Bill Hao

Fertile Soil In the Gospels, the Parable of the Sower is one of two parables which Jesus explained to His disciples (cf. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23; Mark 4:1-9, 14-20 and Luke 8:4-8, 11-15). The other is the Parable of the Weeds (cf. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43).   With regards to the Parable of the Sower, one commentary explains that in Jesus’ time, people often sowed the seed first and then plowed the fields. As a result of this planting method, much of…

The Yoke of Christ Jesus was preaching to the crowds when He said, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) In the context of Matthew’s Gospel, those who “labor and are burdened” were the people who…

Loving Jesus more than Family One of the things that Jesus said that raises up a lot of questions comes from Matthew 10: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37) Here, it is vital to pay attention to the words that Jesus said. First of all, Jesus did not say do not love your father or mother, son…

From Adam to Christ   In Rom 5:12-21, St. Paul preaches on the sin of Adam vis-à-vis the grace of God through Christ. He said, “Therefore, just as through one person, sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned.” (Rom 5:12) St. Paul tells us that it was through the sin of Adam, the first man, that sin entered the world. The sin of Adam was his disobedience to God’s…

Dying for sinners Would you die for a sinner? St. Paul said, “Only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die.” (Rom 5:7) According to St. Paul, what makes the Sacrifice of Christ so incredible is that it was done for sinners. It is rare enough that anyone would be willing to lay down his life for a righteous man, but for someone to give us…