REL2011/Evans Course Module:
Life of Jesus

Parable of the Seed Mark 4: (2) He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: (3) "Listen! a sower went out to sow. (4) And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. (5) Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. (6) And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root it withered away. (7) Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. (8) Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundred-fold." (9) And he said, "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!"

Despite the many miracles, Jesus always stressed that the focus of his mission should be his message and not his supernatural acts. But Jesus' message was often filled riddles and metaphors that he frequently refused to explain stating that the true believer should need no explanation. One of the most characteristic forms used in Jesus' teaching was the parable. The parable was a Jewish oratory devise for making one's point by telling a story focused on a commonplace incident in life or a metaphor of an event in the Jewish Bible. The story or metaphor contained either exaggerated or peculiar results which served to make the point if Jesus' listeners could understand what the characters or elements in the story represented. But Jesus' message went far beyond parables to include ethical teachings, debates over correct interpretation of Jewish law, and predictions of both the end of the world and his own life.