Part 5

O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. A good man, out of the good treasure of the heart, brings forth good things. An evil man, out of the evil of the heart, brings forth evil things.

For every idle word that you speak, you will account for it in the day of judgment. By your words you shall be justified; and by your words you shall be condemned.

Then, some of the scribes and Pharisees said, Master, we want to see a sign from thee. But Jesus answered, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. There shall be no sign given except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment of this generation and shall condemn it. This is so because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. Behold, one greater than Jonah is right here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment of this generation and shall condemn it. She came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and, behold, one greater than Solomon is right here.

When an unclean spirit has left a man, he wanders through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then the unclean spirit says, I will return to the house from which I came. When he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and garnished. Then he returns with seven other spirits more wicked than himself. They go back into the man and dwell there. Then the last state of that man is worse than the first. This is how it shall be with this wicked generation.

While Jesus continued to talk to the people, His mother and His brothers stood outside and requested to speak with Him. Someone reported this to Him saying, Behold, thy mother and brethren are outside and desire to speak with thee. But Jesus addressed the one who told Him by saying, Who is my mother and who are my brothers? Then He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren! Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother.

13. That same day Jesus sat by the sea. Great multitudes gathered. He had to get into a boat and sit while the whole multitude stood on the shore. Then He taught them in parables.

Jesus said, Behold, a sower went forth to sow seed. When he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell upon stony places where there was not much earth. They sprang up but they had no deep roots. So, when the sun was up, they were scorched and withered away. Also, some of the seeds fell among thorns. The thorns sprang up and choked them. Yet other seeds fell on good ground. These brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who has ears to hear, let him hear.

The disciples asked Jesus, Why do you speak to them in parables? He answered, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whoever has understanding, more shall be given him and he shall have abundance. But whoever does not have understanding, what little he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore, I speak to them in parables because, not seeing and not hearing, they do not understand.

Also, in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: By hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand. And by seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive. For the people's hearts are hardened. Their ears are dull of hearing. They have closed their eyes. They do not see or hear for fear they will be converted and have to change their hearts.

But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things you see and they have not seen them. They have desired to hear the things you hear, and have not heard them. So, again, listen to the parable of the sower.

When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the wicked one snatches away all that was sown in his heart. This is the one who received seed by the wayside. Now he who received the seed in the stony places, received the word with joy. But he has no deep root and endures only for a while. When tribulation or persecution arises he is uprooted. Now the one who received seed among the thorns hears the word but is too much ensnared by things of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. The understanding of the word is choked out and he becomes unfruitful. Finally, the one who received seed in the good ground is he who hears the word, understands it, and bears fruit. He brings forth a hundredfold or sixty or thirty.

He spoke another parable saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But, during the night, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat then slipped away. When the blades sprang up and brought forth fruit, weeds appeared also. The householder's servants came to him and asked, Sir, did you not sow good seed in the field? Where did the tares come from? The householder answered, An enemy has done this. The servants then asked, Shall we go and pull them up? But he said, No; if you gather up the tares, you will uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then, at harvest time, I will tell the reapers to gather the weeds, bind them in bundles, and burn them first. Then the wheat goes into the shelter.

Jesus told another parable, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed. A man sowed it in his field. Now this, indeed, is the least of all seeds. However, when it is grown, it is the largest among all the herbs. It grows like a tree so the birds of the air can come and lodge in its branches.

Another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven. A woman took a little, hid it in three measures of meal and, at last, all was leavened. All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the multitude. Thus it might be fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went inside. His disciples came in and asked Him to explain the parable of the tares in the field. Jesus said, He who sows the good seed is the Son of man. The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are the angels. As the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so it will be at the end of this world. The Son of man will send forth His angels. They will clear His kingdom of all that offends and does iniquity. They will cast it into a furnace. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine as bright as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man discovers it, he buries it again. Then, joyfully, he goes and sells all he has in order to buy that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of good pearls. When he finds even one pearl of great price, he gladly sells all he has to buy it.

And the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea to gather every kind of fish. When it was full, they drew the net to shore. The good they gathered into vessels. But they cast the bad away. So it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and sever the wicked from the just and cast them into the furnace.

Jesus asked, Have you understood all these things? They said, Yes, Lord. Then He said, Therefore, every scribe who is instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings forth, out of his treasure, things both new and old.

Jesus went into His own country. He taught in the synagogue. The people were astonished and said, Whence has He this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is His mother not called Mary and His brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? Are His sisters not here with us? Where did this man get all this?

They were offended by Him. Jesus told them that a prophet is not without honor except in His own country and in His own house. He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

14 At that time Herod heard of the fame of Jesus. He said to his servants, This is John the Baptist. He is risen from the dead and mighty works show forth in him.

Herod had imprisoned John for the sake of Herodia, his brother Philip's wife. He did this because John told Herod that it was not lawful for Herod to have her. He would have immediately put John to death but Herod feared the multitude, who counted John as a prophet.

But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, Herodias' daughter danced and greatly pleased Herod. He promised, with an oath, to give her whatever she asked. Having previously been instructed by her mother, she said, Give me John the Baptist's head on a charger. Herod was sorry. However, for the oath's sake and because of those at his dinner, he commanded it be given her. He had John beheaded in prison. Then his head was brought on a charger, presented to her, and she took it to her mother. Then John's disciples came, took up the body, buried it, and reported it to Jesus.

When Jesus heard, He departed from there by boat to a desert place. When the people heard this, they followed Him on foot out of the cities. As Jesus went along, He saw a great multitude. He was moved with compassion for them and He healed their sick. When it was evening, His disciples came to Him and said, This is a desert place and it is late. Send the multitude away so they may go into the villages and buy food. But Jesus said, They need not depart. Give them food to eat. They said, We have only five loaves and two fish. Jesus said, Bring them to me.

He told the multitude to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He blessed it. Then He broke and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples gave them to the multitude. They all ate and were full. Afterwards, they took up the fragments that remained, twelve baskets full. Those who had eaten numbered about five thousand men, in addition to women and children.

Immediately, Jesus instructed His disciples to get into a boat and go ahead of Him to the other side. After He sent the multitude away, He went up into a mountain to pray. When evening came He was there alone. But the boat was now in the midst of the sea and tossed with waves by the strong wind. In the fourth watch of the night, the disciples saw Jesus walking toward them on the sea. They were afraid and said, It is a spirit. They cried out for fear. But Jesus said, Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid.

Peter answered and said, Lord, if it is you, bid me to come to you on the water. Jesus said, Come. Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he became afraid and immediately began to sink. He cried, Lord, save me. Jesus stretched out His hand, caught Peter, and said, O thou of little faith. Why did you doubt?