Show Don't Tell: Matthew 13:10-17

Under the sweltering sun, the disciples gathered close to Jesus, their curiosity piqued by the murmur of the crowd. Dust swirled around them as they watched farmers sowing seeds in the nearby fields, the aroma of freshly turned earth mingling with the salty sea breeze. After a teaching filled with parables—stories of sower and seeds, treasures hidden in fields, and mustard seeds that grow into grand trees—the disciples pulled Jesus aside, their brows furrowed in confusion.

“Why do you speak to the people in parables?” one asked, his voice tinged with uncertainty. “Aren’t stories meant to clarify, to illuminate?”

Jesus turned to them, his eyes a blend of compassion and intensity. “To you, it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven,” he replied softly, “but to them, it has not.”

The disciples exchanged glances, caught off guard by this revelation. It was as if a veil had been lifted, yet they felt the weight of what it meant. “Whoever has will be given more,” Jesus continued, “and they will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”