April 7, 2024
Matthew 13:24–58

Title: The Crowd’s Parables

Jesus started teaching the crowds in parables for they had mostly rejected Him and His kingdom teaching even though Jesus did many miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit which proved He was presenting God’s kingdom. ¶ This morning we will continue to look at a few parables the Lord spoke to the disbelieving crowd and to the Apostles. Note here, I am going to jump around a bit this morning to group certain passages together.

Let’s start with THE PARABLE OF THE NET. Someone read verses 47-50. 47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Now let’s read 24-30 THE PARABLE OF THE WEEDS in vv. 24-30. 24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants [lit. slaves] of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

• The weeds of the parable were most likely “darnel.” >>
• Almost impossible to distinguish from wheat until harvest time. >>
• Selective weeding was almost impossible due to the root structure. >>
• "The Romans law had a punishment in the law for anyone who sowed darnel in the fields of others, which suggest this parable “depicts a real-life situation (NBD, p. 948).” (France, The Gospel According … 225 f.; cr. Blomberg, 219)
• Interpretation wise, Constable and others saw the field—at least partially—as being churches also. Constable wrote, “Jesus did not picture the wheat eventually crowding out the tares. Believers will not eventually crowd out all the unbelievers in the professing church.” (Constable)¹
• Although true, this seems out of strict context when given the interpretation of Jesus below.
• McGee had another view: That the wheat represents true doctrine and the weeds “false doctrine.” He saw the slaves who slept as people that didn’t keep watch over the doctrine of the Church (185)
• This is most definitely out of context and not the interpretation of the parable below. This interpretation directly contradicts the interpretation Jesus gave us.
• Interpretations like this one go to show, that even when couple with the interpretation, people get the parables wrong.
• If we are not observant with the word, we will immediately put our presuppositions into our misinterpretations.

Let’s jump to the interpretation Jesus gave us. READ vv. 36-43 36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

• This parable’s interpretation is clear and teaches that believing people (the wheat) and unbelieving people (the weeds) will co-exist on the earth until the end of the age (which is the harvest). Then God with separation His people from the unbelievers throughout the earth.
• The wheat will shine; the weeds are destroyed with fire.
• Also, again, we see two kingdoms, the kingdom of heaven; run by Jesus. And the kingdom of His enemy; run by the devil.
• Here we see Jesus’ broad authority again. In the parable He is the sower, the chief harvester, and owner of the field. (France, The Gospel According … 226)

APPLICATION

• Now is the "time of preparation."²
• We need to remember where people are going who have not trusted in Jesus.
• This should remind us of God’s character and put reverent rear in us.
• We should be filled with joy.

Let’s look at The Mustard Seed and the Leaven parable in vv. 31-32, 31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

• We should be grateful this morning that Jesus gave His Disciples clear interpretations regarding some of the parables in the accounts of the gospel. For they are mishandles often and by many—even the ones interpreted clearly by our Master.
  • Why do I point out interpretation problems by others?
  • To be “a know it all”?
• Many are seeing evil in these parables where I do not.
  • McGee saw the birds as evil (188) so it seems did Constable.
  • Constable also pointed to “a different interpretation [that] sees the parable as teaching the perverted growth of the kingdom.”
  • I believe here, some have mistakenly carried over “the seeds on the path” and “the birds” being “Satan” from a previous parable in Matthew 13.
• “Several Old Testament passages use a tree with birds flocking to its branches to illustrate a kingdom that people perceive as great (Judg. 9:15; Ps. 104:12; Ezek. 17:22-24; 31:3-14; Dan. 4:7-23).” (Constable)
• Terms, illustration, metaphors change in the Scriptures.

INTERPRETATION

• All the items in this parable are positive.
• What is the kingdom of heaven in the passage? The mustard seed.
• What does it turn in to? The largest plant in the garden.
• The kingdom itself is never perverted. False teaching and evil counter the kingdom but it—in itself— is not corrupted. There is God’s kingdom and an evil kingdom. They intermingle but have nothing in common with each other.
• I see this as meaning: the kingdom of God (as initiated by Jesus’ ministry) will start very small, but over time will grow to be the biggest thing ever—in all creation. Furthermore, the kingdom of God will be the blessing to all of creation when it reaches maturity.³

VERSE 33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

• “Three satas of flour (about three-fifths of a bushel) is the amount of flour that a housewife baked into bread for an average family.[1123]”
• "Many interpreters have understood yeast here as a metaphorical reference to evil.[1119] This has led some of them to interpret the flour as the gospel and the leaven as false doctrine. (Constable)
• “Other interpreters view the woman as representing false teachers who corrupt the truth of the gospel with error.[1121]” (Constable)
  “Strauss saw these three satas of flour as reminiscent of Sarah’s preparation of three seahs of flour for Abraham’s visitors (Gen. 18:6), and thus an allusion to the corruption of fellowship with God.[1124]” (Constable)
• Some of these guys miss the point. >>
• Goodness, this is a one verse parable.
• Why would one assign evil to the leaven or the woman? These are examples of bad interpretation work.
• Although leaven was an illustration for sin at times in the Bible, but here, what is the simile Jesus uses for the kingdom? The leaven is the kingdom. COMMENT
• A woman make sure the leaven—the kingdom—is mixed through and through the flour. >>
• The kingdom is good; the woman’s work is good.
• I would consider two interpretations here:
  • Perhaps one might be excused if one were to say that this parable means that, the kingdom of God will be thoroughly mixed into our lives until He completes His work in us at our glorification. But htis would negate the woman in the parable.
  • So I believe the interpretation is that a wise woman worked the kingdom into all she was doing.

APPLICATION = the kingdom of God should be worked into what we do.

Prophecy and Parables

VERSE 34 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”

• The prophecy in this case was the song writer Asaph and the song is Psalm 78.
• This is one of hundreds upon hundreds that Jesus fulfilled.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

VERSE 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

APPLICATION

• Notice the treasure is found. COMMENT
• The value is understood. COMMENT
• A wise man will buy into the kingdom of God.
• The wisest man is “all in.”

New and Old Treasures

51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

APPLICATION

• Scribes? Copyists and lawyers
• The scribe “trained for the kingdom” vs. the paid scribe.
• Teaching of the prophets may be somewhat contrasted by the teaching of Jesus due to His use of many parables.
• “Jesus was bringing together pieces of previous revelation about the messianic kingdom, and combining these [with …] new things about the messianic kingdom.” Therefore, “while these parables were … new revelations, they contained some elements that God has previously revealed” in the Old Testament, (Constable)
• So the scribes of the kingdom would have to be good with handling Jesus’ parables and the OT prophets’ words.
• Therefore, the kingdom scribe brings out truth from the OT and the NT.

APPLICATION

• The word of God is the treasure; it should be looked at as such.
• We should “bring it out” = make it known; live it out.
• One trained by the word in the OT and the NT becomes a good master of his house.
• We need to be diligent in our training.

Jesus has been rejected by most of the religious leaders, most of the crowds, his family at this point, and now Matthew points out how Jesus’ hometown received Him. vv. 53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54 and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

Works Cited

Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, there may be numbered notes that are URL linked; these are usually retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and I usually include other citation information from Constable as well (e.g. authors’ names).

Other Works Cited

Note: All of the resources below were cited in at least one of the sermons in the Book of Matthew but not necessarily this one.

Augsburger, David. Dissident Discipleship. Brazos Press, 2006.

Barclay, William. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible. Westminster Press, 1955-1960. Sourced digitally from studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dsb.html.

Blomberg, Craig L. Matthew. New American Commentary, vol. 22, ed. David S. Dockery, et al., Broadman Press, 1992. May be sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/matthew0000blom

________. Preaching the Parables: From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation. Baker Academic, 2004. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/preachingparable0000blom/page/82/mode/1up)

Bruce, Alexander Balmain. The Training of the Twelve. Ed., A.C. Armstrong and Son, reprint 1984, Kregel Publications, 1971 edition.

Carson, D. A. “Matthew.” The Expositors Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, Ed. et al., Zondervan, 1984.

_______. The Sermon on the Mount : an Evangelical of Matthew 5-7 Exposition. 1978, Baker Book House, fifth printing, 1989. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/sermononmounteva0000cars/page/54/mode/1up

_______. When Jesus confronts the world : an exposition of Matthew 8-10. Originally published by Inter-Varsity Press in 1988, Paternoster, 1995. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/whenjesusconfron0000cars/page/n3/mode/1up

Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Our Daily Bread Publishing, web ver.

France, R. T. The Gospel According to Matthew. Gen. Ed. Leon Morris, W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1985.

_______. The Gospel of Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000fran/page/n6/mode/1up

Gibson, J. Monro. “St. Matthew.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary. William R. Nicoll, Editor. Sourced from Bible Portal. Click here for a list of the authors of the EBC.

Harrington, Daniel J . The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series, vol. 1, A Michael Glazier Book, Liturgical Press (publ.), 1991. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000harr/mode/1up

Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. Baker Book House, 1984.

McGee, J. Vernon. Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee. Thru the Bible Commentary (Series), Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1991.

Phillips, John. Exploring the Gospels: John. Loizeaux Brothers, 1988.

Plumptre, E. H. “Matthew.” Commentary for English Readers, Charles John Ellicott, Compiler/Editor, Lord Bishop of Gloucester Cassell and Company, Limited, 1905. Sourced from BiblePortal.com. Click here for a list of the authors of the CER.

Robinson, Monte. The Way of Discipleship. Independently published, 2021. Web, aimdiscipleship.org/book.html, accessed Oct 2023.

Wiersbe, Warren. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary. 2 Volumes, David C. Cook, 2007.

Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Zondervan, 1995.

Notes

Notes from above may not be in numerical order.

¹ See Constable. See also Richard Chenevix Trent. Notes on the Parables of Our Lord. 11th ed. London: Macmillan and Co., 1870, p. 92. Cited in Constable.

² McClain, Alva J. The Greatness of the Kingdom, An Inductive Study of the Kingdom of God. Winona Lake, Ind.: BMH Books, 1959; Chicago: Moody Press, 1968, p 441. Cited by Constable.

³ Cr. Constable. Constable cited, Trench, Notes on the Parables …, p. 108; Leupold, p. 527; Pentecost, The Parables of Jesus, p. 57. Cf. N. A. Dahl, Jesus in the Memory of the Early Church, pp. 155-56.

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