The Great Gospel of John
Volume 1
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
In Jesaira
- Chapter 191 -
The parables of the kingdom of heaven, the sower and the seed. Explanation of: "He who has, to him shall be given; he who has not, from same shall be taken what he has.
When we all were aboard ship and the landing retracted, I asked the people to quieten down and to settle down at the shore. And the people did so, with the only exception being the old Pharisees, who did not settle down but stood close, near their ship, for they were determined to not let Me out of their sight again, and were therefore ready to also follow us at sea.
2
But I took a seat on the spacious deck and began to speak a few things to the people in parables, so that the stupid Pharisees would not understand it. The people however, of a more wakeful spirit over here, on the whole understood Me quite well.
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To begin with, I compared Myself to a sower, saying,
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'Behold, a sower went out to sow good and wholesome grain (Matt. 13:3). And as he sowed, some seed fell upon the wayside, and the birds came and devoured it (Matt. 13:4). Some fell on stony ground, with little soil and sprouted quickly, not having depth or weight of soil over it (Matt. 13:5), but when the sun came up glowing with many beams, the sprouts that sprang up in the cool and moist of night, withered and dried, being without roots (Matt. 13:6). Some fell among thorns, and these, with their more abundant growth choked them (Matt. 13:7). And some fell on good soil, bearing fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold and some thirtyfold (Matt. 13:8). He who has ears, let him hear!' (Matt. 13:9)
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Here I was about to carry on without a break, but some of the disciples, not comprehending these parables themselves, stepped up to Me and said, 'Why do you suddenly now speak to them in parables? (Matt. 13:10) Those of us who have been around You for quite some time now, hardly can understand them?! Do you not see how they are shrugging their shoulders, some even thinking that You are either having them on, or speak of indifferent things on account of the Pharisees, and that everybody knows that grain should not be sown along the wayside or upon stony ground or upon thorns! We do indeed grasp what You are getting at, but those on the shore really think You are having them on! Or can You be seriously instructing them in a way not comprehensible to them?'
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Say I to the disciple, 'What are you talking about, interrupting Me. I know why I speak to those people in parables which they are not to understand. To you it is given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to these it is not given (Matt. 13:11). For it is thus: he who has, to him it is given, that he may have in fullness. But he who has not, from him shall be taken what he has! (Matt. 13:12) For which reason I as Lord speak to them in parables. For, having eyes, they see not and having ears, they hear not; for they do not comprehend it (Matt. 13:13).
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All the things I have worked here! And for what do they take Me? They all are blind and deaf. A parable for them you saw yesterday, with the blind and mute. As was he in body, so are they in their soul; wherefore I speak to them in parables, that it may be fulfilled what Isaiah prophesied: "With the ears you shall hear yet not comprehend, and with seeing eyes you shall see and yet perceive nothing! (Matt. 13:14)
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For this people's heart is obstinate and their ears dull and their eyes slumbering, lest with their eyes they might see, with the ears hear and with their heart understand and be converted, and I could help them! (Matt. 13:15)
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But blessed are your eyes for seeing this, and your ears for hearing it! (Matt. 13:16) For verily, I say unto you: many prophets and righteous men desired to see and hear what you see and hear, yet did not see or hear it. (Matt. 13:17)
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But I have said, that, unto you it is given to understand the mystery of the kingdom of God; yet I perceive that, basically, your understanding is not much better than those on the shore. Let you therefore hear what the parable of the sower signifies, it being thus: (Matt. 13:18)
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If anyone hears the Word of the kingdom of God that I speak but does not understand it in his heart, which with its worldliness is trodden smooth as a roadway, then the wicked one soon sees the Word not fallen in the earth but unto the trodden world-smooth outer and exposed surface of the heart, easily plucking off what actually is sown in the heart, yet clinging to the world-smooth outer surface; and behold, such man is like unto a wayside unto which the grain i.e. My Word, has fallen (Matt. 13:19). And of this variety there are many standing at the shore!
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But the following is a case of the seed falling on stony ground: where a person hears the Word, receiving it with much joy. (Matt. 13:20) But, because like a stone, such man has little life-moisture or proper stoutness of heart, and too little soil, or firmness of will, in or above himself, being like the stone dependent upon the weather, whether it be moist or dry, and hence changeable, then such person, when on account of My Word he comes to be tried by all kinds of tribulations and persecution, turns full of anger and fury, (Matt. 13:21) resembling the sun-heated stone, upon which of course My word cannot take root, in the end having to wither away.
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And behold, there upon the shore stand many such stones, who indeed now are offended in Me on account of the Pharisees; but then seeing My Words directed to them being immediately followed by all sorts of tribulation and persecution, they deaden the Word in their heart by, on the one hand being too much offended, and too fearful on the other. For in spite of all the signs they saw and all My living assurances that I can adequately protect them against all kinds of trouble, they still don't believe and hence resemble the stone upon which the seed fell.
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But the falling of the seed among thorns signifies the following: where a person hears the Word and even accepts it, but is immersed in all kinds of worldly business, and worries associated therewith on account of deceitful gain and even more deceitful riches; such trivial worries accumulate by the day, richly proliferating in the heart like all weeds, to but easily smother My sowed Word. (Matt. 13:22)
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And again behold, of such there stand many at the shore, resembling the thorns among which the seed fell.
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And the following is the seed sown into good soil; where a person hears My Word, receiving it into the depth of his heart, where alone it is at all times understood validly, rightly and animatedly. Such man then is such good ground into which the seed falls and, depending on man's will and strength, brings forth the fruit of good works a hundredfold, sixtyfold or thirtyfold. (Matt. 13:23) And a hundredfold is when he does all for Me, sixtyfold where he does much for Me and thirtyfold where he does a good portion for Me.
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By analogy, there are in My kingdom three heavens; the first for the hundredfold fruit, the one below it for the sixtyfold and the lowermost for the thirtyfold. Lower than the thirty receives no consideration, and he who has less than thirty shall have it taken from him and added to him who has thirty, sixty or a hundred. And it shall thus be taken from him who has nothing and added to him who already has, that he may have in all fullness!'
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Und lo, there at the banks, many are standing from whom it has already been taken and given to you who already have too much anyway, and those people have too little or nothing.
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If somebody has a field that yields him lots of fruit because it has good soil, but he also has a field that remains infertile in spite of all the fertilising and hardly yields any more fruit than has been sown in it - Question: What is the owner going to do? You see, he will take the fruit away that the infertile field has meagerly produced and will add it to the good and abundant fruit of the good field; in the next year, he will not sow fruit in the infertile field anymore, but will sow all the seed in the good field! This one will then bear all the fruit, but the infertile one will be abandoned to the weeds, the thistles and thorns.
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See, prudent husbandry does it in this way; but would the Father in the Heavens by any means act more unwisely than a prudent man on this transitory earth?
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Therefore perish the thought from your hearts that the Father in Heaven could be unjust!
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As you know that we seek advice only from those who have some wisdom and soon turn away from a blowhard who we all too soon realise is only a blowhard, - Question: Are we doing something wrong by withdrawing our faith from a blowhard and directing it toward the real wise man in whom everybody already places superabundant trust?
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Or are you possibly doing something wrong by being My disciples, following Me and abandoning the temple and the Pharisees and all the scribes and thereby take away from them the last spark of trust and give it to Me who already has your trust in great abundance through My deeds and words?! I think that you all should understand by now that there is definitely no injustice in it when I told you that one day from the person that does not have much, as I indicated with the number, it will also be taken away what he has.
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But whatever I say, it applies to the spirit and not to matter because it would certainly be an injustice if one were to take away the modest possessions from the one who owns only a little and give it to a rich person whose storage bins and sheds are already overfilled. Therefore, everything I say only applies to the spirit and never to matter to which we cannot and may not bestow any further law than the hardest necessity until the time of its future dissolution. Do you now understand this?"
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Say all, 'Yes, Lord and Master; for Your wisdom exceeds all our ever so great and presumably wise thoughts! Hence we ask You to continue speaking thus!'