MATTHEW 13:24-33 LESSON: PARABLES OF GOD S JUST KINGDOM June 10, 2018 INTRODUCTION: Matthew 13:18-23 Jesus tells His first parable in this chapter cncerning the swer, the seed, and the sil: it s called "The Parable f the Swer" r "The Parable f the Fur Sils" (13:1-8). But the disciples did nt knw what it meant, s Jesus begins t explain its meaning and purpse (13:18-23). 1 The stry was abut the seed rather than the farmer. The seed means the Wrd f Gd. The Swer is the farmer r in the spiritual, the witness. The sil is the heart. It is the message abut the Kingdm f Gd. The farmer scatters the seed. The peple wh hear the Wrd f Gd receive it in different ways. There were fur types f sil r hearts. 1. Hard silis the wayside sil, fertile but hard. They hear the message but d nt understand it, thus allwing Satan t steal it frm them. 2. Shallw silis the rcky sil, fertile but n depth. They hear the message but the message desn t rt very deeply, thus when persecutin cmes, his enthusiasm fades and drps ut. 3. Weedy silis the thrny grund, fertile but pssessed with weeds. They hear the message, but the cares f this wrld and the deitfulness f riches chke ut the Wrd and ne becmes unfruitful. 4. Gd silis the understanding heart, fertile and prepared. They hear the message, receives it, and bears fruit bringing frth a hundred fld, sme sixty, and sme thirty int the Kingdm. When we talk abut the kingdm f heaven, we re nt talking abut a gegraphic place, but it s a spiritual realm in which Gd rules and reigns, ging int eternity. LESSON: I. PARABLES OF THE TARES MATTHEW 13:24-30 13:24 Anther parable put he frth unt them, saying, The kingdm f heaven is likened unt a man which swed gd seed in his field:jesus uses anther parable cncerning weeds and thistles t explain the kingdm f heaven: It s called "The Parable f the Wheat and the Tares" r "The Parable f the Weeds." The kingdm f heaven is like a man (Christ) wh sws gd seed (righteusness) in his field (the wrld). And the field which is the wrld is Christ s by right because He created it. Therefre, He rules and reigns ver the righteus seed planted. And the gd f it will cme frth at its determined time. 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and swed tares amng the wheat, and went his way. The man (Christ) has swn gd seeds (righteusness). But while men are nt paying attentin; asleep, his enemy (Satan) cmes withut his knwledge, and sws tares (weeds; wickedness; evilness, and falseness) amng the wheat (the gd seed swn), and then the enemy leaves. Satan des his wrk in darkness, behind clsed drs, when yu re nt watching; undercver because he s a swrn 1 https://www.easyenglish.bible/bible-cmmentary/matthew4-13-im-lbw.htm
enemy f Gd. Nte, that it was in the same field as the Lrd s. The bad are swn amng the gd. Sme within the wrld and within the church have nt been swn by the Lrd. They may even lk like they belng t Christ, but they d nt. Get yur Huse in rder! They came while men slept. 13:26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brught frth fruit, then appeared the tares als. The grwth f the blade f wheat cmes up, bringing fruit, but als appears tares. The tares themselves were called "darnel", sme frm f plant r wild crn that was slightly pisnus and narctic. When eaten it wuld cause dizziness and nausea. It was called the bastard wheat. Its rts became intertwined with the rts f the wheat. Hwever, it is during the fruit-bearing stage that the difference appears. A persn s nature will eventually cme frth: what he s thinking; what s n the inside. They will eventually hurt the wheat: their thughts, their attitudes, their md swings. They will drain the nurishment which will eventually deplete the wheat. 13:27 S the servants f the husehlder came and said unt him, Sir, didst nt thu sw gd seed in thy field? frm whence then hath it tares? S, the servants; the slaves f the man cmes t him t tell him what has happened, and hw his field is lking. There were tares (weeds) grwing amng the gd seed, knwing that gd seed was planted. S, where are the tares cming frm? 13:28 He said unt them, An enemy hath dne this. The servants said unt him, Wilt thu then that we g and gather them up? The man tells his servants that they have an enemy amng them that has dne this thing. S the servants ask if they shuld pull the tares up. This is what we have t remember: Scripture reveals that in the beginning Gd is Creatr. Jesus Christ, the Sn f Man is the riginal Swer. He is the Master wner f the field r wrld. Gd created man t be prefect, that is in Our image, after ur likeness (Gen.1:26), and He planted within man a spirit t d right. But immediately after Creatin, the ther swer, the devil, went right t wrk. He began with Adam and Eve (Gen.3:1), and ever since then he has swn nthing but tares (unrighteus) amng Gd s "gd seed." 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye rt up als the wheat with them. Hwever, the man says n, fr if they pulled up any f the tares (weeds) that have been rted in the grund alng with the wheat, they are in danger f destrying the wheat befre the fruit becmes mature, thereby, causing harm t the wheat. False prfessing cnverts prduce n lasting fruit; they may prduce utstanding wrk, but nt real fruit. Wrk is smething yu take wnership f; smething yu d by the reasn f yur strength. Fruit is smething gd prduces within yu; that f the Spirit. Yu give ut prducing wrk. Yu cntinue thrugh Gd s strength prducing fruit. The wheat and the tares r the believers and the unbelievers must live side by side in the wrld fr a while until the harvest (judgment) f all mankind cmes. Christ is the nly judge when He returns. 1. A persn is t be judged fr his whle life. He is nt t be judged fr a single act r fr a particular perid f his life. N ne sees anther persn s whle life. In fact, very little f a persn s life (thught r activity) is seen by any ne individual. 2. A persn may make a serius mistake r g thrugh a stage f terrible sin. Then by the eternal mercy and eternal grace f Gd, he may turn back t Christ and make the rest f his life a wnderful service fr Gd.
3. Any persn wh is judged t be righteus tday may fall int sin later, years later. Only Gd can see the whle f a life. Only Gd can see and knw all the facts that led the persn t sin: facts within his being and facts withut; pleasures within and pleasures withut; relatinships with and relatinships withut. Only Gd can knw a persn cmpletely and fully accurately knw all the ramificatin f every thught and act and stage f life. A Day f Harvest is cming! Make sure yur faith is sure! 13:30 Let bth grw tgether until the harvest: and in the time f harvest I will say t the reapers, Gather ye tgether first the tares, and bind them in bundles t burn them: but gather the wheat int my barn. The slutin t this prblem is t allw bth t grw tgether (that is in the wrld) until harvest. And in that time the reaper will first gather, bind, and burn int bundles the tares, whereas the wheat will be gathered int Gd s barn (heaven). The symblism f this parable: The kingdm f heaven must refer t the church. The Swer is Christ. The enemy is Satan. The field is the wrld. The gd seed is believers. The tares are unbelievers. The harvest is the end f the age. Christ will als be the final Judge wh evaluates the fruit. And the reapers are angels. The furnace is hell. And the barn is heaven. The meaning f this parable: The gspel is t be swn where lst peple are and where cnverts need t be made in the wrld. The kingdm f heaven is a spiritual eternal kingdm where Gd rules and reigns. Jesus uses this parable f a seed t explain the kingdm f heaven, in that, when a gd seed is planted, n matter if amng weeds, its fruit f righteusness will cme frth making Gd s eternal kingdm great. On the ther hand, the seed f wickedness has its reward f dm and it will nt be in heaven, but in hell. II. PARABLES OF THE MUSTARD SEED MATTHEW 13:31-32 13:31 Anther parable put he frth unt them, saying, The kingdm f heaven is like t a grain f mustard seed, which a man tk, and swed in his field: Jesus uses anther parable cncerning a grain f mustard seed t explain the kingdm f heaven. It s called: The Parable f the Mustard Seed. The kingdm f heaven is like a grain f mustard seed which is the smallest f all seeds, and a man takes this seed and sws it in a field. Christ is describing the grwth and greatness f His kingdm and f Christianity in this parable. The seed f faith begins ever s small, but it grws int the greatest f bushes as it nurishes itself day by day. 13:32 Which indeed is the least f all seeds: but when it is grwn, it is the greatest amng herbs, and becmeth a tree, s that the birds f the air cme and ldge in the branches theref. Althugh being the least f all seeds, when its grwn; matures, it s the greatest amng the herbs fr it becmes a very tall tree that even the birds f the air are able t cme and ldge in its branches. The idea seems t be that the tiny beginning f the church will eventually culminate in great grwth. We are reminded that utward grwth is nt always a true picture f spiritual depth. The beginning f Christianity: Christianity began as Christ launched the mvement. Christianity was brn in the sul f a carpenter frm the bscure villages f Nazareth. Christianity was carried frth by men withut psitin and withut prestige. They were nt mighty, nble r famus, but cmmn flk. Christianity numbered nly abut ne hundred and twenty persns when Christ departed this earth.
The herb r bush grew and became a tree. When the kingdm r Christianity is fully grwn, it is the greatest mvement. Christianity is the greatest mvement scially. Christianity is the greatest mvement individually and persnally. Christ gives rest t a persn just as a tree prvides rest fr a bird Christ gives a hme t a persn just as a tree prvides a hme fr a bird. Christ gives fd physically and spiritually, t a persn just as a tree prvides fd fr a bird. III. PARABLES OF THE LEAVEN MATTHEW 13:33 13:33 Anther parable spake he unt them; The kingdm f heaven is like unt leaven, which a wman tk, and hid in three measures f meal, till the whle was leavened. Jesus uses anther parable cncerning leaven t explain the kingdm f heaven. It s called: The Parable f the Leaven. "Leaven" is a lump f ld dugh in a state f fermentatin which cntaminates the bread. 2 In Bible times wmen in every husehld baked their wn bread. Each time she baked, she wuld save a small piece f leavened dugh frm a risen batch just befre it was baked. When the next batch was mixed she tk the saved piece frm the previus batch, and hid it in the new batch s it culd ferment and make it rise. Leaven is virtually always used as a symbl f evil. The kingdm f heaven is like leaven in which a wman hides it in three measures f meal, till the whle meal is leavened. It can be lked at in tw ways: 1. If Jesus is giving the parable abut the kingdm f heaven, evil can penetrate it. It grws, it crrupts and it puffs up. 2. And if Jesus is giving a parable abut the kingdm f heaven, grwth can vertake it, and the gspel is spread. We d knw that the leaven is deliberately taken, placed, and mixed in the wrld, unfinished meal and silently transfrms the whle lump. 1. Leaven makes bread sft, n lnger hard. The leaven f the gspel penetrates the heart f a man and sftens the hardness f his life. He becmes much sfter tward the Lrd and tward the needs f thers. 2. Leaven makes bread prus and mist, n lnger dry. The leaven f the gspel penetrates the dryness f a man s heart and life. The gspel penetrates and creates pres in his life and mistens his heart s that he can grw int a mist r fruitful persn. 3. Leaven makes bread satisfying, n lnger unfulfilling. The leaven f the gspel transfrms a persn s heart, giving purpse and jy, and hpe, t whm had n purpse, meaning, r significance. 4. Leaven makes bread nurishing s little in life. The leaven f the gspel inspires and causes a persn t feed thers. His transfrmatin is able t feed the truth t the wrld the truth abut the emptiness and lneliness f his human heart he had, and Gd s prvisin fr man s plight. Als: We als see that leaven wrks quietly and silently. Leaven finishes its wrk. Once it s inserted int the dugh, nthing can stp it r ever pluck it 2 http://www.family-times.net/cmmentary/grwth-f-christendm/
ut. It is in the dugh frever, and it will transfrm the dugh frever. The persn wh genuinely allws the gspel t penetrate his heart and life will transfrm his life frever. Leaven wrks slwly and gradually, yet cnsistently. The believer can learn at least tw lessns frm this fact. It will take time t grw in the gspel. It will take time fr his wn witnessing and wrk t prduce. Leaven changes the quality, nt the substance f the dugh, yet it is changed. A man wh receives the gspel remains a man, but he is a changed man a man f quality, a man f Gd. SUMMARY: The kingdm f heaven is like a man (Christ) wh sws gd seed (righteusness) in his field (the wrld). Althugh the man (Christ) has swn gd seeds (righteusness), but while men sleep, his enemy (Satan) cmes withut his knwledge, and sws tares (weeds; wickedness) amng the wheat (the gd seed swn), and then the enemy leaves. The grwth f the blade f wheat cmes up, bringing fruit, but als appears tares. S, the servants; the slaves f the man cmes t him and tells him that there are tares (weeds) grwing amng the gd seed. The man tells his servants that they have an enemy amng them that has dne this thing. S the servants ask if they shuld pull the tares up. The man says n, fr if they pulled up any f the tares (weeds) that have been rted in the grund alng with the wheat, they are in danger f als pulling up the wheat befre the fruit matures, thereby, causing harm. The slutin t this prblem is t allw bth t grw tgether until harvest. And in that time, the reaper will first gather, bind, and burn int bundles the tares, whereas, the wheat is gathered int Gd s barn (13:24-30). The kingdm f heaven is like a grain f mustard seed which is the smallest f all seeds, and a man takes this seed and sws it in a field. When the mustard seed grws, it s the greatest amng the herbs fr it becmes a very tall tree, that even the birds r the air are able t cme and ldge in its branches (13:31-32). The kingdm f heaven is like leaven in which a wman hides it in three measures f meal till the whle meal is leavened (13:33).