Matthew 13:1
THAT SAME DAY. This is just following his first serious confrontation with the Jewish leaders. TO THE LAKESIDE. Lake Galilee, probably near Capernaum.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT SAME DAY. This is just following his first serious confrontation with the Jewish leaders. TO THE LAKESIDE. Lake Galilee, probably near Capernaum.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CROWD. Luke says that people kept coming to Jesus from one town after another. This may have been the largest crowd he taught,... [ Continue Reading ]
HE USED PARABLES. This begins a change in his teaching career. From this time on he taught in parables, using these over and over as he taught different groups of people. A parable is a story, true to nature, told to illustrate a moral or spiritual principle. "You can only learn on the basis of what... [ Continue Reading ]
AS HE SCATTERED THE SEED. Jesus explains the meaning of this parable in Matthew 13:18-23. As the man scattered the seed, he could not avoid getting some of it into places not right for it. ALONG THE PATH. Narrow footpaths crisscrossed the fields. As the seed lay on the hard-packed ground, the birds... [ Continue Reading ]
ROCKY GROUND. Some parts of a field would have only a very thin covering of soil over the rocks. Much of Palestine is very rocky.... [ Continue Reading ]
IT BURNED THE YOUNG PLANTS. Not enough soil or moisture to allow them to survive.... [ Continue Reading ]
FELL AMONG THORNS. Palestine has been noted for thorns, thistles, brambles, and thorny-bushes. The plants could not compete with the thorns.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT SOME SEEDS FELL IN GOOD SOIL. This last soil is the exact opposite of the other. It has all the good qualities needed to grow a good crop. SOME HAD ONE HUNDRED GRAINS. That is, each "one grain of seed" planted, would produce "one hundred grains of seed" in the harvest. In Luke's record, it is al... [ Continue Reading ]
LISTEN, THEN. Those who hear this are to learn the lesson which it teaches.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHY DO YOU USE PARABLES? Jesus had not used this method of teaching before.... [ Continue Reading ]
HAS BEEN GIVEN TO YOU. Spiritual training is required to be able to understand spiritual truth (_see_ 1 Corinthians 2:6; 1 Corinthians 2:11; 1 Corinthians 2:14).... [ Continue Reading ]
WILL BE GIVEN MORE. Those who have made some progress, will find still more. Jesus repeated this principle in the Parable of the Three Servants (Matthew 25:29). WILL HAVE TAKEN AWAY. Those who do not have a great desire to please God (Matthew 5:6), will lose their ability to respond to God. An oppor... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REASON THAT I USE PARABLES. This is said about those who are satisfied to be spiritually ignorant (such as those in Matthew 12:38). No one will find Truth who does not actively search for it.... [ Continue Reading ]
14-15. SO THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH COMES TRUE. Isaiah 6:9-10. Isaiah sees the spiritual apathy of the people which describes conditions in Christ's time. Those whom God cannot convince, he confuses (see 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW FORTUNATE YOU ARE! Compare Matthew 16:17. They allowed God to teach them the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven.... [ Continue Reading ]
WANTED VERY MUCH TO SEE WHAT YOU SEE. The ancient people had yearned to see the Messiah, but the time was not fulfilled while they were alive. God's Plan had to remain secret until Jesus came (1 Corinthians 2:7-10).... [ Continue Reading ]
LISTEN, THEN, AND LEARN. Jesus tells them plainly the meaning of the parable about the Sower. Christ (and the messianic community) is the sower. Luke says the seed is the word of God (the Good News about the Kingdom _see_ Matthew 16:18-19). Note that in each case, the seed is the same, and it is the... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS TOLD THEM ANOTHER PARABLE. Jesus used a series of parables to tell and explain the characteristics of the Kingdom. In this parable, the Kingdom of heaven is the man who sowed good seed. GOOD SEED. The message about the Kingdom (Matthew 13:19). The Kingdom (people) do what the sower does in thi... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE NIGHT. Many people hide their actions under the cover of night. AN ENEMY. This enemy sowed weed seed in the field of wheat, with the idea of causing harm to the man who sowed the good seed. The weeds were "darnel," and looked just like wheat while they were growing together.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE WEEDS SHOWED UP. No heads of grain would form on the weeds, so they identify themselves.... [ Continue Reading ]
27-28. WHERE DID THE WEEDS COME FROM? Certainly not from the good seed that was planted. Just as the people of the Kingdom sow good seed, there are those who belong to the Evil One who sow the weed seed. DO YOU WANT US TO GO AND PULL UP THE WEEDS? Since the field is the world, this cannot speak of... [ Continue Reading ]
YOU MIGHT PULL UP. The wheat and the seeds grew so close together that you could not pull one without damaging the other.... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THE WHEAT AND THE WEEDS BOTH GROW TOGETHER. When the harvest time comes, the separation can be easily done. For the application of this parable, see notes on Matthew 13:36-43_. Compare_ Matthew 24:37-42.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE A MUSTARD SEED. Here the Kingdom is the seed. The round mustard seed was the smallest seed planted.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHEN IT GROWS UP. It grew to as much as ten feet high. The Kingdom of heaven was to begin small, then grow to include many crowds of people (_see_ Acts 15:14-18_:_ Revelation 7:9-10).... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE YEAST. Here the Kingdom is the yeast. A small amount of "old dough" was kept in a jar as a "starter." This was mixed with the flour as we use yeast today, to make it rise. Just a small pinch of yeast would spread throughout the whole bushel of flour, This is how the Kin... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS USED PARABLES. See Matthew 13:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
TO MAKE COME TRUE. Matthew paraphrases Psalms 78:2. The "things unknown" means the Good News of Jesus and his Kingdom (_See_ 1 Corinthians 2:9; Revelation 5:7-10).... [ Continue Reading ]
36-43. TELL US WHAT THE PARABLE OF THE WEEDS IN THE FIELD MEANS. This parable is in Matthew 13:24-30. (1) The Kingdom is compared to the _man_ who sows. (2) The _man_ is the Son of God Jesus himself. [Son of Man see Luke 22:69-70] Jesus sows by "proxy" through his Kingdom. (3) The good seed is the p... [ Continue Reading ]
IS LIKE A TREASURE HIDDEN. People then would bury things of value to keep them safe. This parable teaches the immense value of the message about the Kingdom [the Gospel]. One who finds this will give up everything to make it his!... [ Continue Reading ]
45-46 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE A BUYER. Pearls were extremely valuable. When he finds one unusually fine, he sells everything to be able to buy it. The treasure of Matthew 13:44 was found by accident, while the pearl was "looked for." Yet both parables illustrate the attitude which "searches o... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE A NET. All kinds of people will be in the messianic community, which is the Kingdom/church on earth. No attempt to sort them out will be done now. But, when time ends, the angels will be sent to separate the good from the bad. The evil people are thrown into the furnace... [ Continue Reading ]
EVERY TEACHER OF THE LAW. A teacher of the Law would study Jesus in the context of the Old Testament. He would bring out old truths which come true in Jesus and his Kingdom. See Matthew 13:35.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WENT BACK TO HIS HOME TOWN. Nazareth. He taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath (Mark 6:2). WHERE DID HE GET SUCH WISDOM? Sarcasm (_see_ Matthew 13:58).... [ Continue Reading ]
ISN'T HE! Joseph was his _legal_ father [the Holy Spirit was his real father]. Brothers and sisters (see note _on_ John 2:12).... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SO THEY REJECTED HIM. They thought they knew both he and his family. So they rejected his claims without closely studying them. Familiar things often fail to impress us.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE DID NOT. Miracles would not impress these people, because they had already decided not to believe. The SYNAGOGUE was like the CHRISTIAN CONGREGATION. Wherever ten Jews lived in the same area, it was their duty to form a synagogue. This name was also applied to the building in which they met ever... [ Continue Reading ]