34-01

stories

Jesus used these stories to teach truths about God’s kingdom. It is not clear if the events actually happened or not.

a mustard seed

This probably refers to the seed of the black mustard plant, which has tiny seeds that rapidly grow into very large plants.

the smallest seed of all

That means the smallest of all the seeds that people planted at that time.

34-03

yeast

Yeast is added to bread dough to make it rise. A little bit of yeast mixed into a large amount of dough makes the whole batch of dough rise.

bread dough

This is a mixture of flour and liquid that can be shaped and baked into bread.

it spreads throughout the dough

The yeast works its way into every part of the dough and causes it all to rise.

34-04

buried it again

He buried the treasure so that no one else would find it before he could buy the field.

buy that field

After he bought the field, he could openly search for all of the treasure, and it would all be his.

34-05

a perfect pearl

This refers to a pearl that does not have any defects, and is therefore very valuable.

a pearl merchant

This refers to a person whose business is buying and selling pearls.

34-06

despised others

This means they considered other people to be inferior to themselves.

the Temple

This refers to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

34-07

that tax collector

The Jews considered the tax collectors to be sinners because they worked for the Romans, collecting taxes from fellow Jews.

34-08

I fast

The religious ruler believed that doing this would earn favor with God.

34-09

stood far away

He did not think he was worthy to come close to the religious leader.

did not even look up to heaven

The word up indicates that people normally looked up to heaven when praying to God, but that this man did not because he was so ashamed of his sin.

he pounded on his chest with his fist

The tax collector pounded on his chest as a sign that he was very sorry that he had sinned.

34-10

declared him to be righteous

Even though the tax collector was a sinner, God was merciful to him because of his humility and repentance.

rather than the religious leader

God did not accept the prayer of the religious leader because he prayed in a proud way. The religious leader did not understand that he was also a sinner.