grown, it becomes the greatest of all herbs and is like a tree so that the birds of heaven are able to come and rest in the branches thereof."
"The kingdom of heaven is also like leaven which a woman took and hid
in three measures of meal, and in this way it came about that all of the meal was
leavened."
"The kingdom of heaven is also like a treasure hidden in a field, which a
man discovered. In his joy he went forth to sell all he had that he might have
the money to buy the field."
"The kingdom of heaven is also like a merchant seeking goodly pearls;
and having found one pearl of great price, he went out and sold everything he
possessed that he might be able to buy the extraordinary pearl."
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a sweep net which was cast into the
sea, and it gathered up every kind of fish. Now, when the net was filled, the
fishermen drew it up on the beach, where they sat down and sorted out the fish,
gathering the good into vessels while the bad they threw away."
Many other parables spoke Jesus to the multitudes. In fact, from this time
forward he seldom taught the masses except by this means. After speaking
to a public audience in parables, he would, during the evening classes, more
fully and explicitly expound his teachings to the apostles and the evangelists.
The multitude continued to increase throughout the week. On Sabbath Jesus hastened away to the hills, but when Sunday morning came, the crowds returned. Jesus spoke to them in the early afternoon after the preaching of Peter, and when he had finished, he said to his apostles: "I am weary of the throngs; let us cross over to the other side that we may rest for a day."
On the way across the lake they encountered one of those violent and sudden windstorms which are characteristic of the Sea of Galilee, especially at this season of the year. This body of water is almost seven hundred feet below the level of the sea and is surrounded by high banks, especially on the west. There are steep gorges leading up from the lake into the hills, and as the heated air rises in a pocket over the lake during the day, there is a tendency after sunset for the cooling air of the gorges to rush down upon the lake. These gales come on quickly and sometimes go away just as suddenly.
It was just such an evening gale that caught the boat carrying Jesus over to the other side on this Sunday evening. Three other boats containing some of the younger evangelists were trailing after. This tempest was severe, notwithstanding that it was confined to this region of the lake, there being no evidence of a storm on the western shore. The wind was so strong that the waves began to wash over the boat. The high wind had torn the sail away before the apostles could furl it, and they were now entirely dependent on their oars as they laboriously pulled for the shore, a little more than a mile and a half distant.
Meanwhile Jesus lay asleep in the stern of the boat under a small overhead shelter. The Master was weary when they left Bethsaida, and it was to secure rest that he had directed them to sail him across to the other side. These ex-fishermen were strong and experienced oarsmen, but this was one of the worst
