Notes to contribute to the group discussion on parables

. Each of the eight parables recorded in Matthew 13 compares the “kingdom of heaven” to a physical object or objects.

Jesus sometimes taught using parables. Parables are short stories that use familiar things to teach gospel truths.

may 1955 talk - President Hugh B. Brown (1883–1975) of the First Presidency pointed out that the Savior’s parables most likely developed out of ordinary day-to-day experiences:

Sower and the tares-
Jesus said that the sower of the good seed represented himself and the Apostles. The field represented the world; the good seed, his righteous followers; and the tares, those who follow Satan. Satan was the sower of the tares. The harvest represented the end of the world, and the reapers represented angels. Right now good and bad people are allowed to “grow” together. But at the end of the world, angels will separate the righteous from the unrighteous. The unrighteous—those who have chosen to break the commandments—will be punished. However, the righteous—those who have chosen to keep the commandments—will “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:43).