Matthew 13:1-52 – A Sword, the Family, and Rewards, Part 2. b.

As much as I dislike fortune cookies, if I choose to eat at a Chinese restaurant, they are inevitable, and as much as I dislike focusing on small portions of scripture in isolation, if I am human, it is inevitable. We are creatures of the immediate and it is rare for us to lift our eyes and look at the big picture of anything. The immediacy of life’s events clouds our vision of life’s larger picture. It is the same when we read the Bible: we read a few verses and all we can think about is the daily application to our lives. I sometimes wonder if we have lost the ability or the will to step back and look at the Bible’s larger story, or even the big picture of each book.

I remember the first time I was asked if I had read the Bible all the way through. I was tempted to say, “of course,” but I knew I hadn’t. I thought about that question and soon concluded that it didn’t make much sense to claim to be a follower of Jesus but to not have read the entirety of his story. Since that day, I have made it a habit of reading the Bible all the way through every year starting in Genesis and ending in Revelation. I even change versions every couple of years to help keep my experience with the Bible fresh each time through it. [If this interests you, I recommend using a Reader’s Bible: you can find the ESV Reader’s Bible by clicking HERE]. Since reading straight through the Bible that first time I’ve found that the smaller pieces of scripture — the fortune cookies if you will — make much more sense and have more depth than I had ever thought before.

With that in mind, since we have been deep into the jungle of Matthew these past few weeks, it is possible we have lost sight of the bigger view. This study is exploring how the structure of Matthew’s Gospel aligns with the structure of the Lord’s Prayer. The verses currently being studied fall under the specific of the Lord’s prayer, “on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus taught about the Father’s coming kingdom (Matt. 5-7) and worked in ways that accomplished the Father’s will (Matt. 8-9) before sending out the disciples and giving them some instructions about how to bring the Father’s kingdom and do the Father’s will “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 10). These instructions from Matthew 10, in a simplistic form, are as follows:

• Instruction 1) Go to the Jews and preach the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 10:5-10),
• Instruction 2) If they accept you, great, if not, move on (Matt. 10:11-15).
• Instruction 3) There will be some wolves who wish you harm, so be careful and endure (Matt. 10:16-23).
• Instruction 4) If the wolves think I come from the devil, they will think the same of you (Matt. 10:24-25),
• Instruction 5) Don’t fear the wolves; they might kill the body, but they can’t touch the soul (Matt. 10:26-33).
• Instruction 6) The message of the kingdom will break up your families, but in losing your life you will find it (Matt. 10:34-39)

Matthew, in the chapters following these instructions, provides many real-world episodes supporting each point Jesus made. A quick summary of these episodes is as follows:

• Episode 1) Jesus went to the Jewish towns and spoke about the kingdom by discussing John the baptist (Matt. 11:1-24).
• Episode 2) Jesus declared that not everyone is able to accept the teaching of the kingdom (Matt. 11:25-12:8).
• Episode 3) Jesus responded to the Pharisees who wanted to destroy him (Matt. 12:9-21).
• Episode 4) Jesus responded to the Pharisees who said he worked miracles by the power of the devil (Matt. 12:22-37).
• Episode 5) Jesus tells the Pharisees the only sign they will receive is that he will be raised from the dead (Matt. 12:38-45).
• Episode 6) Jesus declared that his real family consists only of those who follow the Father’s will (Matt. 12:46-50).

Take a moment to compare these two outlines; it may even be helpful to reread the passages in Matthew to see how well they match up with one another. You will find that Matthew, without changing the essential message of Jesus’s life, arranged the order of events so as to illustrate what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. And, if we step back even a bit further to look at the entire picture of Matthew’s Gospel, these instructions and episodes from Jesus’s life show how the Father’s kingdom comes and his will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus follows the Father’s plans without hesitation when he came from heaven to earth, and the order of Matthew’s Gospel shows the disciples what it means to do the same.

Returning to the two outlines above, you may have noticed there is something missing. Jesus did not conclude his instructions with a warning about the family’s destruction; he concluded his instructions in Matthew 10 proclaiming there would be rewards. Jesus said,

40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

Matthew 10:40-42

Adding these instructions to the first outline, we have this seventh point,

• Instruction 7) Jesus promised rewards for both those who become disciples and those who are disciples (Matt. 10:40-42).

These words make it obvious that Jesus promised rewards to those who received the message of the kingdom but don’t miss the fact that the disciples, who went out as prophets and righteous people, also have their own rewards. And, just as the previous six points in Jesus’s instructions had matching episodes from Jesus’s life, so also does this seventh point of instruction have matching episodes from Jesus’s life. The appropriate final point for the second outline is the following,

• Episode 7) Jesus tells several parables about how his followers will be rewarded (Matt. 13:1-51).

Jesus asked his disciples to walk the same road he traveled — a road full of isolation, suffering, persecution, and death — but such was not the end of the road: Jesus’s road led to resurrection and eternal life. We might encounter troubles, rejection, and even persecution in this life, but they pale in comparison to the glory of the ultimate reward waiting at the journey’s end. This doesn’t mean, however, that resurrection and eternal life, as wonderful as they are, are the only rewards promised to Jesus’s followers; some can be found along the way. This first parable told by Jesus introduces us to the most important reward found in this life. Matthew writes,

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

Matthew 13:1-9

This is often called “the parable of the seeds” or “the parable of the soils,” but Jesus refers to it as “the parable of the sower” (Matt. 13:18). You may think a title is not very important, but titles inform us as to where we should place our focus. This is a fairly simple parable: a sower spreads seed all over the place — some of it is eaten by birds, some falls on rocky ground, some amongst thorns, and some on good soil — but only the seed landing upon fertile ground takes root, and only that seed produces a harvest; some being larger than others. Have you noticed that by the time we got to the end of the parable, all we can think about are seeds and soils?

Yeah. So how is this parable about the sower?

Good question. But before we get an explanation, Matthew tells us that the disciples wanted to know why Jesus had begun using parables. This is, by the way, and if you are keeping track, the first parable to appear in Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew writes,

10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15  For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Matthew 13:10-17

Parables, by their very nature, are mysterious, and if we aren’t careful we can easily miss the point. There are times, and this is certainly one of them, when God reveals himself in such a way so that people will miss the point. This may not sound like an open and loving God, but it is; we just need to see, as Paul Harvey used to say, “the rest of the story.”

When Jesus said “to them it has not been given,” he is repeating a concept first introduced when he thanked his Father that the teachings of the kingdom had been hidden from the wise and understanding but revealed to the little children (Matt. 11:25). And when he quoted Isaiah 6, Jesus made a connection everyone within earshot would recognize. Isaiah was writing near the time of the end of the Northern and Southern kingdoms, and Isaiah 6 is the moment when God revealed a prophecy against Israel because they had hardened their hearts to God’s word. As a result of their hardened hearts, God said that Israel would be laid waste and made desolate until the Father sent his seed of redemption, who we now know as Jesus, the son of God. The ones listening to Jesus were not only walking in the same footsteps as their hard-hearted ancestors, but they were also standing in front of the Father’s seed of redemption, but they didn’t have eyes to see him.

If we are looking at just the seeds in the previous parable, it seems that we have just encountered those who had received the seed of the kingdom but rejected it. These religious leaders thought they understood the word of God, but they were no different than the previously judged ancient Israelites: their hardened hearts kept the seed of God’s word from growing.

So is this parable really about seeds and soil?

No, but it can get there very quickly. Parables can be used to teach many things, but they are told primarily for a single point, and we must not forget that this parable is about the sower. After Jesus explains why he uses parables, Jesus gives the interpretation of the parable of the sower. He said,

18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Matthew 13:18-23

Again, this might seem like a parable about the soil of man’s heart but look again. Notice that the sower still sows seed regardless of the bad soil or how many predators seek to make the seed ineffective. The disciples (sowers) may not be welcome in some towns and they may be actively pursued and rejected in others, but those people and cities of hardened hearts should not stop the disciples from preaching the message of the kingdom (sowing). Given the placement of this parable, it seems that Matthew, and Jesus, want us to realize that it isn’t the sower’s job to change the soil or to make the seed bear fruit. Jesus’s disciples are called to spread the seed of the gospel of the kingdom across the many different soils of the world, but they aren’t called to change the soil and they don’t have the power to make the seed bear fruit, their only responsibility is to sow the seed.

Okay, but I thought we were talking about rewards. What does this have to do with a reward?

Everything. The most obvious reward is seeing how the sown seed grows and multiplies. Earthly goods are of no lasting value to the citizens of the heavenly kingdom, but heavenly rewards are, and one of the greatest heavenly rewards we can ever see on this earth is seeing the growth of the seeds we scattered for the Father’s kingdom. I believe this is why Paul so often thanked God for the faithfulness of those receiving his letters: he knew that the growth of the kingdom on earth through the gospel seed he had scattered was a valuable reward.

But there is another reward, perhaps even a more important reward, that isn’t evident upon a first reading of the parable. Jesus called his disciples to be faithful in scattering seed regardless of whether the people of earth would be responsive or not. While seeing the growth from the scattered seed is rewarding, faithfulness in working on the task God set before us is a reward as well. We might weep over those who reject the seed of the kingdom or feel despair after a lifetime of seemingly fruitless work, but Jesus called us to be faithful, nothing more. It is because of our faithfulness that God will speak the words, “well done thy good and faithful servant,” not for growth in the seeds we cast across the soils of the earth.

The parable of the sower may help us understand the seeds and the soils but such is not why Jesus told this parable. Jesus was reminding his disciples that a life of faithful sowing is the life to which they have been called. And, while the Father may grant us the privilege of seeing the growth of the good seed sown on good soil, the disciple’s true reward comes from being faithful in carrying out the Father’s work. This is, in part, what praying “on earth as it is in heaven” is all about. We are praying, at the very least, that we would have the strength to be faithful in carrying out the Father’s will by spreading the seed of the kingdom across the many soils of this earth.

• Click HERE to go to the page containing all the posts for this study on The Lord’s Prayer and Matthew’s Gospel