Matthew 13:47-52 Find the Treasure!

Matthew 13:47-52  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 blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  “Have you understood all these things?”  Jesus asked.  “Yes,” they replied.  He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

In the parable of the weeds and in the above parable, Jesus expresses a horrifying end for the unrighteous.  In the weed parable, 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 blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  (Matthew 13:40-42)   And with the fish, The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  However, Jesus juxtaposes this disastrous ending of fire for the ungodly with a glorious future for the redeemed.  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  In Malachi we also have a description of the end of time with a similar positive existence for those who live upright lives.  A scroll of remembrance was written concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.  “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession.  I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.  And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”  (Malachi 3:16-18)  In today’s parable, Jesus reminds the people of the certainty of a judgment day.  The kingdom of heaven is like a net over all God has made.  As a net in a lake, his authority will delve into even the deepest parts of existence, pulling up all people ever created.  The angels will analyze the quality of the fish.  The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous.  The sad conclusion of this parable is that the wicked will be judged with unending fire, for they have been found worthless to God’s kingdom.  Such end time parables are hard for our ears, for we also know Jesus asks us to forgive seventy times seventy—a perfect number.  But this parable as with the others talks about a constant eternal rebellion solidified in the hearts of men and women.  The evil one planted this hardness in men’s hearts at the beginning of time.  God used this hardness with Pharaoh who would not let the Israelites go, displaying his power over Pharaoh’s stubbornness by performing many miracles detrimental to Egypt.  Pharaoh was a weed or an unclean fish that God used to bring glory to himself.  As humans we are caught in our perspective of enduring love.  Therefore, when we hear Jesus speak of pending judgment for all unbelievers, we question the harshness of this sentence.  But rebellion is a cancer to the harmony of eternal existence.  The book of Revelation clearly describes the unending struggle of mankind against the authority of God.  Eternal love demands justice, and complete justice was epitomized by Christ on the cross.  The cross is the power of God to wipe away every trace of sin.  But accepting Jesus’ work is a choice, for we are not automatons but have a will of our own or we would not sin.  Genesis shows the tower of Babel as a threat to God.  Whether you see this as a mythical story or as a true incident matters not, for the story reveals man’s rebellious desire to be as God is as with Adam and Eve in the Garden.  So we see God saying, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”  (Genesis 11:6-7)  As God’s created entities, we are extremely powerful and dangerous.  Laws and commandments by God and by man himself have been as a bit in mankind’s mouth; yet, man’s uncontrollable spirit has shattered every mouthpiece with wars, murders, thievery, discontent, rape, slavery, and the like.  Consequently, judgment day will come, for justice demands it.  At his coming, we will stand in God’s presence either with the cloak of righteousness won for us through the cross or we will stand before him in the weakness of our own efforts to be good.  Our own efforts to be spotless are not inclusive enough.  As James wrote, even if we prefer one person above another in a congregational setting, we are sinning.  We might as well have broken all of Moses’ commandments if we break one, for we are guilty of them all.  We need a Savior, a way to be in right standing with God.  The word salvation ranks high in scripture, for it implies that humans need to be saved from the judgment fire of the Holy One.  Does all this mean that God is not love.  No, never!  God is a just God; Jesus came for those who needed justice.  He came for the lame, sick, blind, and the dead.  He came for the poor, the hurting, the despised.  Of course, that means He came for all of us, for whosoever would believe on his name.  Justice will reign on judgment day.

Jesus asked his disciples if they understood what He was saying.  They said, yes.  Jesus compliments them on their response by saying, Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.  By their understanding of what will happen in the last day, they will be energized to know more about God and more about the needs of mankind.  They will begin to discover from God’s storehouse new treasures of wisdom and knowledge as the Spirit reveals them.  The best example of Jesus’ statement is the apostle Paul, a teacher of the law.  When Peter addresses the last days he refers to Paul.  Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.  He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters.  His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.  (2 Peter  3:15-16)  Paul’s writings can be hard to understand in an Old Testament context, but they are new treasures out of God’s storehouse of wisdom.  Another teacher of the law is Apollo, a Jewish scholar from Alexandria in Egypt.  In Ephesus he taught about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy.  But he knew only about John’s baptism of repentance and of turning towards the Lord.  His understanding of Jesus as the Messiah and his knowledge of the Holy Spirit in believers probably needed more accuracy.  Because, when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.  (Acts 18:26)  Because of his understanding of the law, Apollo was able to debate the Jewish scholars, convincing them of the validity of the Good News, bringing forth new treasure from the wisdom of God.  But Jesus reiterates that those who have ears should hear.  When Apollo first taught of Christ, he did not understand fully the works of God’s Spirit.  In fact, the knowledge about the Spirit of God was probably absent from his teaching.  Later after Priscilla and Aquila’s instruction, he accepted this part of the Good News.  But we see Paul entering Ephesus after Apollo departed to the Corinthian church.  Paul meets some believers, probably products of Apollo’s teaching and asks them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”  They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”  So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”  “John’s baptism,” they replied.  Paul instructs them about the reality of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Then he placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.  (See Acts 19:2-6)  Paul presents these men with new treasure from the household of God.  Apollo as with Paul was a scholar, a disciple of the kingdom of Heaven.  He understood the treasures in the Old Testament, presenting these treasures in a new way, so forcefully that even unbelieving Jews were convinced of the Good News he was teaching.  Paul and Apollo in their teachings were like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.

Jesus’ words remain true—always fulfilled.  Often the words of Jesus are rationalized when we read them.  We say, Jesus probably did not say or mean exactly that.  When we taught the red letter words (the words of Jesus) in Sunday school, people sometimes qualified or interpreted them in a way more palatable to them.  In their rationalizations, they said, we do not believe Jesus would hurt or destroy people.  We do not believe Jesus actually said we must be perfect as God is perfect.  We do not believe Jesus said we must lose our lives to save our lives.  Of course by saying these things, they implied, we do not believe in a just and righteous God who cannot even look upon sin.  The words of judgment in the Bible are hard to accept, probably because we have made allowances for sin in our lives.  Mankind tries to control sin by laws and regulations.  Individuals try to control our sin by saying we will make a better effort next time.  But we must know eternity is a spotless existence, and only spotless people, cleansed by Jesus, will inherit a place with a spotless God as citizens of his household.  In Jesus’ discussion with the disciples about disasters of that time, He seemed unconcerned about the individuals involved.  Instead, he turns these horrible happenings to a teaching moment about repentance.  Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.  Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?  I tell you, no!  But unless you repent, you too will all perish.  Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no!  But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”  (Luke 13:1-5)  Jesus quickly points to the necessity of being right with God or they will perish.  He is talking about an eternal judgment, one that will last forever.  Perishing on earth is bad, sorrowful, but perishing eternally represents disaster.  Jesus knows the scroll of the redeemed will someday be read by God.  He knows those with names not written on the scroll are in great danger if they do not repent now.  The names that are written on the scroll are God’s people: the wheat, the good fish.  The Kingdom of God is his kingdom, his creation, and his will is to be done in his kingdom.  Anything other than his will needs repentance and a clearing away of sin.  JUDGMENT DAY WILL COME!  Will we be hidden IN CHRIST or will we come before God in our uncleanness?  The latter will definitely receive the horrible judgment of God, for eternity demands perfection.  Only Christ is perfect, only He is sinless.  Think of the old gospel hymn: Are you washed in the blood?  FOR YOU DIED, AND YOUR LIFE IS NOW HIDDEN WITH CHRIST IN GOD.  WHEN CHRIST, WHO IS YOUR LIFE, APPEARS, THEN YOU ALSO WILL APPEAR WITH HIM IN GLORY.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  (Colossians 3:1-4)  To live in God’s presence we must be in his image inside and out.  All rebellion to his authority must be gone.  This is the new treasure as well as the old treasure that has come out of God’s storehouse.  This new treasure was hidden from the great men of old, but now in the last days it has been revealed to us.  GLORY TO GOD!     

Matthew 13:44-46 Hidden Treasure!

Matthew 13:44-46  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.  “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.  

Today’s parables focus on the significance of the hidden treasure and the found pearl.  Why are these newly discovered possessions so important to the men that they sell all they have for ownership of them?  They must have realized these items were worth far more than all they owned; consequently, they gave up all their wealth and security to own them.  What once was valuable to them now seemed worthless in comparison to the new-found wealth.  Both parables point to finding Christ in a person’s life.  When Christ and his precious worth is discovered by a man or woman, his or her former life seems worthless in comparison.  The old life with all its important aspects is nothing in reference to experiencing the new life.  The old creature with the deadness of the soul has lost all of its luster, attractiveness, and allure.  The new treasure, the pearl of great price, Christ himself, brings a born-again life to the emptiness of the soul.  The lifeless things of the old life are put aside as the born-again life begins to thrive.  All that once was IMPORTANT in the old life is sold for the new life IN CHRIST.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  (2 Corinthians 5:17)  Everything in the old life is counted as worthless compared to the wealth discovered IN CHRIST.  The old life’s wealth is but a detriment to the new life.  Christ says this wealth is cast off, claiming the new wealth composites everything needed for an abundant, everlasting life: get rid of the old and claim the new.  In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God IN CHRIST JESUS.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.  Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.  (Romans 6:11-13)  Compared to the pearl of great price or the treasure hidden, the old is shabby and worthless.  The possessions once held so dear have lost their attractiveness, their luster, lacking relevance to the everlasting.  Of course, Jesus in his shining glory, the everlasting Morning Star, outshines everything in existence.  He abides in his glory in all those who trust him to be in their lives.  He is the eternal satisfaction of the soul; therefore, we hook our aspirations onto the Morning Star.  We are no longer finite and earth-bound, but heavenly as He is.  Our love for the earth and the things of the earth dissipates, for we are looking for a place to abide forever.  John encourages us to keep our eyes heavenly, not on this earth.  Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.  (1 John 2:15-17)  Knowing Jesus Christ is the will of the Father.  The new creature will become an instrument of love, displaying God’s love for his created beings.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.  (John 3:16)

Christians rejoice in this pearl of great price, in this treasure hidden in the field of life.  We have found the answer to life, the wealth of trusting in Jesus Christ and his works.  This mystery of knowing God’s redemptive plan for humankind was hidden from the beginning of time.  Jesus tells his followers and the spiritual elite that in the past even though prophets, Jewish leaders, and kings searched fervently for the answer to life, they did not find it.  Some of the prophets dedicated their lives to God and did everything for his glory, but the mysteries of God’s plan were hidden from the eyes and ears of mankind.  Jesus said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.  (Luke 10:22)  The seventy-two disciples who went throughout Judea bringing the Good News to people realized even the demons were subject to them.  Jesus tells them this power of salvation has come to you, but was hidden from the wise and the earnest throughout history.  God’s plan was to bind the devil’s hand through the power of the Holy Spirit and to bring salvation to all of mankind through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.  This of course is the treasure of great price—worth everything.  The Good News, the acceptance of Jesus Christ and his work for our position of rightness before God, is so wonderful that the old ways of thinking are sold off quickly.  God’s plan of salvation was now open to all of mankind, not just to the few, as with the Jews.  Yes, God gave his Son for the redemption of people everywhere.  This mystery of eternal salvation was hidden from mankind for millenniums.  Perfecting humans through Jesus’ finished work at the cross was beyond people’s imagination.  The Spirit of God gave foreknowledge to some of the prophets of this plan of God, but none had a clear understanding of God’s whole plan.  The treasure and the pearl are God’s work, not man’s.  The valuable pieces had to be discovered by faith, not constructed by man’s efforts.  The way to salvation through Christ’s shed blood is anathema to the rebellious nature of humans, for we want to construct our way to heaven through our own efforts.  Probably this is why God hid his salvation plan from man, allowing generations to fail in their efforts to be perfect.  But utopia is not man’s to build, but God’s responsibility, providing an eternal home for his redeemed creation.  

Christ is the mystery of the ages—the treasure revealed, the plan of salvation: our Savior.  History clearly highlights man’s innate rebellion, causing all manner of sins.  Millions of people from the beginning of time have been cheated, enslaved, beaten, starved, and murdered.  Sin envelops the nature of men, causing reprehensible actions against the logic of goodness, peace, and harmony.  Mankind, always manifesting partisanship, hatred of others, self-willed ambition, and competitiveness, lacks the selflessness and humility to bring cohesiveness instead of hatred.  Paul enumerated these discordant acts: The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.  (Galatians 5:19-21)  Obviously, the corrupt nature of man reveals a need for salvation, a new start, not just a rebuilding effort.  Over centuries, man has tried to create paradise on earth.  If man just had the right enlightenment, then he would be different—murder, exploitation, disharmony would cease.  In a peaceful environment, people would learn to love and care for each other, working for the benefit of one another.  Of course, all of these utopian ideas fail, usually ending in contentious factions.  The treasure and the pearl of great price are not found through man’s efforts, but they are discovered in Jesus Christ, the Savior.  He brings wisdom and knowledge, ALL TRUTH.  When we behold his glory, we will sell everything to gain Christ.  The old life becomes dim in the light of Jesus.  We know this treasure is God’s plan, not ours; his effort, not ours.  God has united you with Christ Jesus.  For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself.  Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.  Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.  (1 Corinthians 1:30-31)  If Jesus, God’s treasure, is the gift for our lives, we must accept it with the joy it deserves.  Jesus said the man sold all his possessions, then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.  The merchant knew the value of this great pearl for he also sold everything he had and bought it.  Selling all of his old things brought him great joy because now he possessed the beautiful pearl.  Joy is an indication of how much understanding you have of the wonderful Good News.  Joy measures how much faith you have in the knowledge that Jesus Christ has saved you and that He is now in control of your life.  The Bible describes this feeling, saying, in Christ we are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.  (1 Peter 1:8)  Joy reflects our understanding that the Holy Spirit has come to abide in us and that God has made us his children.  Consequently we can say, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  (Romans 8:28)  God has predestined those who trust in him to be in his image for eternity, known as his children with his likeness.  Can we believe in our position in Christ with the fluctuations of our finite lives?  Are we happy with God if things are good, unhappy with him if things are going bad?  For the Christian, joy is embedded in the knowledge that God works out everything in our lives for the benefit of our eternal status.  Does that mean God causes bad things in our lives?  No, He does not construct evil, but He builds good for our everlasting existence.  The treasure of Jesus Christ should bring great joy to us in our everyday lives even if we struggle, and we all will struggle at times.  But we must hold onto the truth by deep faith that we are securely in God’s hands.  If we truly acknowledge that, the singing in our hearts will not cease, the praises to God will not falter, for the joy of knowing that God is in control will fill our hearts with thankfulness.  A great treasure is in our lives: JESUS CHRIST THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.   

Matthew 13:37-43 Good Seed or a Weed?

 Matthew 13:37-43  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 people of the kingdom.  The weeds are the people 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 blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

In Jesus’ parable, the field that has both good seed and bad seed is the field of the world.  In this world there are people who accept the Good News and those who reject it.  Some individuals have receptive hearts and others have hardened hearts.  The evil one captures the hearts of the latter with sinful deeds that lead to death.  Jesus says that in the kingdom these people look like the real thing, but they are tares, posers, imitators, living lives that are not capable of bearing fruit that pleases God.  The tares thrive like the wheat, but they are just a semblance of the real plant intended for that field.  They use the nutrients of the soil, experience the sun, soak up the water that falls on the field, existing just as the wheat.  Their presence is an ongoing danger to the wheat, for they occupy space that should belong to the wheat.  They can block the sun, use up the nutrients of the soil, keep water away from the roots of the wheat, and often their roots become entangled with the wheat.  Because of their close proximity, Jesus concludes they should not be weeded from the field until the end of the age, when all things will be judged rightly.  At this time of harvest, their falseness will be revealed completely, causing the angels to throw them into the fire.  The righteous who have also been harvested will find their place in the kingdom as true servants of God, forever blessed in the presence of the Almighty Father.  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  This parable stands as a strong word from Jesus, for He describes the challenge to Christians from the weeds.  Perhaps the most important aspect of Jesus’ teaching is that the weeds will look like the real thing, but they have not accepted the Good News that He has sown.  They will live lives planted on the same land, thriving in their own likeness, but they are imitators of the wheat that can produce a crop for God.  The essence of the Sower is that He is the truth, the life, and the way.  Only his seeds will end up in God’s household.  The other plants will be found worthless, not of any value for eternity.  The truth of the good seed rests in the knowledge that Jesus is God’s Son, the Messiah—the sower of the good seed.  He is the ONLY WAY to a bountiful harvest, life eternal.    

This parable clearly reveals sin’s contamination of the world’s environment.  No matter the soil’s quality, the days of sun, or the abundance of rain, sin thrives in any soil.  From the beginning, the evil one has spoiled the land with seeds of rebellion, hatred, fear, and violence.  No matter how well the soil is prepared, no matter its ideal location, if the seed of sin is sown, it will inhabit the soil.  Outside of Christ, the condition of man changes little, and evil thrives alongside goodness and love.  Man in his self-help demeanor has tried to convince himself that he can become good through much self-effort.  If he tries harder, is better taught, has more positivity in his life, he will achieve a land that is void of everything that causes sin.  But Jesus says this purity will not come until the end of time.  People will go on sinning as a result of the evil one’s activity until the end of time.  Every generation must deal with sin or discover that the whole field has been taken over by the tares, the imposters.  In this kingdom, sin must be constantly attacked by the Good News, The Way, the true answer to a bountiful harvest.  If not, weeds will prevent full maturity of the wheat, limiting the harvest.  These tares stood out in Jesus’ time.  They were cloaked in the robes of the religious leaders.  They had a semblance of serving God, but they were really a hindrance to the people knowing God.  Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces.  (Matthew 23:13) There were so many tares that they were willing to attack Jesus directly, finally able to have him executed by the Roman government.  They did not appreciate Jesus implicating them as fleshly tools of darkness.  Jesus knew they had to deal with this kingdom that thrived on religious darkness; sin had to be eradicated by something other than religious practices and priestly functions. The people needed a deeper cleansing of their souls than just worshipping in the temple or covering their sinful deeds with sacrifices of animals, birds, and grain.  This teaching of Jesus bewildered the religious elite of that day.  But Jesus was talking about something more spiritual than their traditional religion and the law’s commandments.  In the Old Testament book of Leviticus, we see that our sins of omission are considered just as bad by God as the behaviors we recognize as sin.  We usually repent of our known sins, wiping them off the ledger of God’s book of judgment.  But the former unrecognized sins are still in the book that God’s keeps.  No grace covers these unconfessed sins.  If any of the common people sin by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but they don’t realize it, they are still guilty.  (Leviticus 4:27)  To cover these unconscious sins, the law required the priest to sacrifice a female goat to cover all the unrecognized sins of the people.  The law of Moses demanded that all sin must be covered by blood, for it is a cancer to the will of God.  In the Old Testament, a female goat’s blood covered temporarily the conscious and unconscious sins, but this was not an eradication of evil.  All sin, aware and unaware, was dealt with permanently by Jesus’ blood spilt at the cross.  The demands of the law were fulfilled by his sacrifice once and for all time.  God’s ledger of judgment was wiped clean by Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice for our imperfections.  Consequently, because of Jesus’ creative power in our lives, our plant turns out differently from the Adamic seed planted in the hearts of men by the evil one.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  THROUGH HIM all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  (John 1:1-3)  

Christians should take heart because a weed in the kingdom might thrive, but it cannot make itself into the real thing—only God can do that.  The tares existed, but were unproductive.  The tares brought no honor to God who created all things for his glory.  In the real kingdom where we live, the falseness of the weeds does exist.  They are sometimes hard to detect, for they are similar to the wheat in many ways.  At times the hardiness and productiveness of the wheat is challenged by the existence of these imitators, for these invasive weeds get into the very church of God, hurting the testimony of the believers.  Those who do not adhere to or advocate the doctrine of Jesus try to tempt those who do, wanting to kill the true seed of God.  The blood of Jesus is the only way to God’s grace and mercy.  Weeds actuate other false ways to eternal life—to rightness with God.  These tares entangle their roots within the doctrines of the church.  Behaviors and rightness with God are not judged on Jesus’ works but on man’s works.  This emphasis on man’s efforts to gain God’s favor is detrimental to the hardiness of the church.  Our lives should point to Jesus.  Christians should reflect God’s goodness to people, but reliance on effort to please God is futile.  Without the resurrected life of the Holy Spirit within human beings, the spirit of death rests in the souls of men.  As in the above parable, we know the seeds from the hands of God are good, able to produce life; but the destination of death abides in the bad seed.  Jesus proclaims, Whoever has ears, let them hear.  Jesus knows those with spiritual ears will understand that wrong teaching and wrong living standards are detrimental to the kingdom of God.  Doing the will of men will not honor God.  Tares committed to self-willed living only imitate real life.  Doing the will of God leads to abundant, eternal life.  In a kingdom with tares where the yeast of the Pharisees exists, how will the wheat thrive?  The wheat thrives through dependence on Jesus Christ.  The abundant life of the wheat requires the absence of fleshly endeavors as the primary reason for living.  Christians do not achieve hardiness by living within self-willed desires or by serving the law of right and wrong; instead, we live by the grace and mercy of God through Christ our Redeemer.  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”  (Galatians 2:19-21)  Only the Son of Man plants life in the garden, sowing the good seed of eternal life.  He plants the seed in the rich soil of thriving life.  But that soil is also the home of ideas and people adverse to the God of creation.  Rebellion exists in the hearts of many.  Their thoughts and activities lead to death.  If they could, they would choke out Christianity in the kingdom.  But we know God is reconciling the kingdom to himself through the blood of Jesus, his Son.  God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus), and through him to reconcile to himself ALL THINGS, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  (Colossians 1:19-22)  The good seed is planted and will thrive if we provide fertile soil and nourish the plants as they mature until the harvest.  Rise up in the fulness God has provided and live for him.  

Matthew 13:31-35 Good Seed!

Matthew 13:31-35  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 seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”  He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”  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.”

Today’s focus contains what some would consider two divergent parables.  But we will consider them within the context of Jesus’ earlier parables in chapter 13.  Both of these parables can be interpreted as describing an attack on the kingdom of heaven.  Of course, the kingdom of heaven is a spiritual realm, differing greatly from the fleshly kingdom, for the earthly kingdom ends with death, but the kingdom of heaven exists forever.  In the first parable, a large plant comes from a very small seed, similar to the kingdom of heaven that grows quickly, nurtured by the surrounding environment.  The mustard plant grows so well that it can be classified as a tree where birds can land and examine the garden.  This plant has a spiritual dynamism about it as with the garden itself, for everything in this spiritual world grows unusually large and is very healthy.  Yet the mustard tree is very much alone in the garden—in many ways out of place despite growing well.  In the other parable we have a woman introducing yeast into flour.  This yeast permeates the whole batch, causing the dough to enlarge and change its character.  Both of these parables concern the kingdom of heaven: a spiritual domain, outside of the of the senses that control our understanding of life.  As a spiritual realm, God’s kingdom is eternal, unable to be gained by physical means.  The kingdom identifies itself in people through their thought life, their consideration of what reality is, the meaning of life, why they exist.  In general we have classified our spiritual musing as another world, more that just electrical/chemical responses of our physical brains.  Most humans have ascertained that our lives consist of more than just our physical existence.  This kingdom is where our spirits abide with the Spirit of God.  Because the spirit of man exists in a temporal body that will pass away as quickly as the morning mist, Jesus emphasizes the need to know God, to cast off this transitory existence and enter the eternal kingdom of God.  In the above focus, Jesus describes with parables how this kingdom of heaven can easily be contaminated by destructive thoughts and activity.  In Jesus’ earlier parable about the sowing of wheat, we see seed sown on different ground.  Some seed falls in minds that are totally vacant of consideration of eternal life.  Other seeds fall on rocks: minds sensitive for a while about eternal issues, but they quickly lose interest in spiritual issues because of a lack of depth.  Other seed falls into good ground, but the weeds grow more quickly and stronger, choking out the real seed with ideas of materialism and the concerns of the world.  The last seed falls on plowed ground, deep and good. This seed produces spiritual understanding of life and thrives to the end.  As Paul said, I have fought the good fight, I have endured for the purposes of God, for the healthiness of the kingdom; therefore, I am ready to die.  As seed in good ground, we all need to persevere, obeying God’s will rather than placating our selfish will.

The mustard seed parable reveals how quickly a spiritual kingdom can grow.  The kingdom of heaven is LIKE a mustard seed, grows quickly, even to abnormal heights.  But because the mustard plant grows quickly and is strong enough to allow even birds of the air to perch on its branches, the seeds of the garden are open to invasion.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  (Ephesians 6:10-12)  The birds represent thoughts, activities, and ideas that do not originate within the garden.  They are as the tares representative of attacks from the evil one: spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  This evil is a direct attack from the devil and his cohorts.  Illusions that are not coherent are examples of falsities from the devil.  The birds in the midst of the garden have access to it; they can quickly descend to gobble up any seed that falls to the ground.  The birds can tear at the ground, destroying nascent plants and eating the exposed seeds.  When the mustard seed grows into a large tree, the garden is not necessarily a safe place for God’s truth to grow.  Additionally, tares simulating truth exist with the seed, destroying the purity of the garden.  Usually cults attack young Christians, carrying them away to false doctrines.  As the kingdom grows quickly so do the cults.  The mustard seed grows quickly as does a small amount of yeast in an environment of flour.  In Jesus’ second parable of contamination, He points out how yeast, injected into flour can permeate all the dough.  The shape of the final product: the baked dough will be very different from the original purity of the dough before the yeast was added.  Yeast is an indication of sin in the spiritual world.  When the Israelites were ready to escape from the sinful country of Egypt, they were not allowed to put yeast into the dough.  They were to flee Egypt quickly and not tarry for the yeast to ferment.  With the parable of the yeast, the woman had an inordinate amount of flour, 60 pounds, as with the large mustard plant.  Even though she was dealing with a large amount of dough, almost impossible to knead, the corrupting yeast permeated the whole batch.  As with the mustard tree, the flour became exposed to the sin of the yeast, making the kingdom less secure, safe, and viable.  Jesus said to the disciples, beware of this corruption in thought, for it will invade the whole loaf, destroying your faith.  Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?  Do you still not understand?  Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?  Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?  How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread?  But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  (Matthew 16:8-12)  The disciples argued over a temporal thing, bringing bread on their trip.  They were attacking their dependence on God by arguing, discounting what Jesus had just accomplished: Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?  Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?  Their minds were considering the reality of their situation by fleshly standards of accountability, not by the supernatural activity of Jesus.  This lack of dependence on Jesus Christ and his answers to life will always lead to cultish thinking.  In that kind of environment, the birds of the air can swoop down into the garden and destroy the garden’s tranquility.  Under this kind of thinking, every standard of righteous and holy living can be questioned because the yeast (sin) has invaded the whole loaf.  Jesus said beware of this attitude, for the religious leaders pretend to be part of the true kingdom of God, but their hearts are far from God.  They live fleshly lives, and the birds of the air cooperate with them, causing the garden to be damaged by the lies of the devil.  

Jesus’ parables can be interpreted in many rational ways.  We have brought these two parables together to point out a truth of contamination in the kingdom of God or in the realm of spiritual thinking.  Humans have a physical world that demands their attention to survive, but the spiritual world is our true existence. The physical world will end for all of us, but the kingdom of God goes on forever.  Jesus spoke in parables to reveal truths that have been hidden from men from the beginning of time.  I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.  In Jesus’ travels, we see miracle after miracle: deaf ears open, the blind see, the crippled walk, and the dead rise.  All of this was done to manifest that the kingdom of God was near.  As Christians we know Christ’s teaching was centered on salvation.  As our Savior, we have faith in his works, not ours; his goodness, not ours.  For millenniums, people have tried to prove their true discipleship to the Lord by their works, miracles, spiritual swooning, supposed gifts and ways of living.  A lot of the cults try to prove they know the correct way to God by showing you how good they are or how great their churches are or how righteous their communities are.  The Shakers who existed a few hundred years ago attempted to reveal the truth of their doctrine by how orderly their communities were, how well they got along with each other.  They forsook sexual activity in an attempt to claim purity from lustful thoughts and activity.  But their attempt at nirvana as with all others failed, for sin as yeast is in all men of Adam, the father of rebellion.  For years others have tried to establish utopian societies, mostly built on biblical terms.  But all eventually fail, for man’s nature is much more intense and adamant about having its own way than we want to admit.  Cooperation and less militancy is always a part of proving to the world that your utopian ideas are better than others.  But all of this is yeast; all of it is used to divert true seed from coming to maturity.  The evil one hates the church of God.  He waits as the birds to devour any seed that is unattended, exposed to the open air.  He will devour the weak, tear up the young, carry away that which he wants to destroy.  Wicked ideas of the carnal mind, even freedom of conscience, can be ways of deceiving the true seed.  In the modern world, doing our own thing is very important to us.  Living your life to the fullest without consideration of others is often very pivotal in our way of living.  Constructing our own personal way of salvation; depending on our own self-reliance, our own self-help techniques are strong parts of our modern society.  But the Bible instructs us to be primarily concerned about our relationship with Jesus.  He is the way, the truth, and the life.  Self-help ideas are not necessarily bad, they can be good in many ways, but reliance eventually has to be on the miracle worker: Jesus Christ.  He alone raises the dead.  Only Jesus has been with the Father, and He has gone back to the Father.  He will escort us over that eternal threshold into the household of God.  The birds will devour, the yeast will invade, but the kingdom of God holds true in the likeness of Jesus Christ.  When we hold to the works of Jesus Christ by faith, we become as He is, eternal.  IN JESUS, we quickly leave this world of the kingdom of flesh and its ideas of salvation, and enter into the journey toward the Promised Land.  We have an unadulterated faith in him, knowing that He knows the path to God and his eternal household.  Bless you today, dear friends.