1. “He Spake Many Things unto Them in Parables”
Lesson 11

2. Purpose
To help us develop “ears to hear” so we can understand how Jesus’ parables apply to us.

4. The parables in Matthew 13 were taught from the deck of a boat on the Sea of Galilee

6. What is a parable?
The word parable is Greek in origin and means a setting side by side, a comparison. In parables divine truth is presented by comparison with material things. (Bible Dictionary)

7. Some reasons the Savior taught with parables
Parables were part of the world in which Jesus grew up and lived.
Parables teach by analogies that are not easily forgotten.

8. Some reasons the Savior taught with parables
Parables have a double use in communicating messages—they can simultaneously veil or unveil concepts, reveal or conceal meaning, according to each person’s spiritual capacity and ability to receive.
The lesser portion of the word is what is on the printed page of the scriptures. The greater portion of the word is what comes from the Spirit while we are reading, “according to the heed and diligence” we give to the gospel. Pondering over the scriptures invites the Holy Ghost into our minds and hearts. That is why studying the scriptures with the Spirit is critical.

9. Some reasons the Savior taught with parables
Elder Boyd K. Packer taught, “If we are acquainted with the revelations there is no question—personal or social or political or occupational—that need go unanswered. Therein is contained the fulness of the gospel. Therein we find the principles of truth that will resolve every confusion and every problem and every dilemma that will face the human family or any individual in it.”

10. Some reasons the Savior taught with parables
By teaching in parables, the Lord protects unprepared individuals from more truth than they can live—a merciful way to teach.
A “veiled” view of them would render only the lesser portion of what was meant. Individuals with veiled hearts listening to the Savior teach would have heard a few simple stories about common, familiar things. But those same individuals, listening with the Spirit, would have understood that each story was given to teach an eternal principle of truth. And if they were sensitive to the Spirit’s promptings, they would have readily perceived that the parables have multiple levels of meaning and may simultaneously reach people on more than one level, and even reach people living in different periods of time.

11. Each of the eight parables recorded in Matthew 13 compares the “kingdom of heaven” to a physical object or objects.
“The sayings of the Savior, recorded in the 13th chapter of His Gospel according to St. Matthew, … in my mind, afford us as clear an understanding upon the important subject of the gathering, as anything recorded in the Bible” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 2:264).

12. Parables of Matthew 13 as seen through Joseph Smith
The sower and the soils
The wheat and the tares
The mustard seed
The leaven
The treasure in a field
The pearl of great price
The net
The householder

13. Parables of Matthew 13 as seen through Joseph Smith
The sower and the soils
Jesus and the apostles sowing the seeds of the gospel in the meridian of time
The wheat and the tares
The mustard seed
The leaven
The treasure in a field
The pearl of great price
The net
The householder

14. Parables of Matthew 13 as seen through Joseph Smith
The sower and the soils
Jesus and the apostles sowing the seeds of the gospel in the meridian of time
The wheat and the tares
The great apostasy
The mustard seed
The leaven
The treasure in a field
The pearl of great price
The net
The householder

15. Parables of Matthew 13 as seen through Joseph Smith
The sower and the soils
Jesus and the apostles sowing the seeds of the gospel in the meridian of time
The wheat and the tares
The great apostasy
The mustard seed
Restoration—the kingdom rolls forth to fill the earth
The leaven
The treasure in a field
The pearl of great price
The net
The householder

16. Parables of Matthew 13 as seen through Joseph Smith
The sower and the soils
Jesus and the apostles sowing the seeds of the gospel in the meridian of time
The wheat and the tares
The great apostasy
The mustard seed
Restoration—the kingdom rolls forth to fill the earth
The leaven
Witnesses of the Book of Mormon and testimony by revelation raises sinners to become Saints
The treasure in a field
The pearl of great price
The net
The householder

17. Parables of Matthew 13 as seen through Joseph Smith
The sower and the soils
Jesus and the apostles sowing the seeds of the gospel in the meridian of time
The wheat and the tares
The great apostasy
The mustard seed
Restoration—the kingdom rolls forth to fill the earth
The leaven
Witnesses of the Book of Mormon and testimony by revelation raises sinners to become Saints
The treasure in a field
People gathering to the kingdom and working toward building Zion
The pearl of great price
The net
The householder

18. Parables of Matthew 13 as seen through Joseph Smith
The sower and the soils
Jesus and the apostles sowing the seeds of the gospel in the meridian of time
The wheat and the tares
The great apostasy
The mustard seed
Restoration—the kingdom rolls forth to fill the earth
The leaven
Witnesses of the Book of Mormon and testimony by revelation raises sinners to become Saints
The treasure in a field
People gathering to the kingdom and working toward building Zion
The pearl of great price
Saints sacrificing to establish Zion in all places
The net
The householder

19. Parables of Matthew 13 as seen through Joseph Smith
The sower and the soils
Jesus and the apostles sowing the seeds of the gospel in the meridian of time
The wheat and the tares
The great apostasy
The mustard seed
Restoration—the kingdom rolls forth to fill the earth
The leaven
Witnesses of the Book of Mormon and testimony by revelation raises sinners to become Saints
The treasure in a field
People gathering to the kingdom and working toward building Zion
The pearl of great price
Saints sacrificing to establish Zion in all places
The net
Gathering into the gospel net; separating good from bad at the Second Coming
The householder

20. Parables of Matthew 13 as seen through Joseph Smith
The sower and the soils
Jesus and the apostles sowing the seeds of the gospel in the meridian of time
The wheat and the tares
The great apostasy
The mustard seed
Restoration—the kingdom rolls forth to fill the earth
The leaven
Witnesses of the Book of Mormon and testimony by revelation raises sinners to become Saints
The treasure in a field
People gathering to the kingdom and working toward building Zion
The pearl of great price
Saints sacrificing to establish Zion in all places
The net
Gathering into the gospel net; separating good from bad at the Second Coming
The householder
Helping establish Zion: the Book of Mormon, covenants, and the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible

21. The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9)
Behold, a sower went forth to sow

22. Matthew 13:4-9
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

23. The Parable of the Sower
The seed is always good.

24. The Parable of the Sower (in Joseph Smith’s view)
“This parable [of the sower] was spoken to demonstrate the effects that are produced by the preaching of the word; and we believe that it has an allusion directly to the commencement, or the setting up, of the Kingdom in that age [New Testament times]” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 298–99).

25. The Parable of the Sower
v. 4: …some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up
v. 19: When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
Wayside = people who hear the word of God but do not understand it

26. What must we do to be able to understand the word of God?
What are some things we might do that prevent us from understanding God’s word?
Mosiah 26:1–3
What must we do to be able to understand the word of God?
Alma 32:27
How does lack of understanding make it easier for Satan to take away the word from our hearts?
Matthew 13:19

27. The Parable of the Sower
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Stony places = people who hear and receive the word of God but do not allow it to take root in them

28. How can we allow the word to establish deep roots in us?
Alma 32:41–43

29. The Parable of the Sower
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them
22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
Thorny places = people who hear the word of God but are distracted by the cares of the world

30. What does it mean for a person to be unfruitful?
What “thorns” cause people to be unfruitful?
How are these thorns evident in the world today? What can we do to prevent these thorns from choking the word of God in us?

31. The Parable of the Sower
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Good ground = people who hear the word of God, understand it, and do works of righteousness

32. President James E. Faust:
“For the seeds of faith to sprout in our lives, we must avoid Satan’s grasp. “We also need to prepare our own seedbeds of faith. To do this we need to plow the soil through daily humble prayer, asking for strength and forgiveness. We need to harrow [break up] the soil by overcoming our feelings of pride. We need to prepare the seedbed by keeping the commandments to the best of our ability” (“Of Seeds and Soils,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, 48).

33. Modern Parables
The parable of the pickle (Elder David E. Bednar, April General Conference)
The parable of the bicycle (Elder Stephen E. Robinson, April 1992 Ensign)
The parable of the cow and the fence (Elder Mervyn B. Arnold of the Seventy, Nov New Era)