The parable of the plough is today's bible story. Like all of His parables, Jesus hid a secret message that He wants us to learn and apply to our lives.
Jesus told the parable because one of His disciples wanted to return home to say goodbye to loved ones.
The Lord gave an unexpected response. He told His follower that if he returned home, he would be like someone who looked back when ploughing in a field.
Even worse, Jesus said that such a person is not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven.
We'll talk about what it means to plough and the meaning of the parable.
Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”
Luk 9:62
Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
What is a plough?
A plough is a device, like a rake, that was used to loosen the soil in preparation for planting.
In bible times, ploughs were made from wood. The wooden blade would scratch the ground and loosen the soil. Some farmers were able to afford a blade made from iron (Revised English Version, nd).
How did a farmer plough the land?
The plough was fastened by straps or cords to a device called the yoke on the neck of the oxen. The farmer would then stand behind the oxen and the plough.
As the oxen pulled, the farmer would hold onto the plough in order to make sure that the oxen ploughed in a straight line (Revised English Version, nd).
What does it mean to put your hands to the plough?
The farmer had to hold on to the plough and look straight ahead in order to plough in a straight line.
If he looked behind, the oxen could veer off the straight path. The plough would make a crooked line.
What is the meaning of the parable of the plough?
Jesus' follower asked if he could return home to say goodbye to loved ones.
He wanted to follow Jesus everywhere, but his family was also important to him.
We don't know how long it would have taken to say goodbye.
Maybe he would have had to give many explanations to his family.
Maybe he would have had to finish up tasks before returning to the Lord's work.
Jesus didn't think that it was important to say goodbye. He preferred his disciple to focus on the work of the ministry. The disciple only had a short time with the Lord.
Jesus sends this message to us. He is saying that His followers must make Him their most important friend.
Althought this seems very difficult to do, Jesus did not tell the man to abandon his family.
Rather, he just wanted him to focus on buliding the Kingdom at that point in time.
So I hope that you will make the Lord Jesus the most important person in your life.
Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, ``Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"
15
And Jesus said to them, ``The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16
``But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.
17
``Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."
What are wineskins?
Wineskins in bible days were bottles made from the skin of sheep or goats. Once the skin was removed, it was converted into leather.
Wineskins were used to either store or transport wine or water.
Wine was a beverage that was made from fruits like the grape. After the grapes were picked from the trees, the juice was squeezed out.
The juice would be converted into wine through a process called fermentation. When grape juice is fermenting, tiny bubbles appear on the surface.
WINE FERMENTING
Why was new wine put into new wineskins?
Grape juice or new wine would be allowed to ferment until it aged. If it was put into new wineskins, these could stretch and give room for the bubbling to take place.
Old wineskins could not stretch because the leather was harder. These old skins would break under the pressure as the new wine bubbled and bubbled inside.
What does the parable of the old and new wineskins mean?
Here is one meaning of the parable of the wineskins:
The wineskins are people in the world.
New wineskins
New wineskins are people who are born again by the Holy Spirit. They have the ability to hear and see the invisible things that God teaches from the Word of God.
New wineskins change their ways into being what God says as He teaches His Holy Word. This is because His Spirit dwells in them and helps them to see and hear what He is saying.
People who are not born again by the Holy Spirit cannot receive and understand things that God wants to teach from His Word.
Old wineskins
Old wineskins are people who are hardened in their hearts. They are sinners and do not believe the Word of God.
Old wineskins rebel against God and do not change their ways in keeping with His Word.
New wine
New wine refers to the Holy Spirit who teaches believers the Word of God and things that God wants them to know and do.
When a person is born again by the Holy Spirit, he or she can receive and understand the things that God wants them to know about His Kingdom.
This is because His Spirit dwells in them and helps them to see and hear what He is saying.
People who are not born again by the Holy Spirit cannot receive and understand things of the Heavenly Kingdom because their spirits are dead to God.
Jesus told the parable of the mustard seed in order to explain about the Kingdom of Heaven.
In the parable, the tiny mustard seed grows into very tall trees. He said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a field.
Amazing, but that tiny seed grows into a large tree. It is so large that the birds make nests in its branches.
Mustard trees can become very tall. Their height can range from six feet to 20 feet.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.
Mat 13:32
It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
Mustard Tree
Parable of the mustard seed meaning
Jesus told another parable that helps us to understand the meaning of the seed. In that parable called the Parable of the Sower, He said that the seed is the Word of God.
When the Word of God is taught and preached, those who obey and practice it will bear fruit. Their fruit will be plentiful which means that they will be like Christ.
When Jesus came to the earth to live, He preached His Word in Israel. His followers went everywhere telling others about Him.
Today. millions of people all around the world believe in Jesus. The seed that He planted in Israel grew into a huge tree of followers everywhere.
His Kingdom continually increases everywhere whenever His people share His Word so that others come into His Kingdom.