1st Century Christianity in the 21st Century.

Verizon made this question popular nationwide in commercials advertising their cell phones. Many listened and bought their phones. This same question is asked several times in God’s inspired word. Sometimes it was asked by God to man, and other times it was asked by man to God. In Matthew 13:1-9 Jesus told the parable of the sower or the different types of soils. According to Matthew 13:10-17, Jesus, when answering the Apostles question as to why He spoke in parables,…

The mustard seed was generally considered the smallest of all seeds in the ancient world. It was the smallest seed commonly used by the Jews, and it was frequently used as a metaphor in their speech to describe something infinitesimally small. Despite its small size, this tiny seed can grow into a bush that can reach as much as twenty feet tall, big enough to support bird nests. Found in three of the four gospel records (Matthew 13:31-32; Mark 4:30-32;…

Jesus gave five parables very short parables that deal with various characteristics of “the kingdom.” Eleven of His parables begin with the statement “the kingdom of heaven is like….” To make sense of the comparisons He made in these parables, it is helpful to understand how those who heard them would likely have interpreted the words, “the kingdom of heaven.” In the old testament, the people of national Israel were chosen by God to be His special people. When Gideon…

(Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:3-20, Luke 8:5-15) This is probably the best known of all Jesus’ parables. It appears that He told it early in His period of ministry, and it was presented by the Sea of Galilee, near Capernaum. The figure of a “sower” (farmer) would have been very familiar to those who heard this parable. Farms in Judea were small, divided by pathways between the fields rather than by fences. The soil of these paths tended to become compacted…