell on the stony ground, and that sprang up at first, but in a few days withered away. And some heard Jesus preach, and were glad to hear what He said, but afterward they went away and paid more attention to their houses, their riches, their cares, and their pleasures, than they did to the things He had taught them. This was the seed that fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But there were some who listened to all that He taught, and remembered it in their hearts, and tried every day to do as He told them. This was the good seed that took root and grew, and bore a hundred times as much as the sower had planted. And Jesus spoke another parable about a man who sowed seed in his field. But while his servants were asleep, an enemy came and sowed tares, or weeds, among the wheat; and then went away, so that the servants knew nothing of it. When the time had come for the wheat to grow up, the servants went out into the field to look at it, and there they saw tares growing among the wheat. Then they came back to the owner of the field, and said to him, Was it not good seed that was sowed in thy field? Why, then, are tares growing among the wheat? He answered, An enemy has done this. Then the servants asked, Shall we not go and pull up the tares? He said, No, lest while you pull up the tares, you root up the wheat also with them. Let both grow together until harvest; then I will say to my reapers, Gather together, first, the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. And Jesus explained this parable, also, to His disciples. The field, He said, meant the world; the owner of the field meant Jesus Himself; the good seed meant the words that He preached; the wheat that grew up, meant the persons who listened to those words and obeyed them. The enemy that sowed the bad seed meant Satan; and the tares in the field meant wicked men. As the owner of the field allowed the wheat and the tares to grow together until the harvest, so Jesus will allow good and bad men to live together in the world until the Judgment-day. Then He will send forth His angels to gather up the good and take them to heaven, but the bad will be cast into a furnace of fire. And Jesus spoke a parable about the mustard seed, which is among the smallest of seeds; yet when a man takes it, and plants it in the ground, it grows to be the largest of herbs, and the birds come and lodge in its branches. So it is with our love to God. At first it seems very small. But if we are truly His children, it will go on growing stronger and greater, until we love Him more than we love any one else, and try harder, in all that we do, to please Him. It And so, too, it has been with the kingdom of Christ. began with only a few poor disciples, but it will end by spreading all over the world. And Jesus told the people about a merchantman who was looking for pearls to buy. He went to every person who had any to sell, hoping to find some that would suit him. At last he found one that was larger and more beautiful than any he had ever seen before. But its price was so great that he had not the money to buy it. Therefore, he went away and sold everything he had, so that he might come back and buy that one precious pearl. And this is the way persons feel who want their sins forgiven. They cannot be happy till it is done, and they are willing to give up every sinful pleasure, and everything that offends God, so that they may come to Him and ask Him to forgive their sins, and then they are willing to give up their whole life and all that they have to God. Then Jesus spoke of the fishermen with their net. They carry it out in their boat, on the sea, and cast it into the water, and afterward drag it slowly to the shore. When they come there, and draw it up out of the water again, they find a great number of fishes in it. But the fishes are of many different kinds. Some are good these they gather into baskets to keep; and some are bad those they throw away. So, Jesus said to His disciples, it would be at the end of the world. For, He told them again, the angels would then come forth and separate the righteous from the wicked, and would cast the wicked into a furnace of fire, where they would weep and cry out. But the righteous would shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. And there came to Jesus a Scribe, or teacher of the law of Moses, who said to Him, Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. Jesus answered him, saying, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head. Jesus meant that He was poorer even than the foxes and the birds. For they had homes of their own, in which they might stay, but He had no place where He might go when He was weary, and lie down to rest. In the evening, after He had spoken these things, both Jesus and His disciples went into a boat to pass over to the other side of the sea of Galilee. As they were going, a great storm arose, and the waves dashed into the boat, and filled it with water, so that it was ready to sink. But Jesus was asleep in the hinder part of the boat, with His head on a pillow. And His disciples came and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us : we perish. And He arose and spoke to the winds and the sea, and said to them, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased to blow, and the sea was still and calm. Then He said to His disciples, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? And they sailed over to the other side of the sea. When Jesus was come out of the boat, there met Him a man who had an evil spirit. He had torn off his clothes and was very fierce, so that no one could pass by that way. His friends had often bound him with chains, to keep him at home; but he broke the chains, and went and lived in the caves that had been hollowed out of the sides of the mountains for tombs. And always, night and day, he was wandering in the mountains and in the |