Continuing a study of the Gospels:
(Matthew 13:1) The same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea side.
In the last chapter Jesus appears to have gone into a house to continue His teaching. Although we had not been specifically told that in scripture, the last chapter ended with His mother and brothers standing outside wishing to talk to Him. This verse confirms that He had indeed been inside a house at that point. He now left the house, probably spoke to His mother and brothers, and then went and sat by the seaside. This would have been the Sea of Galilee, or the Sea of Tiberias, as it was sometimes called. Galilee was the name of that particular region in Israel, and Tiberias was a city on the coast, as was Capernaum, which is where we had been told Jesus had gone (Matthew 9:1).
(2) And great multitudes were gathered to Him, so that He went into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
A great multitude of people gathered around Him, so that He boarded a boat to escape the crowd and so that He could be easily heard when He spoke by all the people who stood on the shore.
(3) And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, a sower went out to sow."
Jesus began to speak in parables to the people. He began with a parable about a man, a sower, going out to sow.
(4) "And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them."
Jesus continued the parable. While the man sowed his seeds, some of them fell by the wayside, outside the plowed ground prepared for them, likely onto a hard beaten path. There the birds came and easily devoured them.
(5) "Some fell on stony places where they did not have much earth, and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth."
Other seeds fell on stony places that did not have much dirt, and they immediately sprang up, sooner than others because they had little ground covering them.
(6) "And when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away."
Those seeds that sprang up in the stony places were scorched by the sun, and withered and died because they had no roots.
(7) "And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them."
Still other seeds fell among thorns where the thorns grew and choked out the little plants.
(8) "But others fell on good ground and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold."
Other seeds fell into the good plowed and prepared fertile ground where they brought forth fruit, sometimes as much as a hundred times as much grain as planted.
(9) "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Jesus ended the parable by exhorting those "with ears" to really hear, contemplate, and understand the parable. Jesus would later explain it.
(10) And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"
His disciples came to Jesus and asked Him why he spoke to the people in parables.
(11) He answered and said to them, "Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given."
Jesus began His answer by confirming to them that they had been given the spirit to know and understand at least some of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but it had not yet been revealed to those people in the multitude.
(12) "For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he will have more abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him."
Jesus said that to those who had knowledge of the mysteries of heaven, more would be given to them; but to those who had none, even what they had would be taken away, which I believe must mean what was perhaps attempted to be given and was not truly accepted by the person, or perhaps only a showy pretense of following Christ, that shallow insincere knowledge would be taken away. How true this fact is! I don't believe as some commentators did that this was because the will of the Father was to give to some and not to others. I believe it is a natural order of things. When I was a baby Christian, I could read the Bible and only understand superficial things, but as I grew as a Christian, I could read the same passages and be shown more and more. To this day, the exact same passage studied before will reveal even more mysteries! To those who do not care to be in closer communion with God, those superficial things will soon disappear because they have no roots, so to speak.
(13) "Therefore I speak to them in parables because seeing, they do not see, and hearing, they hear not; neither do they understand."
I believe what Jesus meant by this was that these people had already been given much by His presence and His miracles and teaching thus far, and they did not use or take to heart what had been given them at that point. They saw Him, they heard Him, and they didn't understand a thing.
(14) "And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, 'By hearing, you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing, you shall see, and shall not perceive.'"
Jesus said that in those people, prophecy was fulfilled, and He quoted Isaiah 6:9. Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, wrote that the proper meaning of the original Greek word "anapleroo" was actually "again fulfilled." This prophecy was fulfilled in the Jews in the time of Isaiah, but was at this time being fulfilled again in their posterity. Jesus Christ was sent to them, they heard Him and saw His miracles, but they would not understand because they preferred the darkness of the world to the light of Jesus Christ. God would not force them to accept the salvation that was offered.
(15) "'For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.'"
Jesus continued quoting Isaiah 6:10. The people's hearts had grown fat and foolish. Their ears were inattentive and half-asleep. They themselves had stubbornly closed their eyes to the truth of God. Had they not been so stubborn and wise in their own eyes, they might would have seen and heard the truth of Jesus Christ, understood their sinful condition, and turned to Jesus and be converted and healed by Him.
(16) "But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear."
Jesus told His disciples that they were blessed to understand what they saw and heard. They and we, are truly blessed to have had Jesus in our lives, much more blessed than our forefathers who had only the law.
(17) "For verily, I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see what you see, and have not seen them; and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."
In confirmation that they were truly blessed by having Christ in their midst, Jesus told them that many prophets and righteous men before them had more than desired, but actually coveted, to see the time of the Messiah. Abraham rejoiced to see the day of the Messiah (John 8:56), Jacob longed and waited for God's salvation (Genesis 49:18), and David wrote psalms about the Lord's salvation of Israel. In Hebrews' chapter on the faith heroes, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Rahab, and many others, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13).
(18) "Therefore hear the parable of the sower."
With the added details of this account from Mark and Luke, we found the disciples asked for the meaning of the parable, and Jesus almost rebuked them for not knowing the meaning of it, and asking how they would then know the meaning of any parable. He made it sound as if this were one of the simplest parables to understand. Since it was given to them to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus called upon them to really hear and understand the spiritual meaning of the parable of the sower. By truly understanding this parable, they would most likely have the foundation that would help them understand more difficult parables.
(19) "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside."
Jesus began to explain the parable of the sower. This first comparison seems quite apropos for the situation at that moment. Jesus exhorted His disciples to listen and understand so that they not be as those seeds thrown by the wayside. He explained that when one heard the word of the kingdom of God and did not understand it, Satan, represented by the birds, came and quickly snatched away what was meant to be sown in the heart. Because he did not understand, that truth could not take root, and he could easily be dissuaded from the truth.
(20) "But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; (21) Yet he has no root in himself and endures only for awhile; for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles."
Jesus explained the seed that was sown on stony places. That was the person who received the word and immediately sprang up with joy. He endured for awhile, but as soon as things got hot, persecution represented by the sun, because the truth was not deeply rooted in him, he withered away.
(22) "He also who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, chokes the word, and he becomes unfruitful."
Likewise he who received seed among the thorns was not fruitful; not because of persecution or tribulation, but because he let the sinful pleasures of the world choke out the word.
(23) "But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, which bears fruit and produces some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."
Finally, Jesus explained, the good seed that fell into good ground was he who heard the word, understood it, and let it take root within his heart. This well-rooted seed would produce much fruit, living according to the word and doing good work for the kingdom of heaven. Note that the good seed doesn't always produce the same amount. Among fruitful Christians, some are more fruitful than others. This might be because of where they have been placed with regard to time or station, but all should be aiming to produce as much as possible.
(24) Another parable He put forth to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, (25) But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way."
Jesus began another parable to his disciples. He likened the kingdom of heaven to a man sowing good seed in his field. Indeed, the word of God is the best seed! However, while the caretakers of the field slept, the spiritual sleep that often overtakes Christians who are not diligent, Satan, the enemy, sowed tares, grass resembling wheat but unfruitful weeds, among the good wheat, the Christians. This is certainly representative of Satan's half-truths that slip into a society and even into churches. He sows the half-truths, these things that look like wheat or that sound good to the lukewarm sleeping Christians, and then moves on to another target.
(26) "But when the crop sprouted up and brought forth fruit, the tares also appeared."
Those weeds were not truly known until the crop sprouted and brought forth fruit, and then the tares were discovered as well.
(27) "So the servants of the household came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'"
Those servants who knew that the owner had sown only good seed asked him why there were tares also. What a perfect example of people who want to reject Christ because of what they see Christians do! God indeed sowed perfect seed, but so-called Christians planted by the enemy are within the Christian community.
(28) "He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' (29) But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares, you also root up the wheat with them.'"
The owner told them an enemy had planted the tares. A simple answer to the age-old question about the origin of evil--the enemy, Satan, did it! The servants asked if they should go out and gather up the tares, but the owner said no, because they might also accidentally root up some wheat with them, or at the very least, trod upon and greatly disturb the good wheat.
(30) "'Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"
The owner of the field said to let both grow together until harvest time. It would be at that time that the owner would instruct all the tares to be bound together and burned, and the wheat to be gathered into his barn. In this, Christ teaches us that we should expect evil in the world and in the church. However, it is not for us to try to weed out all the evil. That is not to say that there aren't to be laws governing a civil society; certainly lawbreakers are to be held accountable in the world. This parable speaks more to the church, those calling themselves Christians, but who are not. As only God knows the heart of man, He is to be the ultimate judge at His harvest time at the end of the world. Attempts for man to gather all the tares would surely injure good Christianity as man is not able to discern the true hearts of men. Mistakes would be made and discord created among Christians. Is this not what will happen in the end when the world is forced to accept a doctrine that is anti-Christ? Is that not what is beginning to happen now in our world? Mere men are trying to judge the hearts and motives of a person just because of the person they support for president, just because they choose to be patriotic, or because they choose to live by Biblical rules. God, in due time, will be the one to separate the tares from the wheat and throw them into the fire, and then gather His wheat into His kingdom.
This also explains why good things are allowed to happen to bad people, and why bad things happen to good people. God lets them grow together in this world. That's not to say that God doesn't act in this world to achieve His purposes. He is continually working things for good according to His will (Romans 8:28), but He also sends rain on the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:45); and we were instructed in that passage to love our enemies, do good to them, bless them, and pray for them. In our doing that, we are planting seeds, or fertilizing them, seeds that might have been taken with the tares prematurely. God will do the weeding at His proper harvest time.
(31) Another parable He put forth to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. (32) Which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches."
Jesus put forth another parable, likening the kingdom of heaven to a man who sowed a tiny mustard seed in his field. Called the least of seeds because it was so small, yet when it was grown was the greatest among herbs. That may not be absolute in all cases of herbs, but in relation to its tiny size, it did indeed grow great in their warm climate at that time. It grew into a tree and was so large as to have birds nesting in it. The kingdom of heaven on earth began as a small seed, but would grow universally in the world; a small seed planted in the heart of a man can likewise grow great in the soul of the Christian.
(33) Another parable He spoke to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened."
Like the previous parable, this one demonstrated how from a small beginning the kingdom of heaven on earth would grow to ultimate universality. A woman hid small measures of leaven or yeast into one place, yet it fermented and allowed the dough to be inflated by the gas yeast produces.
In studying old commentaries on this verse, at first I fell into the trap of believing that it took the woman representing the church to knead the dough to make it grow, as some of the commentators wrote. I purposely study old commentaries because I know that too many in this modern age follow false doctrines, and I wanted to know what the scholars of old thought about the scriptures. However, in this case, some actually believed it took the church to make the kingdom of heaven grow. While I am sure that it does grow with the church, and that that is God's purpose in the church, there is no person necessary for the gospel to grow. Verse 33 above says nothing about the woman kneading the dough; it states she simply hid it in the meal and eventually the whole was leavened. I had to look up an article on yeast to see if it could indeed leaven an entire loaf by itself, and indeed it can. It takes 12 hours or more, but letting the dough just sit and ferment will allow enzymes in the flour and the gas yeast produces to create a sort of slow-motion process of self-kneading. Again, I don't want to minimize the church and God's purpose in it, but it simply isn't necessary for the gospel to grow. God and His Holy Spirit in the hearts of men will make it grow just as yeast can "magically" make a lump of dough grow.
(34) All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables, and without a parable He did not speak to them, (35) That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying, "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."
At last we had read that the disciples had come to Jesus to ask about why He taught in parables. Then we were told of other parables He told, so either He turned from His disciples to continue speaking to the multitude in other parables, or else the previous verses tell us all the other parables Jesus had told the multitude before the disciples came to Him to ask for an explanation. On this particular occasion, Jesus had only spoken to the multitude in parables; He spoke to them in no other way, fulfilling a prophecy. Then Jesus paraphrased the prophecy by Asaph in Psalm 78:2, "I will open My mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old." Although that particular psalm seems to contain only a history of the Jews, the psalmist began by calling it a parable, and that he would utter dark sayings of old, which Jesus here called things that had been kept secret since the foundation of the world. Underneath the history, since the foundation of the world, there have been truths for all time which were not fully revealed and understood until the Messiah came, died, and rose again.
(36) Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house; and His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."
After He told all these parables, Jesus sent the multitude away, left the boat, and returned to the house from which he had left in verse 1. His disciples came to Him and asked that He explain the parable of the wheat and tares. They didn't ask about the parables of the mustard seed or the leaven; perhaps they understood those, but it seems the tares may have been a mystery to them.
(37) He answered and said to them, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man."
Jesus began by explaining that the sower of the good seed was He Himself, whom He called the Son of man. In the same account in Luke, Luke said Jesus further explained that the seed was the word of God.
(38) "The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one."
The field where the sower sowed his good seed was the world. The good seed was the word of God growing into the children of the kingdom of heaven. The tares were the children of Satan.
(39) "The enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels."
Satan was the enemy who sowed the tares. The harvest was the end of the world, and the reapers at the harvest were the angels.
(40) "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world."
Jesus said that just as it was with the tares that were gathered and burned at harvest time, so it would be at the end of this world.
(41) "The Son of man will send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who do iniquity, (42) And shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
Just as the sower sent out his reapers to gather the tares, the Lord Jesus would send out His angels to gather out of His Gospel church "all things that offend," which is the way the KJV translators translated the original Greek words "pas skandalon." Indeed "pas" can mean "all things" or "everything," but it also means "everyone." The meaning of "skandalon" is obvious when you see the word; Jesus's angels will gather out of His church everyone who was a scandal to Him and His gospel, and His church, and by their evil actions offended God and His law, and lay stumbling blocks in the way of the children of God. Also gathered as tares would be those who "do iniquity," which of course, means "lawlessness" and "wickedness." They would all be gathered together and cast into a furnace of fire representing hell fire.
There is much discussion among scholars as to whether or not there is actually a place with eternal fire, or if it was a metaphor for the eternal wrath of God upon the wicked; but you can be sure, there will be "wailing and gnashing of teeth." Wailing, of course, represents the cries of anguish and despair, and the gnashing of teeth representing inexpressible pain (like that of being burned alive eternally) and tortures of mind. How awful to think about it! To those who would say that a loving God would never throw His people into such eternal torment, I would say rather that God separated those who rejected Him from His own, His children that He saved from an eternity without Him. A perfect and righteous God cannot be in the presence of such wickedness, but He loved His creation, and provided a way for them to be with Him even though they were so sinful. That was by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and He Himself covered their sins with His precious blood that He sacrificed for their sins, so that God did not see the wickedness, but only that precious atonement for their sins. Rather than so much a throwing into the fire, I would suggest that it is a throwing down to stay where you are, eternally separated from God and those who followed Him. Imagine a world only led by Satan, with no love or moral laws; it could only result in eternal destruction, desolation, and hell fire!
(43) "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
"The righteous," not righteous in their own right, but because of the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, will then, after the tares have been taken away, be able to shine forth in the robe of Christ's righteousness in their Father's kingdom. No longer will they be oppressed or reproached for their beliefs, no longer will they live among immorality and wickedness, no longer will they be afflicted by afflictions and persecutions, but will shine as Christ Himself. What an awesome thought! We horrid humans can shine like Christ?! Only because of what He did for us. How on earth can such a magnificent and loving act be rejected? Jesus exhorted those who heard Him, to seriously consider and take to heart what He had told them.
(44) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man has found and hidden, and for the joy of it, goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."
Jesus gave another illustration of the kingdom of heaven on earth, that glorious gospel of Christ. He likened it to a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and hid in his heart, contemplating the glory of it and counting the cost of purchase. He was overjoyed with it and gave all he had to have that treasure, just as a person overjoyed with salvation for the soul readily renounces his sins, abandons his evil companions, and relinquishes hope of salvation through his own righteousness, giving up all to have salvation in Christ.
(45) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man seeking beautiful pearls; (46) Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."
This parable is much like the previous one, except that this man was actively seeking a beautiful pearl, representing a person searching for happiness, truth, and salvation. When he found it, he was happy to give up all for it.
(47) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered some of every kind; (48) Which, when it was full, they drew to shore and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away."
This parable is more like the one about the wheat and tares. Just as the wheat and tares grew together, so the net gathered all kinds. Then when it was full, representing the full end for the world, the sailors drew to shore and sat down and judged the good from the bad, just as God's judgment will do in the end. The sailors gathered the good into vessels, and cast the bad away, just as God will do in the judgment.
(49) "So shall it be at the end of the world; the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just; (50) And shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
Indeed, Jesus said that would be the way it would be at the end of the world. The angels, represented by the sailors, would come forth and cut the wicked away from the just, and would cast them into the furnace of fire, what we would call hell. Again Jesus used the term "wailing and gnashing of teeth" to describe how awful it would be for the wicked to be separated from God's children. Jesus would not have kept talking about a furnace of fire if there weren't such a place. It's true that it probably isn't what we imagine, a place in the middle of the earth with fire and a devil with a pitchfork, but you can be sure there is a hell of some sort. If there isn't a continual material fire, you can be sure Jesus meant to teach that this would be a proper representation of the sufferings of the lost. Jesus would not deceive us or use words only to torment us. He would not talk of hell-fire which had no existence, nor would He hold out frightful images merely to terrify mankind. Because Jesus spoke of hell, you can be sure there is a hell. He said that the wicked shall suffer terribly, so you may be sure they will suffer. If Jesus did not mean to deceive mankind, then there is certainly a hell, and the wicked will be punished. The lost should certainly take note and be alarmed!
(51) Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."
Indeed, Jesus wanted to make sure His disciples understood the things He had taught them about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus's question showed His disciples just how important what He had taught them was, and that He would have furthered explained if it was necessary. They told Him that they had understood.
(52) Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed on the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old."
In this case, the scribe Jesus spoke about was one who had been instructed on the kingdom of heaven, just as His disciples had been instructed and said they understood. Every Christian teacher or minister of Christ who understood the gospel of the kingdom of heaven was like a householder who stored up all kinds of treasures, new and old, and brought them out as needed. His treasure was his store of divine truth, out of which he could bring forth the old truths in new ways, with newer illustrations. The householder in this illustration was not a miser who kept his treasures to himself, but stored up all treasures, old and new, to bring out and use to benefit others.
I will end this post just short of the end of this very long chapter, because it has been so long, and because it neatly ends Jesus's teaching of the kingdom of heaven at that time. He used many examples to describe the kingdom of heaven to make sure His disciples thoroughly understood it. Understanding this New Testament teaching would help them better understand the Old Testament teachings and the law. Likewise, understanding the Old Testament law helped them better understand men's need for the New Testament covenant. By their knowledge of sin and their conviction of it, they could better understand their need for the Gospel of Christ, their only salvation from sin.
