Matthew 13:1 ¶ The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. 2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 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. 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. 19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
This is a curious passage. Jesus gives parables to the multitudes
who cannot understand them. He explains the parables to his Apostles. The
reasoning for doing this is based in Isaiah.
Isaiah 6:9 ¶ And he said,
Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye
indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the
heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest
they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their
heart, and convert, and be healed.
This should give us pause. There are clearly things stated in the
Bible that we should understand but don’t because of our spiritual state.
Perhaps this gives us a clue to difficult prophecies. It is our sorry spiritual
state that keeps us from understanding and allows unscrupulous preachers to
fill our heads with their own agenda.
The words of God in this parable have different effects based on
the spiritual state of the people it falls upon. Christ makes it plain that
this is so, so this is not a contradiction of the following verse from the Old
Testament;
Isaiah 55:11 So shall my
word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but
it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it.
The verse in Isaiah is not about passing out gospel tracts and
Jesus makes it clear here that the words of God have little effect on certain
types of people.
But in the end it is made apparent that the word of God does bear
fruit in people who hear it and understand it, having their hearts prepared.
God has dealt varying measures of faith to different people as shown in the
following;
Romans 12:3 For I say,
through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think
of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according
as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
We are not robots and we are all different. But with a heart that
seeks God’s truth we can all be blessed by His words.
Matthew 13:24 ¶ Another
parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a
man which sowed good seed in his field: 25
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and
went his way. 26 But when the blade was
sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and
said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then
hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An
enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and
gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay;
lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and
in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the
tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my
barn. 31 Another parable put he forth
unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to 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 becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come
and lodge in the branches thereof. 33
Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven,
which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was
leavened. 34 All these things spake
Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto
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.
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away,
and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto
us the parable of the tares of the field. 37
He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son
of man; 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; 39 The enemy that
sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers
are the angels. 40 As therefore the
tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this
world. 41 The Son of man shall send
forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that
offend, and them which do iniquity; 42
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth. 43 Then shall the
righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears
to hear, let him hear.
This passage begins with the tares and the wheat but these
parables are linked if we think of the age of the Christian church. The Devil
has planted false Christians in the church and I doubt many of them know they
are fake any more than Judas will know he is a devil, according to Christ in
John 6:70.
The institutional church will grow amazingly large but birds of
the air, likened to the Devil in the previous passage contrasting verse 4 with
verse 19, will lodge in its uppermost branches, the height of authority.
The woman, think of the whore of Babylon in Revelation, uses
leaven, considered false doctrine in Matthew 16 coming up, in three measures of
meal, representing the three great branches of Christianity, perhaps, the Roman
Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, and Protestantism which controlled
governments or were controlled by them, waged wars, bought and sold slaves, and
murdered non-conforming Christians throughout history, spreading false
doctrines and deceit around.
Of course, this is my interpretation from studying history and
comparing it with the Bible but it seems so plausible as a warning of what is
to come.
For these disciples, however, they are a mystery that only the
Holy Ghost can unlock for them and they say they understand in the next passage.
Matthew 13:44 ¶ Again, the
kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man
hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath,
and buyeth that field. 45 Again, the
kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man,
seeking goodly pearls: 46
Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that
he had, and bought it. 47 Again, the
kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered
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. 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. 51 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all
these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. 52
Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is
instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an
householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and
old.
Jesus goes on to state that the kingdom of Heaven and of God is so
important and such a great treasure that it is worth more than your material
worth. It is like a businessman who identifies it as being of immense value in
the same regard. It is like a net that draws many, both the wheat of the
earlier parable, and those who must be cast away.
This then is telling us what happens as eternity begins. The fate
of all is spoken of here. This is reported all through the Bible.
Deuteronomy 32:22 For a
fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall
consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the
mountains.
Psalms 86:13 For great is
thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
Isaiah 66:24 And they shall
go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against
me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and
they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Daniel 12:2 And many of
them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life,
and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Matthew 3:12 Whose fan is
in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into
the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Revelation 20:14 And death
and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Notice in verse 52 Jesus likens the enlightened scribe who
understands the Kingdom of Heaven to a small farmer who brings forth seasoned
goods and fresh produce. Here is what Matthew Henry refers to as old truths and
new affections.
Matthew 13:53 ¶ And it came
to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed
thence. 54 And when he was come into his
own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were
astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these
mighty works? 55 Is not this the
carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and
Joses, and Simon, and Judas? 56 And his
sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these
things? 57 And they were offended in
him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own
country, and in his own house. 58 And he
did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
The people that saw Jesus, the man, grow up from a child are
amazed. He was not trained as a scholar nor did He sit at the feet of the
learned doctors at the temple. We did not see but one time that he was said to
have been asking questions. It looks like it might have been a back and forth
when he was only twelve years old as the verse seems to read.
Luke 2:46 And it came to
pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst
of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.
The religious elite is often amazed at the depth of understanding
of someone who is not respected as a scholar but thought of as a common person.
Acts 4:13 Now when they saw
the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and
ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had
been with Jesus.
Jesus doesn’t talk like the religious elite, parroting rules and
interpretations they’ve been taught.
John 7:15 And the Jews
marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
Mark 6:2 And when the
sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him
were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what
wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought
by his hands?
But, His own people, the Jews, generally did not receive Him or
His authority.
John 1:11 He came unto his
own, and his own received him not.
Christ chose not to bless them with His works because they would
not believe. This in no way means that He could not because of their unbelief
as we’ve seen many things He has done without even the recipient understanding
who He was. But an unbelieving person has no reason to receive a blessing from
God and he or she may descend further and further to a point where there is no
more chance for them because they will neither accept His authority or even
acknowledge who He is.
For an instance where a person was willing to be healed, and who
would be, but did not know who Jesus even was, see;
John 5:13 And he that was
healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude
being in that place.
And see where God heals a man who is not even of the household of
God, a heathen man; Naaman the Syrian in 2Kings 5.
Our unbelief in no way hinders God’s will if He is simply not
responding to our unbelief but has some other purpose for blessing us with His mighty
works. Clearly, Naaman wanted to be healed but first he demanded it of the
king of Israel and then of Elisha.
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