Paper 151 Overview: Tarrying and Teaching by the Seaside

By March 10, all the preaching and teaching groups had regathered at Bethsaida following their tours throughout Galilee. Jesus spent much of the Sabbath day alone in the hills, and that evening delivered a memorable discourse on "The mission of adversity and the spiritual value of disappointment" to his followers. This time by the seaside marked a pivotal point in Jesus' teaching ministry, as he began employing parables to convey spiritual truths to the growing crowds that followed him while providing deeper explanations to his closest disciples.

During this period, Jesus introduced several foundational parables including the sower, the wheat and weeds, the mustard seed, and others that illustrated key principles of the kingdom. This teaching approach allowed him to communicate spiritual concepts to people of varying levels of understanding and receptivity. The time at the seaside also included significant events such as the calming of a storm during a lake crossing and the healing of the Kheresa lunatic, both of which demonstrated Jesus' authority while challenging his followers' understanding of his methods and mission.

By March 10, all of the preaching and teaching groups had assembled at Bethsaida, with many spending Thursday night and Friday fishing before attending the synagogue on the Sabbath. Jesus spent most of that Sabbath day alone in the hills, and in the evening, he spoke to the assembled groups for more than an hour on "The mission of adversity and the spiritual value of disappointment"—a discourse that made a lasting impression on his hearers. His teachings that night provided valuable insights into handling life's challenges and disappointments with spiritual perspective.

The Master had not completely recovered from the sorrow of his recent rejection at Nazareth, and his apostles observed a mixture of sadness and cheerfulness in his demeanor. James and John spent considerable time with Jesus during this period, while Peter was occupied managing the growing number of evangelists. The women's groups were actively engaged in house-to-house visitation, teaching the gospel and ministering to the sick throughout Capernaum and neighboring villages as they all waited before traveling to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration.

Around this time, Jesus began employing the parable method to teach the multitudes that frequently gathered around him. One Sunday morning after staying up late the previous night, Jesus sat alone in Andrew and Peter's fishing boat by the seaside to meditate on the next steps for extending the kingdom. By mid-morning, nearly a thousand people had assembled along the shore demanding his attention, prompting Peter to approach Jesus about addressing them, to which Jesus responded that he would tell them a story instead.

Jesus then delivered the parable of the sower, describing seeds falling on various types of ground with differing results, concluding with the admonition, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Later that evening in the Zebedee garden, the confused apostles asked Jesus about his use of "dark sayings," and he explained that while his disciples were given to know the mysteries of the kingdom, he used parables for the multitudes because many were not sincerely seeking truth. This teaching method served to illuminate truth for honest seekers while not casting pearls before those who might reject or misuse his teachings.

Peter and his companions concluded that the parable of the sower was an allegory with hidden meanings in each feature of the story, so they approached the Master requesting an explanation. Jesus first asked Peter to share his interpretation, whereupon Peter suggested that the sower represented gospel preachers, the seed symbolized God's word, and the different soils depicted various types of hearers with corresponding spiritual responses. After Peter finished, Nathaniel offered an alternative interpretation with similar elements but different emphasis and details.

As the apostles debated these interpretations vigorously, Thomas wisely reminded them of Jesus' previous warning about over-interpreting parables and attempting to force spiritual meaning into every minor detail. Jesus commended Thomas for discerning the true purpose of the parable—to illustrate how the teaching of the gospel would meet with varying degrees of success depending on the hearers' spiritual receptivity and other conditions beyond the teacher's control. This clarification transformed what had been a contentious debate into a valuable learning experience about the proper understanding and use of parables in teaching spiritual truths.

The apostles remained intensely interested in parables, devoting the entire next evening to further discussion of this teaching method. Jesus introduced the session by emphasizing the importance of adapting one's teaching approach to reach different minds and hearts effectively, explaining that parables allow each listener to interpret the message according to their intellectual and spiritual capacities. He reminded them that while their light should shine openly, nothing hidden in the kingdom would remain concealed forever, and he urged careful attention to both how they presented truth and how they received it themselves.

Jesus then outlined several valuable aspects of parabolic teaching: parables simultaneously appeal to different levels of mind and spirit; they use familiar material realities to introduce unfamiliar spiritual concepts; they foster impartial moral decisions without arousing personal defensiveness; they force thought through hearing; they enable the presentation of new truths while avoiding controversy with established authorities; and they help listeners remember spiritual lessons when encountering similar scenes in daily life. He concluded by explaining that the parable of the sower served both as a review of his own ministry thus far and as a forecast of what the apostles could expect in their future work spreading the gospel message throughout the world.

The next day, Jesus continued teaching the people from a boat, presenting the parable of the wheat and weeds, which described how a man's enemy sowed weeds among his wheat and how the landowner wisely decided to let both grow together until harvest rather than risk damaging the wheat by premature separation. After this, Jesus answered questions from the crowd and proceeded to share several additional parables that illustrated different aspects of the kingdom of heaven.

These additional parables included: the mustard seed that grows from the smallest of seeds into a tree large enough for birds to nest in; the leaven that permeates and transforms three measures of meal; a treasure hidden in a field that a man joyfully sells everything to obtain; a merchant who likewise sells all to acquire one pearl of great price; and a sweep net that gathers all kinds of fish to be sorted later. From this time forward, Jesus rarely taught the masses except through parables, though he would explain these teachings more explicitly to the apostles and evangelists during their evening classes.

As the multitudes continued to increase throughout the week, Jesus sought respite by suggesting they cross to the eastern shore of the lake. During their crossing, they encountered one of the violent windstorms characteristic of the Sea of Galilee, with waves washing over the boat while Jesus slept soundly in the stern under a small shelter. When the frightened disciples woke him, Jesus responded by addressing their fear and lack of faith rather than the elements, though immediately afterward the storm subsided into an unusual calm.

While the apostles interpreted this as a miraculous control over nature, Jesus plainly explained he had spoken to their troubled spirits and fearful minds, not commanded the elements. Nevertheless, they persisted in their interpretation that "even the winds and waves obey him," especially Peter who never tired of recounting the incident. Upon reaching shore late that evening, they rested in their boats until morning, when Jesus suggested they go into the hills to discuss the kingdom while recuperating from their exhausting schedule of ministry.

On the eastern shore, the hillside dropped steeply to the lake in some places and was covered with caverns that had been hewn from the rock, many serving as ancient sepulchres. As Jesus and his associates walked near the burial ground of the village of Kheresa, they encountered a man named Amos who lived in these hillside caves and suffered from periodic mental affliction. During his episodes, he would flee to the tombs, crying out and frightening those who encountered him.

When Amos met Jesus, he fell at his feet exclaiming that he knew Jesus but was possessed by many devils. Jesus compassionately took him by the hand, stood him up, and said, "Amos, you are not possessed of a devil. I command you to come out of this spell." Immediately, the man was restored to his right mind, amazing the gathering crowd. Shortly afterward, some nearby swine rushed over a precipice into the sea, leading to the legend that Jesus had cast demons from Amos into the swine. This incident, while a simple healing of a troubled mind, became exaggerated in the telling, though it did result in Amos's permanent cure and his subsequent proclamation throughout the Decapolis of what Jesus had done for him.

Presented by a Midwayer Commission.