Expectations can be powerful. Fifteen years ago I found myself preaching through the book of Matthew here at Cornerstone, and though I preached at a different level of outline (taking it in broader strokes then) one place I overlapped was with this chapter, Matthew 13. So, I looked back at that sermon this week and saw a story I had told about someone walking into the church and asking me where the pastor was.
Now, what’s funny about that is that I was the only person at the church, sitting at the desk in the only office at the church, with a sign on the door that read “Pastor” when the person knocked on the door and asked me where the pastor was. The reason, of course, that they missed the obvious reality that I was the pastor is because at the time, I was twenty-three years old. Clearly, they were expecting someone older.
As I said, expectations can be powerful. They can cause you to miss the obvious reality right in front of your eyes. I think that’s the best way to explain why so many Jews struggled to accept the arrival of the kingdom of God with the coming of Jesus. After all, consider their expectations. The arrival of the kingdom meant the arrival of God himself, coming to bring vengeance against his enemies and salvation to his people. All things would be made right, the earth itself made new, as if the whole of the globe were Eden.
Then Jesus comes onto the scene as the promised Messiah, announces that the kingdom of God is at hand, and … well, it feels like a whimper to any kingdom-expecting first century Jew. God’s enemies continue to walk around and are doing well, God’s people seem far from salvation (John the Baptist is soon imprisoned after Jesus’ public ministry begins), and the world looks nothing like Eden as Rome authoritatively rules over the area, and on and on. So, you can see why a number would look around and say, “This isn’t God’s king because this is definitely not the arrival of the kingdom of God that I see promised in the Scriptures.”
Jesus’ disciples may well have begun asking some of the same questions, at least among themselves. Therefore, what we find in Matthew 13:1-52 is a collection of parables about the kingdom in which Jesus makes clear the nature of the kingdom in light of these potential misunderstandings in light of what was expected. And I think that what we’ll find this morning as we consider what Jesus teaches in these parables is that we need these reminders as well as it is easy for us sometimes wrongly to assume that if Christ is risen and reigns and God is sovereign, then God’s reign should look a certain way in this age. So, perhaps in some dark and dreary days in our own lives, Jesus’ teaching that we’ll look at this morning may strengthen us and keep our knees from buckling when things around us simply don’t appear as we feel they ought. With that then, let’s dive into what Jesus says about the kingdom, the first of which is that:
We see this lesson in the parable of the sower in verses 1-9. Jesus tells a parable of a man who goes out and begins casting seeds along an area, and depending on what kind of soil they fall into, they get different results. Some fall on the hardened walking path, so birds come and snatch them up. Others fall on rocky ground where the seed is shallow, so they spring up quickly. Of course, once the sun comes up, they are soon scorched. Others fall among thorns, so though they grow, the thorns soon choke them out. And finally, some fall on good soil and produce fruit, in differing measures.
Now, Jesus explains this parable to his disciples in verses 18-23, telling them that the seed represents the message of the kingdom, or the gospel, we might say. And the soils represent the people who will hear this message. Some, we will speak the gospel to, and they will simply not accept it, and the enemy will quickly come away and remove the message from their minds. Others will hear it, receive it joyfully, and we will all be excited, baptizing them and celebrating the work that the Lord has done. However, very quickly any kind of pressure or adversity in regards to living the Christian life comes along, and immediately they abandon their brief profession.
Still others, will hear, respond, be baptized, and look to be on a path of showing genuine conversion, but they will eventually want to give themselves over to the cares of the world, chasing riches and perhaps immorality, and they’ll abandon the faith. Finally, some will hear the gospel, understand it, accept it, and be converted and bear life-long fruit that shows they’ve come to know the Lord.
Now, in one sense, this is obvious to us. We’ve seen it a hundred times. So, why is this teaching helpful? Well, one reason it’s helpful is because it reminds us that speaking the gospel to others doesn’t always result in true conversion. In fact, in three out of the four scenarios Jesus shares in the parable, it results in no fruit at all. And though this should lead us to expect little fruit when we’re sharing the gospel with another, it does remind us not to be crushed and disheartened if many reject our message or seem to be converts and then quickly show they aren’t. I mean, isn’t our first thought when we at Cornerstone get excited about an unbeliever professing faith and being baptized only to quickly walk away and deny any allegiance to Christ to think, “We’ve got to change something about what we’re doing?” And certainly there would be room for that kind of thinking if we were attempting to manipulate people into professing faith. But the reality is that Jesus wants us to know that it’ll actually be a common response to see someone profess faith, be baptized, maybe even look like a believer for a while, and then show themselves not to know Christ. And when it happens, our response should be to say to ourselves, “Jesus told us this would happen,” and then get right back to sowing the seed of the gospel. This is why, I think, Jesus wants to assure us that the message of the kingdom will find varied responses. Second:
Jesus tells a couple of parables that make this same point. In the first, he tells what our pew Bible label “The Parable of the Weeds” in verses 24-30. In this parable he says that the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his feed, but then an enemy came and sowed some weeds among the wheat. When the wheat began to grow, so did these weeds. Therefore, the man’s servants, seeing this, asks him if he wants them to go pull up the weeds and remove them. But the man says, “No. Rather, let them grow together until the harvest, and then all will be gathered, the wheat and weeds separated, and the weeds burned.
Jesus then explains in verses 36-43 what he means by this parable. He notes that the man who owns the field represents Jesus. The field is the world, and the good seed are believers (i.e. “sons of the kingdom”). The enemy who sows weeds in the field is the devil, and the weeds are unbelievers.
The point, then, is that even though the kingdom of God has come with the arrival of Jesus, and the first-century Jew would have fully expected this to bring the instant judgment of God’s enemies, Jesus teaches here that the final judgment of God’s enemies will not happen until the end of the age.
Jesus makes the same point in the parable of the net in verses 47-50, where he compares the kingdom to a net that is thrown into the sea and gathers good fish and bad fish together, which are not separated until the end of the age, at which time, Jesus notes, “The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace” (vv. 49-50).
Now, the reason this unexpected reality of delayed judgment can be so jarring is that we often look at God’s enemies and not only see an absence of judgment but even success. At times, their lives look much better in this age than those who have placed their faith in Christ and are seeking to honor him. But Jesus gives us this parable so that we might not let our knees buckle when we see this. He told us judgment would be delayed so that we might sit in those moments and say, “Jesus told us it would be this way. Stand strong and don’t be deceived at the apparent success the wicked. Judgment will come at the end of this age.”
Jesus addressed one other issue regarding the unexpected nature of the kingdom in verses 31-33, with the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven. There, he shows us that:
The mustard seed was proverbial for its smallness. One would reference the mustard seed to speak of something tiny. Jesus, then, compares the kingdom to a mustard seed. However, he also notes that just as this tiny seed can grow into the tallest of the garden plants (about twelve feet tall) so that birds can nest in it, so will the kingdom start small but grow into greatness. The same point is then made in regard to leaven, where a woman takes only a little bit of leaven but it ultimately permeates and affects the whole of the dough.
Again, this flies in the face of the expectation that a first-century Jew would have. They would have known that the kingdom of God would come in greatness and glory. It would be obvious to all that God had established his reign and rule over the earth through his Messiah.
But Jesus says, “Not so fast.” Indeed, one day it will be obvious to all. One day the kingdom of this world will indeed become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. Satan, sin, and death will be judged. Jesus will reign, and the results of his reign will be clear. But now, God’s reign has begun like a mustard seed. It may seem hardly discernible. It may seem that Satan, sin, and death are having their way. But don’t grow weak in faith. Jesus is showing us the truth of what we cannot see here.
These parables then all revolve around the same thing – the nature of the kingdom is unexpected. It won’t bring about all positive responses, it won’t bring about instant judgment of God’s enemies, and it won’t start with greatness and glory. But don’t be deceived. Don’t grow weary in doing good. Trust the Lord. Remember that he told us it would be this way. And walk in faith and faithful obedience to him.
But there are two words of application Jesus makes clear in the midst of these parables as well concerning the kingdom that I want to close with. The first is that:
Jesus tells in verses 44-46 of a treasure that a man finds in a field, covers up, and goes and sells all he has to buy it. Now, let me explain this one a little bit for us so that it makes sense. According to the laws of the day, if you were a servant, working on your master’s land, and you found a treasure that had been hidden in the ground, and you dug it up, then it was your master’s property. However, if you simply bought the land from your master, then you’re entitled to everything that’s in the ground. After all, you own the land.
In this story, a servant is working on the land and finds a treasure hidden in the field. However, instead of digging it up and taking it to the master (at which point the treasure would be lost to the servant), the servant covers it back up and goes and sells everything he has in order to get enough money to buy his master’s land. And he knows it’s worth it because he knows something he master doesn’t know, namely, about that treasure hidden in the ground.
Now, Jesus isn’t commenting on the morality of such a practice. He’s simply saying that the kingdom is like that. It’s like a treasure that’s worth selling all you have, abandoning all that is yours, in order to possess it. He then makes the same point with a man who sold everything to purchase a pearl of great value.
So, Jesus wants us to know that being part of the kingdom, knowing Christ and following him, is worth whatever it costs. If it costs your family, friends, lands, possessions, or your life, it’s worth it.
Now, when you put these two things together – the extreme value of being part of the kingdom and the unexpected and seemingly weak appearance of the kingdom – we see why this teaching is needed. It might not feel like it’s worth it to be a follower of Christ in this age. It may always feel like the culture is turning against us, like we’re on the short end of the stick, and that we bear the brunt of the world’s attack. Some are literally losing their lives for the sake of the holding fast to Christ. But Jesus says it’s worth it. And we trust him.
The final thing that Jesus says about the kingdom is:
In a chapter filled with Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom in the form of parables, it’s fitting that we ask why it is that Jesus taught about the kingdom using parables. Thankfully, the disciples ask that very question of Jesus in verse 10. And he answers, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”
Then, he quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 about people hearing but never understanding, saying that this is confirmed with parables. People hear them, but they don’t understand what he’s saying. To the disciples, however, we find him explaining the parables. Notice, for examples, that verses 18-23 and 36-43, where Jesus explains the parable, he is not addressing the crowd but only his disciples.
What he’s saying is that in the Lord’s wisdom, it’s not granted for everyone to see and understand the truth. To some it is hidden and to others it’s revealed. This fits with Jesus’ earlier statement where he acknowledges that no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
That is to say, the power to understand and know the kingdom doesn’t lie within us but is a gift of the Lord’s mercy and grace given to us. For this reason, those who trust in the Lord for salvation, resting in his life, death, and resurrection for salvation, and are, consequently, part of the kingdom have no right to boast over those who do not believe and are not members of the kingdom. After all, apart from the Lord’s grace and mercy, we would remain outsiders to the kingdom, blinded to its glory as well.
But we are not to take from this that somehow we as followers of Christ are to mimic Jesus’ approach here. This is one more place where your WWJD bracelet will fail you. We, as followers of Christ, are never instructed by the Lord to go and speak the truth of the gospel in ways that are hard to understand. In fact, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:2 that we preach to others by way of an “open statement of the truth.” We don’t know those whose eyes will be open and whose eyes will remain close to the glory of the gospel. We simply preach the gospel indiscriminately to all people and plead with them to place their faith in Christ.
And this task is made clear to us in the last two verses of our text this morning. In verses 51-52 Jesus asks his disciples if they’ve understood what he’s said to them. They answer yes. So he says that they are to be like one who brings out of a treasure the old and the new, which I think means that they are to show how the Old Testament Scriptures point to the truths of the gospel and they are to speak and write of the new revelation that Christ will give them (i.e. the New Testament).
And they indeed did that faithfully, passing on these truths to others so that now, nearly 2,000 years later, a group of us sit in a room together as believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we too are charged with teaching the gospel to others and passing on the truths of Scripture to others.
Therefore, though the kingdom has come in an unexpected way, let us be faithful as Christ’s followers, to walk in obedience, press on in faith, know that following Christ is worth everything it might cost us, and make a commitment to make disciples of others, even as Matthew will end his gospel. Let us this morning visibly proclaim our commitment to these things as we come to the table. Amen.