Matthew 13:1-53

The Eight Parables of The Kingly Rule of Heaven (13:1-53).

Having made clear that the Kingly Rule of Heaven is advancing forcefully (Matthew 11:12) and that through Jesus' activities as the Servant of YHWH, operating in the power of the Spirit of God (Matthew 12:18), the Kingly Rule of God has come upon Israel (Matthew 12:28), Jesus now amplifies on it in a series of eight parables. The first four are spoken to the crowds, although the explanations are provided only to the disciples, the second four are spoken to the disciples. This parallels the set up of the whole Gospel, for up to this point the emphasis has been mainly, although certainly not exclusively, on ministry to the crowds, while from this point on the main emphasis will be on ministry towards those who are disciples, although again not exclusively.

In these parables Jesus reveals that in spite of the hardness of heart of the Jews, a hardness of heart that He has continually depicted (Matthew 11:12; Matthew 12:1; Matthew 12:24), the Kingly Rule of Heaven will advance successfully throughout the whole world, being established through His word, just as Isaiah had prophesied (Matthew 12:18; Matthew 12:21; compare Isaiah 2:2; Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 49:1). The work of the Servant and the Son of Man will be completed.

Parables were an ideal method of conveying this information. To have spoken openly about the spreading of the Kingly Rule of Heaven on such a widespread scale would very soon have brought down on Him the civil authorities so that He might well have been arrested. But no one would think of arresting a man who spoke only of wheat harvests and mustard seeds, of merchandising and fishing. Nor would such thoughts ignite the crowds to violent insurrection.

This section in Matthew 13:1 is the third and central one of the five major ‘discourses' in Matthew, discourses which end with similar endings (Matthew 7:28; Matthew 11:1; Matthew 13:53; Matthew 19:1; Matthew 26:1). It is, however, different from the other four in that it is clearly not just one discourse. Interestingly, in contrast with the Sermon on the Mount, it commences with words to the crowds and ends with words to the disciples (contrast Matthew 5:1 with Matthew 5:28). It is divided up between parables given to the crowds in the open, manifestly at different times, and with intermingled explanations concerning them given to the disciples in private, and parables given to the disciples. There are clear breaks between the first parable, the next three, the following three, and the final one (see Matthew 13:10; Matthew 13:34; Matthew 13:51). They are simply being given as examples of the ‘many parables' which He taught (Matthew 13:3). The appearance of overall unity is given by Matthew in accordance with a clear pattern.

The parables as a whole are outlining how the Kingly Rule of Heaven will continue to advance, and the problems and dangers that it will face, leading up both to the great Day of Harvest and to the great Day of Judgment and punishment, as promised by John (Matthew 3:11). And the section is organised in a unique overall pattern, a chiasmus which incorporates sequences (compare how this happened in the Sermon on the Mount).

Parts of the materials in chapter 13 are to some extent paralleled in Mark and Luke, but when considering this we should note that:

1). Jesus no doubt used much of His parabolic and illustrative material on numerous occasions, and, as all itinerant preachers do, would continually fashion it to fit the occasion.

2). Jesus would regularly preach under similar circumstances, in mountains, on sea shores, out of boats, etc. What might seem distinctive to us was, with Him and His followers commonplace. It is not always therefore clear when incidents and sayings are genuinely parallel, and when they are simply examples of the repetitiveness of His life and ministry.

Thus preaching from a boat to those on the shore would have been a regular feature of Jesus' ministry for a time, as He moved among the towns around the Sea of Galilee. In these circumstances we cannot really always be certain whether these ‘parallels' therefore simply reflect such a general overall situation, or whether in some cases they actually are parallel presentations from the same incident. The only way that we could have any certainty about this would be by it being in the same specific context (especially if a place name is mentioned) and by the exact equivalence of wording, and even these might simply reflect general tradition.

Considering the number of people who heard Jesus speak, and the number of sermons He must have preached on similar themes, in similar circumstances, at different times, much of which would have been noted down or carefully remembered, we would expect there to be large amounts of parallel material on record, which while spoken at different times, gives the appearance of being very similar. And this would tend to be gathered by all the churches, and especially by the larger churches which were the more regularly visited, and then kept on record. We would therefore expect there to be a number of written traditions containing varied elements, as Luke 1:1 makes clear that there were. That is why he went about sifting them and confirming them

And we would also expect that suitable alterations had been made to His material by Jesus Himself from time to time, both so as to continue improving the material, and in order to make it relevant in different situations. The evangelists would later have had access to much of it as they moved around among people who had heard Jesus preach. Where such differences occur in the Gospels we should therefore be wary of simply assuming that they are different presentations of the same material, and rather see them as examples of differing material which illustrate how often Jesus spoke on such subjects, while at the same time utilising the same slightly altered illustrations for different purposes. Our dependence must not be on one or two theoretical written records, but on the awe that the early church clearly had in respect of Jesus' own words (compare how Paul carefully distinguishes them - 1 Corinthians 7:10; 1 Corinthians 7:25), which can give us confidence that they preserved them for us in their original form, either in notes take at the time, or orally, although, in many cases, if not all, having to translate them into Greek (Jesus may well sometimes have preached in Greek). They also suggest that each of the evangelists had multiple other sources which they incorporated, even if Matthew and Luke did also make use of Mark.

Let us first therefore consider the clear and unambiguous pattern discerned here in chapter Matthew 13:1.

Analysis of Matthew 13:1.

a Jesus commences His sayings in parables (Matthew 13:1 a).

b The parable of the sower who brings forth the word from his container (Matthew 13:3).

c Jesus reveals the secrets of the Kingly Rule of Heaven in parables in accordance with Scripture (Matthew 13:10).

d The exposition of the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:18).

* e1 The parable of the good seed and the tares which leads to harvest and judgment (Matthew 13:24).

* e2 The parable of the tiny mustard seed producing the greatest herb (Matthew 13:31).

* e3 The parable of the leaven hidden in the meal (Matthew 13:33).

f or c Jesus reveals everything in parables in accordance with the Scriptures (Matthew 13:34).

f or d The exposition of the parable of the good seed and the tares, ending with the exaltation of the righteous (Matthew 13:36).

* e3 The parable of the treasure hidden in a field (Matthew 13:44).

* e2 The parable of the seeker after pearls finding the greatest pearl (Matthew 13:45).

* e1 The parable of the dragnet which ends in the sorting of the good from the bad, ending with the judgment and punishment of the bad (Matthew 13:47).

d The exposition of the parable of the dragnet (Matthew 13:49).

c The question as to whether they have understood (Matthew 13:51)

b The Scribe of the Kingly Rule of Heaven who brings forth teaching both old and new (Matthew 13:52).

a Jesus ceases His sayings in parables and departs (Matthew 13:53).

Note that in ‘a' the sayings in parables commence, and in the parallel they cease. In ‘b' the sower sows the word, and in the parallel the Scribe brings forth the word. In c-e we have a pattern repeated in the parallel c-e, with ‘c' declaring that Jesus reveals the secrets of the Kingly Rule of Heaven in parables in accordance with the Scriptures, and the parallel declaring that Jesus teaches in parables according to the Scriptures, ‘d' referring to the explanation of the parable of the sower, with the parallel referring to the explanation of the parable of the tares, and ‘e' referring to three parables in succession, with the parallel also referring to three parables in succession, but in a reversed pattern. The final d-c then reverses the first c-d., and if we treat the central c-d as f-f we have a regular chiasmus

This unique presentation of material by Matthew, (normally he uses straight chiasmi), perhaps draws attention to the unique position that chapter 13 has in the Gospel, dividing what has gone before from what follows. Certainly from this chapter onwards there is a different emphasis from what has gone before as Jesus begins to establish His new ‘open' community (Matthew 14:15; Matthew 15:29; Matthew 16:18; Matthew 18:1); and to prepare his disciples for the future (Matthew 15:16; Matthew 16:5; Matthew 17:1; Matthew 18:1; Matthew 19:10; Matthew 19:23; Matthew 20:1); making them continually assess the value of the Kingly Rule of Heaven (Matthew 16:13; Matthew 17:1; Matthew 17:24; Matthew 19:16; Matthew 20:1; Matthew 20:20); while the opposition of the Pharisees, and then the Scribes, Sadducees and Chief Priests, grows (Matthew 15:1; Matthew 16:1; Matthew 19:3; Matthew 21:15; Matthew 21:23; Matthew 22:15).

In the first part of his Gospel the seeds of the Kingly Rule have been sown and the leaven has got to work. The Kingly Rule of Heaven has been proclaimed (Matthew 4:17; Matthew 4:23), the seven blessings (Matthew 5:3) and the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 13:5) have revealed the glory of the Kingly Rule, the crowds have swarmed to hear Him (Matthew 4:23; Matthew 8:1; Matthew 8:16; Matthew 9:8; Matthew 9:33) the Messiah has been revealed by His activities (Matthew 13:8) and the seed of the Kingly Rule of Heaven has been spread widely (Matthew 13:10), although being accompanied by the fact of the ineffectiveness of the seed in some (Matthew 11:16,; Matthew 12:1) and the clear activity of the Enemy (Matthew 12:22). All this is depicted in the parables in Matthew 13:1.

In the second part, after the first part has been initially summarised in the exposition of the parable of the tares/darnel to the disciples, resulting in a picture of the exaltation of the righteous, which demonstrates that that work continues (Matthew 13:36), all are called on to evaluate the Kingly Rule of Heaven and determine its worth for themselves, assessing the value of the treasure and the pearl (Matthew 13:44; compare Matthew 16:13; Matthew 17:1; Matthew 17:24; Matthew 19:16; Matthew 20:1; Matthew 20:20), and this prior to the sorting of the good from the bad (Matthew 13:48), resulting in the final punishment of the wicked (Matthew 13:49). This last is exemplified in the seven woes (Matthew 13:23), the discourse against the Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 13:23) and the judgment on Jerusalem (Matthew 13:24). Compare also Matthew 8:11 along with Matthew 13:42, in which exaltation predominates, and Matthew 13:50 along with Matthew 22:30 and Matthew 24:51, in which judgment predominates. And all this is then capped by chapter 25 where the twofold choices are depicted as available (Matthew 25:28; Matthew 25:46) as in Matthew 7:13.

Alongside this goes the gradual revelation of Jesus to His disciples, and their gradual growth in understanding. In chapter 8 He is ‘Teacher' (Matthew 13:19) and ‘Lord' Matthew 13:21; Matthew 13:25, but in Matthew 14:33 it is ‘the Son of God' and in Matthew 16:16 it is ‘the Messiah, the son of the living God', and the revelation continually grows.

We would not, however, claim that this exhausts the themes of Matthew. Thus the shining forth of the righteous as the sun (Matthew 13:43), followed by the evaluation of the Kingly Rule of Heaven made by both poor and wealthy (Matthew 13:44), resulting in judgment on the unworthy (Matthew 13:47) could be seen also as reflecting the transfiguration when Jesus shines forth like the sun (Matthew 17:2), followed by the contrast between the children who came to Jesus and the rich young man whose evaluation failed (Matthew 19:13), and the subsequent evaluation by the disciples which did not fail (Matthew 19:23) and the judgment Chapter s of 23-24 which reveal judgment on the unworthy.

The first part of this chapter is also in the form of a chiasmus. Thus we have:

a The parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3).

b The fact that it is given to the disciples to know the secrets of the Kingly Rule of Heaven (Matthew 13:10).

c The fact that the people as a whole will neither hear nor see nor understand (Matthew 13:13).

b The fact that the disciples will see and hear and understand (Matthew 13:16).

a The subsequent explanation of the parable to the disciples so that they will see and understand (Matthew 13:18).

So in ‘a' we have the parable of the sower, and in the parallel its interpretation. In ‘b' we learn that the disciples are to be given to know God's secrets, and in the parallel they are blessed because they do so. Centrally is the idea that the people will neither see nor understand.

Jesus Prepares To Teach in Parables (13:1-3a).

Jesus leaves the house in which He is staying and goes to the side of the sea, presumably so that there will be room for the larger crowds which are gathering. And there, because the crowds are so large, He sits in a boat while the crowds gather on the shore. A similar situation is pictured in Mark 4:1. But it was a situation that must have occurred many times.

Analysis.

a On that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the sea side (Matthew 13:1).

b And there were gathered to Him great crowds (Matthew 13:2 a).

c So that He entered into a boat, and sat (Matthew 13:2 b).

b And all the crowd stood on the beach (Matthew 13:2 c).

a And He spoke to them many things in parables, saying' (Matthew 13:3).

Note that in ‘a' Jesus goes out and sits by the seaside (with the purpose of preaching) and in the parable He preaches to them in parables. In ‘b' the great crowds gather, and in the parallel the crowd stands on the beach. Centrally in ‘c' Jesus enters the boat and sits down.