The Way - Day 245 (Matthew 13)

Pastor Tom's Journal on Today's Reading:
Matthew 13:1-23
Matthew gives the first parable (of his gospel) which Jesus describes as teaching that allows the follower of Christ to understand the mysteries of God, but hides the meaning from those who do not believe (13:10-17). Jesus often spoke in parables in order to communicate a spiritual truth to His disciples, but disguise the application from unbelievers. This first of Matthew's teachings is known as the parable of the sower. A sower goes out to sow seed - some of the seed falls on the path that surrounded the fields and the birds devoured the seed (13:4). Some of the seed falls on stony ground and where it quickly grew but soon died because there were no roots (13:5-6). Other seed fell among thorns which choked away the life of the seed (13:7). However, some of the seed feel on good ground yielded a crop - some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty (13:8). In this parable, the sower is God and the seed is the gospel (or the way to God). The seed falling on the path represents the person who hears the gospel, but is distracted by Satan (13:18-19). The seed which falls on stony illustrates a person who hears the gospel, understands it, but abandons it when trials come (13:20-21). The seed among the thorns symbolizes a professing Christian who hears the gospel but loves the world more than God (13:22). So far, all of these people mentioned, who have heard the gospel, are not genuine believers but professing Christians. They have not truly repented of their sins. Verse 23 reveals that a true Christian will hear, understand, and bear fruit as a result of the gospel, some a lot of fruit and some a little bit of fruit. The key is that their life has shown evidence of repentance. Throughout God's word, faith and works always go hand in hand. Good works never bring true faith, but true faith in the gospel will ALWAYS result in good works (love for God and obedience to His word). It doesn't mean a person is perfect, but their life is demonstrating good works for God's glory. If your life is not producing good works, maybe you should check to see if you have ever truly repented and turned to Jesus Christ for salvation.

Matthew 13:24-43
This parable creates a stir within the church because Jesus implies something that is very alarming. The parable of the wheat and tares is an illustration where a man, who is Jesus according to verse 37, sows good seed (the gospel) in His field (vv.24,38-world) but at night an enemy (vv.25,39-Satan) comes and plants tares (false converts) in the same field. Tares are really weeds that look similar to wheat but as the tare grows it becomes evident that it was only disguised as wheat. Jesus is saying there are false converts who disguise themselves as Christians, but are really children of the devil. After the servants of the owner (probably angels) discover these weeds amongst the wheat, they report to the owner and he tells them that an enemy has done this (13:26-28). The servants ask what they should do with the tares and the owner tells them to wait until the harvest, which is the final judgment, where all false converts will be eternally punished (13:29-30,40-42). So, what is the message? The implication is very clear especially since Jesus had been conflicting with the Pharisees prior to this time. Satan has fooled the so-called religious people into thinking that they are in a right relationship with God because of their good works on the outside; however, Jesus wanted His followers to understand that these people are false converts. The scribes and Pharisees thought they had it all figured out but in reality their judgment would come in the future when they stood before God and He will ultimately separate Himself from them for all eternity. Notice Jesus said that He would not separate the true and false converts until the final judgment (13:30). This means that within our churches today there are many who profess Christ, but they have never truly repented and turned to Jesus Christ for salvation. The ultimate proof of salvation is love for God and obedience to His word. Satan has tried to destroy the church by mingling true and false converts. Guard your heart against those who profess Christ but have no regard for God's commandments.

Matthew 13:44-58
These verses cover many different descriptions of the kingdom of God, but Jesus' teachings are very brief and to the point. The first two parables He gives in this passage are the parable of the hidden treasure (13:44) and the pearl of great price (13:45-46). Both of these represent the extreme value of eternal salvation and is evidenced in the person's willingness to sell all that he has in order to inherit salvation. In the hidden treasure parable you have a man who finds treasure in a field (entrance into the kingdom of God) and responds by selling everything he has in order to buy the field. In the pearl of great price, a merchant finds a very costly pearl and reacts by selling everything he has in order to purchase it. Jesus is saying that salvation, and ultimately entrance into the kingdom of God, is so priceless that we should be willing to abandon everything we have in order to inherit it. Jesus is not proposing a works based salvation, but is outlining the cost of salvation. At the core of salvation is the willingness on the part of the receiver to reject all of his efforts and turn to the One who is able to rescue his soul. The third teaching in this passage is the parable of the dragnet and is similar to the wheat and the tares (13:24-30,36-43). A net is cast into the sea and many kinds of fish are brought to the surface (13:47-50). The good fish were kept (genuine believers) and the bad fish (those who reject Jesus Christ) are cast into everlasting punishment at the final judgment. Jesus also gives the parable of the householder (13:51-53). This teaching represents Jesus upholding the importance of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Neither one canceled out the other, but revealed greater insight of the law. Finally, Jesus finished speaking parables and returned to His hometown of Nazareth (13:54-58). He taught in the synagogue and the people were amazed by His teaching, wisdom, and mighty works; however, they were offended and rejected Him as the Messiah. So Jesus chose not to do any of His mighty works there. This is a sad commentary. Jesus had faithfully taught the truth, but His own people rejected Him. Ever felt rejected? We tend to feel discouraged when we proclaim the truth, but people disregard what we are saying. Don't lose heart. Be faithful in speaking the truth to your friends, family, and others even when they don't accept what you have to say.

Dear God, assist me in being faithful to the truth, but help me not to be disheartened when others reject me.