Matthew 13:10–23

Why Jesus Used Stories to Teach

¹⁰The followers came to Jesus and asked, “Why do you use stories to teach the people?”

¹¹Jesus answered, “You have been chosen to know the secrets about the kingdom of heaven, but others cannot know these secrets. ¹²Those who have understanding will be given more, and they will have all they need. But those who do not have understanding, even what they have will be taken away from them. ¹³This is why I use stories to teach the people: They see, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really hear or understand. ¹⁴So they show that the things Isaiah said about them are true:

‘You will listen and listen, but you will not understand.

You will look and look, but you will not learn.

¹⁵For the minds of these people have become stubborn.

They do not hear with their ears,

and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might really understand

what they see with their eyes

and hear with their ears.

They might really understand in their minds

and come back to me and be healed.’

¹⁶But you are blessed, because you see with your eyes and hear with your ears. ¹⁷I tell you the truth, many prophets and good people wanted to see the things that you now see, but they did not see them. And they wanted to hear the things that you now hear, but they did not hear them.

Jesus Explains the Seed Story

¹⁸“So listen to the meaning of that story about the farmer. ¹⁹What is the seed that fell by the road? That seed is like the person who hears the message about the kingdom but does not understand it. The Evil One comes and takes away what was planted in that person’s heart. ²⁰And what is the seed that fell on rocky ground? That seed is like the person who hears the teaching and quickly accepts it with joy. ²¹But he does not let the teaching go deep into his life, so he keeps it only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching he accepted, he quickly gives up. ²²And what is the seed that fell among the thorny weeds? That seed is like the person who hears the teaching but lets worries about this life and the temptation of wealth stop that teaching from growing. So the teaching does not produce fruit ⁿ in that person’s life. ²³But what is the seed that fell on the good ground? That seed is like the person who hears the teaching and understands it. That person grows and produces fruit, sometimes a hundred times more, sometimes sixty times more, and sometimes thirty times more.”