Jesus liked to tell stories. Not tall tales about pirates or monsters or robots (or really scary stories about giant robot pirate monsters!). Jesus didn’t tell those kinds of stories. He told stories about farms and farmers, masters and servants, fathers and sons, weddings and parties. Jesus taught about God by using examples from everyday life.

These stories are called parables. Although they are some of the most famous stories in the Bible, the people in Jesus’s day found them hard to understand. Often Jesus went back later and explained his stories to his disciples because they were confused too.

That was kind of the point. Jesus wanted to make sure people were paying close attention to what he was saying. He knew some people would hear his message and understand. Other people would get frustrated and turn the other way. The parables helped separate the good listeners from the bad listeners.

Jesus actually told a parable to help explain the purpose of the parables. He said once there was a sower who went out to sow seed.

Some seed fell along the path, and birds came and ate it up.

Some seed fell on rocky ground, and nothing lasted long because the soil was shallow.

Some seed fell among thorns, and the plant got choked out before it could bear fruit.

But some seed fell into good soil, and it grew up and produced grain. The tiny seed yielded a big harvest—thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.

Later, when they were all alone, the twelve disciples asked Jesus what the parable meant. He said each soil is like the human heart.

Some people hear the word of God, and the devilish snake snatches it away.

Some people hear the word, and they receive it with joy until hard things come into their lives, and then they change their mind.

Some people hear the word, and they make progress, but the worries of life and the desire for money get in the way.

But some people hear the word of God, and they accept it deep into their hearts and bear much fruit.

Jesus was trying to explain why some people listen to him, while others don’t. The difference is not with the power of the seed, or with the generosity of the sower, but with the goodness of the soil. God always teaches what is true. We need ears to hear what he has to say.