Matthew 13:31

OTHER PARABLES. -- Matthew 13:31-33; Matthew 13:44-52.

GOLDEN TEXT. -- So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from the just. -- Matthew 13:49. TIME AND PLACE. --As in the preceding lesson. HELPFUL READINGS. --Review the parable of the Sower, Matthew 13:36-43. the parable of the Tares, Matthew 13:18-23; Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18-21. LESSON ANALYSIS. --l. The Growth of the Kingdom; 2. The Value of the Kingdom; 3. The Wicked Severed from the Just.

INTRODUCTION.

The third and fourth parables follow logically after that of the Tares. It is well to notice the connection of thought. 1. The Sower shows the effect of sowing the good seed of the kingdom and how much depends on the proper preparation of the heart. 2. The Tares show that the Enemy will sow as well as the Son of man, and that tares will remain among the wheat until the judgment. 3. The third and fourth parables show that the tares will not take the wheat because of the wonderful growth of the kingdom. 4. The fifth shows the inestimable value of the kingdom. 5. And the sixth that the gospel net will often draw in worthless fish, which will be separated at the judgment. The parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven form. pair; both pointing to the growth of Christianity from small beginnings; the former to its extensive power, in consequence of its inherent capacity for development; the latter to its intensive power, all the more pervasive because noiseless.-- Schaff.

1. THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM.

31. Another parable put he forth unto them.

This is the third parable in succession drawn from agricultural experience. After the difficulties in the beginning (the sower), and the mixture of evil, have been emphasized, the successful result is foretold. The lesson of patience is again enforced, but hope directly encouraged.

Like. grain of mustard seed.

The mustard-plant (sinapis orientalis, or nigra) was. shrub, bearing pods; but In Eastern countries and in the South of Europe it is cultivated for its seed. The Jews grew mustard in their gardens. Its round seed-corns (4-6 in. pod) were proverbially characterized by them as the smallest thing, which indeed holds true so far as the various kinds of seed-corn used in Jewish husbandry are concerned, though scientific botany knows still smaller seeds.-- Lange. It would be difficult to find an emblem which more faithfully represents the history of the visible Church of Christ than this grain of mustard-seed.-- Ryle.