It has been said that the
parables of Jesus are an earthly story with a heavenly message. Many don’t like that description because it
is too simple. But it is as true of
parables as it is of Jesus – he is THE earthly story with THE heavenly message.
Jesus is a living parable revealing the reality of heaven on earth and
is the one who teaches us in parables with an earthly understanding of a
heavenly reality.
Jesus quoted
from Isaiah 6:9-10. The prophet
Isaiah had found that people were so lost in sin that they resented hearing
God's Word and deliberately turned away. Jesus experienced the same
disappointment and frustration. Thus, the most common interpretation of Jesus'
saying is that the people's hardness of heart (pride, arrogance and prejudice)
prevented them from understanding and accepting Jesus' teachings.
The Kingdom of God
The kingdom of God is the centerpiece of Jesus'
teachings. Matthew speaks instead of the "kingdom of heaven – synonymous,
the same reality is intended. The Gospel of John mentions the kingdom only
twice but refers many times to the closely related concept of eternal life.
For hundreds of years, the Jews had been expecting the
decisive intervention of God to restore the glory of Israel and defeat its
enemies. When John the Baptist and then Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom was
at hand, it was certainly understood in terms of this expectation.
However, the kingdom initiated by Jesus is not the
earthly kingdom that was widely inferred from the Old Testament prophesies. It
is a spiritual kingdom that is now growing in the hearts of men and women, and
it will find its fulfillment in the eventual sovereign rule of God and defeat
of all evil. Those people who choose to belong to God's kingdom and serve Him
are those who are destined to inherit eternal life in God's presence.
Matthew 13:1-53
PARABOLIC INTRODUCTION
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he
got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables,
saying:
PARABLE OF
THE SOWER
"A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the
path, and the birds came and ate it up.5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
9 He who has ears, let him hear."
PARABOLIC INTERRUPTION
# 1
10 The disciples
came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?" He replied,
"The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but
not to them. Whoever has will be given
more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has
will be taken from him. This is why I
speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing,
they do not hear or understand. 14 In them is
fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: Isaiah 6:9-10
'You will be ever hearing but never
understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's
heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have
closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their
ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' But blessed are your
eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the
truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not
see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
INTERPRETATION
OF THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER
18 "Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:
When anyone
hears the message about the
kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away
what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
The one who received the seed
that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it
with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or
persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man
who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of
wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.
But the one who received the
seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it.
He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was
sown."
What does it mean? The word of the kingdom of God must go out everywhere in hopes
that it will grow somewhere and multiply. It’s about HOW the kingdom gets
shared.
PARABLE OF
THE WHEAT AND THE WEEDS
24 Jesus told
them another parable:
"The kingdom
of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while
everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went
away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir,
didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' 'An enemy did
this,' he replied.
"The servants asked him, 'Do
you want us to go and pull them up?' 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up
the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I
will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be
burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'
Until the fulfillment of the kingdom of God, good
and evil will grow up side by side. John 5:28-29
"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are
in their graves will hear his voice and come out — those who have done good
will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
What does it mean? The kingdom of God will be fully instituted one day and either you
are in or you are out.
PARABLE OF
THE MUSTARD SEED
31 He told
them another parable:
"The kingdom of heaven is like
a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the
smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden
plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its
branches."
Amazing that from this tiny
seed grows and incredibly large plant.
As long as you have at least one seed, there is hope for the kingdom to
grow. A church of 30 who grows the 60
sees 60 with great hope of more growth.
Church of a hundred who shrinks to 60 sees 60 as a death notice for
their church. You only need one mustard
seed to grow the kingdom of God into something great – what kind of seed are
you? A small one? No problem, God can do far more than we ever
ask or imagine…
What does it mean? The kingdom of God will grow when farmers plant the seed they are
given.
PARABLE OF
THE YEAST
33 He told them still another parable:
"The kingdom of heaven is
like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it
worked all through the dough."
What does it mean? The kingdom of God will grow when bakers use the yeast they are
given.
PARABOLIC INTERRUPTION
# 2
34 Jesus
spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to
them without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the
prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden
since the creation of the world."
36 Then he
left the crowd and went into the house.
His disciples
came to him and said, "Explain
to us the parable of the weeds in the field." He answered, "The one who
sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good
seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil
one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the
age, and the harvesters are angels. "As the weeds are pulled up and burned
in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out
his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin
and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the
sun in the kingdom of
their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
PARABLE OF
THE HIDDEN TREASURE
44 The kingdom of heaven is like
treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in
his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
What does it mean? The kingdom of God is worth more than anything else in this life.
PARABLE OF
THE PEARL OF GREAT PRAICE
45 Again, the
kingdom of heaven
is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value,
he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
What does it mean? The kingdom of God is worth more than anything else in this life.
PARABLE OF
THE NET
47 Once
again, the kingdom of
heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all
kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then
they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.
This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate
the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
What does it mean? The kingdom of God is exclusive – every fish can become a good fish,
but not every fish chooses to do so by putting their trust in the King of the
kingom.
PARABOLIC
CONCLUSION
51 "Have you
understood all these things?" Jesus asked. "Yes," they replied.
52 He said to
them, "Therefore every teacher of
the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who
brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old." 53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there.
Jesus brought out an old passage from the Isaiah
storeroom and linked it to his new present day storeroom of frustration with
those who hear but won’t believe. So he
taught them in parables – simple stories that if listened too with the heart as
well as the head will lead to understanding about the kingdom of heaven – but
only if you have a personal relationship with the one who told them – Jesus
Christ.
he experts of our day haven't a clue about what this
eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn't have killed the Master of the
God-designed life on a cross. 9 That's why we have this Scripture text:
No one's ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it —
What God has arranged for those who love him.
10 But you've seen and heard it because God by his
Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you. The Spirit, not content to flit around on the
surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all
along. 11 Who ever knows what you're thinking and planning except you yourself?
The same with God — except that he not only knows what he's thinking, 12 but he
lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation
that he is giving us. 13 We don't have to rely on the world's guesses and
opinions. We didn't learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned
it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we're passing it
on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.
14 The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature,
can't receive the gifts of God's Spirit. There's no capacity for them. They
seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit — God's Spirit
and our spirits in open communion. 15 Spiritually alive, we have access to
everything God's Spirit is doing, and can't be judged by unspiritual critics.
16 Isaiah's question, "Is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit,
anyone who knows what he is doing?" has been answered: Christ knows, and
we have Christ's Spirit.
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary
Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
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