Parables Of The Kingdom

The parable of the Net reiterates the same truth as the parable of the Weeds. Clearly this is a point worth emphasizing. Jesus is driving home the point that coming judgment is inevitable. MacArthur puts it somberly: "The dragnet of God's judgment moves silently through the sea of mankind and draws all men to the shores of eternity for final separation to their ultimate destiny... believers to eternal life and unbelievers to eternal damnation" (MacArthur, Matthew 8-15, 395). On the day of God's final judgment, all mankind will be divided into two categories according to how we respond to Jesus. For the hard, superficial, and divided hearts who did not embrace Christ as King, coming wrath is unimaginable. God's angels will throw them into the "blazing furnace" (v. 42), a metaphor Jesus uses for hell. Here's how John Bunyan described that awful place:

The parable of the Weeds and the parable of the Net remind us that coming judgment is inevitable. What about you? Are you among the wheat or the weeds?182

These parables make similar points, though in slightly different ways. Jesus tells the parable of the Mustard Seed to illustrate how outwardly, the kingdom expands from an insignificant beginning to an extravagant end. The Messiah was supposed to usher in the kingdom of God, yet the kingdom seemed to be so small during Jesus' ministry, so relatively insignificant, particularly compared with what people were expecting. So Jesus chooses the smallest seed possible to say that yes, these are seemingly small beginnings, but the fruit that is born in the kingdom will lead to an extravagant end.

This idea of small beginnings leading to unimaginable expansion fits what we've already seen in Matthew's Gospel. The story began with a baby in a manger amid sheep and cattle. Then Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were virtually exiled to Egypt before arriving in tiny Nazareth, of all places. Now, in Matthew 13, Jesus is gathered with a small handful of disciples sitting around Him, a weak and inept group. However, in the days to come this unimpressive collection of men would begin to turn the world virtually upside down (Acts 17:6), so much so that we are impacted by their witness two thousand years later and thousands of miles away. We are part of this same kingdom they proclaimed, a kingdom that God is continuing to expand. This will continue until one day a throng from every nation and tribe and people and language will shout the praises of Christ the King. On that day the kingdom that began as a mustard seed will be in full bloom. It's the realization of Revelation 11:15: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah, and He will reign forever and ever."

There is another side to the advance of God's kingdom: it not only expands outwardly, but inwardly, the kingdom permeates every facet of our lives and every corner of the earth. In verse 33 Jesus tells the parable of the Yeast, or leaven, which transforms bread from the inside out. Just a little bit of yeast can spread into every part of the dough. This is the picture of the kingdom of heaven. On a personal level, the kingdom starts off as a seed in your heart, and slowly it works its way through your thoughts, beliefs, affections, motives, and actions. It then works through you into others' lives and through them into still others' lives. In this way, just as we have seen in the other parables, the point Jesus makes here is that the kingdom of heaven slowly advances throughout the world.183

Jesus shifts from talking about the eventual worldwide impact of the kingdom to talking about the parables of the Treasure and the Pearl. The story of the man who finds a treasure in a field may sound strange to our ears, but remember that Jesus is telling this parable in a day when treasure could not be stored in safety deposit boxes or well-protected banks. Instead, people would simply bury their greatest possessions in a remote place. This particular treasure had apparently been completely forgotten, even by the owner of the field. The man who found the treasure went and sold everything he had to buy that field, knowing that it was worth more than everything else he owned put together. People may have thought that he was crazy, but he wasn't. He was wise and happy, for he knew he had found something worth losing everything for.

The parable of the Priceless Pearl communicates a similar truth to the parable of the Treasure, though the man who found the pearl was actually searching for these fine jewels (Blomberg, Matthew, 224). Still, the pearl that he finds far exceeds his expectations. Both for those who are searching and those who are surprised, the kingdom of heaven is something worth losing everything for. There is great reward in submitting to the redemptive rule and reign of God in Christ, and this reward is greater than everything this world offers. As Paul says in Philippians 3:8, "I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ." Jesus and the kingdom that He calls us to are better than money, health, strength, and even our own families. Christ is supremely satisfying in such a way that if you lose everything on this earth, but you get the kingdom of heaven, you have a happy trade-off. And nothing in eternity can ever take away this great treasure.

Because the kingdom of heaven is something worth losing everything for, we joyfully let go of all things in order to passionately take hold of one thing. Jesus is speaking to disciples who, like the merchant seeking for pearls, would lose much for following Christ; in fact, most of them would lose their lives. But they were following a King who promised, "And everyone who has left houses, brothers or sisters, father or mother, children, or fields because of My name will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life" (Matt 19:29). We come to Christ because He offers great reward; He is great reward.184

Finally, Jesus tells the parable of the Homeowner. Jesus talks about the master of a house who brings out of his treasure-vault things both old and new. This is a description of a scribe—a student or teacher of the law—who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven and understands it. Jesus then makes two primary points of comparison between the scribe and this homeowner in order to teach His disciples. First, the disciple's treasure: We have seen the secrets of the old covenant revealed in the new covenant! Just as a homeowner has valuables from the past and the present in his home, so the disciple of the kingdom knows that there is value in both the old and the new. He does not reject the revelation of God in the past; he values it and treasures it. At the same time, he understands God's past revelation in light of God's present revelation, particularly the present revelation of Christ as the supreme fulfillment of all that God has promised.

Stop and consider the privilege followers of Christ have today in terms of what we know of God's Word. We have the Old Testament in its entirety, and we can see how all of it points forward so magnificently, so brilliantly, so powerfully to Christ. Charles Spurgeon once said, "Don't you know, young man, that from every town and every village and every hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road that leads to London?... So from every text in scripture there is a road towards the great metropolis, Christ."

Keep in mind that a disciple's prerogative is not merely to learn and understand for his or her own benefit. Like scribes, disciples are teachers of the Word, not students only. Bringing forth treasure both new and old was not merely for personal gain. There is more to the disciple's task: We now proclaim the good news of the kingdom to every person and every people group on the planet! We announce that Jesus is King, and we tell people that He has died on the cross for our sins in order to reconcile us to God. And we call people to submit to His rule in their lives, telling them of the glorious hope of the consummation of His kingdom.

In light of Matthew 13, I invite you, if you have not already, to humbly and joyfully receive the message of the kingdom. Let go of the guilt and shame of sin. Leave behind the pleasures and pursuits and possessions185 of this world, and find in Christ a King worth losing everything for. Receive His mercy, and submit to His good and gracious mastery of your life. Do not harden your heart toward Him, do not toy superficially with Him, and do not give Him token affection in the midst of your riches in this world. I invite you to yield your heart and mind and life to Him.

And when you do, and for all who have humbly and joyfully received the message of the kingdom, I invite you to confidently and urgently spread the message of the kingdom. The dragnet of God's judgment is moving silently through the sea of mankind, and one day soon He will draw all men to the shores of eternity for final separation to their ultimate destiny in either everlasting life or eternal death. We know His judgment is coming, so warn and plead and pray and work—sow the seed of the gospel—so that the people around you and people groups around the world know the good news of the kingdom of God.

There's an ancient hymn called "How Sweet and Awful Is the Place" (it's been renamed "How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place"), and I was reflecting on its lyrics as I studied this text. In light of the mercy of God by which we hear and understand this good news of the kingdom, and in view of His coming judgment, consider these words:

How sweet and awesome is the place

With Christ within the doors,

While everlasting love displays

The choicest of her stores!

While all our hearts and all our songs

Join to admire the feast,

Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,

"Lord, why was I a guest?

"Why was I made to hear Thy voice,

And enter while there's room,

When thousands make a wretched choice,

And rather starve than come?"

'Twas the same love that spread the feast

That sweetly drew us in;

Else we had still refused to taste,

And perished in our sin.

Pity the nations, O our God!

Constrain the earth to come;186

Send Thy victorious Word abroad,

And bring the strangers home.

We long to see Thy churches full,

That all the chosen race

May with one voice, and heart and soul,

Sing Thy redeeming grace.