Picture yourself in one of the crowds that gathered to hear Jesus teach. Perhaps you're up in the hills near your town, or on the shore of a lake. Or maybe you're in a courtyard, or even on the street outside someone's house, listening through an open door. What are you expecting to happen?

You may have heard about the wonderful healing work Jesus has been doing. You may have been told that he speaks with great wisdom and authority about the Scriptures and God's laws. You want to hear what this holy man has to say and hope to see truly awesome things.

If you'd been there, what would you have heard? Well, Jesus taught facts about the spiritual universe—the kingdom of heaven—and he also taught rules about how we should act toward each other. Now, it's pretty hard to talk about spiritual things that you can't see with your eyes or touch with your hands. Sometimes it's also hard for people to know exactly how to act, even after they've been given some general rules to follow.

Because of that, Jesus used simple examples from everyday life to help people understand what he was teaching them. Even if they couldn't figure out the lessons immediately, many would remember these examples and learn from them as time went by.

Sometimes the examples were such short stories that they were like pictures that he drew with words. Other times the stories were a little longer. A simple story like this that teaches a moral or religious lesson is called a Parable.

Jesus was by no means the first one to use word-pictures or stories to teach religious lessons. Prophets and rabbis who taught before he did had used parables. For instance, Nathan, a prophet, told King David a story about a rich man, who had many lambs, taking away a poor man's one pet lamb to use as food. Nathan told this story so that the king would see that his own actions had been wrong (see II Samuel 12:1-10, 13).

Not all word-pictures or little stories are called parables, but the Bible tells of at least thirty times when Jesus explained what he meant with a parable. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record some of his parables; John does not.

Although Jesus used parables in order to help his listeners understand his lessons, even his closest disciples, or students, had to ask him to help them understand the parable of the sower. As you read it, ask yourself, "What is Jesus teaching me here?" Then read how Jesus explained it to his disciples. (This parable, with its explanation, is found in Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; and Luke 8:4-15.)

The sower and the soil

A farmer went out to plant seeds. (Probably he walked along with a container of seeds, taking a handful and swinging his arm to scatter them just so.) Some fell along the path, and birds came and ate them up.

Some seeds fell where there was very little soil covering hard rock; these seeds began to grow into plants but were not able to put down deep roots and soon dried up.

Some seeds fell among thorns, which grew along with the plants and choked them. But some fell on good ground, and the plants in this soil produced a good crop of grain, some patches producing more than others.

After hearing about the sower, Jesus' disciples asked why he spoke in parables to the crowds. Jesus answered that although the disciples were ready to understand spiritual things, many people were not. In fact, for some it was as if they hadn't even heard his teachings. Yet he wanted his lessons to be clear to those able to understand, so he used stories to help make his point.

Jesus explains the story of the sower. The seed is the Word of God, and the different types of ground where the seed lands are different kinds of listeners. The seed that falls on the path reaches people who don't understand God's Word at all, so they don't hold on to it or remember it. Other listeners are like rock covered by a little soil. They are happy to hear the Word for a while, but when temptations or persecutions come, they turn away from it. Some people let the cares and riches and pleasures of this world act like thorns that keep them from growing spiritually. But some listeners have what Jesus calls "an honest and good heart," which is the perfect place for the Word of God to take root and flourish. These people all prosper spiritually, though some to a greater degree than others.

The parable of the sower is important because it shows the kind of listener we need to be in order to get the most out of Jesus' stories and teachings. That may be why he said, If you don't understand this parable, how will you understand all other parables?

Parables about the kingdom of heaven

Jesus spoke often about the kingdom of God, or kingdom of heaven, which is related to the Word of God. Here are four examples of parables he used to describe this kingdom:

The mustard seed. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which is very tiny but grows into a shrub so large that birds nest in it (Matthew 13:31, 32; Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18, 19).

The leaven. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, or yeast, which a woman took and put in three measures of meal; the yeast leavened all the dough (Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:20, 21).

The hidden treasure. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure buried in a field; a man who knows it's there will sell all that he has in order to buy the field (Matthew 13:44).

The pearl of great price. The kingdom of heaven is like a very valuable pearl; a man who recognizes its worth will sell all that he owns in order to buy that pearl (Matthew 13:45, 46).

Different people may see different ways a parable can help them understand the things of God or know what to do in a certain situation. What do these parables say to you? Here are some questions to think about:

• What forms does the Word of God take?

• How do you make sure you're listening to the Word of God?

• What can you do to make sure your "soil" isn't too rocky or too shallow a place for the Word to grow?

• What are some "thorns" that might distract you or keep you from growing to understand more and more of God's Word?

• Do you produce a good "crop"? What is your "crop"?

• What do the "mustard seed" and "leaven" parables tell you about how the kingdom of heaven comes on earth?

• How valuable is the kingdom of heaven?

We'd love to know what these parables mean to you. We're also interested in any parables you may have written! Feel free to write the Sentinel and tell us. Also, look for more about parables in Part two next month.

Ideas for thinking about how to write a parable

The kingdom of heaven is like

(Think of something in your home or neighborhood that looks small but does something important.)

God's kingdom is like—

(Think of something that is so valuable to you that you want to keep it even if you have to give up other things.)

Listening to Spirit is like—

(Picture something in nature or music. Tell why it makes you think of listening to God.)

Feeling God's presence is like—

Doing what God wants you to do is like—

Have you had a healing you'd like to share? Or a special experience that brought you closer to God? Maybe you've been wanting to share it with someone else. Send your typed, double-spaced submission and, if you like, accompanying artwork to:

The Editors
Journal, Sentinel, and Herald Editorial
Department, P-602
One Norway Street
Boston, MA 02115-3122
U.S.A.
Attn: Youth Editor

(It's helpful if artwork is done on a computer or with a pencil or black pen on unlined white paper.) We'll enjoy hearing from you anytime!