Let both grow together until the harvest [Matt 13b]*

Let both grow together until the harvest

Matthew 13:24-52

Key Verse – “Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” (Matthew 13:30).

Introduction:

Through the first parable, Jesus explained that his parables were about the kingdom of God and that he was speaking in parables so as to hide this secret from the unbelieving. Today’s passage is a continuation of this. We have six parables here, all of which  are about the nature and characteristics of God’s kingdom. Such a nature as that of the kingdom of God was unknown and was now being revealed by Jesus.

Long ago, God indicated that this would happen, in Psalm 78:2. When the Messiah came, he would reveal those secrets that had been hidden since the creation of the world.

Why were they hidden until that time? Why was Jesus the Messiah to reveal all of these to the people? What does this revelation mean in regards to God’s program for the world?

Jesus was the full revelation of God’s love. Without revealing God’s love in its fullest extent, this new revelation would not be of much meaning or power. So far, even though God had showed His love for mankind, He did not have the means to reach out to sinful men in such an extent of love.

And though God had shown His righteous judgment in the past, it was never fully grasped by sinful men.

A finite time in human history is set and revealed in the secret of the kingdom of God. It is timed and considered to be His final course of action.

This will result in the final drama of human history and there won’t be any more revelation. In some sense, this may be considered as God’s ultimatum for the human race, in terms of love and His final judgment, so it is vital to fully know this secret, for us as well as for the people of this age.

1.    The Parable of the Weeds.

In this first parable of the kingdom of God, the seed, i.e. the word or secret of the kingdom of God, was sown among many different kinds of minds. There were four different kinds of soils. Among them, only one soil accepted the seed and bore a crop up to100 times what was sown. Today’s passage is about the content of that seed, which was also related using parables. This means that neither Jesus’ message nor its meaning was explained explicitly; it requires spiritual insight and faith to understand.

There are six parables. The first one is the parable of the wheat and the tares. The second one is the parable of the mustard seed. The third is the parable of the yeast. Fourthly is  the parable of the treasure. The fifth one is the parable of the pearl. And lastly,  is the parable of the net.

Read Matthew 13:24-30. The kingdom of God compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. An enemy came and sowed weeds in this man’s field. The man wanted the weeds to grow along with the wheat but, at the time of harvesting, he would gather the weeds and burned them so that only the wheat may enter into the kingdom.

Here we can identify a few key elements: a man, good seed, the enemy, weeds, servants, and a harvest where weeds will be burned and the wheat saved in his barns.

Here, the parable begins with the man sowing his field and ends when he harvests his crops. In between these two, an enemy plants weeds, which are allowed to grow until harvest time, when they will be collected and burned.

Since the second parable is the longest one and is explained, we will discuss it further.

2.    The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

A mustard seed is the smallest among garden plants, but it is strong and can grow almost anywhere to be as tall as a big tree; it becomes so big that many birds can perch in its branches. This parable was not explained, but there is only one element that it stresses -  the enormous growth of the small mustard seed. The kingdom of God has a similar power.

Here, we need to understand two things. When we see this little seed, we must not overlook or ignore it because of its size. We likewise must be able to see the power and potential of the kingdom of God. The second thing that we have to appreciate about the kingdom of God is its power to grow.

The next parable is about yeast. Once it is mixed into a batch of dough, it spreads through the whole batch and changes the dough’s texture and taste. So here we can say two things about the character of the kingdom of God. One is its invisible power to spread unnoticed, yet still with the inner strength to spread.  The second is how it changes the whole dough for the better, from the inside out. When one receives the Gospel of Jesus, his inner being is similarly changed and this change is very influential and contagious.

What does this tell us? One must be able to see the greatest kingdom on earth through a kingdom that, for now, can hardly be seen. What does it mean? We need faith to see the things that cannot be seen. Without faith it is almost impossible to join or to everything of one’s life in it.

In it has something more. It is a time factor. There will be a long time to grow and to spread. To its full size, it will take a long time. So those who come to join the kingdom at the beginning of this kingdom, this time must be taken into consideration.

Since there will be a long time before the kingdom is physically established, one must have a clear hope and patience for its coming greatness. For now, both the evil and godly children coexist, but when Jesus comes, there will be no more such evil in this kingdom.

In these two parables, Jesus gave us an insight about the inherent character of the kingdom of God, i.e. its enormous potential and power. When one talks about a kingdom, we immediately think about a king, people, and land. When we think about the kingdom of God, we like to think of it as a kingdom where God provides everything, there is peace and joy, and there is no sickness, because He is the king; it must be like the Garden of Eden. We can never think of it in terms of potential power or growth; it is totally new and unknown. So, these things were never revealed in the Old Testament; God has kept them a secret. What can we make of this?

Actually, we see these things happening since the beginning. Jesus died on the cross and left 11 disciples behind him, but the kingdom grew from these 11. Now it has about 1.5 billion members on the earth who confess that Jesus is their king.

3.    The Son of Man Begins and Fulfills the Kingdom.

This is the only one parable among the six we are discussing that is explained. Actually, this parable is about the kingdom of God in its entirety, from its beginning to its fulfillment. It is a system of the world seen in its finality. This is the world view and the godly plan for the human race.

a)    The one who sowed the seed is the Son of Man. Also, it is the Son of Man who will harvest at the end of the ages. So Jesus began and will complete the kingdom of God. When it is fulfilled, Jesus will be the king and he will establish the kingdom that we eagerly hope for, the ideal kingdom.

b)    The field is the world, which belongs to God as its Creator. The whole human race is also His, so His plan is to make His kingdom so vast that it encompasses the whole earth.

c)    Jesus sowed the seed of the kingdom. In this seed, there is the power and strength of the kingdom. He did this by giving his own life as ransom for many. His actions are rooted deeply in God’s grace and love for sinners, so it has power like the mustard seed and strength like yeast.

d)    Satan sowed the weeds and they will be allowed to grow alongside of the people of the kingdom of God until the end. They will be a source of grief, sorrow, pain, and hardship for God’s people, but their final fate is clear - eternal damnation in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

e)    The Son of Man will command the harvesting. He will gather the weeds to throw into the fire, but the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of God. This is the hope for all of God’s people.

Here, Jesus is the principal of the kingdom. He plants and grows the seed and harvests the crop.

4.    The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl.

In this parable, a man found treasure in a field. It was so precious that he sold everything he had and bought the field. This parable is about the value of the kingdom of God; it is so valuable that it is worthy of one’s whole life. Jesus gave his whole life to purchase many men and women to be his people. Out of those whom he purchased, he created the kingdom. Likewise, we are to value the kingdom to be worthy of our whole life.

The next parable is similar to the previous one. It is about a merchant who looked for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought the pearl.

In both of these parables, someone sold everything and bought the treasure or fine pearls. Both of these objects were considered so worthy that nothing one owned could compare with it. Jesus did this for his people. There wouldn’t be any kingdom of God, unless he had given up everything he had to buy or redeem mankind.

Here, we can see two things: the selling of everything one owns and the buying of the precious thing. Jesus did this first and his kingdom people are to imitate him. When one is not sure of a treasure’s value or the quality of some pearls, he cannot sell everything; however, here, the person sells everything that he has in order to buy the treasure. In other words, one must put all of their being into the kingdom of God. One thing we know, without selling, there will be no buying! So it is an all-or-nothing principle. We cannot waver in between the world and the kingdom of God.

As we noted, in all of the rest of his parables, Jesus is depicted as the principal of creating and making in the kingdom of God. So this trait must be in this parable as well. Then the fact that Jesus gave up his own life as a ransom in order to buy sinners is another fitting explanation for this parable.

5.    The parable of the net

In this parable, a fisherman caught many fish with his dragnet. He sorted his catch one by one, throwing away all of the bad fish and collecting the good ones. This parable details the final process of God’s judgment. Selecting the good ones is important to God. The good ones are the righteous and God is concerned about them. That is His focus and hope. This is also the final stage of the kingdom. The culmination of the kingdom begins with the judgment of evil. Once this is done, all of God’s children will enjoy the kingdom forever with Him and His Son, Jesus.

As a whole, God revealed these secrets through Jesus for the first time,  because he is in charge of this kingdom from the beginning to the end. Also this is the final step of God’s plan for human history. What did this mean to the disciples?

“He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” (Matthew 13:52).

Jesus’ disciples became the disciples of the kingdom of God through knowing the secret and accepting God’s plans for its establishment.

1.    Our understanding and knowing of Jesus must be framed within the context of the kingdom that he culminates at the end of the ages. In other words, Jesus’ work is best understood by knowing the grand scheme of the kingdom of God.

2.    Knowing both the Old Testament law and the secret of the kingdom of God makes one’s wisdom and knowledge complete. He is like Jesus or God, i.e. the owner of the house,  who ultimately owns the universe, in the sense that he has comprehensive understanding of God’s plan for the world in its depth and width. Only then can he act as a well-versed teacher and bring out the old as well as the new teachings.

May God richly bless you!