Matthew 13

http://www.esvbible.org/Matthew+13/

A crowd comes to listen to Jesus that is so large that He gets on a boat in the Sea of Galilee to teach those on the shore. Jesus loves using illustrations to teach. He tells a story about a farmer who plants seeds. Some of the seeds fell on the road, and they were eaten by birds. So often, we plant ourselves where we cannot grow spiritually, so people come along and tear us apart until we are not even ourselves anymore. Other seeds were planted among rocks. The rocks caused the roots to not grow very deep, and the plant sprouted quickly; however, when the sun came out, it scorched the plants, and they died. Some people come to know Christ and stall. They never grow in their faith, so their roots are shallow. The enemy has easy access to them because they can't fight him off, and they take on the world with the little knowledge they have. Still, as soon as they are tested by others, they cannot answer, so their faith withers and dies. Ever others still were planted among thorn bushes. When the bushes grew, they choked the plants. When we go out and try to live as only a holy witness, we are doing good and may have a good foundation, but we need fellowship with fellow believers; otherwise, the dangerous non-believers will suffocate our faith while we have no other Christians to discuss this with. The remaining seeds are planted in fertile ground and produce thirty, sixty, or a hundred times as much as was planted. When I first read this parable, those were the real life connections I drew from the metaphors. The great thing about a living word is that it always holds true and different people can find different truths in it. When you first read it, it may have contained different truths. When Jesus breaks it down, He had different ideas. The disciples ask Him why He uses imagery to teach, and He replies that the people in the crowd do not understand all that the disciples do. He gives them something to think and ponder about. The have eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear, and they don't even try to understand. Thus, the prophet Isaiah was right once again. Then, Jesus tells us His version of the farmer story. The people who hear the Word and don't understand will be snatched away by the enemy, like the seed on the road. Some people accept the Word happily, but they don't have any root, so they fade quickly, like the seed in the rocky ground. When suffering persecution, he will give up on the Word. Others still will hear the Word but let the worries of life and the strive for riches get in the way, like the seed in the thron bushes. Finally, the person who hears and understand will plant crops and harvest much more than he planted.

Jesus gives us more judgement stories. This one has the illustration of wheat and weeds. A farmer planted wheat in a field, but his enemy came in the night and planted weeds. So when the plants started growing, the weeds were among the wheat. When the farmer saw this, he knew it was the work of an enemy. The workers asked if they should pull the weeds, but the farmer told them that they might pull the wheat as well. But when they harvested, they would throw the weeds to the fire and take the wheat into the barn. The wheat was planted first, just like how Adam and Eve were pure and perfect, but then the devil planted sin into them. Before long, the world had those of faith intertwined with sinners. God couldn't take the sinners out of the world because everyone had some sin, so He would have to send everyone to Hell. Instead, He waits for Judgement Day, so He can sort out the wheat from the weeds. The faithful people will go to Heaven to live with God, but the sinners and those who reject Him will go to Hell to burn for eternity.

Jesus uses more illustrations to teach. He says Heaven is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest seed, yet when fully grown, it is a tree that birds can nest in. The kingdom of heaven is only for those who can find it, and they are the select few. Yet it is the most elegant, strong, and wondrous thing imaginable. The next illustration is of a woman who puts yeast in dough. The yeast spreads all the way through the dough. God's word is like that. It started as a church in Jerusalem with one man, the Son of God, but it will spread throughout the world. All the stories He told the crowd included illustrations, so what the prophet Isaiah came true again.

Later, when the disciples had gone with Jesus to someone's home, they asked Him what the story of the wheat and the weeds meant. He told them basically what the Holy Spirit told me and I wrote earlier in this entry. The field is the world, and God planted wheat, but the devil planted weeds. The workers are the angels. The harvest is the ends of the world, and the sinners will be thrown into the fires of Hell. There will be much pain and suffering there. The people who have God's approval will shine in the kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus then tells three, short, consecutive stories. The first is about a man who finds buried treasure in a field. He goes and sells everything he owns and buys the field. The second is about a man who finds the most precious pearl and sells everything he has to buy it. These stories are about being a follower of Christ. We have found the buried treasure and the most valuable pearl. Now we must sell all the other beliefs we have and hold onto this one thing because it is the only thing that holds its worth until the end of time. The third story is about fisherman who make a big catch and separate the good fish from the bad fish. The good ones they packaged up, but they threw away the bad ones. Again, this is what will happen to people at the end of the world. The disciples say they understand all Jesus has just told them. Then, He tells them that everyone who becomes His disciple is like a new home owner because he brings old and new into the new home. We cannot eradicate our sinful nature. We must know that we live with it, but we also have what is new, our spiritual nature.In a perfect life, we would listen and follow our spiritual nature always. When Jesus finished the illustrations, He left.

Jesus later went back to Nazareth, His hometown, to teach in the synagogues and perform miracles. While He was there, the people began to question Him. They knew His family. The thought Joseph was His biological father, so they rejected Him. Jesus told them a prophet is only rejected in His hometown. He left without performing many miracles there. Those of us who came to know Christ a long time ago can face this danger. We begin to thank of times He didn't do exactly what we asked or did things in a way we didn't like. We begin to reject the way He does things. We lose the chance for Him to work miracles in our lives.