“According
to Matthew”
A study of the Gospel of
Matthew
Part 14: Parables of
Contrast
Matthew presents to us a story about a
King who is different than any other King that ever lived. The
Servant King, The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Likewise, His
Kingdom is radically different from any kingdom ever seen on earth.
It goes beyond all expectations and rewrites all the preconceived
rules about what is and who was important. Chapter 13 contains
parables that contrast the kingdoms of this world with the Kingdom of
God .
Parables have been described as
‘concrete familiar illustrations to explain abstract concepts’.
Some are readily accessible, others more obscure. Many times when
Jesus wanted to say something really important He used a story or a
word picture. Parables have many layers. You think you get it and
then suddenly you see it in a different way. I compare them to those
‘Magic Eye’ pictures where you are staring and staring and then
suddenly it comes into focus!
Rather than our usual practice of
reading straight through the chapter it is helpful to link the
parables that have an explanation attached to their corresponding
verses. But firstly we look at a question that is put to Jesus by His
disciples, about parables themselves.
Read 13:10-17 and 34-35.
10
And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to
them in parables?" 11
And He answered and said to them, "To you it has been granted to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not
been granted. 12
"For whoever has, to him shall more
be
given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have,
even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13
"Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing
they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they
understand.
14
"And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled,
which says, 'You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; And
you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; 15
For the heart of this people has become dull, And with their ears
they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes Lest they should
see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with
their heart and return, And I should heal them.' 16
"But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears,
because they hear. 17
"For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men
desired to see what you see, and did not see it;
and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
34
All these things Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables, and He
did not speak to them without a parable, 35
so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled,
saying, "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things
hidden since the foundation of the world."
Jesus speaks to the people in parables
as a way of preparing them to receive Kingdom teaching. He was
bringing them new insights and unfamiliar understandings about the
way God worked in the world. They wouldn’t get it all at once, and
some of them would never get it!
He references the prophet Isaiah and
words that come from a passage in Isaiah 6 chapter that is all about
the prophets call to proclaim God’s Word in the face of
indifference and misunderstandings. The fact that many people
wouldn’t get it, did not take away the responsibility of the
prophet to proclaim it. The Message Bible captures the nuance in this
passage well when it transliterates verse 14 as Jesus saying; “I
don't want Isaiah's forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are
open but you don't hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don't
see a thing….”
Even the disciples struggled to
understand these parable stories, but they were in the priveliged
position of having the story-teller with them. They had left all to
follow Jesus and part of their reward was an increasing insight into
the ways of the Kingdom, insights that remained an incomprehensible
mystery to outsiders. Jesus reminds them of just how fortunate they
were by telling them: 16
"But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears,
because they hear. 17
"For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men
desired to see what you see, and did not see it;
and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
To understand God’s Word requires the
action of God’s Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that inspired the
writer needs to be allowed to inspire the reader. The action of the
Holy Spirit is that of an interpreter to our hearts the mysteries of
the Kingdom. That’s why worship is so important. Through worship we
deepen our relationship with God and are seeking to open our lives to
the influence of God. We do so in community, because as we gather
together in worship we have gifts to share and things to learn from
each other.
A complete outsider picks up a bible
tries to read it, picking out verses at random, and it is a closed
book. They will soon pick up on passages that they don’t understand
or even that make them question, “How can this be a Word of a God?”
But in the context of a worshipful community and with a heart
attitude of humility and seeking everything looks different.
Going back to the ‘Magic Eye’ book
idea, it is how you focus that determines whether or not you see the
picture. So it is with parables. They are a window offering a new
understanding. But not everybody sees them at once. And even when
you do, often you keep coming back to them, and you see things you
missed. The depth of these simple stories can be mind-boggling. As
Jesus explains, again referencing Isaiah, in verse 35; "I
will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the
foundation of the world."
So let us look at some of the parables
in Matthew 13, parables I’m describing as ‘Parables of Contrast’
because they reveal unexpected aspects of the Kingdom of God. (hand
out sheet). Firstly, one of the best known stories Jesus ever
told, the parable of the Sower.
Read verses 13:1-9 & the
explanation in verses 18-23.
Matthew
13:1 On that day Jesus went out of the house, and was sitting by the
sea. 2
And great multitudes gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and
sat down, and the whole multitude was standing on the beach. 3
And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold,
the sower went out to sow; 4
and as he sowed, some seeds
fell
beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5
"And others fell upon the rocky places, where they did not have
much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth
of soil. 6
"But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because
they had no root, they withered away. 7
"And others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and
choked them out. 8
"And others fell on the good soil, and yielded a crop, some a
hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9
"He who has ears, let him hear."
18
"Hear then the parable of the sower. 19
"When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not
understand it, the evil one
comes
and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on
whom seed was sown beside the road. 20
"And the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is
the man who hears the word, and immediately receives it with joy; 21
yet he has no firm
root
in himself, but is only
temporary,
and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word,
immediately he falls away. 22
"And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the
man who hears the word, and the worry of the world, and the
deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23
"And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the
man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit,
and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."
One can picture four groups of people
in the crowd. There's the ones who say 'Yes. My gardens a bit like
that' and any spiritual message just goes right over their heads.
They are left at the roadside. Then there are those who say, 'This
guy knows what he's talking about. He knows about farming. I'll have
to check it out'. But then someone says 'Have you heard what some of
the Pharisees are saying about him? You don't want to get mixed up
with a trouble-maker like that!'” So that's the end of that.
Then there are the ones who totally get
the point. They go home and tell their wife 'Hey, you got to hear
this story this guy called Jesus told. He was talking about sowing
seeds and how like, spiritual messages can take root in our lives and
good things can happen' 'Never mind spiritual messages and mucking
about with seeds, have you taken the trash out yet? And what about
little Ruebens toothache? Why can't we live in a nice neighborhood
like your sister, next door to a dentist? You expect me to take care
of everything around here? We've got bills to pay, those Romans won't
wait till you have gone and plowed a field before they'll be
demanding taxes again.” and so verse 22
'...and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke
the word'
Yet there remain some who will totally
get the message. And when they do it will bring forth more good
things than they dare imagine. Thirty-fold was a lot of growth.
Sixty-fold was a huge amount of growth. A hundred-fold would be
considered miraculous! Jesus is telling them that once they truly
took His message on board then the results were gloriously
unpredictable.
What was unusual about this parable was
that the general belief about the kingdom of God was that when the
Messiah came it would be a one-off, instantly recognizable to
everybody, event. The Messiah would be a conquering king and
establish God's rule in an act of triumph. Now here is Jesus saying
that it wasn't going to be like that. That individuals would respond
in different ways to the invitation to be in the Kingdom. Some would
understand. But many would not.
So how would this work out? How could
you tell who was in and who was out? Maybe, our next passage
suggests, that was not how the kingdom worked. Read verses 24-30 and
verses 36-43.
24
He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of
heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25
"But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares
also among the wheat, and went away. 26
"But when the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares
became evident also. 27
"And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did
you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' 28
"And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' And the slaves
said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?' 29
"But he said, 'No; lest while you are gathering up the tares,
you may root up the wheat with them. 30
'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of
the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the
tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat
into my barn."'"
36
Then He left the multitudes, and went into the house. And His
disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the
tares of the field." 37
And He answered and said, "The one who sows the good seed is the
Son of Man, 38
and the field is the world; and as
for the
good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the
sons of the evil one;
39
and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end
of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40
"Therefore just as the tares are gathered up and burned with
fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41
"The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather
out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit
lawlessness, 42
and will cast them into the furnace of fire; in that place there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43
"Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom
of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
In the parable of the sower faithful
disciples are compared to being good soil. In this parable they are
compared to being good seeds, whilst those who reject and oppose the
Kingdom are described as weeds or tares.
The thinking of the times suggested
that when the Messiah came He would set up office and choose other
righteous folk to govern the Kingdom along with Him. Everybody would
know who was in charge and who the good guys and bad guys would be.
This parable suggests that such is not the way the Kingdom is going
to be revealed.
The citizens of the Kingdom would be
mixed up with the citizens of the world, all growing up together and
ultimately only God would know the difference. William Barclay in his
commentary speaks of the weed being a plant called ‘bearded
darnel’, that closely resembles wheat in it’s early stages of
growth. In later stages of growth the plants had to be separated as
the grain of the darnel is poisonous and could cause sickness. In
it’s earliest stages it was indistinguishable. Only at Harvest-time
would the separation be made.
Barclay feels this is one of the most
important parables that Jesus told as it functions on a variety of
levels.
- It reminds us that hostility to the gospel message is always present in our world. We are surrounded by many influences, some for good, some for our ruin and we must be careful to distinguish between the two.
- It teaches us that it can be hard to distinguish between the righteouss and unrighteousness. That we should not be too quick to classify people or label them good or bad without knowing all the facts of their situations.
- It teaches us that hasty judgments can be terribly destructive. If the reapers in the parable had their way they would have destroyed the bad AND the good.
- It teaches us that judgment is inevitable. People may think that actions do not have consequences, but this parable teaches that the consequences of our actions, though sometimes slow in coming, nevertheless will catch up with us somewhere along the line.
- It reminds us that only God can be the final judge for only God is truly righteouss. Judgment is God’s prerogative, not ours. Only God sees the whole picture.
Next comes the parable of
the Mustard Seed. Verses 31 - 32
31
He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of
heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his
field; 32
and this is smaller than all other
seeds;
but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and
becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its
branches."
The expectation of the Kingdom of God
was that it would arrive suddenly in a blaze of glory. The
unexpected characteristic spoken of here is that the Kingdom begins
in insignificance and it’s growth is a surprise!
Mustard seeds are not actually the
smallest seeds in the world, but in the literature of the day were
considered as representing things that were tiny or insignificant.
Today we may say that a little amount of water is a thimble-full
though we know that a thimble is not actually a recognized unit of
measurement. It’s a word picture and Jesus is telling stories.
We also know that technically mustard
seeds grew into bushes not trees. But they could grow into mighty big
bushes, sometimes 12 feet tall. Not a lot compared to a mighty
Redwood or Scots Pine, but impressive for a mustard bush. The
significance of Jesus using the term ‘tree’ was that the tree in
the Old Testament was a representation of an empire or even the
coming Kingdom of God.
For example in fourth chapter of the
Book of Daniel (verses10-12)
10
'Now these
were the
visions in my mind as
I lay on
my bed: I was looking, and behold, there
was a
tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was
great.
11
'The tree grew large and became strong, And its height reached to the
sky, And it was
visible
to the end of the whole earth. 12
'Its foliage was
beautiful
and its fruit abundant, And in it was
food
for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, And the birds
of the sky dwelt in its branches, And all living creatures fed
themselves from it. (NAS)
This imagery of tiny seeds
and empire trees would not be as unfamiliar to the first hearers as
they are to us. The presence of Jesus in their midst, was the very
presence of that hoped for Kingdom. At times His works and His
disciples seemed insignificant yet they were ushering in a new age.
This King may well operate in meekness and ride a donkey instead of a
war-horse, but this Kingdom wasn’t anything like any that had ever
been seen before.
This passage is one of
great comfort if ever we feel overwhelmed at the size of the task
before us. We may feel that the only way the world can be won to
Christ is by huge campaigns or great crusades. On the contrary it is
the little things that we do that reveal the greatness of the Kingdom
(and of its King). In God’s Kingdom, the little things are the big
things. Elsewhere Jesus speaks of faith, not as a sledgehammer, but
uses the imagery of a mustard seed. Such ‘mustard seed’ faith is
described as mountain moving.
But onto another parable:
‘The Yeast’ or ‘The Leaven’ Verse 33.
33
He spoke another parable to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like
leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three pecks of meal, until it
was all leavened."
Bread was baked at home.
Flour from a hand-mill was mixed with water and then placed upon
heated flat stones. If the bread was to be leavened, a piece of dough
from the previous day (leaven) was put into the new dough and the
whole lump left by the fire until the yeast in the old dough had
permeated the whole.
Unleavened bread is like a
wafer. Passover is celebrated with unleavened bread because the
Israelite s did not have time to allow the dough to do its work
before fleeing from Egypt. Bread baked with leaven is soft and
porous and spongy, more like what we are familiar with as bread! The
introduction of the leaven (or yeast) causes a transformation in the
dough; so the coming of the Kingdom is meant to cause a
transformation in a persons life.
This transformation is an inward
process of renewal through God’s Spirit. Kingdom growth is not seen
as pulling ourselves up by own boot straps. It is allowing God’s
righteousness to transform us. The Kingdom is not something that we
grow in ourselves from our own raw material. The Kingdom is rather
implanted in a different raw material and grows to fill the whole
personality. It is not about external conformity
but inward renewal.
Once the leaven is added to the dough
it changes it from a passive lump into a seething, bubbling, heaving
mass. So as the Holy Spirit changes our hearts we are transformed
into those who agitate for the Kingdom. We become concerned at things
that once never bothered us. We are alive to situations that had
before passed us by. Previously Jesus has spoken of the heart, the
inner being, as being the place where all the action takes place that
makes a person what they are.
The Kingdom was thought of as being a
‘from the top, ruled and controlled’ affair. Now it appears to be
‘from the inside out’ experience. The idea of the woman ‘hiding’
the three pecks of meal is maybe indicative of the mystery of
transformation. God works in the secret places of our lives to change
us. We don’t always realize what is going on and may think nothing
is actually changing. This parable is an encouragement to stick with
God and allow God’s Spirit to do the transforming.
Next we have Hidden Treasure. Verse 44.
44
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field,
which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all
that he has, and buys that field.
The rather startling image in this
parable was the challenge to the understanding that when the Kingdom
came it would be a very public thing and easily seen by all. Rather
in this parable it is hidden from view and only stumbled upon
accidentally whilst a man is going about his daily business. It comes
as an amazing personal discovery, not as a corporate revelation.
This parable needs interpreting in
tandem with the next one, that of the pearl. In the parable of the
pearl, the seeker is a person is quite deliberate about their task.
Read verse 45
45
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine
pearls, 46
and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that
he had, and bought it.
So we have the contrast between those
who are caught up in the Kingdom almost by accident and those who
follow the ‘Seek and ye shall find’ road into discipleship. It’s
not an either/or situation, but rather a both/and.
In Church life when you speak about
personal spiritual journeys you often find there are those who were
brought up in the faith, who cannot remember a time when their faith
wasn’t part of their lives, and those who ‘stumbled’ into the
Kingdom along their own Damascuas Road. Both find great joy in their
religion, both can be equally committed. And both realize that they
have discovered something that demands their ultimate investment.
The traditional view of the Kingdom was
that it’s arrival would take care of everything. The values that
people held dear would not have to change. Prosperity, Peace and
everlasting joy would be on hand at no extra charge. The contrast in
the parable of the pearl is that living for the Kingdom required a
change in value systems. That the Kingdom was such a pricelss thing
that you were prepared to give up everything else to be a part of it.
In that sense, the parable of the pearl is a restatement of Matthew
6:33 "But
seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things
shall be added to you.
William Barclay
concludes ‘Once
again we are left with the same truth – that, however a person
discovers the will of God for themselves, whether it be in the
lightning flash of a moments illumination or at the end of a long and
conscious search, it is worth anything unhesitatingly to accept it”
Our final parable reiterates some of
the themes we have already heard. The Kingdom is not an event fixed
in time that suddenly bursts in and changes everything. It is rather
a long process and the final outcome is entirely in God’s hands.
The parable of the net. Verse 47 - 52
47
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the
sea, and gathering fish
of
every kind; 48
and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat
down, and gathered the good fish
into
containers, but the bad they threw away. 49
"So it will be at the end of the age; the angels shall come
forth, and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50
and will cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. 51
"Have you understood all these things?" They said to Him,
"Yes." 52
And He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a
disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who
brings forth out of his treasure things new and old."
Some of this teaching was startlingly
new. Some of it the disciples had heard before. Whether old or new,
it was all of great value, and the disciple who understood the things
of the Kingdom would make the connection. As The Message Bible
transliterates so well [52]
He said, "Then you see how every student well-trained in God's
kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on
anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it."
These parables were not only to
describe to the crowds how the Kingdom of King Jesus differed from
all their expectations, it was also to instruct the disciples as to
how to conduct their mission. The last parable in the series is
related to the fisherman's task. Such was a trade familiar to at
least a third of the twelve disciples. It was way back in Matthew
4:19 we read “And
He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of
men."
The nature of their
mission, and ours, has here been pictured in parable. We are to sow,
realizing that only a portion of the seed will be fruitful. We are to
realize that the fruit of our seeds grows up alongside the fruit of
the world and not seek to prematurely separate the two. God’s
Kingdom will be glimpsed in unexpected places. And ultimately God
alone will judge.
We are to do the little
things, the mustard seed actions, the unnoticed acts, the seemingly
insignificant, and allow God to work on the growing. We are to
recognize that the process is one that works from the inside out, not
from the top-downward. Transformation comes as people open up to God,
not through the external imposition of laws and rules. We are to
recognize that people discover the Kingdom in their own unique ways.
Some may be stumblers, others may be seekers. We will know they have
come upon something as we witness their desire to be invested in the
tasks of the Kingdom. Whilst we are to cast the net, it is God alone
who sorts out the fish!
Having finished with the
parables, our chapter concludes with a less than happy homecoming.
Verses 53-58.
53
And it came about that when Jesus had finished these parables, He
departed from there. 54
And coming to His home town He began
teaching
them in their synagogue, so that they became astonished, and said,
"Where did
this
man get
this
wisdom, and these
miraculous
powers? 55
"Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary,
and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56
"And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did
this
man get
all
these things?" 57
And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet
is not without honor except in his home town, and in his own
household."
58
And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
There is a saying ‘familiarity breeds
contempt’. When He heads back to Nazareth Jesus does not find a
welcome. Folk who had known him so well before His baptism by John
find it impossible to see beyond the person He once was. His work is
frustrated by the peoples unbelief.
We eventually experience this in every
congregation that is settled. Our expectations of what God can do in
our church, in our town, in our time, becomes blunted by our
familiarity. We know each other so well that we become incredulous at
the idea of miracles happening in our midst. Matthew soberingly
describes this state of affairs as being ‘unbelief’.
Notice also that it is not the
preaching of Jesus that is the problem. His message is the same as He
preached elsewhere. Going back to our parables, a great message means
nothing if it falls on unprepared soil. William Barclay comments;
“In any church service the congregation preaches more than half the sermon. The congregation brings an atmosphere with it. That atmosphere is either a barrier through which the preachers word cannot penetrate; or else it is such an expectancy that even the poorest sermon becomes a living flame… When we meet together to listen to the Word of God, we must come with eager expectancy, and must focus, not on the person who speaks, but on the Spirit who speaks through them”
Chapter 13… all about parables, that are told against the
background of increasing misunderstanding and growing opposition. We
will see in the next chapter how the hostility of Herod results in
John’s murder, how Jesus continues to demonstrate His authority
(‘exousia’) and how His heartfelt mission continues to meet the
peoples needs. But that’s all for now folks!