Some of the seed fell where there were rocks under the dirt and they grew up quick and died when the sun came on them because their roots didn’t go down deep into the ground. Some of the seeds fell where there were lots of stickers and the stickers grew around them and choked them. And some of the seeds fell on good dirt where they grew up strong and made good fruit, a hundred times as much as the one seed, or some 60 times as much and some 30 times as much. Whoever wants to hear, let him hear and get what it means.
Then the special followers came and asked Jesus, Why do you tell them just stories? Jesus told them, It is given to you to know the special secrets about My Father’s kingdom, but to them it is not given. Whoever has learned about Me and wants Me, more secrets will be showed to him; but the ones who don’t want to know Me, even the stuff he knows will be taken away from him.
So they will see, but they don’t see and they will hear but they don’t hear the special secrets. This is the thing that Isaiah told you long time ago that, Hearing they will hear and not know what it mean, and seeing they won’t know what they are seeing, because they let their hearts get fat with wrong stuff and their ears don’t hear good and they closed there eyes. If they would see and hear, I would heal them.
This is the secret about the story of the man sowing his seeds in the ground. The true words about My kingdom are the seeds that are being planted in man’s hearts. When someone hears the word about my kingdom and doesn’t know what it means the bad ones comes and takes the seeds away. That is the one where the seeds fell along the way.
The ones on the rocky ground are people who hear what I tell them and are really happy about it, but have no root inside them. When trouble comes they get upset and turn away from Me. The seed in the thorns is when a man hears My words and the stuff of this world and the trickiness of money choke My words in the man’s heart and it makes no fruit.
Jesus told another story saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man that sowed good seeds in his field and while the man was sleeping the bad one came and sowed poison seeds in beside the good seeds. When they grew up, they both look the same, but one is good for food and one is poison. So the servants of the master asked, Shall we go out there and pull out the poison ones? But the man said, No, just let them both grow together so we don’t hurt the good ones. Then when it is time we will pick up the good ones and put them in the barn and tie up the bad ones and burn them.
Then Jesus sent away all the big bunches of people and went into the house. His special followers came to him and said, Tell us what the story means about the poison plants sowed in the field. So Jesus told them, The man who plants the good seeds is the promised One from heaven. The field is the world and the good seeds are the children of the kingdom of heaven, but the poison plants are the children of the bad one. The enemy that plants the bad seeds is the devil and the gathering of the crops is the end of the age. The gatherers are the angels.
Just like the poison plants are burned up, that’s what will happen at the end of the world, the promised One from heaven will send out His angels and they will gather out all the bad stuff from the kingdom and throw them into a furnace of fire where they will cry and grind their teeth together. Then the ones who did right will shine bright like the stars in the kingdom of their Father. If you have ears, hear this.
And again Jesus told another story to show what the kingdom of heaven is like. He said, The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that is hid in a field and when a man finds it he hides it and is jumping for joy because he is so happy and he goes and sells everything he has so he can buy that field and have that treasure to keep for his own.
And the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the ocean that caught all kinds of fish. And when the net was full the fishermen pulled it to the beach and put the good fish into baskets and threw away the bad ones. That’s how it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and split apart the bad ones from the good ones and will throw the bad ones into the fire where they will cry and grind their teeth. Jesus asked them, Do you know what all these things mean? His followers said, Yes Lord.
And the people were amazed and said, Where did this man learn all this good stuff? And how can he do all these amazing things? Isn’t this the carpenters son and isn’t his mother Mary and aren’t James and Joseph and Simon and Judas his brothers? And aren’t all of his sisters right here? Where did this man get all these things? And the people didn’t like it and didn’t listen to him.
When Jesus saw the many, many bunches of people following him His heart went out to them and He made well all of them that were sick. When it was getting late, Jesus helpers came and said to him, It’s getting late, send the people away to go get food in town. Jesus told his helpers, They don’t need to go away, You give them some food.
The helpers said, We only have five loafs of bread and two fish. That’s not enough for all these people. But Jesus said, Bring the food here to Me. So they gave Jesus the bread and fish and had the people sit down on the grass. Then Jesus prayed a blessing on the food and broke it into pieces and gave it to His helpers to give the people. And Jesus made the little bit of food into lots of food to feed everyone, 5,000 men and their wives and children, and they had 12 baskets of food left over after everyone’s tummy was full.
Then Jesus put His disciples in a boat to go across the sea and He stayed and sent the people back to their homes. Jesus was there all by Himself and He went up the mountain to talk to God in heaven, and when the sun was gone down, the ship was in the middle of the sea and the waves were tall and tossing the ship around because the wind was blowing them back.
Late in the night Jesus came to His helpers walking on the water of the sea. When His helpers saw Him they were scared and yelled, It is a spirit. But Jesus said, Don’t be scared, It’s Me. Then Peter said, Lord, if it’s really You, have me walk out to You on the water. Jesus said, Come on. So Peter got out of the ship and started walking to Jesus on the water. But the wind got strong and Peter got scared and looked at the water instead of Jesus and started to sink. He yelled, Lord, save me!
Then the leaders of the people at Jerusalem came to Jesus and asked Him, Why don’t your helpers do what they are supposed to do? They don’t wash their hands before they eat their food. But Jesus asked them, Why do you break God’s rules and don’t hold your parents high. You cross out God’s rules by the rules that you made.
Then Jesus called the big bunch of people to him and said, Hear what I say and know what it means. It isn’t what you put in your mouth to eat that makes you dirty to God but what comes out of your mouth that makes you dirty. Every plant that wasn’t planted by My Father in heaven will be pulled out from the roots. Let these rulers alone. They are blind ones leading blind ones and both will fall into the hole beside the road.
Then Peter asked Jesus, What does this story mean? Jesus asked him, You still don’t know what it means? The things that you say out of your mouth come from your inside your heart and that is what makes a man dirty because bad stuff comes out of your heart and hurting people and taking their wives and stealing and telling lies and saying bad stuff about the Lord God. This is the stuff that makes you dirty, not forgetting to wash your hands. That doesn’t make you dirty.
Then Jesus went up the coast to another town and a woman came and cried out to Him, saying, Help me, be very kind to me, Son of David, because my daughter has a bad one living inside her who hurts her a lot. But Jesus didn’t say anything back. His helpers said to Jesus, send her away from us her loud crying is bothering us. Jesus said, I am sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But the woman came and bowed down and said, Lord, help me.
Jesus told her, It isn’t right to take the little children’s food and give it to puppies. But the woman said, That is true, Lord, but the puppies do eat the crumbs that fall down under the children’s table. Jesus told the woman, Your faith is great big. What you asked will happen. And the bad one was thrown out of her little girl right then.
Then Jesus called His helpers and said, I have a soft heart for these people because they have been here with Me for 3 days and don’t have anything left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry or they will fall down by the road. Jesus’ helpers ask Him, Where can we get enough food to feed so many people? Jesus asked, How much food do you have? They said, Seven loaves of bread and a few little fish.
So Jesus commanded the people to all sit down and He thanked His Father in heaven for the food and broke it and gave it to His helpers and they gave it to the people and they all ate and their tummies were filled up and there were seven baskets of food left over after the 4,000 men and their wives and children all ate. Then Jesus sent the people away and got into a ship to go somewhere else.