Parable of Jesus

It's a parable of Jesus

Parable from the Bible

Jesus is famous for the parable he told. In one parable, he says a farmer’s helpers planted seed. Later on when the night came, the enemy came and sowed thistles. When the plant sprouted, the thistles also showed. The helpers asked the master, who planted the thistles and the master replied: the enemy did. Then they asked him should we weed it out. No replied the master. We can weed it out after it has become a crop. There is a twofold meaning this parable. The thistles are the bad times and rough patches in life. And the seed represents God who takes care of your life no matter what it happens to you. Harvest time also denotes a period where those who are close to God will be taken up.

 

Reviews

[Spamalott]

Uhh...since he said it's a crop, not weeds, and the farmer kept them, we know that they WEREN'T crowding out the cash crop he planted. People raised the food they ate (and sold enough to buy what they couldn't make). So those thistles weren't making his family go hungry, and were no big deal. In fact, as the people listening to that story knew, thistles are useful and profitable. Why else would,the enemy have thistle seeds? No king would say, "Start a thistle farm to collect enough seeds to plant in our enemy's fields." It would be simpler, and quicker, for the ones doing the planting to slit the throats of the farmer rather then prank them.

But you, not being a farmer of the time, and not doing the research you should have done, missed that, causing you to misunderstand the meaning of the parable. No way in hell did the thistles represent bad times. They were a windfall: Free labor, free seeds, free cash crop. And a conveniently dumb enemy for the story.

Farmers plant as densely as possible to maximize yield. And in those days, your survival depended on that crop. No fertilizer, no piped in water sprays, and no weed control to maximize yield per acre. You planted four times as much as you needed: One to lose to the insects. One lost to weather. One lost to the tax man. And only one for yourself—which included enough seed to plant next year. So ANYTHING that couldn't be sold or eaten, and which crowded out what could had-to-go. Survival depended on that.

In this case, not being a farmer, and not knowing the people of the time, you missed that thistles are not only edible, they're best when eaten young, in the spring. So to that farmer, thistles were a useful crop, not the disaster you take them to be. And that prevents your catching the true meaning of the parable. In reality, not being stupid, and finding a bonanza of eatable plants growing in the fields, he lets the young thistle plants grow, the way gardeners today plant such things as radishes. And about the time they're ready crowd out his crop, he harvests and sells or eats them. So...instead of crying, that farmer is laughing, and saying, "thank you," to enemies dumb enough to think they were harming, but in reality, helping.

So in reality, and to the people listening to that story, the message was, "It doesn't matter why something's done. If it's useful, use it. In other words, "Waste Not, want not." It's not about hidden meaning, and "this really means that." No way in hell would Jesus recommend accepting, bad things that happen without working to make them better. His parables were more about the Romans occupying the land than passing messages to the future. He spoke in parables so the watching Roman soldiers, not knowing the local idioms and culture wouldn't see the intended meaning, which was probably that the Romans were the thistles, and that instead of being crushed by them, make use of them as best you can. Jesus was talking to the people of the time, about things important to them at-that-time, not indulging in philosophical generalities of religion.

Two problems to address. One is that you cannot apply modern thinking and behavior to words written for a long-ago culture. You have to know what it meant to those people, and in that situation. That requires an in-depth knowledge of history and culture, nor supposition based on today's viewpoint. Second, You cannot, cannot, cannot tell me what the words were meant to mean, based on your own viewpoint and beliefs. Look at this case. With the best of intentions you're telling me that the Bible's words mean something almost directly opposite from what they meant to the people they were written for.

If the words of the Bible are truly the word of God, but need to be explained in order to make sense of them, you raise the question at to why your interpretation is better than anyone else's, and of more importance, you're saying that God doesn't speak clearly—which defeats the entire thrust of who and what he is.

Think of how often the words of the Bible have been twisted, either purposely or due to a lack of understanding, to bring harm, or to try to convince people to do what someone wants them to do for THEIR, not God's purpose.

In other words, stop listening to people telling you what the words mean and read them yourself.