MATTHEW 13

The last lesson for this quarter has 7 parables and an analogy. As usual, I'll cover the whole chapter, at least a bit, rather than focus on just the part in the book.

Reminder: a parable has been said to be an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Most of Jesus's parables are included in the Parables of the Kingdom and often beging “The kingdom of heaven is like...” Most parables have one main meaning, even though we preachers are addicted to spinning out way more than that. To interpret His first meaning, seek the heart of meaning.

The first story will be familiar to most of you, the Parable of the Sower. Notice a few things. The sower and the seed are always the same. Thus many suggest a better name would be the parable of the soils. What happens to the seed depends on the soil it falls on. If I preach to an audience of 100, I am actually preaching 100 sermons, for each person hears it differently.

I've several times taught a Wednesday night study to prepare Sunday School teachers for the next week. Often I ask how the last week's lesson went. If I had eight teachers in front of me, they reported eight different lessons – all jumping off from the same scripture and the same quarterly. So the next time you hear someone criticizing a sermon, ask yourself whether it's the message or the hearer!

Note this parable is unusual because Jesus explained it to the disciples, which He seldom did. It's also unusual because it works as an allegory, rather than delivering one single meaning as I mentioned above.

I feel sure one purpose of the parable was to encourage the disciples to keep preaching the gospel. You do the work for the good soil. Even tho it may seem ¾ of the crowd never get it, the results of those whose lives are transformed is more than worth it.

Note also the explanation of why He taught in parables. I'll go beyond what the author of the quarterly says and add that even people who don't understand remember the story. Maybe later in bed at night or walking down a road, a light bulb will come on, and they will suddenly grasp the story's meaning.

Compare Jesus's statement that to one who has will more be given to the parable elsewhere of the talents. Some have thought it unfair that Jesus has the owner give the single talent to the man who has already doubled the amount he started with. But he is the one who had proven he knew what to do with money to make more. In passing, let me point out that in the talent story, Jesus does not punish the man because he tried and failed. Punishment came because he did not try.

The second parable is the wheat and tares. An enemy sows weeds among the grain hoping to choke it and reduce the owner's crop. His workers ask whether they should weed the field. The owner fears if they do the weeds look so much like the wheat and grow so close that if they pull weeds, they will also disrupt the grain. He decides to waith until harvest, and then the workers can separate wheat and weeds.

Later in the chapter Jesus also explains this parable also at the disciples' request. He is the owner, the one sowing the seed – his teaching. The devil is the enemy who tries to deceive the others and take the teachings of Christ away and replace them with evil. The same will apply to the disciples and to us as we pass along his message. Expect some to accept, others to reject. Let God sort them out in the final judgment.

Don't miss the statement “the field is the world.” It answers the question what are the limits of the gospel? Putting the two parables together, we are to spread the seed far and wide to as many as we can. Don't pause to evaluate, except to improve communication, but keep telling the story.

Two paired parables present close to the same teaching. The grain of mustard seed growing to a huge tree – I always think of an acorn and a live oak – speaks to the power of God, the Spirit, the gospel to take small beginnings and increase them steadily to immense size. Take this as a prophesy, and we have seen its fulfillment from one man and a few followers into a billion people! We have also seen it grow within our own lives into a strong force that God can use. The “modern missionary movement” began with William Carey and 14 ministers at an associational pastors' conference. How many people began your present church?

The second parable was yeast penetrating throughout the bread. I see this as referring to more quality than quantity. The gospel permeates and changes the culture one person at a time, one church at a time. Reflect a bit on how the Spirit is molding your life to be more like Christ.

The next two parables have one meaning. Whatever you have to surrender, whatever you have to do to enter the Kingdom, it's worth it. Nothing else is more important. We can easily understand why someone would sell all they have to possess a perfect jewel or a hidden treasure. The gospel is that important. Proclaim it! This means, by the way, that Jesus is the most important person you will ever meet and decide how you will relate to him!

Near the end of the chapter, Jesus repeats the meaning of the wheat and tares. Fishermen bring in a net full of fish. But they don't quit there. They separate the keepers from the culls, the wrong species, those too small, etc. Likewise He says at the judgment God's angels with cull the saved and the lost. Don't forget that Jesus, while full of love, still looks reality in the face and keeps pointing us to it as well. Some decisions affect today, some this year, some a lifetime – and some eternity.

He concludes with a short parable, or perhaps only an analogy. He says that an Old Testament scholar of the law who becomes a disciple is like a homeowner who has treasures both old and new! He is affirming the value of that OT, especially the Torah or Law, but insisting that as the kingdom breaks new revelations are coming! Likewise we have found truth throughout our lives, and we should be constantly melding in with the new insights the Lord reveals to us.

MATTHEW 12

Luke 6:5 has Jesus saying, “The Son of Man is Lord even over the Sabbath.”
Mark 2:5 says “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
 The first half of this week's chapter deals with Jesus's healing on the Sabbath, but underlying it is a powerful general principle. I would expand it like this:

GOD GAVE US RULES FOR OUR BENEFIT. HE DID NOT CREATE US SO HE WOULD HAVE SOMEONE TO KEEP RULES. RULES ARE NOT TO TAKE THE PLACE OF GOD. WE ARE NOT TO WORSHIP THE RULES, EVEN THOSE GOD GAVE US.

NEITHER ARE RULES TO TAKE THE PLACE OF WARM HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS.

The Pharisees were a type of religious personality that wants to live life by the rules and constrain others likewise. They are legalists. In a friendly way, I once met a person who said, “I want to know how things should be done, so I can do them the right way.” Sounds good doesn't it? Well, if you're repairing a car, it may be good. But if you are insisting that you have the proper way to interpret the Bible and insist everyone else conform...I don't think so.

Someone counted up over 600 religious rules for the first century, mostly from the Bible. There were two or three times that many if you added the man-made rules to keep you far away from breaking the law. When Jesus came, He spent a good deal of time pointing people back to the roots of the law – its purposes and the attitudes  needed to keep it. As in don't just avoid adultery, look at the lust that triggers it.

God's commandments can be compared to rules of the road. We drive on the right to avoid chaos. Nothing sacred about the right. In some countries they drive on the left, even putting the steering wheel on the wrong (!) side. Arbitrarily we know when we enter a four-way stop, the one arriving first, moves first. If arriving at the same time, we default to our right. Those rules bring order out of potential confusion.

God's laws likewise are meant to help human relationships with Him and with each other. They are not arbitrary, however, like the road rules. They are built into creation. Life goes best when we follow them. But we are to follow them with understanding because they give us freedom, avoiding sin that ensnares us. Murder ends a life and violently disrupts others, including that of the killer. Sin is sin because it hurts someone, either yourself or another.

>I have long challenged someone to find me a sin that does not hurt anyone. The only answer I had to think about was from a teen-aged girl. She said cussing didn't hurt anyone. Care to answer that?

But Jesus's opponents were not open to reason. They perceived Him as a threat to their system, which they had mastered and largely controlled. This Man comes carelessly not keeping the Sabbath and expects God to bless him? Surely He could have waited until after the Sabbath to heal just as well.

Then they made an even stronger charge. After Jesus cast out a demon, they claimed that showed He was Himself demonic. Only a demon had the power to cast out another demon. Now pay attention to what they have just said. They have called the Son of God demonic. They have called His good works evil.

At this point Jesus sternly and forcefully reprimands and warns them. Verses 31-32 have been called the unpardonable sin, and it has worried thousands needlessly. I said needlessly, because if you are worried about having committed that sin and cannot be forgiven, you absolutely have not done it! Those who have never know they have. The Pharisees did not know they were committing that sin when they called the healings of Jesus the evil works of the desert. In their self-righteousness they believed they kept favor with God by keeping all His rules and pushing others to do the same. They had no guilty conscious.

The last section of the chapter is printed in the quarterly, and the demand for a sign is its focus. The printed lesson centers on the resurrection, which arguably is the central doctrine of Christianity. Paul argues for that in 1 Corinthians 15 and even says if Christ be not raised, then our faith is useless, and instead of salvation, we are of all people the most miserable, because we have mis-oriented our lives.

Remember those guys asking for a sign were hypocritical. Jesus had just said they were in danger of the unpardonable sin, because their thinking was so fouled up, they called good deeds, like healing, evil. Remember He had pointed John's disciples to the healings and teachings he was doing as evidence He was the Messiah. It's hard to imagine any sign that would have convinced them. What convinces you that Jesus is the Savior?

John The Baptist Doubts

Violence in the Kingdom of Heaven? We'll see.

Herod threw John the Baptist in jail. The prophet had criticized the king for his adultery and marriage to the emperor's daughter while still married to his first wife. Supposedly that first wife seduced him into promising to give her John's head on a platter through Salome's famous dance.

While in prison, John got to thinking. I thought Jesus was the Messiah. I thought this was the end of times. Was I wront? Satan seems to be winning. So he sent some of his followers to Jesus to find out how things stood. Don't let anyone tell you Bible characters did not doubt. Oh yes they did. They kept going, however, and God brought them out on the other side.

Jesus answered immediately, but indirectly. “Spend the day with me. Then go home and tell John what you have seen. See the people who are helped: sick are healed, demons cast out, the dead are raised. Doesn't this show the Kingdom is at work?” Can you answer someone who asks if you're a Christian by inviting them to watch what you are doing today?

When the Baptizer's men left, Jesus turned to the crowd and praised John, while teaching his role in salvation history. John, he said, had come to prepare the way for the Messiah. He fulfilled OT  prophecy that “Elijah” would return and even fit the description of that expected prophet. Jesus made an odd statement in the process. He anointed John as the greatest man in the entire succession of prophets. Remember the listeners would have thought of Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah. And then the Lord said even with all his greatness, the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. How can that be? If you are five feet tall and on the second floor, you are higher than someone 6'6” on the first floor. The floor is on a different level. So it is with the Kingdom of Heaven. Everything is different after the Messiah comes!

Another very difficult saying is verse 12. Here are some different translations:
Holman: from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been suffering violence (or has been forcefully advancing) and the violent have been seizing it by force.
NIV: ...heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.
The Greek word can mean dominate or constrain, and it is in passive voice. Thus someone was acting against the kingdom to try to hold it back, dominate, or at least constrain it. In context, Herod had thrown John in prison and would execute him. I've read that there are more persecuted Christians in the world today than ever before. And don't be  guilty of thinking we are picked on in America. We aren't. Find a copy and read “The Insanity of God” a book written by an SBC missionary who reports back from a dozen countries of how strong the persecution is and how triumphant the church is in the midst of all that. Imagine how Christians in persecuted countries would read this!

Next, Jesus asks what this generation wants. He says you remind him of kids playing   -  or trying to play – with some other kids. They offer to play happy games or sad games, but whatever they offer, their friends wouldn't participate. Jesus says He gets accused of being to lax and permissive, associating with all the wrong crowd, but the people likewise criticize John the Baptist for being too stern and condemnatory. He then moves on to a stern warning, this man who they see as too agreeable, and predicts destruction on three specific cities. These three are examples of all Israel, and the Lord says if Sodom and Gomorrah, even then considered the epitome of evil, had seen Jesus's mighty works, they would have repented.

Then Jesus turns to the crowd and issues one of his most famous invitations:
Come to me and find rest. Turn from the tensions of the world and your attempts to deal with them in your own ways. Let me give you a  yoke that fits and is designed for you. Then you will be able to deal with the stress of the world and get in harness for the Lord!

As a carpenter, Jesus would have made wooden yokes for oxen and perhaps other animals. One writer suggested He might have had as a logo “My yokes are easy” or “My yokes fit.” The idea is that if the harness does not fit, it can rub blisters and unbalance the load. A good fit enables the animal to use all its strength in effectively pulling. When Jesus says he is meek and humble, He is assuring us that when we come to Him, we will not meet punishment, but salvation.

It's worth checking now and then: am I in harness for theLord or trying to deal with life without Him?

RADICAL DISCIPLESHIP
Matthew 9-10

Sunday's lesson covers a HUGE amount of ground, and some of it is vital. I think I'm going to do the most important (?) first, and if I have time Saturday, add some more.

By the way, The Message translation or paraphrase has some great quotes this week, so if you have a copy, read these two chapters. If you don't, I mentioned to the class a couple of weeks ago that there's a great website called Bible Hub that will give you several translations as you look for them. And did you know when you remember a verse, but don't know where to find it, you can Google what you remember of the verse, and it will take you to that web site and others for the exact translation and location!

Matthew 9 is full 0f healing stories. The first one reminds us of Mark's man who came down through the roof, but here he is just healed. Jesus first forgives the man of his sins. People asked whether he had that authority, and Jesus proved it by physically healing the man. In so doing He also showed His priorities were spiritual healing before physical. Do your prayers reflect the same values? Do you pray for people's spiritual welfare as much as their physical?

Next Jesus called Matthew right from his tax-collector job.  (Remember He called the first four fishermen off their boats?) Matthew seems to have invited Jesus to his house and invited some of his tax-collector friends. Did you realize that when an adult becomes a Christian, he may know at that point more non-Christians and church people than he ever will again? An often neglected evangelistic tool is helping the new Christian find ways to reach out to his friends.

The critics asked Jesus's followers why He ate with people who were not politically correct. Jesus overheard them and explained – Do you go to the doctor when you are well or when you are sick. He spelled out that He did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. (Compare John 3:17ff.) It's a good idea now and then to check out whether our churches are communicating the same attitude.

Another man, perhaps we'd call him the president of the sunagogue or the chairman of the deacons, came to tell Jesus his daughter was dead. Jesus went with him, pronounced the girl merely asleep, emptied the room, and called her back to life.

On His way to the man's house, a woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years  reached out to touch him. When her fingers brushed His robe, she was well. But what has always impressed me, Jesus noticed! In another gospel He stops and asked, “Who touched me?” His men laughed at Him because He was constantly being jostled by the crowd. “No, I didn't mean that. I felt power leave me.” He was sensitive to someone's purpose in touching Him. Jesus always noticed people: Zaccheus up a tree, children at the back of the crowd, the widow who gave her mite. How many people do I notice? Miss?

Next He heals blind men, and don't miss what He said: According to your faith, let it be done! This is one of those Message translations I love: “Become what you believe!” Matter of fact, we are becoming what we believe. We often maintain we believe the Bible, and we argue about creation and the whale. Did you ever think it is at least as important that we believe the teachings and commands of the Bible, perhaps more important? I believe God created us in His image. More important is whether I seek to live in a way to honor that image! BTW, some of the most serious Bible scholars in recent years have repeatedly said the scriptures call on us to “become what you already are.” You are a believer; become a believer!

At the end of the chapter, Jesus goes on a preaching\teaching tour along with healings. At some point, He surveys the crowds, and His heart breaks. They reminded Him of sheep without a shepherd, confused and wandering. He called the Twelve and pointed out how many were “harassed and helpless.” NOW CATCH THIS! Matthew just kept writing! He did NOT make a chapter division here. The gospel went for a thousand years before a monk split chapters 9 and 10. so what? So this! Jesus went directly from exclaiming over the size of the harvest and the need for workers to say, “I choose you and you and you – through 12” to go begin the harvest.! Don't separate the chapters in your mind. I've long tried to ask my self whenever I see a raging need whether I am to move to help answer that need. And so should you!

Notice Jesus chose 12 out of a much larger group. The two guys who were proposed to replace Judas in Acts were probably there. Women also followed Him, and some supported Him financially! That bunch were likely known as The Twelve, and are so referred to sometimes in the NT.


Note Jesus gave them authority! He was able to pass on to them, doubtless by teaching, but by something else as well, the ability and power to preach, teach, heal, and cast out demons. We probably would do well to study these verses as one source of the origin of the church. Jesus transformed the 12 and sent them out to transform others. Later we would see that He again sent out 70 or  72 followers on mission. Since 12 x 6 = 72, does that mean Jesus helped his men add five men each to form teams of six, led by a disciple?

In case you missed it, that's what He's trying to do with YOU!!!

Scripture lists them by name. Notice He knew their names. He knew their personalities. Out of all the followers He had, He chose them! And YOU!

He told them to begin this mission close to home. Start simply. Go to the nearby villages and share My ministry with them. Preach what I preach. Teach what I teach. Heal as I heal. Don't make a big deal out of it. People will offer you hospitality, a place to stay. Take the first offer and stay there til you move to the next village. He reminded them that they had received without charge, so “pay it forward.” Are you sharing with others what God has given you free?

I absolutely LOVE the Message translation of verse 10: You don't need a lot of equipment. YOU ARE THE EQUIPMENT! Travel light. Made me think of Ephesians 4. Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 teach about spiritual gifts; Paul says everyone has one. But in Ephesians 4, he says EVERYONE IS ONE! YOU are God's gift to the church. Have you found your contribution to make our church stronger?

Jesus continues His instruction by telling them to be polite and do what they are allowed to do. If someone rejects them – even a whole village – shrug it off and go your way. He warns them, btw, that this is a hazardous journey. I believe He was talking to the church down through the years as well. You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so be smart, and don't start stuff. People will attack you. They attack Me, and if they attack your boss, they will attack YOU. If they hassle you or arrest you, seize the opportunity to preach! Don't worry about it; just do it. How many of you are hesitant to witness for fear you'll say the wrong thing? Jesus says don't worry about that. Start talking, and the Spirit will help you.



Beginning in verse 21, we meet something strange. Jesus says people will attack you precisely when they recognize you are representing the living God! They prefer an idol or some god they can manipulate. They are aware – at least at some level – that they don't want a living God in their lives whom they cannot control. That's at least one thing the cross tells us. We'll do anything to exclude Christ, God, morality, the narrow way! Listen again to the Message: There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don't quit.

Concluding the instructions in v29-31, He emphasizes that God knows the fall of a bird, and even moreso He knows what is happening with you.

Oh – are you ever tempted to buy into the “prosperity gospel” preachers, the ones who say God wants you rich? Look at what Jesus Himself said: Don't think I've come to make life easy or comfortable. I've come to divide people, make folks choose for me or against me – even withing families.

Finally, stop and reflect on the last words before He sends the 12 out: If you try to save your life, you will lose it. On the other hand if you abandon your life, your plans, for my plans, you'll find a better life than your every dreamed!

There's more in these chapters, and I know I've skipped some of it. But if I dealt with all of it, I wouldn't finish til this time next year.