The Kingdom Parables Matthew 13:44-52 Introduction

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1 Introduction The chapter began with Jesus leaving a house and sitting by the sea (v.1). Multitudes gathered and Jesus got into a boat and spoke to the people a series of parables (v.3). In our studies we learned that a parable is an earthly story that describes a heavenly truth. Our English word parable is a transliteration of the Greek parabole which means to place beside, to cast alongside. A parable then is a story where we place one thing beside another for the purpose of teaching (see Window s On The Parables; Warren Wiersbe p. 11). The purpose of the parable is to reveal the truth to the righteous (vv.9-12a; 34-35,51) and conceal the truth from the unrighteous (v.12b-13). The condition of the people s hearts made it necessary for Jesus to speak in parables. Isaiah predicted that much of Israel would not be able to understand or accept the truths contained in Christ s parables (Isa. 6:9-10). We looked at the parable of the sower and the soils (vv.3-9; 18-23); the wheat and the tares (vv ); the mustard seed (vv.31-32) and the leaven and the loaf (v.33). Jesus provides explanations for the sower, the seed, the soil (vv.18-23), and the wheat and the tares (vv.36-43). What is the Kingdom of Heaven? Here it seems to be a reference to the events that unfold here on the earth during the King s absence. Jesus is of course the King. He lives and dies and comes back to life. But what things will unfold in his absence? The kingdom of heaven is a mixture of good and evil, true and false. In a sense the kingdom of heaven is the story of Christianity and Christendom it is made up of all who confess Jesus in sincerity or hypocrisy, in truth or pretense. If the tares are false Christians and the mustard seed false growth and the leaven false doctrine we see the events of history unfold just as Jesus described. In the parable of the tares we learned the man was Christ (v.37); the seed were believers, children of the kingdom (v.38) and the field was the world (v.38). The enemy is Satan (v.39) and the tares the children of the devil (v.38). The reapers were angels (v.39) and the harvest the end of the world (v.39). God has determined a time to end our lives, he has also appointed a time for the rise and fall of earthly governments. But these are not parables of disaster but rather of daring rescue. Jesus is committed to saving people. God has pulled out all the stops to rescue us from sin, ourselves and each other. At the close of this age, God will have three peoples: The Jews (the hidden treasure), the church (the pearl), and the saved Gentile nations who will enter the Kingdom (the dragnet)(warren Wiersbe p. 46). The Parable Of The Hidden Treasure (v.44) Matthew 13:44 (NKJV)44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. The Discovery 1

2 Everyone agrees that treasure is valuable. And Jesus describes a man who finds a treasure hidden in a field. The Delight and for joy over it The Decision goes and sells all that he has and buys that field The common interpretation of this parable is the lost sinner, finds the answer to life s pain and problems in Christ. The sinner gives up all he or she has to possess Christ. The interpretation seems plausible but has several flaws. Is the Lord Jesus Christ really a hidden treasure? For some the answer may seem to be why yes! The Lord Jesus is the best kept secret in the world! But I am going to suggest the answer is no! Pull any coin out of your pocket (although most people don t even use coins anymore) and Western Civilization calculates history on the basis of the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ in human history. The Lord Jesus Christ is the most famous and recognizable person in recorded history. Can the sinner find Christ? Can the sinner purchase salvation? In Roman s 3:10 we read; There is none righteous, no not one. Sinners are blind, arrogant, lost. The Bible says there is none who seek God. Some people may say, I am on a search for God. But the God they seem to be seeking is the god of their own imagination or speculation. The God of the Bible is not hidden away in some mountain fortress or monastery or man-made philosophical citadel. The God of the Bible is not found in some mystic subjective experience. The Scripture teaches that you don t look for Jesus but Jesus looks for you! Luke 19:10; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. What sinner could purchase salvation or Christ? In the parable the man did not just purchase the treasure, he purchases the whole field. Earlier in the chapter, Jesus said, the field is the world (v.38). Does the lost sinner buy the whole world, hide Christ just to buy Him? I don t think so. The Old Testament provides us with some clues to who or what this treasure might be. Exodus 19:5; Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine and Psalm 135:4; For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His special treasure. Israel was no ordinary nation. Israel was placed on the earth to be a light, a brilliant jewel that reflected God s glory. Israel was placed in the world to bring glory to God and blessing to humanity and provide a witness to the nations. But in many ways Israel failed in its task and missed its appointment. Yes Israel brought forth the Messiah but Israel also for the most part rejected God s Messiah. It became a nation hidden, a treasure not being invested to produce dividends for God. Jesus Christ gave His all to purchase the whole world; but in a special way, He died for Israel (Warren Wiersbe p. 46). 2

3 What is the field? The whole world. Who is the man? Why the Lord Jesus Christ Himself! The Bible says in the Book of Revelation that one day Jesus will claim His title deed to the planet earth. The first Adam sold us out. Jesus Christ, the last Adam, bought us back. The first Adam ate of a forbidden fruit and handed humanity over to the enemy. The last Adam hung on a tree to redeem humanity from the enemy. Through the first Adam the ground was cursed, for our sake the last Adam became a curse. Sin, through the first Adam produced thorns, God, through the last Adam, wore a crown of thorns on His head. Why? To save you. The Lord Jesus through His sacrificial death rise from the dead and appear before the Father in the Temple of Heaven and declare; I am worthy to take the scroll (the title deed to the earth) mentioned in Revelation 5:1. The price to purchase the earth was not a billion dollars or a billion billion worlds or even the vast treasury of the entire universe. It was blood. It was the death of the Lord Jesus, God s precious unique Son. Why would Jesus leave Heaven and all its riches and set aside His majesty and dignity and all the prerogatives of Deity and pay attention to this planet orbiting this Sun? A world marred by sin consumed by selfish people diseased and destined for death? The Lord Jesus could speak a billion billion worlds into existence, and populated with many more creatures! The Lord Jesus bought the world because it contained a treasure! Could that treasure be in part the Jewish people? Could the treasure include all people? Could the treasure include you? In the parable the man finds the treasure and hides the treasure! He places the treasure in a place where it cannot be found until the moment he can secure the field and the rights to that treasure. You are the treasure. How do we measure worth? The Parable Of A Priceless Pearl (vv.45-46) 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. The Search For Beautiful Pearls Some have argued that Jews did not really care for pearls. Aaron s breastplate contained room for many precious gems but no pearls. All the stone s on the High Priest s breastplate were dug from the earth. But pearls were very precious among the Gentiles in Egypt and Assyria and Rome. Pearls are mentioned by Paul (1 Timothy2:9) in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing. Pearl is of course the only precious gem that is the product of a living organism suffering injury. 3

4 The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is called His body united to Him in His suffering, possessed by Jesus and built by His Spirit (1 Cor. 12:12-27; Heb. 12:23). The pearl was often a symbol for unity and purity and beauty. The New Jerusalem is prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and her gates are found to be twelve pearls (Rev.21:2, 21). Securing The Pearl And Selling All Some suggest that Jesus is the pearl! But once again the careful Bible student faces several problems. Can Jesus be bought? Do we find Jesus or does Jesus find us? In the first century AD the Roman General Vitellius financed an entire war campaign by selling one of his mother s pearl earrings! To convince Rome that Egypt possessed a heritage and wealth that put it above conquest, Cleopatra wagered Marc Anthony she could give the most expensive dinner in history. The Roman reclined as the queen sat with an empty plate and a goblet of wine. She crushed a single from a matched pair; the largest pearl known and dissolved it in the wine and drank the cup. Antony declined to drink the matching pearl. The Roman General admitted that she had won the contest. Pliny, the world s first gemologist, wrote that the two pearls were worth the equivalent of almost $10 million dollars. What makes more sense? The pearl becomes a type and picture of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Beautiful. Precious. Like a pearl the Church owes its existence to the agony of its host. The Pearl is the only gem that owes its existence to a living thing. In I Corinthians 10:32 Paul writes; Give no offense, either to the Jews or the Greeks or the church of God. The Church of Jesus Christ is made up of Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:11). Have you ever seen a beautiful pearl? Unlike most other gems, pearls are a singular unity, one surface, smooth. Pearls cannot be cut like diamonds, or rubies or sapphires. The church has an organic unity. Even though the church in the world may be divided by denominations, it is united in relationship to the living Lord Jesus Christ. Like the pearl, the Church is the product or offspring of suffering. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:25 that husbands are to love their wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. Jesus died for the Church. Like a pearl, the Church grows gradually, primarily through the vehicle of suffering. The Holy Spirit convicts and converts sinners. It is a hidden process. No one sees a pearl being made. The pearl is hidden inside its Host. The oyster is hidden under the water. In the Bible the water s speak of the nations and the Church is hidden under the waters of the nations. Satan opposes the Church, but the Lord Jesus is forming His precious Pearl layer by layer. There is only One Pearl and one Church. I have been told by those who know a lot about pearls that it takes about seven years to make a pearl. A pearl begins as nothing more than an irritating grain of sand or some other substance stuck in the shell of the oyster. But the oyster surrounds the 4

5 offending irritating object with a crystalline covering called nacre which hardens over the years and becomes the precious and valuable pearl. That s us! An irritating speck of dirt and God covers us and surrounds us the His royal robes of righteousness. For he hath made him to be sin, for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor. 5:21). The Lord Jesus loves you and covers you and then enlarges you! You are the glorious gem. You are the precious pearl. Do you know what ruins pearls? Human sweat. Perspiration! Guys sweat. Girls mist. Self effort has no place on the precious surface of the pearl. Just one more thing. In Revelation 12:12 the Bible speaks of the universe s largest pearls the gates of the New Jerusalem. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. Each gate is made from a single pearl. Where in the God s universe do you suppose that pearl was made? Can you imagine the size of the oyster? Can you imagine the pain and suffering the creature endured to produce that single gate? Heaven is guarded and protected by something valuable, precious, pure and something that symbolizes great suffering! The Parable Of The Dragnet (vv.47-50) 47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, 48which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 49So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. We ve heard this before (vv.40-42). Years ago people started boycotting tuna. It seems fishermen were capturing and destroying large populations of dolphins while fishing for tuna. Boats would drag their nets across many square miles of ocean, capturing all manner of ocean life, in an attempt to harvest the tuna. Jesus is in effect saying the preaching of the gospel is like casting a huge net in the world. We might even think about this net as the presence of the gospel and the church and the influence of Christians and Christianity in the world. Not everyone who hears the gospel will be saved. But everyone must hear the gospel. Like a huge dragnet it captures both good and bad fish (and all the other sea going life). In the so called church there are believers and make believers. There are people in the church who place no confidence in Jesus and don t even believe in Jesus. For some the Church is a simply a part of their culture or heritage or past. For some they have 5

6 some vague, undefined or well defined beliefs about God, but they are not saved. At the end of the age there will be one great harvest, God through His angels will separate the believer and the unbeliever and the make believer. When Jesus returns to the earth he will find the nations at odds with Him living in rebellion and opposition! Will the earth welcome Jesus as the triumphant king or an invading alien? Revelation 19 speaks of a future battle called Armageddon where the forces of the planet earth will wage war against her King and Savior. The Bible indicates that Jesus separate the believer and the unbeliever found on the earth. The same idea is later found in Matthew s gospel in chapter 25:31 in the parable of the sheep and goats. Twice Jesus has used the phrase the end of the age (see vv.39 and 49). What is end of the age? The end of the world? The end of the church age? The beginning or the end of the tribulation? The end of God s dealing with the Jewish people? The Parable Of The Householder (vv ) 51Jesus said to them, Have you understood all these things? They said to Him, Yes, Lord. Do you think the disciples really understood all these things? Understanding involves responsibility. Jesus adds one more parable. 52Then He said to them, Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old. Discover And Live The Truth Conclusion A treasure. A pearl. A dragnet. 6