What Is the Kingdom of God Like?

Chart 9-7: The Wheat and the Tares

John W. Welch, John F. Hall

Charting the New Testament (2002)

This chart presents Jesus's interpretation of the parable of the wheat and tares found in Matthew 13:24–43.

Chart 9-8: Joseph Smith’s Explanations of Parables in Matthew 13

John W. Welch, John F. Hall

Charting the New Testament (2002)

This chart provides quotations from Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith and various places in the Joseph Smith Papers related to Joseph Smith’s explanations of parables in Matthew 13.

Discipleship and the Epistle of James

David M. Whitchurch

Go Ye into All the World: Messages of the New Testament Apostles, Sidney B. Sperry Symposium 38 (2002)

How to Read a Parable

Richard Lloyd Anderson

Ensign, 4, no. 9 (Sep. 1974)

This article provides guidance on how to read and understand parables, emphasizing the importance of not pushing the details of the stories too far.

Mystery

Michael D. Rhodes

BYU New Testament Commentary Conference (2019)

A number of the Corinthian Saints continued to hold to some of the attitudes of the secular, immoral, materialistic, status-loving culture in which they lived. Because they did not give these up, they caused a devaluation of the universalism, including key truths and growing traditions, that the Church was promoting.

Of Soils and Souls: The Parable of the Sower

Jared M. Halverson

Religious Educator 9, no. 3 (2008)

This article explores the interpretation of the parable of the sower, emphasizing Jesus' refusal to give up on seemingly barren soil and preparing his disciples for encountering a wide range of soils in their preaching.

Parables

Susan Howe

Encyclopedia of Mormonism (1992)

This entry discusses Jesus' parables in Matthew 13 and their application to the latter days.

The Chronicles of Mary and Joseph: Part 4 of 4, Bethlehem and Beyond

S. Kent Brown

The Testimony of Luke, BYU New Testament Commentary, excerpted on the BYU New Testament Commentary website (Dec. 2014)

Brown describes Jesus's infancy, including the visit of the wise men, Herod’s response, and Joseph’s obedience to divine warnings to flee to Egypt and later to Galilee.

The Coexistence of Opposites: The Wheat and Tares Together

John W. Welch, Jeannie S. Welch

The Parables of Jesus: Revealing the Plan of Salvation, excerpted on the BYU New Testament Commentary website (Mar. 2019)

This excerpt discusses the parable of the wheat and tares, highlighting the roles of Jesus as the master who plants good seed and Satan as the enemy who sows weeds.

The Overlooked Epistle of Jude

Gaye Strathearn

Shedding Light on the New Testament: Acts–Revelation (2009)

The author of Jude may have been an apostle or may have been a man with a family connection to both Jesus and James. Jude’s main concern is about the doctrinal drift with the church. He mentions a “first estate” (verse 6), which modern revelation explains in more detail.

The Probationary Nature of Mortality

Robert J. Matthews

The Book of Mormon: Alma, the Testimony of the Word (1992)

“Alma (Alma 11–12) delivered a pointed discourse on the doctrine of the Resurrection and also of the day in which every person will be required to give an account before the judgment bar in the presence of God. Although the entire audience was astonished at the doctrine Amulek taught them, Zeezrom was particularly fearful about the prospect of standing before God to answer for his conduct and began to tremble under a consciousness of his guilt.”

Calming the Stormy Sea

Eric D. Huntsman

The Miracles of Jesus, excerpted on the BYU New Testament Commentary website (Feb. 2015)

This commentary examines Matthew 8:23–27, emphasizing Jesus’s greatness and connection with the Old Testament YHWH through his calming of the storm.

Healing Women

Eric D. Huntsman

BYU New Testament Commentary website (Feb. 2015)

This commentary highlights Jesus’s attention to women and his healing on the Sabbath, showing his compassion and appropriate use of the Sabbath.

How to Read a Parable

Richard Lloyd Anderson

Ensign, 4, no. 9 (Sep. 1974)

This article provides guidance on how to read and understand parables, emphasizing the importance of not pushing the details of the stories too far.

Mystery

Michael D. Rhodes

BYU New Testament Commentary Conference (2019)

A number of the Corinthian Saints continued to hold to some of the attitudes of the secular, immoral, materialistic, status-loving culture in which they lived. Because they did not give these up, they caused a devaluation of the universalism, including key truths and growing traditions, that the Church was promoting.

Of Soils and Souls: The Parable of the Sower

Jared M. Halverson

Religious Educator 9, no. 3 (2008)

This article explores the interpretation of the parable of the sower, emphasizing Jesus' refusal to give up on seemingly barren soil and preparing his disciples for encountering a wide range of soils in their preaching.

Chart 9-11: Repentance and Obtaining Forgiveness

John W. Welch, John F. Hall

Charting the New Testament (2002)

The Savior and his disciples taught the proper steps to obtain forgiveness and reconciliation through the atonement of Jesus Christ. This chart identifies some of these key steps of repentance that are reflected in the scriptures.

Healing the Infirm Woman (Luke 13:10–17)

S. Kent Brown

The Testimony of Luke, BYU New Testament Commentary, excerpted on the BYU New Testament Commentary website (May. 2019)

Jesus’s restoration of this worn-down woman lifts her back to her prior status as a Jewess of strength and vigor, back into the embrace of acquaintances and friends who have come to think ill of her, back to a proper state of self-worth. In a word, Jesus has healed her wholly—physically, socially, and psychologically.

Healing Women

Eric D. Huntsman

BYU New Testament Commentary website (Feb. 2015)

This commentary highlights Jesus’s attention to women and his healing on the Sabbath, showing his compassion and appropriate use of the Sabbath.

Theological Underpinnings of Baptism for the Dead

David L. Paulsen, Roger D. Cook,, Brock M. Mason

BYU Studies Quarterly 55, no. 3 (2016)

“If Jesus was not resurrected, then what is Christianity? In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul reminds us that there were many who saw, with their own eyes, the gloriously embodied, resurrected Jesus.”