Exposition of Matthew (Matthew Chapter 13:24-43 KJV)

 May 12, 2021 

(The Kingdom Work)

Questions to be answered in this study

1. Why did Jesus begin teaching in parables?
2. What is to be our #1 priority for being alive?
3. What part will faithful believers play in the kingdom when Christ returns?
4. When were the disciples planning for Jesus to set up His kingdom?
5. How many parables are there in chapter Matthew 13?
6. How do the four different types of soil relate to the outcome when the gospel is shared?
7. What does it mean to put your light under a basket?
8. What is a tare and what does it represent?
9. Why did, the master of the harvest, refuse to have the tares removed from his crop?
10. What is the point Jesus is making with the parable of the mustard seed and the yeast?
11. Who will carry out the judgment at the second coming of Jesus?
12. John chapter 6 is one of the greatest passages on what great promise of Scripture?

Introduction

Beginning in Matthew chapter 13, Jesus uses parables to teach His disciples the Kingdom Program, which is the Church’s mission on earth. Our primary reason for being alive is recruiting men and women to become citizens of the Kingdom by placing their faith in Jesus. One day in the future Jesus will return to establish His kingdom on earth and those who are saved and faithful to Him will rule and reign with Him. 

The disciples were looking for Jesus to set up His kingdom in their day; so, they were no doubt surprised with the new turn of events when Jesus revealed His purpose. Jesus offered the kingdom to Israel but they rejected him and His kingdom, and as a result, Jesus withdrew His offer. Now Jesus is teaching the disciples their mission is to build citizenship for the kingdom.

The seven parables in this chapter reveal the shift in the purpose of Jesus as He turns from his objective of addressing Israel and begins teaching His disciples their mission. Some of the crowds are still following Jesus but primarily to receive healing and not as an interest in His teaching; so, He uses the coded parables, which they do not understand and which He explains to His disciples.

The seven parables in chapter 13 is the beginning of Jesus’ training program; last week we began with the first of these parables; the Sower and Seed parable, which explains how the Kingdom will grow and what causes it to grow. The seed is sown without any regard to where it falls and from that God’s purpose is completed. We may not always understand God’s purpose as we see in Isiaih 55:9-11 (KJV), “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.10For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:11So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

When the Word is sown, it brings different responses, which we are not called to control. We must sow the seed and then leave it up to God to bring about the results He desires. Jesus gave us the great commission in Matthew 28:19, which was His expectations of us. He expects us to be involved in the kingdom’s work by spreading the gospel and teaching those who believe the things Jesus taught.

Of the four categories in the first parable, the first and second soils did not respond positively, three and four did but the difference between the two was #3, which did not bear fruit and #4, which did. Today many are category #3 disciples as mentioned in the parable of the Sower; they are uninvolved in the kingdom work and are occupied with the world. As Luke wrote, they are those choked off by the worries, riches and pleasures of this life and therefore failed to reproduce. This isn’t what Jesus expects of us…He says no one lights a lamp only to cover it over with a basket.

Hiding behind a fleshly worldly lifestyle is like putting our light under a basket, and that is not the reason Jesus placed His light within us who trust Him as our savior. We are to let our light shine before men in such a way that they might see our good works and glorify our Father which is in Heaven. More than anything else we should live to glorify our Heavenly Father.

Jesus wanted His disciples to be light unto a darkened world, but that is not all He wanted as we shall now see as we move into the next parable, which is about the kingdom program:

Matthew 13:24-30, “A parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”

The setting is similar in this second parable as it was the first, the story of sowing seed, but the primary difference is the landowner is central to the storyline. The landlord’s servants sow his field with good seed. While the servants were sleeping overnight, an enemy comes and sabotages the field by sowing tares in with the wheat. The word tare is from the Greek word “zi’-za-nion,” which is the same word as darnel, a type of European ryegrass, which looks almost exactly like wheat when it first sprouts. The tares in the parable represent unbelievers. In v.27, the workers awaken the next morning to notice the tares growing in the field. So, they go and ask their master how this could be. The master, or landowner, explains to them that an enemy had come by night to sow the tares. The workers respond by offering to remove the bad plants from the field, but the master objects telling the workers that the tares are in appearance identical to the wheat. Removing them could result in losing some of the wheat.

There is an object lesson here: Jesus does not want to lose even one of His and is willing for the tares to grow alongside the wheat until harvest when they will be dealt with, at which time they will be easy to identify. Notice in v.24, Jesus says that the Kingdom program may be compared to a man sowing a field with good seed. The good seed represents the sharing of the gospel. According to these first two parables, the kingdom program is sowing, growing, and harvesting. While some may sow, others come and harvest, and the responsibility of the church is to teach the Word to grow the new converts. The disciple asked Jesus for an explanation in private of this new parable as they did the first, and Jesus responded in verse 36 as we shall see in a few minutes, but before He does, He gives two more parables that continue to build on His teaching of sowing and growing.

So, let’s consider those additional parables before the explanation of the second parable:

Matthew 13:31-33, “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. 33Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”

In v.31, Jesus sticks with the same agricultural motif, and this time it’s an herb, a mustard plant. There is a variety of Mustard plants across the world. The mustard plant, native to the Middle East, is the kind that grows considerably tall, taller than any other herb. It can grow as much as 10 feet tall and birds nest in its branches. Ironically the mustard seed is among the smallest of seeds. The contrast between the seed’s modest beginning and how impressive it finishes is what Jesus is focusing on. The small-to-great transformation of this lowly seed is like an aspect of the Kingdom. Jesus teaches the companion parable in verse 33 helps us understand the point He is making. He compared the kingdom to leaven, or yeast, which a woman “hid” in flour until the flour was completely leavened. When the gospel is sown, it may seem very small. But the outcome can be exponential.

The third parable is different from the first two, but the contrast is the same. When the microscopic Yeast plant is activated by the warmth and moisture of the dough, it gives off carbon dioxide gas causing the dough to grow and rise. In the process, the yeast eventually reaches every part of the dough. That is the comparison with the gospel which starts small but continues exponentially until it reaches the entire world.

Matthew 13:34-35, “All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: 35That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

After Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah, which is foretold in the Old Testament, Jesus began to teach in parables only. His message was no longer to the masses but to His faithful disciples. The reason for the parables was to confuse the unbelieving Jews and to teach His disciples concerning the kingdom, which they now were to build. This was the beginning of an intermission period between Daniel’s 69th and 70th-week timeline. For some 2,000 years, God has been calling out a people of His own, the church. When this period expires, which no one knows when that will be, Jesus will return to earth and set up His world kingdom.

Jesus declaring spiritual truth to the masses was now history; they would never be privileged to that ever again. This was also a fulfillment of the prophecy spoken in Psalms, which stated that Jesus would come to them speaking in parables. They had their opportunity and turned it down; now Jesus speaks in terms they cannot understand concerning spiritual truth.

Now in the next passage, we shall see how Jesus draws it all together after a partial explanation: 

Matthew 13:36-39, “Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. 37He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels.”

Again, the disciples were struggling to understand Jesus’ teaching, so they ask Him for an explanation. Jesus explains that the seed was the Word of God. The proclamation of the good news produces varied results based on the conditions of the heart. Sometimes it fails to germinate and other times it produces new life. Also, sometimes those receiving new life produce fruit, and sometimes they don’t. In the parable, Jesus declares that He is the Sower of the seed who sows the good seed of truth. Jesus emphasizes the conditions of #3 and #4 and ignores #1 and #2. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that their efforts to reach people with the gospel would not result in all responding in the positive, and also, even of those receiving the truth not all would bear fruit. 

Jesus reveals that harvest is the end of the world marked by His second coming as is clearly stated in verse 39. At this time, the angels from heaven will separate the wheat from the tares, true believers from unbelievers. In the next passage, Jesus describes how that will be:

Matthew 13:40-43, “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

When Jesus returns to earth in His glory, bringing with Him the angels of heaven, they are those who will carry out judgment on the unbelieving world. At this time, there will be no doubt who the true believers are and the false unbelievers. The master of the harvest pointed out earlier that to separate the wheat from the tares prematurely would result in losing some of the wheat. The purpose of Jesus was to lose none of those who trust in Him, as pointed out in John chapter 6, which is one of the greatest passages on the security of the believer. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day,”John 6:37-40 (KJV).

Jesus is determined not to lose any of those the Father gives Him, which requires tolerating the tares growing in His field until the time is right. It also means that Jesus also tolerates less production from those who are true believers, which are distracted and troubled by the world. They have let the world weigh them down with unnecessary worry and have become involved in wealth seeking and pleasure over their true priority of serving Christ. This is the outcome when Christians yield to the schemes of Satan instead of committing themselves solely to the Lord.

Now finally, we learn what our purpose in life truly is. We are to be productive in sharing the good news of the gospel to a lost world to grow the kingdom. We are to be the yeast that leavens the whole loaf. We are the means others will discover life. That is the commission Jesus gives to every believer and that is how we will be known by the fruit we bear. We need to examine ourselves to see if we are indeed a category #3 Christian who is bearing no fruit or a category #4 Christian who is involved in the kingdom and bearing fruit and glorifying the Lord by how we live our lives. We will be held accountable for the fruit we bear and rewarded accordingly.