START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
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OBSERVE:
In these five parables, Jesus focuses on different characteristics of the Kingdom of Heaven.
In the first two parables in this section of our lectionary reading, he uses metaphors that convey the seeming insignificance of the Kingdom of Heaven at the very beginning, and the gradual growth of the Kingdom into a dominating presence:
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.” He spoke another parable to them. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened.”
The grain of mustard seed and the yeast are easily overlooked because they are so disproportionately tiny in comparison to their effect.
The parable of the mustard seed gives us an example of Jesus using ordinary items found commonly in Galilee. The mustard seed was of the herb family which, though small, could grow up to eight feet tall as a shrub, dwarfing the other herbs in the garden. Anyone who has seen pokeweed growing in the Southern United States knows that an herb can grow much taller than expected.
And of course anyone who has ever baked knows the history of yeast — that only a small pinch is necessary to leaven a great deal of dough. The measurement Jesus gives here is yeast in three measures of meal (this would be about thirty-nine liters, which would be more than nine gallons of dough for those who don’t think in metric terms). That is a lot of dough to be leavened by so small a pinch of yeast.
Another interesting aside — yeast is a living fungus, and can be kept alive for decades, even passed along from one generation to the next. Perhaps Jesus is implying that the Kingdom is a living thing that stretches back to the dawn of time?
Jesus is pointing out three things:
- The Kingdom of Heaven may begin in small ways in our midst, escaping our notice at first.
- The Kingdom of Heaven doesn’t only come in the dramatic, sudden ways so often depicted in apocalyptic literature. The Kingdom also grows up in our midst gradually until finally it is undeniable.
- The Kingdom of Heaven has an overwhelming influence — like the commanding mustard plant looming over the other plants of the herb garden, or the yeast that has leavened all nine gallons of bread.
Our lectionary passage for this week skips verses 34-43. These verses were included in last week’s lectionary selection for the Gospel reading. Click here to read the Gospel lectionary SOAR for July 23, 2023.
In verses 44 to 50, Jesus returns to parables of the Kingdom of Heaven. These are three very different metaphors for the kingdom — a treasure, a pearl of great price, and a dragnet cast into the sea.
In the first two similes, Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven as a treasure buried in a field and a priceless pearl. One is worth selling everything in order to buy the field where the treasure is buried; the other worth selling everything simply to buy the one pearl.
The Kingdom of Heaven is so precious that the one who finds it will give up everything else that he may value in order to gain it — like the man who finds a buried treasure, and the merchant who discovers a unique pearl of great price. The Kingdom of Heaven is that precious — worthy of sacrificing everything a person has.
Jesus then alters the tone significantly. The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a dragnet — again using fishing imagery that would have been very familiar to fishermen (like many of his disciples), and others living near the Sea of Galilee. Here, the focus is upon the judgment that is introduced by the presence of the Kingdom of God.
The dragnet is non-discriminating in its catch — fish of every kind are snared in the nets. But not all of them are suitable. Fishermen and fishmongers would know that the fish must be sorted out before they can be sold or eaten.
At the end of the world, Jesus says, this is what will happen with the Kingdom of God. All people — wicked and righteous — will be gathered up, and the angels will sort them out. His description of the consequences for the wicked is not pleasant. The angels, he says:
will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
We mustn’t be naive about Jesus’ understanding of the judgment — it will be severe for those who are wicked.
Jesus closes this section of teachings from the parables with a kind of “pop quiz” for the disciples. He asks them:
Have you understood all these things?
After all, he has primed them earlier by telling them:
To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them (Matthew 13:11).
Jesus has responded to their requests to interpret his parables, and now he is testing them to be sure they “get it.”
They insist that they do understand — perhaps a little overconfidently, if we are to judge by how obtuse they seem to be later in the Gospel.
Jesus then describes how they are to function as disciples — like scribes (those who were charged with keeping a written record of religious traditions), they are to be:
like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things.
This requirement may speak especially to Matthew, the writer of the Gospel, but it also speaks to the disciples who are to bear witness on Jesus’ behalf.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus makes it clear that his role as Messiah is not a break from the Hebrew Scriptures, but rather their fulfillment:
Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished (Matthew 5:17-18).
The disciple is to draw from the rich heritage and truths of the Hebrew Scripture in order to understand the ways of heaven. At the same time, the disciple of Jesus is to hear the new commandments that Jesus brings. Jesus makes clear that there is, in some sense, a progressive revelation that he has come to reveal, as when he says:
You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not murder;’ and ‘Whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ will be in danger of the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna (Matthew 5:21-22).
Jesus follows this same formula five more times in the Sermon on the Mount — You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones… But I tell you…
Disciples, then, are to be students of the ancient texts, and are also to listen to what Jesus is telling them anew.
APPLY:
In the Gospel of Matthew alone there are at least fifty references to the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Kingdom of God, or God’s coming Kingdom. This subject is obviously very important to Jesus, as he sees himself as the inauguration of this coming Kingdom when he begins to preach:
From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).
To say that the Kingdom of God may be defined as the present and future reign of God is true, but it hardly exhausts the depth of the concept in Jesus’ teaching.
Just in our lectionary passage alone, there are a variety of perspectives on the Kingdom of God that can enrich our understanding of God’s now and coming reign.
First, the Kingdom is already in our midst, (although it may be seen only in small ways) and it is growing inevitably and gradually toward completion. Perhaps we can say that we see evidence of the Kingdom when we see a drug addict’s life transformed by God’s grace; or when we see hungry children fed at a Soup Kitchen; or an act of justice accomplished for those who are oppressed. These are not the fullness of the Kingdom, but they remind us that it is coming.
Second, we must accept the righteousness that is a hallmark of the Kingdom. The Judgment is a reality that is coming. This is a moral universe and there are consequences to our actions. The wicked and the righteous will be separated.
Third, the Kingdom is of inestimable value — it is more precious than anything that we value on earth, and is worth leaving everything behind in order to acquire. How willing are we to sell all that we have — literally or figuratively — to receive the Kingdom of God?
Clearly these parables of the Kingdom offer diverse views of the Kingdom of God — reminding us as disciples that we are also to be diligent students of the teachings of God:
Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things.
RESPOND:
For anyone who follows this SOAR blog, you will recognize one of my favorite — and most challenging quotes — from Jim Elliot. He wrote in his personal journal on October 28, 1949:
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
On January 8, 1956, while participating in a mission to the Huaorani people of Ecuador, Elliot was martyred, along with four other missionaries.
No doubt, Elliot had “sold out” on everything that he valued — including his wife, his home, his very life — for something that was of priceless value: the Kingdom of God.
I wonder sometimes if I have done the same for the Kingdom of God? I have been in full-time Christian ministry from 1980 until my retirement on July 1, 2017. But have I been — am I — sold out?
However, I don’t think Jesus tells this parable in order to increase our guilt. I think he tells these parables to remind us that this world, as good and pleasing as it can be, is of no comparison to the glory that is to come.
We Christians are, by definition, living in anticipation even as we look for signs of the Kingdom growing up amongst us like the mustard seed and the yeast.
Lord, your Kingdom is already here — I can see evidence of it all around me. But it’s also not yet fulfilled — I see plenty of evidence of that as well. Prepare me to live in your Kingdom, and help me to live now as a citizen of your Kingdom. Amen.
PHOTOS: "Quote-1-Jim-Elliot" by North Valley Baptist Church is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.