Another parable is about a man who had a vineyard and let it out to husbandmen. When the time for gathering grapes came, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruit. But the husbandmen took his servants and beat one and killed another. He sent other servants, and they were treated in the same way.
Last of all he sent his son, thinking they would honor him, but they caught him and killed him.
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Jesus spoke this parable to the wicked people about himself at that time. Christ himself had been sent to the Jews, who had been the people of G.o.d for ages past, but who had wandered into sin. From time to time G.o.d had sent good prophets to warn the Jews, but often the prophets were persecuted.
At last G.o.d sent Jesus, his only Son, and him they killed.
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The Wheat and the Tares
Christ told another parable. It was of a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while the servants slept, an enemy came and sowed tares, or weeds, and then went away so that the servants knew nothing of it.
When the wheat grew, the tares also grew. When the servants noticed the tares, they asked the owner what it meant, as they sowed only good seed. He answered that an enemy had sown the tares. But he said that they should let both grow till the harvest, and that then the tares would be gathered and burned, but the wheat gathered into the barn.
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Jesus explained this: The field, he said, means the world; the owner means Jesus himself; the wheat means the persons who become Christians; the tares are sowed by Satan; and the weeds are wicked men.
The wicked men and Christians are together here in this world, but at the judgment-day the righteous will go to heaven and the wicked will be punished.
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The King"s Marriage-Feast
Another parable was of a king"s marriage-feast.
The king invited certain ones to the feast, but they would not come; so he made an open invitation and sent his servants into the highways to invite as many as they could find, and these people came.
G.o.d sent Jesus to the world, and he invited the Jews to accept the kingdom of G.o.d, but they would not. Though some Jews accepted Jesus, yet as a nation they did not, and G.o.d was displeased with them for it.
When the Jews would not accept Jesus, G.o.d extended the invitation to the Gentiles, or all other people.
G.o.d now has the feast prepared. He invites people to come to Jesus and have their hearts made pure and enjoy the rich blessings of the kingdom--righteousness, joy, and peace. He extends the invitation to all.
If we will not give heed to his invitation to accept Jesus, we shall be left out of the kingdom, and others will take our place.
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A Lesson on Forgiveness
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The man kneeling in the picture owed the king hundreds and hundreds of dollars. He had no money to pay the king. The king said that this man and his wife and children must be sold and the money used to pay the debt. The man begged the king to wait a while, promising that by and by he would give him the money. The king then felt sorry for the poor man and said the man would not need to pay him any money. The man arose and walked away.
Soon he met a friend who owed him a little money. He spoke harshly to the friend and told him to pay the money. The friend did not have any money. He kneeled down before the man and said, "Wait a while, and by and by I will give you the money." But the man seemed to have forgotten that the king had been kind to him. He had the friend put in jail. When the king heard about this, he did not like it, and he punished the hard-hearted man.
We are like the man in the picture. We ask G.o.d to be good to us and forgive us when we do wrong. Then, maybe, we are not good to our little friends when they do wrong to us. If they do a bad thing to us, we want to pay them back. We should not do this way. Jesus said that if we would not forgive others, G.o.d would not forgive us. To forgive our friends means to be just as good to them when they do wrong to us as when they do good to us.
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Jesus Loves the Children
At one time when Jesus was teaching the people, some women brought their children to him for a blessing. The disciples thought the women should not do this, and thought Jesus did not wish to be bothered with the children.
Jesus said, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." He loved them and held them upon his lap and blessed them.
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At another time he said that unless people become converted and become as little children, they can not enter the kingdom of heaven. This means that it is necessary for them to have their sins forgiven and to be pure and innocent and free from sin in order to be in G.o.d"s church in this world and to go to heaven after they die.
Jesus Heals the Sick
Jesus spent his whole life doing good. He always helped those who were in trouble. He seemed to know of the sick and suffering of the land and was always anxious to heal them.
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At one time he went into the meeting-place of the Jews and saw a man there who had a hand so withered that he could not open it or stretch it out. Now, there was a Jewish law that said no work should be done on the Sabbath. The wicked people watched Jesus to see if he would heal this man on the Sabbath-day.
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Jesus knew their thoughts, and so he asked the people, "If any of you had a sheep which should fall into a pit on the Sabbath, would you not help it out?" Then he said that if it was right to help a sheep, it was much more so to be good to man.
After that he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand," and he stretched it out.