wolfbiblemoon

The disciples question Jesus' constant use of parables, he seems to say he uses them because the people he's talking to won't understand anyway so they can't be saved. He repeats a similar passage from Isaiah, which I'm sure referred to the contemporaries of Isaiah who were past listening to warnings from prophets so it didn't matter what he told them.

Jesus says that he sows good seed (people of the kingdom) in the field (world) but the devil will come and sow weeds (evil people) which will grow together with the good seed until the harvest (end times) when the angels will pick out the weeds (sins and lawbreakers) and burn them and then free the good people - he doesn't mind explaining his parables to the disciples.

The people in Jesus' home town just see him as that little carpenter's son from down the road, they know his parents and his brothers and sisters so don't really believe that he's become a messiah (he's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy) so he doesn't do many miracles there.

Herod has John the Baptist beheaded because his niece dances for him and he offers her anything she wants. Because John had insulted her mother she asked for John's head on a platter.

So Jesus makes five loaves and two fishes feed five thousand, but for some reason this doesn't count the women and children in the crowd, he then goes for a stroll on the water, Peter has a go at this trick as well but nearly drowns because he suddenly realises he's walking on water (reminds me of the cartoon trope of characters running off a cliff and only falling when they realise).

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From:

dave-littler.livejournal.com

One would think that if Jesus were genuinely concerned with his listeners comprehending what he has to say, being an omniscient and omnipotent being (albeit one riding around inside of a human meat suit), he could devise a means to GET them to understand instead of being snarky and snobbish and obnoxious about it, rattling off parables that people aren't going to understand. What he's doing is like speaking to them in Spanish, knowing they don't understand the language and then being like "Whatever, man. If they don't get what I'm saying, that's their problem." It's a dick move no matter how you look at it.

From: (Anonymous)

I'm guessing this sounds too amazing to be true to you, and that's because it is. And yet it's true. Jesus wasn't an extremely talented magician, but the Son of God, performing miracles in his Father's name. It takes faith to believe this, but it takes faith to believe in anything, including atheism. Also, John the Baptist didn't insult her mother, he only spoke the truth, which insults some people. Lastly, it's not hard to understand why Jesus didn't perform many miracles in his hometown. It's like visiting your grandparents town, with everyone pinching your cheek and talking about how you've grown, but with nobody believing that you actually flew on a plane or went to Europe.

From:

zteccc.livejournal.com

Jesus teaches using parables (stories, analogies).
The farmer spreads seeds, some are eaten by birds, some hit thin rocky ground and grow quickly, but die because the soil isn't deep, some fall among weeds and the plants are choked out. Some fall in good soil and the seeds grow well. Jesus is referring to his message and the fact that sometimes the message isn't believed because people don't understand (who don't want to understand; who aren't open to understanding). Sometimes they take hold of a small part of the message, but don't take the time to seek a deeper understanding. Sometimes the message is disregarded due to tons of distractions and outside influences. Finally some will receive the message and those will produce many more people who hear and believe as they also spread the message.
Jesus uses parables because it takes some effort to understand them. They aren't beyond the reasoning of anyone, but only those who want to will take the effort to try to understand. The remainder will disregard them as cute stories because they don't have any interest in learning anyway.
Jesus speaks about good wheat seed planted in a field, and an enemy plants weeds among them to harm the farmer's harvest. The workers want to pull the weeds, but the farmer doesn't want them to accidentally pull the wheat. The farmer decides to allow the weeds and wheat to grow and he will sort them at the harvest time (it is just a story, we know that in a real farm, weeds would damage the wheat). In this parable, Jesus is saying that we cannot look at people and know who is saved and who isn't. Only God can do that because only God can look at a person's heart and see what they believe. As such, we (believers) should not go around telling people that they are or aren't saved and that they are or aren't believing the right things.
The Kingdom of God (Christianity) is something that will grow large from a humble beginning (it's pretty big today).
The Kingdom of God is so valuable that it is worth giving up all other considerations.
People will be sorted at the end, God will discern who is good and who is not. Those who are evil will be cast into fire. Christians are supposed to spread the word to as many as possible without discrimination, God will sort the catch.
Those who study the scriptures will discover treasures in them. Old Treasures are the treasures from the Old Testament, new ones are from the New Testament.
Jesus' message is not accepted by the people in his hometown. They didn't want to get past the man they knew to hear his message.

From:

zteccc.livejournal.com

Herod Antipas (not Herod the Great from Matthew 2) had arrested John the Baptist some time earlier. Herod feared a revolt if he killed John. He was trapped into doing so by his stepdaughter. Later when Herod heard of Jesus, he stated that Jesus must be John the Baptist returned from the dead.
Jesus heard about the death of John the Baptist. He took some time to be alone. The people (crowds) wouldn't let him have time to mourn, but he took pity on them and healed their sick. This took time and it was getting late. The disciples were concerned and wanted the people to disperse and get food. Jesus challenged the disciples to give them food. They claimed that they didn't have enough. Jesus blessed the food and gave it to his disciples to give to the people. They (5,000 men plus women and children) ate their fill and there were twelve baskets of leftovers.
Jesus has the disciples get into a boat to cross the lake, he sends the crowds away and then went to pray. The boat was caught in a storm. Jesus walked across the stormy waves towards the boat. The disciples were afraid that he might have died and this was a spirit. He calmed them and Peter ventured out onto the water. Peter was distracted by the wind and became afraid. When he was afraid, he started to sink, calling Jesus for help. Jesus helped him up and asked why he doubted. The storm stopped when they entered the boat and the men in the boat believed that Jesus was truly the Son of God. It should be noted that Peter had enough faith to walk on the water, but when he allowed fear into his mind, he couldn't focus on that faith. Jesus, however, restored his faith. This is good news for Christians because even when our faith is tested and we doubt, Jesus will have the answers (happens to all of us).
Jesus and his disciples came to Gennesaret and people came and were healed.

From: (Anonymous)

Matthew 13:12

To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.

From: (Anonymous)

And, ironically, it's happening right here too. God speaks and those who really don't want to hear the truth will not get it. The crowds were there for a show not instruction. It's kind of like the movie Matrix. We are all part of a huge game...a contest between God and the enemy and our very soul is the game piece being won or lost. The only real 'rule' of the game being played is that the game piece has 'free will'. So....if we were all on a life sized chess board...and were all set up according to our positions...then the 'king' from one side or the other could try to persuade us to move our chess piece to a different square, but would not move the piece by force for us. Jesus can't help but know, ahead of time, who will respond to Him and consequently concentrates on that person who does or will someday cooperate with his plan. Jesus has already won the game....it's just a matter of which game pieces will be lost because they didn't listen to His nudging and instruction. And...since this is like the Matrix...this isn't even being lived out in reality.....everyone 'game piece' thinks they are living a life that they are 'enjoying' when it's just an illusion that will inevitably be gone. So....at the end of the game......everyone will take their turn standing before the One who won the game....and the sad thing is that everyone 'game piece' will have to admit that they actually were told that it was a game and they were given a chance to exercise their free will and ask for help from the game master....but they ignored it and the consequences are not good. Eventually the game ends. Jesus came so that any game piece that really wanted to be on the winning side would have that option.