The Jewish Annotated New Testament (15 page)

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He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field;
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but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.
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So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.
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And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’
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He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’
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But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.
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Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

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He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field;
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it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

³³
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with
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three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

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Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing.
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This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet:
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“I will open my mouth to speak in
              parables;
          I will proclaim what has been hidden
                 from the foundation of the
                world.”
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Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”
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He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;
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the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one,
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and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
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Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
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The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers,
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and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears
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listen!

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“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

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“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls;
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on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

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“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind;
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when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.
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So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous
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and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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“Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.”
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And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
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When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.

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He came to his hometown and began to teach the people
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in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power?
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Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
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And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?”
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And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.”
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And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.

14
At that time Herod the ruler
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heard reports about Jesus;
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and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.”
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For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,
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4
because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
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Though Herod
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wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet.
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But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod
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so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask.
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Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.”
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The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given;
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he sent and had John beheaded in the prison.
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The head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother.
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His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.

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Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.
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When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.
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When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
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Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”
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They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.”
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And he said, “Bring them here to me.”
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Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
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And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.
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And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

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Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
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And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
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but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land,
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for the wind was against them.
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And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.
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But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.
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But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

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Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
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He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.
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But when he noticed the strong wind,
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he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
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Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
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When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
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And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

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When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.
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After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word throughout the region and brought all who were sick to him,
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and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

15
Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,
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“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.”
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He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
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For God said,
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‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’
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But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’
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then that person need not honor the father.
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6
So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word
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of God.
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You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said: