Matthew 13:1-58
The Parable of the Sower
13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:
“I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”
36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.
“Yes,” they replied.
52 He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”
58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
John 6:43-51
We Are Drawn to Jesus, by God
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
John 6:63-69
God Enables Us to Follow Jesus
63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Hebrews 11:6
Faith Pleases God
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
In these different parables and stories by Jesus, we see that faith gets very much surrounded by the wonder and the mystery and even the searching for God...Searching for God is a part of faith...We find mystery even in our search for God...And in finding faith and in this search for God, we learn about His Grace...
In much of this discussion by Jesus, He is explaining about the Kingdom of God...In Jesus' Parable of the Hidden Treasure and Pearl, we read about the searching part...The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field...To find any treasure that is hidden, we must search...When a man found the Kingdom of Heaven, he hid it again, and then in his great joy he went and sold all he that he owned and bought that field with the field that had the hidden treasure in it...The hidden treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven is priceless...Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking and searching for fine pearls...When he found pearls of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it...So finding the Kingdom of Heaven requires some searching by us...And in this search for God, we find this mystery, this wonder, and in the end -we find the Kingdom of Heaven...
So we must acknowledge that God does want us to search for Him and we must believe that there is great value in our search for Him and His "pearls", the hidden treasure, and the Ultimate Kingdom of Heaven...And we might believe that in this search and during this search, we are being drawn to Him and by Him, because in our search -He is also pursuing us, His children...He pursues us because we have a sinful nature, and we need help...Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Jesus during His pursuit...Because we sin and have this sinful nature, we would go about our own way, get lost, drift away, quit searching -if He did not constantly pursue us...God is the Source of all things, even us finding Jesus...This is why Jesus told His Disciples that no one can come to Him unless His Father has enabled them...We need this constant pursuit of Grace to be saved and to be pulled away and out of our sinful nature...Our Father in heaven does not say do this and do that and then you will measure up and then I will LOVE you...God LOVES us through His Grace, and despite of our shortcomings and flaws...
This searching for Him does not necessarily mean that God is hiding from us...He could at anytime show Himself and give us more information about Himself and many of His attributes...If He did not want us to find Him, that would also be easy for Him...After all, He is God...But He does want us to actively search for Him...We are His children...He created us in His Image...This searching is part of growing one's faith...His Unconditional LOVE shows us that free will exists...We get to choose what we believe in and who to believe in...But we need help in finding Him, because we fall short of the glory of God...In our free will, we need to search for Him for our faith to strengthen and grow and mature...He could always very easily just show Himself, but He does not do that...God chooses not to show Himself regularly, and seems content to let us search for Him...He chooses our free will choices over many things...And we are given free will to make our own decisions each and everyday, throughout this searching process for Him...In fact, we may search for Him a lot or very little, or not at all...
If God did show Himself on a daily basis, we can see how the world would change and how faith would change...Faith would be different...We might ask would faith still be faith, if we saw God daily or on a regular basis?...God has shown Himself to people in the Bible, and that is a big part of how He wants us to know Him and find Him...God has a reason for doing what He does and what He did in the past, and how He does it, even though we may not understand it...We can learn more about Him from what He has done and how He has gone about doing things in the Bible...The Bible is the Word of God...
In our search for God, we learn about His Grace...Grace is a gift...Grace is a gift from God...His Grace for our salvation is not earned by us...God's Grace is a matter of faith...He wants us to believe in Him with the tools we have and what we have been given by Him...Faith is very, very important to Him...Faith in God, pleases Him...Unbelief and lack of faith does not please God...Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him...And even though the people of Jesus' hometown maybe knew His background better than everyone else, they could not see who He was...Jesus was not hiding from His old neighbors at all...He was right there in front of them...They knew Him and had known Him for many years...And He had done many miracles...He had shown them great wisdom...But what they saw was the Carpenter's Son...They could not see the Son of God...They saw a Man with brothers and sisters...And they took offense at Him...And He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith...