4. MORE PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM

Mt. 13:24 - 52

Here are six more parabolic illustrations of the Kingdom. Let us list the seven parables:

1. The Seed and the different fields    13:3 - 22

2. The wheat and the weeds   13:24 - 30; 36 - 43

3. Seed of mustard   13: 31 - 32

4. Yeast in three measure of flour   13: 33

5. The field with the buried treasure  13: 44

6. One pearl of great value    13: 44

7. Net which gathered the good and the bad fish   13: 47 - 50

These parables illustrate different aspects of the Kingdom.

(a) In the first four of them one finds

the idea of growth. The Kingdom is something which appears in time and spreads or grows. It does not come fully developed.

(b) In 2 and 7, there are clearly

the ideas that the Kingdom is present along with the reality of evil, and that there is to be a day of sorting out when the evil will be finally destroyed. Both these parables refer to the ‘end of the world’ or ‘the close of the time' (vv.39, 40, 49).

(c) Parables 1, 2 and 7

emphasize the personal element of salvation. The seed that fell on good soil is he who bears fruit (v.23). The wheat in parable 2 signifies a ‘son of the Kingdom’ while the weed symbolizes the ‘son of the evil one’ (v.38). The symbolism of the good fish and the bad fish in parable 7 is obvious. In our understanding of the Kingdom we must not forget the fact that God does distinguish between good men and evil men (not necessarily between Christians and non-Christians or believers and unbelievers here)

(d) In parables 3 and 4,

the corporate aspect of the Kingdom is obvious; but even in 1, 2 and 7, it is implied. In parables 1 and 2, there is only one field -- the world (v.38). In parable 7, it is one net which gathers all the fish (v.47). In parable 3, the whole Kingdom is compared to a tree, where the birds of the air can find shelter (v.32). In parable 4, the Kingdom and the world are as indistinguishable as Yeast and flour (v.33), completely mixed with each other. Yet we know the Yeast is there, though we cannot see it, and we know that it is transforming the whole of the three measures of meal.

(e) In a sense, there is a contradiction between what parables 2 and 4 say.

The second says the process of history is one in which both good and evil are growing apace. There is definitely the activity of the enemy who has sown the weeds among the wheat (vv.25, 28, 39). The process has to be sifted out on the last day, the day of judgement.

On the other hand, parable 4 has an element of what is often called universalism -- the whole three measures of flour are leavened by the little yeast of the Kingdom. There is nothing to be thrown out. That is the point of having so many parables. The whole truth cannot be fitted neatly into one story. There is mystery and paradox at the heart of reality.

(f) Parables 1, 5 and 6 refer to

a certain quality of response and search required in order to see the Kingdom and gain access to it. Parable 1 speaks of the good soil as one who hears the word and grasps it, and is therefore able to bear fruit. parables 5 and 6 speak of the necessity of staking everything for the sake of the kingdom. The demand for commitment is total and absolute. It is not just believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and therefore knowing that one is personally saved. The demand of the Gospel is insistent. Forsake everything and follow me -- friends, family, riches position, future, career. Let all of that become insignificant in comparison with the one pearl of great price, the field with the buried treasure, to buy which you have to sell everything you have (v.44). The Kingdom is free, but not cheap.

(g) The illustrations are all chosen from the life of the hearers -- the farmer who sows and reaps, the woman at home who mixes dough, the man who plants a tree or buys a field, the merchant of pearls, the fisherman, and so on. Christ had this uncanny ability to take the most ordinary experiences of life and make them windows on the reality that lies behind and beyond all the sense-data, the presence of the Kingdom of God. We need to recover this ability to see the reality of God in all the events of our contemporary history in India, as well as in all of nature, and to interpret them to others in a way that draws attention to God and to His Kingdom.

(h) But we should be very careful not to be too logically systematic in our interpretation of the Kingdom. It still remains an unfathomable mystery. We can only begin to understand and grasp it. It will always be full of surprises. It remains God’s Kingdom, and He alone knows what is its final fulfillment. we must retain this sense of essential mystery about the Kingdom. Christ asked his disciples: Have you understood all this? And they said ‘yes’ (v.51). But it is clear that none of us fully understand. And therefore he adds that final and eighth parable: Therefore every teacher trained for the heavenly Kingdom can be compared to a head of a household, who goes into his treasure-house to bring out new things as well as old’ (v.52) Some of these new things will constantly be coming up in history to challenge our ways of understanding God and His plans. We should be alert at all times to anticipate how the new changing times require new and fresher understandings of the same mystery of the Kingdom which has been in the world from olden times.

QUESTIONS

1. Do the parables challenge and question our usual understanding of the Gospel? If so, at what points and in what way?

2. How do we find a fresh interpretation of the Gospel of the Kingdom that is relevant to the issues of our day and is at the same time true to the Bible ?

3. The first four parables were spoken in the presence of the crowds. The interpretation of the first two, as well as of the three last parables, was given only to the disciples (vv.10 ff; vv. 36 ff). Why?