**The Parable of the Sower and the Storm on the Sea**
The sun hung high over the Galilean countryside, its golden light spilling across the rolling hills and fertile valleys. A great crowd had gathered by the shores of the Sea of Galilee, pressing in close to hear the words of Jesus. The people came from villages near and far—farmers with calloused hands, fishermen smelling of salt and nets, merchants, mothers with children clinging to their robes—all eager for the wisdom that fell from His lips.
Jesus, seeing the multitude, stepped into a fishing boat anchored just offshore. The gentle lapping of the waves against the hull provided a natural barrier between Him and the crowd, allowing His voice to carry clearly over the water. With a calm authority that stilled the murmurs of the people, He began to teach in parables.
**”Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.”**
The crowd leaned in, their eyes fixed on Him. Jesus painted a vivid picture with His words:
**”As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.”**
The image was familiar—every farmer knew the frustration of seed snatched away before it could take root.
**”Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.”**
A few in the crowd nodded knowingly. They had seen tender shoots wither under the relentless heat, their roots too weak to sustain life.
**”Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.”**
Here, Jesus’ voice carried a note of warning. The thorns were the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, the desires for other things—forces that could strangle faith before it bore fruit.
**”But other seed fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing, yielding thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.”**
A murmur rippled through the crowd. A hundredfold! Such abundance was rare, a harvest beyond imagining. Jesus paused, His gaze sweeping over the people.
**”He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”**
When the crowds dispersed, His disciples—those who followed Him closely—drew near, their faces etched with curiosity.
**”Why do You speak to them in parables?”** they asked.
Jesus turned to them, His eyes filled with solemn truth. **”To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything is in parables, so that ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.'”**
Then, with patience, He unfolded the meaning of the parable.
**”The sower sows the word. The ones along the path are those who hear, but Satan comes immediately and takes away the word sown in them.”**
The disciples shuddered at the mention of the enemy’s work.
**”The ones on the rocky ground are those who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root in themselves; they endure for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.”**
Peter clenched his fists, remembering those who had turned back when the teaching grew difficult.
**”The ones sown among thorns are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”**
James and John exchanged glances, thinking of men they knew who had traded devotion to God for wealth.
**”But those sown on good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.”**
The disciples pondered these things, weighing the condition of their own hearts.
### **The Lamp Under a Basket**
Jesus continued, His voice steady and sure. **”Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest, nor is anything secret except to come to light.”**
He gestured toward an oil lamp flickering in a nearby home. **”If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”**
Then, leaning closer, He added, **”Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”**
The disciples swallowed hard. The words were heavy with responsibility.
### **The Parable of the Growing Seed**
Jesus spoke again, His voice like the whisper of the wind through wheat. **”The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”**
The disciples marveled. The kingdom was not by human effort alone—it grew by God’s unseen power.
### **The Parable of the Mustard Seed**
**”With what can we compare the kingdom of God?”** Jesus asked, a smile touching His lips. **”It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth. Yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”**
The image was striking—a tiny seed becoming a great shelter. The kingdom, though humble in its beginnings, would one day encompass the nations.
### **The Storm on the Sea**
As evening fell, Jesus said to His disciples, **”Let us go across to the other side.”**
They left the crowd behind and set sail, other boats following. The waters were calm at first, the sky streaked with the fading colors of dusk. But soon, dark clouds gathered, and a furious wind whipped the sea into a churning tempest. Waves crashed over the sides of the boat, filling it with water.
The disciples, seasoned fishermen though they were, panicked. They bailed frantically, their shouts lost in the roar of the storm.
And where was Jesus?
Asleep.
On a cushion in the stern.
Terror seized them. They rushed to Him, shaking Him awake. **”Teacher! Do You not care that we are perishing?”**
Jesus rose, His eyes calm amid the chaos. He lifted His hand and spoke to the wind and the waves.
**”Peace! Be still!”**
At once, the wind ceased, and the sea became as smooth as glass. The disciples stood frozen, their breaths coming in ragged gasps.
Then Jesus turned to them, His gaze piercing. **”Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”**
Awe filled their hearts. **”Who then is this,”** they whispered to one another, **”that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”**
The boat glided forward on tranquil waters, the disciples humbled and wondering. The One who spoke in parables of seeds and soil was also the Master of the storm. And though they did not yet fully understand, they knew this:
They were in the presence of the Lord of all creation.