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Chapter 15 - The Meaning Of The Parables
1. That same day Jmmanuel went out and walked to the sea, where he sat down.
2. Many people gathered around him, so that he stepped into a boat and sat down, and all the people stood on the shore.
3. He talked to them in parables about various things, saying, "Behold, a sower went out to sow.
4. "While he sowed, some seeds fell on the pathway; then the birds came and ate them up.
5. "And some fell on the rocks, where there was not much soil.
6. "And as the sun rose high, they withered, and because they had no roots, they dried out.
7. "Some fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up and smothered them.
8. "Some fell on good ground and bore fruit, some hundredfold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold.
9. "Those who have ears, let them hear."
10. The disciples stepped up to him and said, "Why do you speak in parables, when they do not understand your teachings!"
11. He answered, saying, "It has been given to you to understand the secrets of the spirit, but it has not been given to them.
12. "They certainly hear my words, but they still live and think according to the false teachings of their scribes and Pharisees.
13. "Their consciousness is unknowing and empty, therefore they must first learn to live and think.
14. "What would be better to make them come alive and think, if not through speaking in parables?
15. "Truly, I say to you, life and the knowledge of truth are only valuable and good when they are achieved through one's own thinking or through the resolving of mysteries that are recounted in parables.
16. "As yet humans have little knowledge and no insight, and they are not yet conscious of the laws of Creation and the power of the spirit.
17. "First, humans must learn to recognize the truth and thus to live according to the laws of Creation, so they may become knowledgeable and strong in spirit.
18. "For to those who have, more will be given so they may have in abundance; but from those who have not, from them will be taken what they have.
19. "Therefore, I speak to them in parables, because with seeing eyes they do not see, and with hearing ears they do not hear; nor do they understand.
20. "And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says, 'With your ears you will hear and not understand; and with open eyes you will see and not perceive.'
21. "For these people are stubborn in their minds and endeavours. The ears of these humans hear poorly and their eyes slumber, so they neither see with their eyes nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their intelligence. Nor do they try to comprehend the truth and the acknowledged laws of Creation, although they would thereby attain help and knowledge.
22. "For the people of Israel are unfaithful to the laws of Creation and are accursed, and never will they find peace.
23. "Their blood will be shed, for they constantly transgress against the laws of Creation.
24. "They presume themselves above all humankind as a chosen people and thus as a separate race.
25. "What an evil error and what an evil presumption, for inasmuch as Israel was never one people or one race, so it was never a chosen people.
26. "Unfaithful to the laws of Creation, Israel is a mass of people with an inglorious past, characterized by murder and arson.
27. "Only a few fathers in the masses of these unfaithful have an honourable past and a traceable family tree.
28. "These, however, are not part of the brood of snakes and vipers who have pledged themselves to the false Judaic faith,
29. "to the false beliefs and false teachings they adopted from Moses who, in turn, had stolen them from the Egyptians.
30. "These few fathers are knowers of the truth and of true knowledge, and they recognize only the laws of Creation.
31. "They became rare in this land, however, and so can be counted on just one man's hand.
32. "They are only a few, and no one's eyes may recognize them, and no one's ears may hear them.
33. "But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
34. "Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men have wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
35. "So listen now to the hidden meaning of this parable about the sower:
36. "If someone hears the word of truth about the spirit and the laws, and does not understand it, then the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in their mind. That is for whom it is sown on the pathway.
37. "But for whom it is sown on the rocks, that is the one who hears the word and promptly accepts it with joy
38. "But this person has no roots within, so that which is heard cannot take hold and grow. Rather, this one is fickle and becomes annoyed when misery and persecution arise because of the truth.
39. "But for whom it is sown among the thorns, that is the one who hears the word, but the woes of the world and the deception of material riches smother the truth and the knowledge; thus this one brings forth no fruit.
40. "But for whom it is sown on good ground, this is the one who accepts the word and seeks and finds the truth, so as to be able to live according to the laws of truth; thus the fruit is allowed to grow and ripen, bringing in a rich harvest. One person bears a hundredfold, another sixty-fold and another thirty-fold.
41. "These are the meanings of the parables, whose secrets must be deciphered by the people, in order that they learn to think and develop insights.
42. "Nevertheless, the path to wisdom and finding the truth is long, as is compliance with the laws of Creation, even though these are so obvious."