Parables of Jesus Christ

Matthew 13: 24-48 The Lord Often Taught with Parables

One of the teaching methods that Christ used was telling stories and using parables to teach heavenly principles.  Receiving knowledge of the spirit is a gift from God and not everyone is prepared to accept this gift. The requirements for understanding these stories is having a humble heart and being in tuned with the Holy Ghost. The bible dictionary explains why Jesus taught in this way " It was to veil the meaning. The parable conveys to the hearer religious truth exactly in proportion to his faith and intelligence; to the dull and uninspired it is a mere story, “seeing they see not,” while to the instructed and spiritual it reveals the mysteries or secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Thus it is that the parable exhibits the condition of all true knowledge. Only he who seeks finds."

Parable of the Tares

 24 ¶Another p put he forth unto them, saying, The^bkingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good ^cseedin his field:

 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed ^atares among the wheat, and went his way.

 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.30 Let both grow together until the ^aharvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together ^bfirst the tares, and bind them in bundles to ^cburn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

I feel this parable has to do with living in a world of good and evil. We have to stay strong until the day of harvest. We have to keep the commandments so we will not be separated into the tares and be burned in the fire. This is teaching people to separate themselves before the judgment day and not be confused with the evil in the world.

Parable of the Mustard Seed

   The mustard is so small but grows into such a big tree. I think this is a parable that can be taken in 2 different ways. It can be applied to our personal faith in the Jesus Christ and the Gospel as a whole. Our faith starts off small and it doesn't take much faith to believe in Jesus Christ. If you give Christ just a small chance to make a change in your life He can perform miracles. All you need is a tiny seed of faith and great miracles can happen through the power of the Atonement.
  The other way this parable can be understood is that the church started off so small and has grown very quickly over the past 180 years. The church now covers the world and is growing every year. The work of the Lord can not be stopped and that is evident through the growth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.


Parable of the Net

47 ¶Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and ^agathered of every kind: 48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. 49 So shall it be at the ^aend of the world: ^bthe angels shall come forth, and ^csever the wicked from among the ^djust...

               I relate this paprable to missionary work. Thousands of missionaries are sent out all over the world  to gather the elect into the Gospel. Thousands of people join the church every year. Unfortunately, not everyone stays faithful to the covenants they have made and they fall away. I feel this parable is talking about all the people that are gathered by missionaries and only a few are faithful and only endure to the end. I also feel it is speaking of the judgement day of the Lord. We have to be  prepared and faithful so we can be chosen to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for eternity.

Pearl of Great Price

This parable is about a merchant that found a pearl of great price. This merchant instantly knew the worth of this pearl and gathered all he owned to buy this pearl. I think this is a beautiful parable. The pearl of great price represents eternal life, we as latter-day Saints should know the worth of having eternal life. Are we willing to give up all we have to in order to receive this gift from God? Are we willing to give up all our sins to have the gift of the Holy Ghost? If  not , I don't thing we see or understand  the worth of eternal life and salvation. What are you willing to give up for the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?