This week, we will look at some of the kingdom parables from Matthew 13, and then next week we will look at Luke’s three lost parables, so perhaps a parable primer might be helpful.
What is a parable?
Put as simply as possible, a parable is a made-up story. But this simple definition in no way does justice to the importance, veracity, and beauty of parables. While the details of a parable are fictitious, the point of a parable is true. We cannot forget this. Parables are vehicles to teach God’s truth in a way that people can understand. They are an act of divine condescension (God coming down to our level to bring us to where we need to be).
Steven Smith helps us see the beauty of parables when he states, “The Parables of Jesus come from the very imagination of God.” [1] Have you ever thought about that? Every single parable gives us a glimpse into the imagination of the Creator! I never thought of this until I read that sentence. But I am glad I did. It has helped me reframe how I look at parables.
Why did Jesus teach with parables?
We have already alluded to the big idea of why Jesus taught in parables: to help people understand God’s truth. Remember that parables were not the only way Jesus taught. If He had, that would have made it harder to understand—He would have been a teacher of riddles. Instead, Jesus used parables to supplement his straightforward teachings.
I’m glad that the disciples asked this very question (see Matthew 13:10-17). Jesus gave two reasons. The first is what we have already shared. To help those who were willing to believe to understand the truth.
But Jesus gave a second reason: to hide the truth from those who did not want to believe. Seems sort of troubling, doesn’t it? Here is a helpful footnote from the CSB Study Bible: “The hiddenness component of Jesus’s teaching may seem harsh, but since greater exposure to truth increases one’s accountability to God in judgment (11:20-24), the concealment may represent God’s graciousness toward those whom he knew would be unresponsive.” [2]
For our context of teaching kids, I would encourage you to focus on the first reason that Jesus used parables—to help us understand God’s truth.
How do we interpret a parable?
The rule of thumb, and it is not absolute, is that parables teach one big idea. When we study a parable, this should be foremost in our thinking. What is the big idea of what Jesus is saying in this parable? When we look at the kingdom parables in Matthew 13, this will become apparent.
So how do we determine what that idea is? Context, context, context. Remember that each Gospel writer compiled his account for a reason—there is something he wanted to communicate. That is what guided each one to include the content that he included, exclude the content that he excluded, and arrange the content in the order it appears, rather than following a strict chronology. Let me be clear, this is not to say that the Gospels are unreliable. They are completely true. They present the true story of Jesus without error and they do not contradict each other. But they do so with the freedom God gave them according to His guidance to tell the true story of Jesus in a way to drive home the point they wanted to make.
An example might help. If you scan through all four Gospels, Matthew’s inclusion of much more Old Testament quotes should become quickly apparent, especially if your Bible formats Old Testament quotes to stand out. Why did Matthew choose to include more Old Testament quotes than Mark, Luke, or John? Because of their different audiences. Matthew was writing to the Jews so one of his big ideas is that Jesus is the Messiah—the fulfillment of Old Testament hopes and prophecies. Does this mean that Mark, Luke, and John didn’t believe this? Of course not. They didn’t focus on this as much because their audiences were different. This content did not support the points they were making as much.
The first step in interpreting a parable, then, is to consider its context. Read the rest of the chapter, trying to identify why the writer structured the chapter as he did. Then consider the surrounding chapters. Can you see any themes or ideas that the writer was developing?
Then when it comes to the parable itself, noting the characters in the parable is a good place to start. Focus on them and their actions and attitudes rather than the other details. Again, we will see how this is helpful in a minute when we do a quick survey of the kingdom parables in Matthew 13.
But first, we have to consider the handful of more comprehensive parables—where Jesus seems to be sharing more than one idea. The Prodigal Son that we will study next week is a good example of this. While that parable does have one main idea, the same as the first two as we will see, Jesus moves beyond that idea when he includes the older brother in the story. We would be unwise to miss the additional point(s) Jesus makes in some of the parables. So again, the rule of thumb is to focus on one main idea of the parables—this safeguards us from lapsing into allegorizing (finding hidden meaning in every detail). But when it is apparent that Jesus was telling us more, we pursue that additional meaning.
OK. Now time for that quick survey of the Matthew 13 parables. First, though, let’s consider the context.
As we read Matthew 13, kingdom of heaven jumps out at us. It’s not hard to see that this is the main thrust of these parables. But we have to ask why Matthew gave us a chapter on the kingdom of heaven here. So let’s look at the surrounding context.
Matthew 11 records the arrest and doubting of John the Baptist. Not exactly a high mark moment for John’s followers, many of whom were now following Jesus.
Then as we move into Matthew 12 we see more opposition to Jesus and His followers. The Pharisees accuse them of violating the Sabbath (Matthew 12: 1-8). Jesus healed a man with a shriveled hand, for which the Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus (Matthew 12:9-14). When Jesus cast out a demon, the Pharisees accused Jesus of doing so by demonic powers (Matthew 12:22-32). Then the thick-headed and hard-hearted Pharisees, who had seen and rejected miracle after miracle as recorded just before this, asked Jesus for a sign, which Jesus said they would only be given the sign of Jonah: His death (Matthew 12:38-42).
Following Matthew 13, we read of the beheading of John (Matthew 14:1-12).
What then is the theme of the chapters leading into Matthew 13 and the narrative account coming out of it? Opposition and rejection, including a reference to the death of Jesus and the death of His forerunner, John. Sounds pretty discouraging doesn’t it? How do we make sense of this? Will Jesus lose? Shouldn’t He be universally received? These are the questions Matthew answers for us in Matthew 13 by way of lumping together several kingdom parables. Matthew wants us to understand that God’s kingdom may not look as we would expect it to look, but that it will come about in God’s way, in God’s time, according to God’s plan.
Now, we are ready to consider each parable.
The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)
This parable illustrates our need to focus on the characters of the parable more than the other details. It’s natural to focus on the soils, and we should deal with them—Jesus did in His explanation—but we don’t want to get lost in trying to figure out which soils represent the saved and which represent the lost. Again, that is not unimportant, but think about it. Is that really our highest calling? It isn’t. Because we aren’t the ones dealing with the soils—the Holy Spirit does that. We are the sower! We are called to share the gospel generously with everyone. That’s the point of the parable. Can you see how this relates to the context and Matthew’s point? We have seen people rejecting and opposing Jesus, this parable explains why. But it also instructs us how we should respond—we continue to proclaim the kingdom to all.
The Parable of the Wheat and Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)
This parable follows up on the idea of the first. While many will reject the kingdom outright, there will be some who seem to embrace it, become part of the kingdom community, but who in reality are not believers. There will be weeds among the wheat of the Lord’s fields. Again, we need to look at the characters to give us guidance in understanding this parable. Thankfully, Jesus helps us with this in His explanation. Notice that we are passive in Jesus’ explanation. Why? Because it is not up to us to handle judgment—that is God’s domain. We need to understand that the kingdom on earth will not be pure until Jesus comes, watch for this, and trust that God will purify the kingdom.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed and Leaven (Matthew 13:31-33)
Next, Matthew presents a couplet, two parables understood best together. What is the big idea here? That the kingdom will start small but blossom in time to something big. The parable of the mustard seed is a great example of our need to stay right here with this big idea. Some want to push deeper and come up with a meaning of the birds of the sky. Who are the birds? What do they represent? The answer is nothing. That detail is merely to affirm how big the tree became. That’s it.
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Priceless Pearl (Matthew 13:44-46)
Again, remember the context of these parables—opposition. The first two parables help us know that God is fully aware of this. It did not catch Him by surprise. The couplet we just examined help us to see that the opposition will not stop the kingdom’s growth, even if it might look like it at times. (Think ahead to the martyrdom of Stephen and the scattering of the church. In that moment, it appeared that opposition beat down the church, but it didn’t. That opposition caused the church to grow and expand.) Now, Matthew records another couplet of parables to help us know that the kingdom is worth facing opposition. The kingdom is beyond value; worth trading everything for. And everything includes possessions, comfort, and even safety.
The Parable of the Net (Matthew 13:47-50)
Finally the parable of the net shares the same basic idea of the wheat and the weeds—in the final judgement the just and the unjust, even those who posed as the just, will be separated and treated accordingly. We have to ask why Matthew included this parable and placed it here. Why not group it with the wheat and the weeds? I think the answer to this is what Matthew wanted fresh on our minds as we move into the last portion of chapter 13, Jesus’ rejection in Nazareth, and into chapter 14, the execution of John, which, of course, draw our attention to the cross. Those who oppose Jesus will be dealt with. They should not be our concern.
All the Scriptural metaphors about the death of the seed that falls into the ground, about losing one’s life, about becoming the least in the kingdom, about the world’s passing away—all these go on to something unspeakably better and more glorious. Loss and death are only the preludes to gain and life.”
Elisabeth Elliot, These Strange Ashes (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell,
1998), 146-47.
[1] Steven Smith, Recapturing the Voice of God: Shaping Sermons Like Scripture (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2015), 105.
[2] Holman Bible Staff, CSB Study Bible. (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017). Retrieved from https://app.wordsearchbible.lifeway.com, 1524.
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