UBF Daily Bread

JESUS TEACHES WITH PARABLES

Passage: Matthew 13:3~17

Key verse: 9

³Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred,^(A) sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹Whoever has ears, let them hear.”^(B)

¹⁰The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

¹¹He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven^(C) has been given to you,^(D) but not to them. ¹²Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.^(E) ¹³This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.^(F)

¹⁴In them is fulfilled^(G) the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
¹⁵For 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.’^[a]^(H)

¹⁶But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.^(I) ¹⁷For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see^(J) but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

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Footnotes

Matthew 13:15 Isaiah 6:9,10 (see Septuagint)

1. A parable about sowing seeds (1-8)

Jesus often taught by telling parables-stories about an earthly situation, but with a spiritual meaning. This parable was about a farmer who sowed seed that fell on four kinds of ground: on the hard path, on rocky places, on soil overgrown with thorns, and finally on good soil. Only the seed that fell on good soil produced a crop, and it multiplied to produce thirty, sixty, or a hundred times what was sown. It's the kind of harvest anyone would want.

2. Why Jesus speaks in parables (9-17)

Jesus ended his parable by saying, 'Whoever has ears, let them hear.' It is an invitation to mediate on the parable and find its spiritual application. When Jesus was asked why he taught using parables, he quoted the prophet Isaiah, who said that many people have eyes and ears but cannot truly see or understand. Jesus reveals the kingdom of God to people with spiritual desire leading them to listen and dig deeper. When we have such ears to hear, we are truly blessed.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for revealing the secrets of the kingdom of heaven to those who can hear. Give me ears to hear.

One Word: Ears to hear the message of the kingdom

Daily Bread

JESUS TEACHES WITH PARABLES

Passage: Matthew 13:3~17

Key verse: 9

Footnotes

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