Life Project Blog

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.”

Matthew 13:33-35

Jesus continues His teaching of parables; there are two more in these few verses. As before, He begins with the words, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” denoting that 1) this is a parable (Is like) and 2) that the subject is indeed the kingdom of Heaven.  As we read these parables about the Kingdom of Heaven we would be well advised to keep in mind that everything about the Kingdom of Heaven has a strong apocalyptic implication. I would also mention once again that “apocalyptic” doesn’t mean the “End”, it means “to reveal” and what is revealed may or may not be about the “End”.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed is a simple one, since a mustard seed is so small, so apparently insignificant, and yet it can grow into a very large bush. We might say that the mustard plant is in a sense, counter-intuitive, since when we see one, we would likely assume it has a large seed as other bushes normally do, but it is actually one of the smallest of seeds.

In the world’s terms, the Kingdom of Heaven isn’t all that significant, in fact a great many liken it to a fairy tale as they scoff at the very idea of such a thing. But the Kingdom of Heaven is the most counter-intuitive of all things, because its power is found in its apparent weakness and insignificance.

The Parable of Yeast is similar to that of the mustard seed, for when we put a small amount of yeast into the flour to make the dough for bread, little would we suspect that such a small amount yeast would find its way into the entire dough mixture, becoming something so powerful that it entirely changes the nature of the dough. The Kingdom is like that because it comes into the world, and changes everything; no wonder it is opposed so fiercely!

The section ends with Matthew yet again showing us how this speech of Jesus’ ties into Israel’s history of prophecy.

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

Matthew 13:24-30

The last thing anybody wants when they are planting seeds is to discover later that their seeds included the seeds of weeds, so seed providers are very careful to ensure that their seed packages are clear of such an infestation. In this parable, a farmer had good wheat seeds, free of weeds, but his enemy came into the field under cover of night and infested the man’s fields with weeds nice guy.

Jesus began the story by saying that the Kingdom of Heaven is like that. I’m sure I don’t really need to explain this to anybody, but obviously, the Gospel is represented by the seeds, the enemy is Satan, and the weed seeds are the notions, cares and philosophies of this world. As the Gospel message begins to grow inside a person, the weeds of the enemy grow and seek to choke out the pure message of hope. In the end, when the time has come for harvest, the Harvester will pull out the weeds so they can be burned, and the wheat will be harvested.

You might want to take note of the apocalyptic implications of this, for when Jesus returns, those weeds in the harvesting fields will be separated from the harvest and burned.

We might also note, in light of the previous passage, that the parables Jesus is using to explain the Kingdom are really not very hard to follow, unless of course, you just don’t want to follow them.

Matthew 13:1-23

This passage contains the Parable of the Sower, and in many translations, it has this as a heading, added by the translators. Yet, while the parable is in this passage, the passage is not entirely about the parable. You will no doubt recall that we are right in the middle of a section of Matthew’s Gospel that has the growing rejection of the Jews as its theme; consequently, if we view the passage outside of this theme, we will be taking the passage out of its context, and that is never a good idea.

That is how it is usually taught, however.

The scene opens shortly after Jesus had Pharisees for lunch, as we saw last time; He and the disciples went out to the Sea of Galilee, and the crowds were so big, he addressed them from a boat out on the water. Why shouldn’t the crowds be huge? In the last scene, He had healed everybody who needed healing… on the Sabbath, no less. I’m sure the news spread quickly and since everyone had the day off from work, they came out for the show. Maybe if they were lucky, a Pharisee or two might be crazy enough to challenge Him again!

In verses 3-9, He told the crowd the Parable of the Sower. Beginning at verse 10, we have His aside with the disciples; remember, they are in a boat, and the crowd is ashore… They asked Him why He was speaking to the people in parables. Before we look at the answer He gave, a parable is a metaphorical story that uses common frames of reference to deliver an inconvenient or uncomfortable truth in a non-threatening way, and has been used by the wise to communicate with and instruct others for about as long as people have been writing things down; they are used pretty much universally, and we still use them today, although in our time we usually call them “illustrations”.

In our passage, Jesus answers this way:

He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. (13:11-12)

I hope that the first thing you recognized in reading these two verses is that He hasn’t answered their question yet; this is a set up for the answer that will become apparent as He goes along. In short, what He is telling them so far is that they have been chosen as His disciples to have everything reveled to them, but the crowd hasn’t been. Consequently, He speaks to them in a way that requires a certain level of discernment before a person comprehends. He continues:

This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
    though hearing, they do not hear or understand. (13:13)

Just looking at this, you might expect that Jesus is quoting an Old Testament passage here, but He is not quoting anyone (yet). However, this is the answer to their question; He is speaking to the people in parables because they are not ready to deal with Truth, for they are in open rebellion against God. Why do I say this? Simple Jesus is not the kind of Messiah they are looking for, for they want a Messiah to deal with their political problems (i.e. the Roman occupation) not their spiritual problem of sin. Since God’s plan isn’t what they want, they rebel.

If you are in the habit of sharing your faith, you will recognize this as something quite common in our time, for it is fairly common to find a person who is quite open to the Gospel, as long as Jesus is the kind of Savior who will solve the person’s earthly problems, say financial or career problems, or their relational problems, or their problems with substance abuse or other addictive issues. Yet when their sin is mentioned, they are no longer interested, for they don’t see that as an issue, because they are “a good person”.

Jesus continues quoting from Isaiah 6:

In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’ (13:14-15)

At the beginning of this passage, I reminded you of the overall theme in which this falls, that of Israel’s growing rejection of Jesus; do you see it now? It is nothing new in Israel’s history, and Matthew has once again tied the story of Jesus into Israel’s history, even though in this particular case, it is on the negative side of history. The people, by and large, want what they want, when they want it, and if God doesn’t deliver, they turn their backs on Him.

Jesus taught in parables, and those who were seeking relationship with God could very easily understand His teaching, and those who didn’t particularly care what God was doing if it wasn’t what they wanted would have no clue.

If you are wondering about the actual parable, you can read it in verses 3-9, and if you are curious about its meaning, Jesus explains that in verses 16 ff.

Matthew 12:22-37

I must confess that most of the time when I read a passage in which Pharisees are involved, I see politicians in my mind’s eye and this passage is no exception. Have you ever noticed how some politicians will keep reading the day’s talking points no matter how idiotic they sound?

Here they go again!

Jesus is presented with another person who is possessed by a demon; He drives out the demon, and the Pharisees start reading off their talking points:

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” (12:24)

As we know, Jesus has already made them look like fools for saying this, and here we go yet again. This time, He has even more to say, even borrowing heavily from one of Abraham Lincoln’s most famous speeches (or was it the other way around?):

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (12:24-28)

Jesus’ words were so memorable; I would have simply said, “What are you, stupid?”

First, Jesus points out the sheer stupidity of their charge, and then He turns it around on them: Maybe they drive out demons by the power of demons, but Jesus doesn’t, and if they drive out demons by the Spirit of God and the Son is before them driving out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is standing right in front of them.

I don’t think I want to debate against Jesus, how about you?

He uses another example in verse 29 of a strong man’s house to make the same point again. Then, beginning in verse 30 it gets more serious:

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. (12:30-32)

I am guessing that if we could have seen the faces of those Pharisees at this point, we would have seen a very special shade of bright red as they seethed in their fury against their long awaited Messiah. They have just been informed of having attributed to work of the Holy Spirit of God to the Devil, a sin for which there is no forgiveness, and they have done so sounding like complete fools in the process.

Ouch.

The passage, and the chapter ends with these words, and I don’t think that I need to say anything more, for they are more than self-explanatory:

 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (12:33-37)

It is interesting for us to note that in almost all cases, Jesus speaks in a manner that is respectful, reasonable and calm; you just don’t see Him go off on anybody… except from time-to-time, when He goes off on the Pharisees. I think I have an idea why that is: for one thing, they are supposed to know better, and of all Gospel characters, they are the ones who should recognize the Messiah. For another thing, they are never really reasonable; it’s their way or the highway. Lastly, as mediocre politicians will always do, they just keep on  reading their talking points, no matter what else might happen, for, again like any mediocre politician, they believe that if they just tell their stupid lie enough times, people will believe them. The sad part is that those politicians usually turn out to be right, and people believe them in the end.

Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. He warned them not to tell others about him. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
    the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
    and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
He will not quarrel or cry out;
    no one will hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory.

In his name the nations will put their hope.”

Matthew 12:15-21

This passage takes place immediately after the passage we discussed last time, Matthew 12:1-14, and it is a continuation of the action. Thus, the Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus after He outsmarted and outflanked them in the healing of the man’s hand, and Jesus withdrew, followed by crowds. He healed everyone in the crowd, still on the Sabbath mind you, and this brief discourse followed.

Considering the resumption of the previous narrative that begins in verse 22, this discourse can be looked at as a sort of interruption that reminds the reader of just who Jesus is, yet for me, it appears that Matthew isn’t using this as a literary device to remind us, even though I would imagine that the Holy Spirit was doing so in the way that events unfold in this chapter. In both cases however, we are pointed to the character and mission of the Christ in these verses.

So, knowing what the Pharisees were thinking, Jesus withdraws, heals many more people on the Sabbath, and tells the people not to tell others about Him. Looking at this, and the quotation that follows, it seems clear to me that Jesus is not asking them to keep quiet out of fear of the Pharisees and their plotting, but because of the very nature of His mission; Jesus never goes out of His way to draw attention to Himself, for He has no interest in becoming a celebrity, for His mission is to do the will of His Father, not to make a name for Himself. Personally, I think we can take a lesson from His example.

Matthew seeks to once again connect Jesus with Israel’s past by relating His simple request of the people to keep quiet about Him, to the prophecy of Isaiah 42:1-4. If you compare Isaiah to Matthew, you will notice some slight variation. Often New Testament authors quote the Septuagint in their Old Testament quotations, but that isn’t the case here. Either this is Matthew’s interpretation of the text, or it is his own translation from the original… or both. Whatever the case may be, he makes it clear that Jesus will be denounced by the Jewish leaders because He is God’s humble servant. Those very leaders see themselves as God’s servants, and this is what they should be, and to be fair to them, maybe they really were God’s servants.

Yet, in no way were they ever God’s humble servants, for in the end, their total lack of humility would be their downfall. I think we can learn much from the example of the Pharisees…

Matthew 12:1-14

Matthew continues his narrative in this section which highlights the growing opposition to Jesus in certain Jewish circles. Notice as you read the verses that the disciples of Jesus are right in the middle of the controversy; didn’t they go out on a mission of harvest?  You may recall that chapter 10 was all about Jesus preparing to send them out, then they aren’t mentioned in chapter 11 and here they are in chapter 12. Are they back now? Did they ever go out? Was Jesus’ preparations and instructions intended only for the future after Pentecost?

Matthew doesn’t make this issue clear, and I’ll let you ponder it on your own…

They are walking through a grain field on the Sabbath, and the disciples pick a few heads of grain to eat, and the Pharisees jump in: Holy heart attack! They are harvesting on the Sabbath! (12:1-2)

Jesus refutes their allegations with examples from the Scriptures (12:3-7) and then concludes with an amazing statement in verse 8: “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath”

Matthew continues the narrative:

Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” (12:9-10)

When Jesus entered the synagogue, what was He thinking; was it His intention to heal the man with the injured hand? The text doesn’t say, it doesn’t even tell us if Jesus knew about the man being there, and the Pharisees would have had no way to know what was in His mind at that moment, so leaving nothing to chance, they set Him up, paragons of virtue that they were. It would be my guess that His answer wasn’t exactly what they expected:

He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” (12:11-12)

Look very carefully at His answer, and then re-read the question. Did you notice that Jesus answered a question they didn’t ask? Notice that they asked if it was legal to heal someone on the Sabbath, and that the answer was that is legal to do good on the Sabbath. To heal someone on the Sabbath is a specific action that they wanted to use in bringing an indictment against Him, but to do good is a vague generality that most people would have difficulty in objecting to; it isn’t a specific action that is “actionable” in the legal sense, or in plain English: it really isn’t anything with a legal basis for dispute.

Now, look carefully and see what Jesus actually did:

Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other (12:13).

Jesus asked the man to stretch out his hand, and lo and behold, the hand was perfectly fine. I guess there wasn’t anyone there who needed healing after all!

Now dear readers, those of you who are amateur lawyers and sleuths, what did Jesus do? Did He heal the man, or was the man already fine? If you think He healed the man, then when exactly did He do it? What is your evidence? Did you see Him heal the man?

Do you recall the advice that Jesus gave the disciples in 10:16, that they should be as “shrewd as snakes and harmless as a dove”? Here is one of the best examples of that in all of Scripture.

The Pharisees, realizing that He had outsmarted and outflanked them, were somewhat less than pleased at this:

But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus (12:14).

I’m sure that you noticed the change in their attitude; they wanted a basis to file charges against Jesus, now they just want to kill Him.