Teachings

Come in through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is constrained that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

This is the Rabbi's teaching about entering the Kingdom of Heaven.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. 

One time, the Rabbi had to pass through the land of Shomron and so He came to a town of Shomron called Suchar, near the parcel of ground that Ya'akov gave to his son Yosef; and Ya'akov's well was there.  The Rabbi, being wearied from his journey, sat by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

There came a woman of the Shomroni to draw water. The Rabbi said to her, "Give Me a drink."

"Amen, Amen, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him, the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.  A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." This figure of speech the Rabbi spoke to them but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.

The Rabbi taught about the malchut shamayim [kingdom of heaven] saying "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a dinar for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. "And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and to those, he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' And so they went.

A certain sage stood up to put the Rabbi to the test, saying, "Rabbi, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

And the Rabbi responded, "What is written in the Torah? How does it read to you?"

The Rabbi spoke with his opponents and said, "What do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go work today in the vineyard.' The son answered, 'I will not'; but afterward he regretted it and went. The man came to his second son and said the same thing; and the second son answered, 'I will, sir'; but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?"

One of the Prushim asked the Rabbi to have dinner with him so he came to the house of the Parush and reclined at his table. There was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the house of the Parush, she brought a vial of perfume, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Parush who had invited the Rabbi saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were truly a prophet he would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him, that she is a sinner."

And the Master answered him, "Shimon, I have something to say to you."

The Rabbi taught about the malchut shamayim [kingdom of heaven] saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

The Rabbi presented a parable to his students, saying, "The malchut shamayim [the kingdom of heaven] may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat, and went away. [Darnel is a poisonous weed (Lolium temulentum) that resembles wheat and parasitizes wheat fields.]  But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the darnel became evident also.

The Rabbi taught us about the malchut shamayim [kingdom of heaven] saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.  And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent out other slaves saying, 'Tell those who have been invited, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast!"'"

The Rabbi once shared this parable, "A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and he squandered his possessions there."

The Rabbi's teachings were well received by many, and tax collectors and other sinners were coming near him to listen to him. The Prushim and the sages began to grumble, saying, "This man accepts sinners and eats with them." So the Rabbi told them this parable,

The Rabbi taught about the malchut shamayim [kingdom of heaven] saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king of flesh and blood who wished to settle accounts with his slave.  When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand kikkarim of silver was brought to him.  But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.'"

The Rabbi told his students a parable to teach them that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart.  "In a certain city, there was a judge who did not fear G-d and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Give me legal protection from my opponent.'

The Rabbi taught us, "The kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten alamot [young, unmarried women], who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  When the foolish took their lamps, they did not take any oil with them.  The prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps."

The Rabbi was traveling from one city and village to another proclaiming and teaching about G-d's kingdom.  When a large crowd had come together, he spoke by way of a parable:

"The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. Other seed fell into the good soil, grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great."

As he said these things, he would call out, "The one who has ears to hear, let him hear."

The Rabbi taught this parable, "A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return.  And he called ten of his servants, and gave them ten manim and said to them, 'Do business with this until I come back.' But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over us!'"

The Rabbi taught us, "The malchut shamayim [the kingdom of heaven] is like a man who casts seed upon the soil, and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows.  How?  He himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

The Rabbi shared a story saying, "Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, and enjoyed delights and rejoiced every day. And a poor man named Lazar was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.

Once a man said to the Master, "Rabbi, please tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

He responded, "Son of man, who placed me over you as a judge or arbitrator?  See and guard yourselves from dishonest gain, because a person's life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions."

The Rabbi took up his parable and said to those present,

The Rabbi told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Parush and the other a tax collector."

The Rabbi taught us, "When the promised son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him; and he will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and he will put the sheep on his right, and the goats on the left. Then he will say to those nations on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was traveling, and you invited me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.'

One day, the Rabbi shared this parable with his students, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. And he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be a manager!'

On one occasion there were some who reported to the Rabbi about the horrendous murder of some men whose blood had been mixed with their sacrifice to HaShem.

He said to them, "Do you suppose that these men were greater sinners than all others because they suffered this fate?"

One time while traveling, when the Rabbi saw the crowds following him, he went up onto a mountain to teach them; and after he sat down, his talmidim came to him.

He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,
"O, the gladness of the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

A certain sage stood up to put the Rabbi to the test, saying, "Rabbi, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

And the Rabbi responded, "What is written in the Torah? How does it read to you?"

The Rabbi spoke to his opponents saying, "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT AND BUILT A TOWER [Isaiah 5:1-4], and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine growers to receive his produce.  The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third."

The Rabbi taught us, "The kingdom of heaven is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five kikkarim of silver, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.  Immediately the one who had received the five kikkarim went and traded with them, and earned five additional kikkarim."