In my last post, we learned that Kefa once again acknowledges that Yeshua is the Messiah. In this post, we were going to lean that Kefa RebukesYeshua. However, that all changed after listening to our Pastor preach this past Sunday on the Parable of the Soils from Mark 4:1-20. I realized that I had missed this teaching to Kefa and his fellow emissaries in going through our chronological journey.

I initially searched for all instances of Kefa in the Brit Hadashah. Kefa is not mentioned by name in this passage from Mark, but he is by reference: When Yeshua was alone, the people around Him with the Twelve asked Him about the parables. Mark 4:10 (CJB)

So why is this important? Because this teaching comes after the Parable of the Watchful Servant and when Kefa asks Yeshua to explain another parable. I previously wrote on the parallel passage in Mathew here four years ago.

¹ Again Yeshua began to teach by the lake, but the crowd that gathered around Him was so large that He got into a boat on the lake and sat there while the crowd remained onshore at the water’s edge. ² He taught them many things in parables. In the course of His teaching, He said to them: ³

“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he sowed, some seed fell alongside the path; and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky patches where there was not much soil. It sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow; ⁶ but when the sun rose, the young plants were scorched; and since their roots were not deep, they dried up. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked it; so that it yielded no grain. ⁸ But other seed fell into rich soil and produced grain; it sprouted, and grew, and yielded a crop — thirty, sixty, even a hundred times what was sown.”

⁹ And He concluded, “Whoever has ears to hear with, let him hear!”

¹⁰ When Yeshua was alone, the people around him with the Twelve asked Him about the parables. ¹¹ He answered them, “To you, the secret of the Kingdom of God has been given, but to those outside, everything is in parables, ¹² so that they may be always looking but never seeing; always listening but never understanding. Otherwise, they might turn and be forgiven!”
¹³ Then Yeshua said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How will you be able to understand any parable? ¹⁴ The sower sows the message. ¹⁵ Those alongside the path where the message is sown are people who no sooner hear it than the Adversary comes and takes away the message sown in them. ¹⁶ Likewise, those receiving seed on rocky patches are people who hear the message and joyfully accept it at once; ^17, but they have no root in themselves. So they hold out for a while, but as soon as some trouble or persecution arises on account of the message, they immediately fall away. ¹⁸ Others are those sown among thorns — they hear the message; ¹⁹ but the worries of the world, the deceitful glamor of wealth and all the other kinds of desires push in and choke the message; so that it produces nothing.²⁰ But those sown on rich soil hear the message, accept it and bear fruit — thirty, sixty or a hundredfold.” ~ Mark 4:1-20 (CJB)

This is one of my favorite parables from our Lord. Understanding it is fundamental to our evangelism. We need to learn what soil we are planting our seeds in.

Ok, so why is it important to backtrack in our chronological journey of Kefa? Because I missed it, and it brings up an interesting question when we examine why Kefa asks Yeshua to explain another parable.

Yeshua is clear in the Parable of the Soils why it is essential to use parables as a teaching method. Parables are nothing more than using one thing next to something else to teach a fundamental principle. Yeshua taught in parables to reveal the truth to the humble, to cancel truth from the arrogant; and, to fulfill prophecy.

So, having listened to the Parable of the Soils before hearing Yeshua uses a parable to discuss the tradition of the leaders, why did Kefa have to ask Yeshua again to explain the parable? Truthfully, I do not know the answer. But I do think it is vital for Kefa and us to understand what the Teacher was telling them thoroughly. The Gospel message is a heart issue. To understand Yeshua, we must focus on our hearts.

Here is the illustration Pastor Doug Long used to explain the Parable of the Soils:

In my next post, we will pick up our chronological journey of Kefa and learn that he Rebukes Yeshua.

Ckick here for the PDF version.