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Matthew

Good And Bad Together

Matthew 13:27-30

Jesus told a parable about an evil person who had sown seeds of weeds in a wheat field, while the farmer slept (Matthew 13:24-26).  When servants found weeds shooting up among the corn, they told the estate owner: they did not know how the wheat seed had been contaminated.  However, the owner knew that he had authorised the very best seed to be sown, and therefore the weeds had been deliberately sown by an enemy.
 

A Large And Safe Place

Matthew 13:31-32

In this chapter, Matthew recounts three of Jesus’ agricultural parables: the parables of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23), the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30) and the mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32).  Jesus was much misunderstood in His day, and still is now.  He was not a rabbi wanting to extend Jewishness to the world, nor was He a military revolutionary working to overthrow the Romans, nor was He simply a wise teacher and kind miracle-worker.  He had come to announce that He is the King of God’s kingdom, with authority to explain what His kingdom is like and to command everything and person to submi

The Gospel Is Powerful But Sharing It Is Hard Work

Matthew 13:33-35

Yeast is often used in the Bible as a picture of sin or false doctrine because it so easily contaminates everything (1 Corinthians 5:6-7).  But here, Jesus uses the little mould to represent the gospel.  In the same way that yeast is ineffective if it stays away from the dough, so the gospel has no power unless it is mixed into the world.  30kg of flour is a large batch, but only 1% of yeast is required to make the bread rise.  Jesus wanted His hearers to imagine the energy expended in kneading the yeast into it.  

The Wisdom Of Asking

Matthew 13:36

The parable of the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30) is separated from its explanation by the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the yeast (Matthew 13:31-35).  Why?  The same thing happened before the explanation of the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23) - Jesus encouraged the disciples to come to Him privately to ask its meaning.  They needed a secluded space for Jesus' tutorial.
 

Real Personalities

Matthew 13:37-39

After Jesus told the parable of the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30), His disciples came privately to ask Him what the parable meant (Matthew 13:36).  Many people in the West have got used to depersonalising the spiritual influences on our lives.  They prefer to think about 'forces of good and evil'.  Life is then a matter of human skill in manipulating those 'force fields'.  But such ideas are wrong, completely wrong.  The Bible talks about a personal God, and the person who opposes God is the devil.  In the parable, the sower is Jesus and the weeds are Satan’s workers.
 

Real Justice

Matthew 13:40-43

Real justice often seems in short supply.  The righteous seem to suffer while the wicked prosper (Psalm 73:2-12).  But it will not always be like that.  Injustice will stop when Jesus comes back because He will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31).  The only messenger-role that the angels will have on that day is to call people away to judgement.  On Christ's orders, they will select all who have not trusted in His atoning sacrifice and throw them into the fire of God's wrath.
 

Too Precious To Ignore

Matthew 13:44-46

Here are two parables with the same meaning.  The disciples would have understood that Jesus was strongly emphasising His point.  But what is it?  It is all about the kingdom of God (described here as the kingdom of heaven … because heaven is the dwelling place of God).  A kingdom is the domain which belongs to the king, and where the citizens accept the king's authority.  It is a great privilege and responsibility to belong to God's kingdom.
 

Too Important To Treat Trivially

Matthew 13:47-50

Farming, fishing, and finance were the major industries of Jesus' day; many of these were family businesses.  That is why almost all His parables are based on these themes.  At least four of the disciples were fishermen and everybody in the Galilee province was familiar with net-fishing which took place at night with weighted nets supported by floats, to produce a vertical mesh in which the fish were trapped.  However, not all the fish were good for eating; some were thrown away or burned.
 

Treasures From The Teacher

Matthew 13:51-52

At the end a series of parables, Jesus asked His disciples if they understood.  They said they had, although it is difficult to know to what extent.  The first time people learn anything, its freshness catches their attention, and with an explanation (the disciples always needed the Lord's interpretation of the parables) they have a new insight.  However, when the teaching had to be used, the Holy Spirit would show the deep significance of what they had heard.  That would happen after Jesus went back to heaven, the Spirit was given, and the apostles were left to lead the churches (John 14:2

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Matthew 13:53-56

In Nazareth, they knew Jesus.  He had grown up in the village, running the carpentry business with Joseph and taking over when he died, we presume (Mark 6:3). They had traded with Him.  He had made their doors, and ploughs, and coffins, and mended their broken furniture.  Everybody knew Mary and her family.  Jesus had half-brothers and half-sisters; everybody knew their names.  He was a real-life man who worked hard to support the family.
 

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