Parables of the Kingdom of Heaven Matthew 13

1. Parables of the Kingdom of Heaven Matthew 13 The Parable of the Sower: 13:1-23

2. “many things in parables” Here we have a sampling: • Parable of the Sower • Parable of the weeds • Parable of the Mustard Seed • Parable of the Yeast • Parable of the Hidden Treasure • Parable of the Pearls • Parable of the Net and Fish Parable of the Sower, the Seeds, the Soils Matthew 13:1 ¶ That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear." What is a parable? A story for teaching one decisive point. A parable is “ a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt of its precise application to tease it into active thought.” (C.H. Dodd, NT scholar) The one who has ears had better listen! This better expresses the force of the 3rd person imperative; listen and heed carefully.

3. Notice that the sower, the seed, and the method of sowing are the same in each case. What is different is the soil upon which the seed is cast. Jesus is describing the present response to his message regarding the kingdom of God. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Though there is a lot of failure, there is also success. Note, there are three kinds of failure but three degrees of success: A hundred fold Sixty fold “kept producing” Thirty fold

4. This parable is really an explanation for the varying responses(illustrated by the different kinds of soil) to Jesus’ message of the kingdom of God. The long awaited expectation of God’s kingdom, as taught by Jesus, did not fit within the mindset of many of the Jewish people. This parable expresses the mixed response of God’s people (the Jews) to the kingdom message of Jesus. All of these parables describe Israel’s response to the kingdom message of Jesus.

5. We should probably understand a “divine passive” here, i.e. “God has granted..” It adds an air of mystery to a mysterious process of how God’s kingdom will come. This ties in with what Jesus had said at 11:25-27: At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. • The word here is “mystery” in the sense of revealing that which had previously been concealed of the ways and plans of God with regard to his kingdom. • A person’s receptivity to Jesus’ message enables him/her to receive more. • Jesus speaks in parables as a way of acknowledging and preserving a division; this division is traced back to God’s own decree. ESV Matthew 13:10 ¶ Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" 11 And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

6. This quotation from Isaiah 6 clarifies Jesus’ allusion to that passage in vs. 13. The negative reaction of the Jewish people to Jesus’ message is in line with what God said would happen to Isaiah when he preached to Israel. This was as God had willed. For Matthew, Isaiah’s words express well the rejection of Jesus by Israel in chapters 11-12. Here is the reverse of the Isaiah 6 passage, describing the blessedness of those who have been granted the privilege of knowing the mysteries of God’s kingdom. The disciples are not only blessed in comparison with other Jews but even in comparison the OT saints. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "'You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. 15 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.' 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

7. Matthew 13:13-17 in Chiastic Structure 1 Because seeing they see not and hearing they hear not, nor understand 2 And it is fulfilled to them the prophecy of Isaiah which says 3 Hearing you shall hear and shall not understand 4 And seeing you shall see and not perceive. 5 For this people’s heart has become dull 6 and the ears are dull of hearing 7 and their eyes they have closed 7’ lest they should perceive with their eyes 6’ and hear with the ear 5’ and understand with the heart, and should turn again and I should heal them. 4’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see 3’ and your ears, for they hear 2’ For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men 1’ desired to see what you see, and did not see, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it The context of the text is God’s commissioning of Isaiah to prophesy to his people with the result being only a confirming of their hard hearts; this will continue until destruction and exile occur and only a remnant of people remain. This quotation describes the phenomenon of “hardening” on the people’s part and is used to describe what is happening to Israel again with the preaching/teaching of Jesus and his announcement of the kingdom of heaven/God.

8. Human Responsibility and Divine Sovereignty tension • Matthew 13:13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "'You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. 15 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.' • Mark 4:11 And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12so that "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." The hardheartedness, and also their own responsibility for that insensitivity, is presupposed in our text. The root problem is the unwillingness of the people to receive the message of Jesus. And that is why Jesus speaks to them in parables. In Mark it is the purpose of Jesus’ parables to accomplish the blindness spoken of in Isaiah. In Matthew Jesus speaks in parables because of willful blindness. We have similar language in Jer.5:21: “O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not…..a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away.” There is a typological correspondence between the day of Isaiah and that of Jesus: they rejected God’s messenger in OT, and God’s Messiah now.

9. Why Did the Jews in General Reject the Message of Jesus? Mark 4:12 so that "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." Luke 8:10 he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.' Acts 28:23 ¶ When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. 24 And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. 25 And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: "The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: 26 "'Go to this people, and say, You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. 27 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.' 28 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.“ John 12:36  When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" 39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 40 "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them." 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Isaiah’s words to his contemporaries about their unbelief is a fitting analogy for the Jew’s rejection of Jesus; even Paul later referred to this rejection of Jesus as a mystery : Romans 11:25 ¶ Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

10. ESV Matthew 13:18 ¶ "Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."