Winter Bible Study Session 3

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Series: Parables of Matthew

Description

Session 3
Parables of the Kingdom: Growing, Demanding Commitment, and Ensuring Judgment on the Wicked
(Matt 13.1-52)

II. Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matt 13.31-32): Great Endings from Small Beginnings
Basic Teaching
a. The mustard seed is the inauguration of the kingdom in the ministry of Jesus. Unlike the parable of the soils, the seed is not the preaching, it is the kingdom itself.
b. In the comparison Jesus is making, it is important the seed be very small in order for the contrast to work. The mustard seed was one millimeter in diameter. It would take approximately 750 mustard seeds to equal a gram, 1/28 an ounce
c. It is also important that the growth be excessive. In this instance, there are two indications. First, that it becomes a tree, which simply did not happen with mustard seeds, and secondly, that it was large enough for birds to nest it its leaves. The typical mustard plant grew to two-six feet in height and has large leaves at its base, hardly a tree.

III. Parable of the Leaven (Matt 13.33)
This parable is a twin with the previous parable of the mustard seed. But, as Klyne Snodgrass points out, “they are not identical twins,” Stories with Intent, 233.
Basic Teaching
a. Leaven was a piece of dough from a previous batch that was stored in fermenting juices until it was mixed in a batch of new dough. When given warmth the leaven would ferment, generating bubbles throughout the dough, causing it to rise.
b. Is the leaven good or bad?
We have been conditioned to think of leaven as evil or corrupting, like cancer. To a large degree this is due to the overwhelmingly negative portrayal of leaven in the NT (Matt 16.5-6; 1 Cor 5.6-8; Gal 5.7-9). In this parable, however, there is no indication that it is evil or bad. It certainly was not always bad in the OT (Lev 7.13-14; 23.17).
c. What question does the parable address?
Once again Jesus answered the question of how could the kingdom could have come with so little effect? The answer: The kingdom may be hidden now, but it is an irresistible force that will transform the totality of God’s creation. While it addresses the same question as the “mustard seed,” it answers it in a slightly different manner. The mustard seed emphasized that from small beginnings come great endings. The leaven emphasized from things hidden come great transformation.

C. Joy for Those Willing to Risk All for the Kingdom; Judgment Awaits Those Who Reject the Invitation into the Kingdom (Matt 13.44-50)
I. Treasure (13.44)
As with the mustard seed and the leaven, this section begins with the twin parables of the treasure and the pearl. These “twins” are the only two parables in Matt 13 addressed specifically to Jesus’ disciples (see the transition at 13.36). More significantly, they share the same basic teaching. It could be (1) the extraordinary value of the kingdom; (2) the kingdom demands a willingness to risk all; or (3) the joy of discovering the kingdom. Actually, all three are present, but I would argue the value of the kingdom is the central teaching, and the other two grow naturally from that. Because of the unrivaled value of the kingdom, it is worth risking all to attain, and having done so leads to inexpressible joy.
II. Pearl (13.45-46)
III. Net (13.47-50)
This parable parallels the wheat and the weeds (Matt 13.24-30). Both declare that in the final judgment the righteous and the wicked will be separated.

D. Concluding Parable: The Household and the Treasure (13.51-52)
Matthew concludes with a statement addressed only to his disciples. They have been given the knowledge and the revelation to understand Jesus’ teaching. The key is not to throw away the old, nor fear the new. The newness is clearly the preaching of the arrival of the kingdom. But it is not a radical break from the past. God’s purposes have been marching forward from the beginning. While it is a new act in God’s story, God’s grand story has never ceased. This act in the drama can’t be understood apart from the previous acts. Some fear tradition, others fear innovation, but Jesus is weaving it all together into God’s story. We find our place in the final act. Let us embrace the present without rejecting the past. This is a most wonderful treasure.