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The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

The Unmerciful Servant

At this the servant fell on his knees before him. Be patient with me, he begged, and I will pay back everything. The servants master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. Pay back what you owe me! he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, Be patient with me, and I will pay it back. But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

Then the master called the servant in. You wicked servant, he said, I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldnt you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.

Dinah Kendall Contemporary artist

Pieter Coecke Van Aelst

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William Drost 1633-1659

The wicked servant ian pollock

Barent Fabritius, 1780 - 1790

Domenico Fetti c. 1620

the unforgiving servant choking the other debtor Jesus Mafa

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Parable of the Ten Virgins Matthew 25:1-13

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out: Heres the bridegroom! Come out to meet him! Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.

No, they replied, there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves. But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. Lord, Lord, they said, open the door for us! But he replied, Truly I tell you, I dont know you. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Heironymus Francken

William Blake

Ain Vares

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James Tissot c. 1886-1894

Heidi Nelson, contemporary artist

Parable of the Talents

Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the lastdividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the masters money.

Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow (17881862)

After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more. 21 The master was full of praise. Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Lets celebrate together![c] 22 The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.

The master said, Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Lets celebrate together! Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didnt plant and gathering crops you didnt cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back. But the master replied, You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didnt plant and gathered crops I didnt cultivate, why didnt you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.

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Then he ordered, Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

John Morgan

Annette Forte Etching

Jan Luyken, Etching

William de Poorter

Jesus Mafa

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Parable of Workers in the Vineyard

Jacob Willemsz, 1632-1675

Rembrandt 1637

Francesco Maffei

Nelly Bube Kazakhstan

11th century, artist unknown

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Red Vineyard, Van Gogh 1888

Jesus Mafa

Parable of Wicked Tenant

The wicked Husbandman Sir John Everett Millais 1864

Jan Luyken

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Wheat and Tares (Weeds)

Here is another story Jesus told: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. 26 When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. The farmers workers went to him and said, Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from? An enemy has done this! the farmer exclaimed. Should we pull out the weeds? they asked.

The Vineyard Owners Son James Tissot

Abraham Bloemaert (1564-1651)

No, he replied, youll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.

Lucas Gassel 1540, Flemish painter

Bassano Schule

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Jeffery Smith 2011

Roger Wagner UK, Contemporary artist

The Sower
Matthew 13:1-23 Mark 4:1-20 Luke 8:1-15

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.

His disciples asked him what this parable meant. This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.

The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by lifes worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

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Jean Franois Millet 1850 Edward Knippers Comtemporary artist

Lisa Snow Lady 2010

Vela Zanetti

James Tissot

Chris Highman Contemporary artist

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Miki deGoodaboom

Reinhold Marxhausen

DeLynn Coppoleti 2010

Reinhold Marxhausen

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich mans table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

Lazarus and the Rich Man Luke 16:19-31

The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abrahams side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.

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But Abraham replied, Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us. He answered, Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.

Abraham replied, They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them. No, father Abraham, he said, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent. He said to him, If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.

Esaias van de Velde

Vasily Surikov 1873

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Fyodor Bronnikov

Gustave Moreau 1875-1878

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