“Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13,” New Testament Institute Teacher Manual (2025)

Jesus Christ. Parables. Wheat and Tares, by Cody Bell

Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13

As Jesus sat by the seaside, He began teaching in parables to the multitude. Those who were spiritually prepared to hear, see, and understand discerned the deeper meaning of the parables, while those without “ears to hear” (Matthew 13:9, 43) heard only stories. As disciples of Christ learn to receive the spiritual messages of His parables, the Lord will reveal beautiful truths to them in abundance (see Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 13:10–11 [in Matthew 13:12, footnote a]).

Additional Resources

Scripture Helps: New Testament, “Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13”

The “Introduction to the Course” provides guidance on how to use the four standard lesson elements that follow.

Encouraging Personal Study

Before class, consider sending students one or more of the following messages or some of your own:

When Jesus started teaching the people using parables, the disciples asked Him why. Notice how He answered in Matthew 13:10–17, and come to class ready to see, hear, and understand the Savior’s teachings.
As you watch “Parable of the Sower” (4:37), ponder what you can do to allow the gospel of Jesus Christ to take root in your heart.

4:38
Read the parables in Matthew 13:24–52, and consider what the symbols can teach you about your part in the Lord’s Church.

Questions and Sharing

Provide time for students to ask questions and share insights and truths they discovered in their personal study of Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13.

Skill Training

Matthew 13:4–7 might be a helpful place to use the skill “Visualizing the Scriptures” in Scripture Studies Skills. The skill “Understanding Symbolism in Scripture” could be used in studying Matthew 13:24–52.

Learning Activity Options

Multiple learning options are provided for you and your students. Prayerfully choose which option or options will be most meaningful for your class.

Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23; Luke 8:4–15

What can I do to ensure that the Savior’s gospel takes deep root in my heart?

Invite students to consider and discuss the following scenario, or use one of your own:

Two friends are sitting next to each other in a sacrament meeting. One of them is enjoying listening to the speakers and thinks to herself, “The Spirit is really strong right now!” The other is completely bored and keeps looking at the time, hoping that the meeting will end soon.

Why do you think two people in the same meeting, hearing the same messages, could each have a completely different experience?

Improving Our Teaching and Learning

Adapting the lesson content. Adapt the teaching ideas found in this manual to best meet students’ needs. As prompted by the Holy Ghost, use your own ideas, examples, and personal experiences. Be flexible while adapting the lesson material.

Invite students to think about how willing they are to hear and receive the word of God. Then invite them to review the parable of the sower. Encourage students to consider ways they can be more open and receptive to God’s words.

Invite students to read Matthew 13:3–8 or watch the first part of “Parable of the Sower” (from time code 0:00 to 0:55), looking for how the Savior used objects, people, and actions in the parable. Students could draw these things to help them visualize the parable. They could then discuss what they think the Savior was teaching. You could use the skill “Visualizing the Scriptures” in Scripture Study Skills.

4:38

Invite students to read the Savior’s explanation of the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:19–23 (see also Luke 8:12–15) and to discuss what they learned.

Consider displaying the following statement by President Dallin H. Oaks:

The different soils on which the seeds fell represent different ways in which mortals receive and follow [the teachings of the Master and His servants]. …

The parable of the sower warns us of circumstances and attitudes that can keep anyone who has received the seed of the gospel message from bringing forth a goodly harvest. …

… It is up to each of us to set the priorities and to do the things that make our soil good and our harvest plentiful. (“The Parable of the Sower,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 32, 35)

To help learners evaluate their priorities and what they are doing to “make [their] soil good and [their] harvest plentiful,” consider providing students with the following self-assessment:

After students have completed the self-assessment, you could conclude by discussing the following questions:

What way has the Savior provided for weeds to be pulled, stones to be thrown out, and soil to be enriched?
How can knowing this bring you hope that you can nurture good seeds in your heart?

Consider inviting one or two students to share how improving their soil has drawn them closer to the Savior and helped them enjoy the good fruit of His gospel.

Return to “Learning Activity Options.”

Matthew 13:10–17, 34–35

What must I do to learn the mysteries of God?

Consider displaying the following incomplete statement: “Repentance is like …” Then invite students to think of a physical object that could symbolize repentance.

Or you could display the following images and invite students to explain how each image is like repentance.

What value is there in using physical things to teach spiritual truths?

Point out that the Savior frequently used people, objects, and actions in simple stories, or parables, “to illustrate and teach a spiritual truth or principle” (Guide to the Scriptures, “Parable,” Gospel Library).

Display the following question that the Savior’s disciples asked Him: “Why speakest thou unto them in parables?” (Matthew 13:10). Invite students to look for the Savior’s answer in Matthew 13:11–17. Then invite them to share what they discovered. As they share, consider if any of the following questions could deepen their learning:

What are the “mysteries of the kingdom”? (Matthew 13:11). (If students need help answering this question, you could invite them to read “Mysteries of God” in the Guide to the Scriptures [Gospel Library]).
What keeps people from knowing the mysteries of God? What might it mean to have eyes that can’t see, ears that can’t hear, or a heart that can’t understand?
What can we do to prepare ourselves to receive the mysteries of God? (Consider inviting students to read 1 Nephi 10:19 and Alma 12:9–11. Students may identify a principle like the following: If we open our mind and heart to God, He will reveal His mysteries to us.)

Students could record an example of a mystery of God—something revealed to them by the Holy Ghost—they have received. They could also record something they would like to know.

To conclude, consider displaying the following statement by President Russell M. Nelson:

Does God really want to speak to you? Yes! …

I urge you to stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation, for the Lord has promised that “if thou shalt [seek], thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal” [Doctrine and Covenants 42:61].

Oh, there is so much more that your Father in Heaven wants you to know. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “To those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is clear that the Father and the Son are giving away the secrets of the universe!” (“Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 95)

Provide students time to ponder President Nelson’s statement and to record any impressions they have and should act on.

Note: If your students need some guidance on how to understand parables in this and other learning activities, consider reviewing “Matthew 13. How can we understand parables?” in Scripture Helps: New Testament.

Return to “Learning Activity Options.”

Matthew 13:24–52; Luke 13:18–23

What is my role in building up the kingdom of heaven?

Consider inviting students to write down three reasons a deep, personal commitment to Jesus Christ should be an essential part of our lives. Students could also write down three possible consequences if we lack this commitment. They could share what they wrote with a partner.

Point out that students will be able to identify some reasons Jesus Christ taught that the kingdom of heaven, which is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is important. (You could read together “Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven” in the Guide to the Scriptures [Gospel Library] for additional insights about the term kingdom of heaven.)

As students study Jesus’s parables about the kingdom of heaven, you might invite them to practice the skill “Understanding Symbolism in the Scriptures” in Scripture Study Skills. You could display and share the following tips for understanding scripture symbolism:

Identify symbols by looking for comparisons.
Search for clues about the meaning of symbols in the text of the scriptures and in footnotes, chapter headings, the Guide to the Scriptures, or other sources.
Think about the symbolism. You might ask yourself, “How is the kingdom of heaven or the Church of Jesus Christ like ?”

Invite students to scan Matthew 13:24, 31, 33, 44, 45, and 47, looking for comparisons the Savior made to the kingdom of heaven.

You could write the following incomplete sentence on the board: The kingdom of heaven is like …

Invite students to share how they would complete the sentence based on what they discovered as they read the verses. (Answers could include the following: a man sowing good seed, a mustard seed, leaven, treasure hidden in a field, a merchant man seeking pearls, and a fishing net. Write each of these on the board as students identify them.)

Write the following scripture passages on the board:

Invite students to select a few of the parables to study with a partner or small group. Encourage them to search for clues about the meanings of the parables they study. (Students might also refer to “Matthew 13:3–9, 18–33, 43–50. What can we learn from the parables of gathering?” in Scripture Helps: New Testament.) Groups could then discuss the following questions together for each of the parables they read:

How is the kingdom of heaven, or the Church of Jesus Christ, like the subject of this parable?
How can this parable apply to us in our day?
In what ways is the Savior strengthening His Church today?

Invite students to share insights and truths their group discussed and to write them on the board. You might summarize what they identify by displaying the following truth: The Lord is gathering the righteous into the kingdom of heaven, which is His Church and eventually the celestial kingdom.

Choose a few of the insights on the board, and ask the groups who wrote them to explain more. You might use additional questions like the following to help students apply the Lord’s parables to themselves (students could answer some of these aloud, ponder some, or even record answers on their own):

The Wheat and the Tares

Note: You could point students to the Lord’s interpretations of this parable in Matthew 13:36–43 and in Doctrine and Covenants 86.

Why do you think the Lord allows the righteous to grow amid the wicked? What can you do to remain faithful while surrounded by wicked influences?

A Grain of Mustard Seed

What can we do as Latter-day Saints to help the Savior’s Church continue to grow? How has your life been blessed by spreading the gospel and helping the Church grow?

Leaven

How have you seen the gospel of Jesus Christ lift people or communities? What are ways members of the Church can act as leaven in helping to lift and influence the world for good?

Treasure in a Field and Goodly Pearls

How would you describe the value of the Lord’s Church and teachings in your life?

A Net

Note: Elder D. Todd Christofferson referenced this gospel net in his address “The Doctrine of Belonging” (Liahona, Nov. 2022, 53–56).

What do you think it means that the Lord gathers “of every kind”? (Matthew 13:47). How can you be blessed by the diversity of people in the gospel?

To conclude, you could invite students to review the list they created at the beginning of this learning activity and add another reason the Church is an important part of their lives.

Return to “Learning Activity Options.”