100 MPH Review of Matthew's Parables

 

The Parables of Matthew

We just spent 28 weeks working our way through the gospel of Matthew.  In the next service I will give you the 30,000-foot flyover.  In this service we will focus on some of the parables.

A parable sets things in parallel.  I use a form of parallelism which I take things that I know and can explain first hand from the Marine Corps and compare them with some scripture.

I also like to make parallels with sports.  Baseball and football give me the most to work with.  I have yet to use anything from badminton, but I’m not through preaching yet, so don’t write it off.

The man who doubts is like a shuttlecock batted around the court on a windy day. OK, I will probably stick with a wave tossed about the sea.

My baseball and football parallels were of absolutely no value when I went to Africa. I don’t do soccer.  The only year that I watched my daughter play, it looked like a swarm of kids moving all over the field.  I suspected there was a ball in the middle of the swarm.

Jesus was the only person who had walked the earth that had also been in heaven.  He explained things we had never seen or did not understand in terms of things that we had.

Let’s take the Parable of the Sower or the Seed or the Soil, depending on what part you want to emphasize.  Jesus knew that his word was true and that our hearts are so often corrupt, but when our heart is receptive to the word of God, it can produce a fantastic yield.

When our hearts are good soil, the word of God flourishes in us.

Jesus told us that we would struggle in this world.  The Evil One is at work in the work.  The Enemy has sown weeds with the wheat but both will be allowed to grow to the harvest.  As we look at the explanation, there will be a sorting at the end of the age.  God’s angels will sort out his children from amidst the weeds.

It’s for our benefit so we have a chance to grow before the harvest. We should not worry.  God and his angels can tell the difference.

Jesus taught that once you realize what the kingdom of heaven is and that you can live there now, you will do whatever it takes to enter it.  Buy a field to claim its treasure, sell everything to buy a pearl of great value, or pluck the bad fish out of your catch and keep only the good ones.

You can enter the kingdom of heaven now and there will be a sorting at the end of the age.

Jesus explained the kingdom of heaven with the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.  This servant had a debt that he could never repay.  He could hit the Powerball lottery and still not have enough to repay the debt; yet his master forgave the debt.

This servant did not pay this forward.  He did not show the same forgiveness as his master.  The master heard about this and restored the debt and executed the punishment. 

God is serious about this forgiveness business.  Check out what Jesus had to say about forgiveness right after he modeled what we call the Lord’s Prayer.

The Parable of the Two Sons is about words and deeds.  One son says he will do what his father wants but doesn’t.  The other says he won’t, but then decides that he will.  Even the knuckleheaded Pharisees understood this one.

It was obviously the one whose actions not words did what the father desired.

The Parables of the Tenants and the Wedding Banquet are likely allegorical with Jews and Gentiles getting their chance to receive the grace of God.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins speaks of being ready.  Remember the Coast Guard motto:  Semper Paratus—Always Ready.

And then we come to the Parable of the Talents.  By now, you should know this one by heart.  I think next year, Matthew 25:14-30 will be one of our memory verses.

What did you do with what God gave you?

Then, of course, we get to the sheep and the goats.  The question that we should ask ourselves is:  What did we do for the least of these brothers and sisters among us? 

What did we do for the least of these?

Jesus humbled himself and stepped out of heaven.  He humbled himself to such an extent that he came as a baby.  He lived as a human lives, needed food and water and shelter and care, but he had known heaven and the kingdom of God.

He wanted to share that with us.  He did that by teaching, preaching, healing, and many miracles but he also put in parallel the things of heaven and things that we understood here on earth.

He wanted us to know and understand the kingdom of God before we got there.  Parables are more than stories with a moral.  They are more than examples.  They open our eyes to see and our ears to hear the things of the kingdom of God and the way of our Lord.

They leave us hungry to learn more.

Amen.

Matthew 13 - Part 1

Read Matthew 13

The chapter breaks but the events are contiguous.  Jesus had told the Pharisees that the only sign they would get would be the sign of Jonah, he had told the crowd that those who do the will of the Father are his mother, brother, and sisters even as his biological family waited to see him.

We don’t know if Jesus squeezed in a quick visit or not.  We are told that he headed out to the shore of a lake, got in a boat and sat down as the people stood on the shore, and he started teaching in parables.

The first was the parable of the sower, which Jesus later explained to his disciples.

“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:  When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.  The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.  The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.  But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

What can we add to this explanation by our Master and Teacher?

When we share the word of God with someone, we must understand there is urgency.  We pray that the soil of their heart is good soil, ready to receive the word of God and produce good fruit.

When we testify among other believers, understand that there may be worrisome weeds and carnal temptations working against the abundant life of some believers.  We must be encouragers, true friends, and speak the truth in love to

these souls without rest.

When we share the word of God, we should be like Paul, desiring to reach everyone with words of salvation, so much so that we become everything to everyone just to deliver our assigned message, but knowing that only some are likely to receive the word and be saved.

When we share the word of God, we must understand that this is not a greater burden than we can bear.  The receptiveness and response of the one who hears is not dependent upon how well-rehearsed our witness is.  We do our part. We are genuine. We are commissioned to deliver the good news to the world and do the very best that we can to bring glory to God.

The response of the one who hears is between the condition of their soil—their heart—and the Holy Spirit who stands ready to enter in to the one who professes Jesus is Lord!

That does not mean that our job is done.  Once a person responds and is a believer we are to be a part of their discipleship and learning, as well as leading them to baptism; but as to their response, we do not carry that burden.

Amen.