605th Post Jesus Said Concerning Parables Con't. - Parables About The End of the Age Con't. - Parable of the Good and Bad Fish Matthew 13:47 - 50; 1st Post.

Matthew 13: 47 - 50 Parable of the Good and Bad Fish (Dragnet) 1st Post.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.  So it will be at the end of the age.  The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
This was spoken by Jesus 1.1/2 to 2 years into His earthly Ministry.  This parable along with others spoken at this time were on the subject of the end of the age.  A dragnet is a large net that may sink all the way to the bottom of the water mass in which it is placed.   When the net is closed up and brought to the shore it gathers all the fish and other material that was located in the area the net was dropped.  This type of net is not used to gather in only one type of fish, but all types.  For this reason, a lot of time is spent looking through the catch, and separating the good from the bad fish.  Since this net collects everything, this was why Jesus used this illustration.  Like the dragnet, the bad are not picked out, or separated from the good fish until the end.  This is why we have both good and bad people in the world.  This also explains why we can find both kinds in our Churches today.  If you believe that you could be a bad fish, and want to do something about it, it is possible.  Ask the Holy Spirit to come into your heart, and believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead for your sins.  Without Jesus you have no eternal life.  It is up to you! 

604th Post Jesus Said Concerning Parables Con't. - Parables About the End of the Age Con't. - The Parable of the Wheat and Tares Con't. Matthew 13: 37 - 43& Luke13: 28, 3rd Post.

Parable of the Wheat and Tares Explained 3rd Post Matthew 13: 47 - 50; & Luke 13: 28.
We ended last post talking about Jesus using the phrases concerning the "End of Age", and "End of this Age".  At first glance it looks like Jesus might be talking about two different ages.  This is not the case, if you look at Jesus' explanation, He was talking about sowing He was doing while He was still on the earth, and the sowing that his disciples would do and continue to do until He comes again.  The End of the Age is this one coming.  Jesus always talked about coming again, not again and again.  When Jesus said it be the End of This Age when the angels come to harvest the tares first and then the good wheat, He was talking about at the End.  There is a lot of teaching out there saying something different.  This study has been about looking at what Jesus Said and explaining it.  If you have been following this blog, you have noticed that a lot of time has been given to all the teachings of Jesus.  Wheat and Tares, are sown throughout the world,and are everywhere.  Just because someone goes to Church every Sunday, does not make him "Wheat".  Jesus spent three and half years telling us what is required of us to become "Wheat".  When Jesus comes it will unfold, just like He said it would.  The important thing to know is "Will you be found doing His business, or will you be found being idle??  It is up to you.

603rd Post Jesus Said Concerning Parables Con't. - Parables About the End of the Age Con't. - Parable of The Wheat and Tares Con't. - Jesus Explains the Parable 2nd Post Matthew 13: 37 - 43; Luke 13: 28.

Parable of the Wheat and Tares Continued Jesus Explains the Parable - Matthew 13: 37 - 43; Luke 13: 28, Second Post.
He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
This was spoken by Jesus, soon after He told this parable to the people.  This explanation was given to his disciples only later, after they asked Jesus to explain this parable.  The explanation mentioned above, is what this parable means.  It is interesting that Jesus used the phrases "end of the age"; and "end of this age".  At first glance it may look like Jesus is talking about more than one age here.  This is not the case.  Jesus was talking about the same age, but two different perspectives of the same time.  When Jesus was walking the earth, He was telling the people about this kingdom of God.  When Jesus went back to Heaven, and left this task of teaching the kingdom of God to his people to continue, this is the same message, that Jesus taught, but to a new audience.  Continued next post.

602nd Post Jesus Said Concerning Parables Con't. - Parables About the End of the Age Con't. - Parable of The Wheat and the Tares Con't. Matthew 13: 24 - 30 - 1st Post.

Parable About the Wheat and the Tares Matthew 13: 24 - 30 Continued 1st Post.
The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.  But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  So the servants of the owner came and said to him, "Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?  How then does it have tares?"  He said to them, "An enemy has done this."  The servants said to him, "Do you want us then to go and gather up them up?"  "No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
This was spoken by Jesus about 1.1/2 - 2 years into His earthly Ministry.  Jesus explains this parable in the next part of this section on the End of the Age.  I will comment on this though.  The kingdom of heaven in this parable is the world, or groups of Christians, that made the decision to follow Christ.
The believer's are the wheat, the tares are the unbeliever's, that mix with the believer's.  At first, you can not tell the bad from the good, but as both mature, it is easier to see.  Sometimes the unbeliever's will create more of a disturbance when they are found out and tried to get rid of, and the disturbance created may cause some of the wheat to be taken also.  Notice the tares are harvested first.  I will have more to say on this after we look at Jesus' explanation of the "Wheat and Tares".

601st Post Jesus Said Concerning Parables Con't. - Parables About the End of the Age - New Section - My Comments.

Parables About End of the Age - New Section - My Comments.
Jesus spoke a lot about the End of the Age.  What did Jesus mean by this term?  This has been the discussion since Jesus spoke these words.  The End of the time of the Gentiles?  The End of the World?  The End of Roman Occupation?  The End of the World?  All of these statements have one time or another been used to explain what Jesus meant by the end of the Age.  I believe that Jesus talked about all of these at different times in His Ministry.  The problem is, we try to lump everything Jesus said concerning these into only one category.  We will be looking into these parables and try to explain which category they fall into.  I believe that Jesus said a lot about the end of the World, and a lot of it was through parables.  I believe that the Apostles misunderstood what Jesus was telling them.  If you look at the parables that teach about End Times, the landowner goes on a long journey and is away for a long time.  The Apostles did not take this into consideration before they started talking about the rapid return of Christ.  I have been trying to point out words of Jesus that cause this idea into question.  Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount, Matthew Chapter 5, that He did not come to do away with but to fulfill, every prophecy will be fulfilled.  If Jesus comes early, how do these outstanding prophecies become fulfilled??  God Can Not Lie!!!  The problem is that we will not know how it will end until after it happens.  If being right on this issue, will it keep you in or out of Heaven??  The answer is no, so what does it matter.  It doesn't.  This study has been about Jesus Words, and explaining their meaning.  This is all I have tried to do here.

600th Post Jesus Said Concerning Parables Con't. - Parables About Last Being First Con't. - Parable of the Rich Man & Lazarus Con't. Luke 16: 19 - 31 Con't. - 4th Post.

Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Continued Luke 16: 19 - 31.
We left the last post talking about death.  There have been a lot of false teachings about the dead throughout Christian history.  According to God's Word, if you die without knowing God or Christ, you are doomed.  This is hard for many people to hear, but this is what this parable is trying to point out.  The end of the Parable, the rich man demands that Father Abraham send some one back from the dead to talk to his brothers lest they suffer the same fate as he.  Abraham is very strong in his resolve, when he says "They have Moses and the Prophets."  "Even if someone comes back from the dead they will not listen."  Case in point, Jesus Christ Himself!  History says He rose from the dead, how many people today, doubt it happened??  Jesus had to rise!!  If He died for the sins of the world, it was our sins that killed Him.  The wages of sin is death, we are told.  The difference between Jesus' sacrifice and animal sacrifices is that Jesus only had to die once to get rid of sin.  Animal sacrifices only covered the sin and pointed to Jesus sacrifice to come.  Jesus would have to be the spotless Lamb of God in order to rise.  The fact death could not hold Jesus, proves His "SINLESS" quality.  Jesus paid the price restored fallen man back into favor with God.  This has happened.  Saying that it never happened or didn't restore man completely is to cheapen God's Gift.  Christ died for all men, all you have to do claim it is to believe it!!  DO  YOU??   

599th Post Jesus Said Concerning Parables Con't. - Parables of First will be Last Con't. - Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Con't. 3rd post - Luke 16: 19 - 33.

Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Continued 3rd Post Luke 16: 19 - 33.
Jesus told this parable to explain what the place of the dead was like, and to tell the people that there was more to serving God, than just attending Temple to sacrifice for sins committed and going to Synagogue.  The Jews had forgotten that God wanted a personal relationship with them.  That was the lesson God was trying to teach them with the Tabernacle. God made the people of Israel aware of taking care of the widows, orphans and strangers, as part of His Law.  It was this, and other things God required of them, that made the Jews different from their neighbors in other lands.  Clearly, the rich man forgot this when it came to Lazarus.  It was the lack of care shown to Lazarus that helped put the rich man into torment.  This parable gives the living an insight into the place of the dead.  In the parable, Jesus told of two sides, one had the righteous, and the other the wicked.  It is interesting that the good and bad, could communicate with one another there.  They just could not reach each other.  Remember that Jesus told this parable toward the end of His earthly ministry.  Jesus explains this place of the dead, but yet Jesus Himself does not go there when He dies a short time later.  We know this, from the account of what Jesus said from the cross.  One of the thieves that was being crucified with Him, asked Jesus to remember him.  Jesus turned to this man, and said "Today, you will be with Me in Paradise."  When we look at Sheol (Hades), Jesus talked about, Father Abraham, seems to be the one in charge there.  If this place was Heaven, God would be in charge not Abraham.  It is interesting to look at the word Hades in Greek, if you do a word study Hades in the Old Testament says it is the place of the dead; but if you look at the meaning of Hades in the New Testament it means only hell, the place of the wicked.  I have run out of room again continued next post.

      

598th Post Jesus Said Concerning Parables Con't. - Parables Concerning First to be Last Con't. - Parables About the Rich Man and Lazarus Luke 16: 19 - 31, 2nd Post.

Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Luke 16: 19 - 31 Continued Second Post.
In this parable we have two people, the rich man and Lazarus. Jesus tells us that the rich man had the best of life and Lazarus the worst.  Why did the rich man find himself in torment in Sheol (Hades)?  On the surface this parable seems to say that if you are rich, you will end up here.  Is this what this parable really says, I don't think so.  Jesus gives us more information in this story.  We learn that the rich man was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.  This means he had way more than what he needed to live on and lived very comfortably.  To this scene Jesus adds Lazarus, who was laid at the gate of the rich man.  This means Lazarus could not even get around by himself, but had to count on others to move him.  Jesus did not say for how long Lazarus stayed at the gate of the house of the rich man.  Lazarus laid there waiting to eat just the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table.  We are not told how successful Lazarus was at getting the crumbs or how often he got fed.  Jesus then tells us that dogs came and licked the sores on Lazarus.  Dogs usually do not have a good meaning when the word is used.  Jesus did not say if these dogs were wild or part of the rich man's household.  The fact that dogs were the ones that recognized Lazarus' situation and tried by licking his sores to relieve Lazarus' suffering is quite interesting.  This gives us a clue that the rich man did not treat Lazarus as well as he could have.  I believe this is why the rich man found himself in torment in Sheol (Hades).   You need to remember that this parable is still part of the teaching Jesus started in Chapter 13 of Luke, "Repent or Perish".  What happens to us after we die has been the subject of conversation from the time the first person died until now.  Here we have an opportunity to see what Jesus had to say on the subject.  In this parable, Jesus describes Sheol (Hades), of the Old Testament.  Sheol means the place of the dead.  Continued next post. 

597th Post Jesus Said Concerning Parables Con't. - Parables About First Being Last Con't. - Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus - Luke 16: 19 - 31 - 1st Post.

Parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus -Luke 16: 19 - 31, First Post.
There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.  But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.  Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.  So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom.  The rich man also died and was buried.  And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.  Then he cried and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame."  But Abraham said, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.  And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those pass from there pass to us."  Then he said, "I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment."  Abraham said to him, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them."  And he said, "No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent."  But he said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither wil they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."
 This was spoken by Jesus as part of His message starting in Luke Chapter 13 about "Repent or Perish."  This is toward the last year of His earthly Ministry.  Will continue next post.

596th Post Jesus Said Concerning Parables Con't. - Parables About First Being Last Con't. - Parable of The Guests' Excuses Con't. 5th Post - Luke 14: 16 - 24 Con't.

Parable of The Guests' Excuses Continued Luke 14: 16 - 24, 5th post.
In the last post, we saw that the master got angry about his guests not caring enough to come to a supper that they had originally said they would come.  This made the master very angry, and he ordered his servant to go out and invite all he finds on the streets and byways until the master's house is filled.  This much of this message is taught, however, there is more to the story.  The master then says that none of the invited that did not come would receive any of his supper.  Why would Jesus include this line in this parable?  As a warning to us as well!  Like the original invited guests, we also can become complacent, and no longer treat the gift with the respect it deserves.  Just like the first guests, we can find ourselves no longer invited, and on the out side looking in.  Why do you think Paul kept pushing the idea of finishing the race, not just finishing it, but winning it!  If all that is required is to be just entered in the race, why all this teaching concerning finishing the race well??  Just like the Jews that Moses taught, we also can start to lean on our own understanding, instead of God's.  This is a real temptation, and one we should not take lightly.  One of the things I have been trying to point out is that Jesus spoke about these things before they were expounded on by the Apostles.  Some people believe that the Old Testament is not relevant for Christians today, this is completely false.  God is the same in Genesis, the Prophets, the Gospels and Revelation.  The lessons did not change!  So why do people say that they did??  God will not be mocked, and God is still on the Throne!  There is still time for you to come back if you have drifted.  It is up to you, where you end up!     

595th Post Jesus Said Concerning Parables Con't. - Parables About First Being Last Con't. - Parable of The Guests' Excuses Con't. 4th Post - Luke 14: 16 - 24.

Parable of The Guests' Excuses Continued 4th Post Luke 14: 16 - 24.
The master of the house becomes angry and tells his servant "Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind."  And the servant said, "Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room."  Then the master said to the servant, "Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper."
The master becomes angry because his invited guests' had not cared enough to come to his supper.  God gets angry with us for the very same reason.  By turning down God's invitation, you are cheapening the gift of His Son for your Redemption.  This is quite serious.  Notice how Jesus treats these first group of guests';  He shows the master gets angry, we have explained why the master gets angry.  The master tells the servant to go out into the streets and find everyone you find there.  If Jesus was telling this parable today he would have included the homeless.  You need to remember that this was not the first group the master invited.  This group would have been the Church leaders and the well connected in the town where the master lived.  The master replaces this group with a much lower class of people.  What Jesus said at the end of this parable is quite alarming, "For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper."  Again I see I have run out of space again for this post, continued next post.      

594th Post Jesus Said In Parables Con't. - Parables About Last Shall be First Con't. Parable Of The Guests' Excuses Con't. - 3rd Post - Luke 14: 16 - 24.

Parable of the Guests' Excuses Continued 3rd post.
In the last post we were looking at the excuses these guests' made for not attending this supper.  Why did Jesus tell this parable?  Jesus told this parable to show how the guests' had belittled the gift, given by the man for providing the supper.  But what did this have to do with the people Jesus was talking to?  Jesus was using this parable to make a point, about how the people felt about God.  God invited the people to come to Him and to be His guest, they accepted the invitation but then other things became more important to them then keeping their invitation to come to the Lord's Table.  God wants a personal relationship with all men kind.  This is what Jesus was trying to remind His listeners.  Just like in the time of Jesus, we also can drift away.  We are creatures of habit and this can be a good and a bad thing.  Habits are things we do without thinking about them, we do them regularly.  Church can become a habit, it is somewhere we go on Sunday Mornings and maybe once or twice during the week.  We go, we participate but we don't think about why we are there.  This is a real danger!  Do you look forward to your time with the Lord, that you set time to be alone with Him?  Or is the time spent at Church enough to last you??  God loves it when you share all your life with Him.  This means He is part of your good times and bad times.  If you share your life with God in this way, you will discover His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  This is what the guests' were throwing away, by not coming to God's Table.  When the man's servant came back and reported that no one was coming, the man then asked the servant to go out into the streets and invite all that you find there.  Why did Jesus add this to His parable?  For another opportunity to teach the people.  I remind you that this parable is in the "Repent or Perish" part of Jesus teachings.  This is a hard lesson, and we have a lot of teachers today like the Pharisees of Jesus time, that teach something other than what Jesus or God taught.  If it is impossible for us to drift away, why does the Bible talk so much about making sure this does not happen to you??  These people that were replaced by other people, lost their chance to attend the supper.  This is quite serious, if this convicts you, you still have time to make a change.  This will not always be the case.  I'm running out of space will continue next post.