Matthew 13
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Matthew 13:34:
All these things spoke Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spoke he not unto them: |
Parables are simply stories. All. young and old, like to hear a story. Storytelling is one of the most successful means of awakening an interest, securing attention, and teaching, illustrating, and enforcing important truths. Christ, the greatest of all teachers, recognized this, and therefore made constant use of this method of instruction.
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The idea behind the word parable is “to throw alongside of.” It is a story thrown alongside the truth intended to teach. Parables have been called “earthly stories with a heavenly meaning.”
i. “The Greek parabole is wider than our ‘parable’; in the LXX it translates masal, which includes proverbs, riddles and wise sayings as well as parables. Matthew uses it for instance for Jesus’ cryptic saying about defilement (Matthew 15:10-11, 15), and in Matthew 24:32 (‘lesson’) it indicates a comparison.” (France)
ii. “It had a double advantage upon their hearers: first, upon their memory, we being very apt to remember stories. Second, upon their minds, to put them upon studying the meaning of what they heard so delivered.” (Poole)
iii. Parables generally teach one main point or principle. We can get into trouble by expecting that they be intricate systems of theology, with the smallest detail revealing hidden truths. “A parable is not an allegory; an allegory is a story in which every possible detail has an inner meaning; but an allegory has to be read and studied; a parable is heard. We must be very careful not to make allegories of the parables.” (Barclay) -Enduring Word Bible Commentary
i. “The Greek parabole is wider than our ‘parable’; in the LXX it translates masal, which includes proverbs, riddles and wise sayings as well as parables. Matthew uses it for instance for Jesus’ cryptic saying about defilement (Matthew 15:10-11, 15), and in Matthew 24:32 (‘lesson’) it indicates a comparison.” (France)
ii. “It had a double advantage upon their hearers: first, upon their memory, we being very apt to remember stories. Second, upon their minds, to put them upon studying the meaning of what they heard so delivered.” (Poole)
iii. Parables generally teach one main point or principle. We can get into trouble by expecting that they be intricate systems of theology, with the smallest detail revealing hidden truths. “A parable is not an allegory; an allegory is a story in which every possible detail has an inner meaning; but an allegory has to be read and studied; a parable is heard. We must be very careful not to make allegories of the parables.” (Barclay) -Enduring Word Bible Commentary
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Matthew 13:11-13:
He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. |
Christ's object, therefore, is using parables was to teach the mysteries, or truths, of the kingdom of heaven,--truths not necessarily difficult to understand, but which had long been hidden or obscured by sin, apostasy, and tradition,--in such a way that the spiritually minded and those desirous of learning the truth, might understand them, and the worldly-minded and unwilling would not . When asked the meaning of any parable, Christ readily explained it to His disciples.
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The parable of the weeds, a parable unique to Matthew among the four canonical gospels, (Matthew 13:24-30; Gospel of Thomas 57), shows us that he believed the present time is a time of grace in which God allows weeds and wheat to grow together and it is God’s to judge which is which. So we are not to judge one another, but we are to live aware of the winnowing that is to come at God’s hands. The presence of forgiveness in our lives is an important criterion on which our obedience will be judged when the time comes. We are not to roll judgmentally down the road of life, but we are to stop when necessary, to take stock of our own sins and to extend the same forgiveness we have received to others. Mathew emphasizes that the one who teaches us this lesson on forgiveness is the Son of God, who has promised to be with us to the end of the age (28:20). Therefore, we are not being asked to summon this forgiveness apart from the presence of Jesus, but summon it we must. -Alyce M McKenzie; Perkins Center for Preaching Excellence
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Matthew 13:38: says, “The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one.”
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It takes more faith to do nothing than to do something. We are activists by nature. Iniquity compels us to help God out. Instead of helping, we get in God’s way. As Jesus traveled to Jerusalem, he passed through a Samaritan village. The townspeople would not receive him. In Luke 9:54, James and John said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them.” Jesus rebuked them. He rebukes every servant who tries to help him by pulling weeds from the field.
Our job is to reach sinners, not fix society. Digging up weeds hinders the harvest. The servants were more of a threat than the enemy. The enemy could not stop the harvest. Yet he planted weeds strategically, counting on someone to be a sucker enough to doing his dirty work. The kingdom is about the King, not our causes, agendas, or politics. Do not allow your attempts to fix society to hinder the mission of Jesus. -HB Charles |
