When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He taught many of His most wonderful
lessons by means of Story-pictures, or Parables.
Perhaps you are older than some of your school-fellows, and the little
ones gather round you and say "Tell us a story!"
Don't they love stories? And don't you love stories?
So did the people to whom our Lord spoke. He often put a word-picture
before their eyes, and it sank into their hearts, and they remembered
it ever after.
I am going to tell you about one of these Parables which our Lord told
to the listening multitudes.
This one was about "The Kingdom of Heaven." This is the word picture
which he put before their eyes.
He said that the Kingdom of Heaven was like a man who had a field, and
who sowed it with good seed.
But at night, under cover of the darkness, while men were asleep, there
came an enemy into this field.
He carried a basket in his hands, and as he went up and down the field,
he looked stealthily round him to make sure that no one was aware of
his presence. And then he took handful after handful of seed from his
basket and scattered it all over the field. Then he crept away in the
darkness.
[Illustration: SOWING THE TARES.]
Why did he do it, do you think?
It was because he hated the owner of the field, and wished to destroy
his beautiful harvest.
By and by the seeds began to grow, and the little blades came up green
all over the field. Then the servants of the master of the field,
looking closely at the crop, saw that some of the blades were of good
wheat, but some looked like tares, which were of no use to anyone and
only injured the wheat. So they hastened to the owner of the field, and
they said, "Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field; how have the
tares got there?"