We finished studying Jesus’ parables that are found in Matthew’s gospel this past Monday. Below is a quick recap of what we learned about each parable.
The Parable of the Sower (Matt13:1-23):
Jesus interprets this parable for us. He tells us that the seed is the Word of God (the Gospel). The Sower is anyone who tells others the Gospel. The birds are the evil one; the various places the seed was scattered are the different conditions of the heart. (The gospel did not penetrate the heart so Satan snatched the good news away, there was no root for it to grow, so it was unfruitful, tribulation and persecution or materialism prevents many Christian from allowing God’s good news from growing in their heart and causing ‘fruit’ to grow for the Kingdom.
This parable helps us to understand why some people accept the gospel and others do not.
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matt13:24-30; 36-43):
Again Jesus interprets this parable for us. The wheat is the sons of the kingdom. This would be those who are true followers of Christ. The tares are the sons of the evil one. They are those who have not accepted the Lord as their Savior. The field is the church body as a whole. This parable explains why there are so many individuals in the church (the entire body of Christ from its earliest beginnings to today…) who are not truly followers of Christ, yet appear to be. God has allowed both the good and the bad to grow together and has not removed the evil so as not to hurt the good, but tells us that He will be the one to ‘weed’ out the good from the bad at the end of the age.
This parable helps us to understand that there are two types of people in the church, those who are true believers and those who are not.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed ( Matt13:31-32):
We must remember to keep Scriptural consistency when interpreting/understanding scripture. We should not give one meaning to an object and give it a different meaning somewhere else. It means the same throughout Scripture. This is important as we look at parables that Jesus did not interpret. In this parable the mustard seed is the church body as a whole (as we mentioned in the wheat and the tares). The field is the world and birds are the evil one. This parable is showing us that as the church (the tree) grows in size that the evil one (birds) can rest comfortably in it (the branches). Here Jesus is telling us that there will be larger structural errors finding itself in the broader church world. These errors come across as false doctrine and false teaching. Paul, Peter, John and Jude all warn of false teaching/false teachers in the church. Here Jesus is teaching us to be aware of such things.
This parable helps us to understand that we need to be aware of false teachings in the church.
When Jesus gave the parable of the mustard seed and the explanation to the Wheat and the Tares, he had left the larger crowd and entered a house, sharing the explanation with only His disciples. The following parables also were given while they were in the house. This is significant because the following are warnings as to what will become of the church over the years to come. Jesus wanted His disciples to hear these warnings. And we know that these warnings are passed on to us the church through their writings.
The Parable of the Leaven (Matt13:33):
Leaven always represents evil throughout Scripture. So in this parable is must also represent evil. When a baker mixes leaven into a batch of dough, the leaven will make the wheat appear larger than it actually is. In this parable Jesus is again warning us of false doctrine being mixed into the church, making it appear larger than it actually is.
Remember Jesus sees the hearts of men.
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure (Matt13:44) and The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price (Matt13:45-46):
These two parables tell us of what Jesus has done for us. The field again is the world. It has been often interpreted that the man is us and the treasure/pearl is salvation. But we know that we cannot ‘buy’ our salvation. It is a free gift of God. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Eph 2:8-9. So we should look at the man in this parable as representing Jesus Christ. The treasure represents the people of the nation of Israel. Deut 7:6 and 14:2 clearly describes Israel as God’s treasure. What is interesting is that the man finds the treasure then hides it and goes to buy the field. This corresponds with the history of Israel. God made them a great nation through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Today they are again hidden in the field for the people are in rebellion against Him. However, we know from prophetic scriptures that one day Israel will experience a national conversion and will again be used by God in a major way. (See Romans 9-11.
The Pearl is the true church. God is active in this world and is seeking and saving that which is lost. Pearls are by their very nature something that comes out of a very ugly creature. Yet Pearls are something very beautiful and precious. (See ICor. 1:26-31) Oysters are an unclean animal to the Jewish people. So we can look at the Pearl being the gentile church. Jesus sold all that He had to buy this Pearl of great price.
What did Jesus have to sell? His life! Jesus bought our salvation. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:2) (and see John 3:16-17)
Parable of the Dragnet (Matt13:47-50):
The parable of the dragnet encourages us not to lose hope for one day this present age of the kingdom of God will end. One day God will once and for all end the rebellion. One day God will judge and reestablish the kingdom of God in all of its glory. And we who are his treasure/pearl will be with him forever.
The last parable (Matt13: 52):
This last parable encourages us. We have this new treasure of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the old treasure is a deeper understanding of the kingdom of God which is taught to us. (See I Peter 1-2)
These parables give us a clear description of what the kingdom of heaven/God is like today. They also help us to understand the situation in the church. The parable of the treasure and the pearl shares with us the good news of Jesus Christ and His great love for us, while the last two parables are of great encouragement o the believer.
Starting the week of Nov. 24, Monday Night Home Fellowship will begin a study on the end times as discussed in Matt 24-25.
Dan K said,
November 23, 2008 at 12:55 am
This is Debbie’s 1 1/2 page recap of Dan’s 18 page handwritten summary of the parable study. He says “Be glad he didn’t post it.” If you want to read the 18 pages just let us know and we will be glad to forward it to you.
dave said,
November 25, 2008 at 3:43 am
Great job on those parables Dan! I’m sure the 18 pages were worth it, but good call not to put them all in a post. Maybe uploading a document for anyone REALLY interested would be more than enough.