mat14

Matthew 13:1 This is speaking of the same day spoken of in chapter 12. So on the Sabbath day Jesus went out of the house He was in and sat by the sea.

Matthew 13:2 And while He was sitting by the sea of Galilee a great multitude gathered around Him and He entered a boat and sat down while the people gathered on the shore. We notice here that it says Jesus sat; it was a custom than for a teacher to sit while teaching.

Matthew 13:3-9 Jesus begins to teach them. He speaks to them with many parables. Jesus has now made it known that He is the Messiah, He has not come out and actually spoken these words but through His actions it is shown. The Jewish leaders though do not believe Him and they totally oppose Him. Because of the Jewish leaders not accepting Him Jesus begins to teach in parables something He had not yet done. And this was done so that only those wanting to know the truth would be able to understand. The Greek word ‘parabolay’ means to throw along side or in other words a parable is a story that this told in demonstration of a truth added to something else. It is only given to illustrate the truth where something fictitious is used to give representation to reality. A parable is an illustration of a truth already known not a new truth unknown. Jesus’ use of parables and allegories contained many symbols that represented a greater truth. In the parable about the sower we can place the sower as God making His plea through Jesus, through the Word, the prophets, pastors, and Believers. The sower brings forth the Gospel, the news of the kingdom of God. And the seed he sows is the message of the Gospel. And the path he takes is the heart of those willing to listen or unwilling to listen. The symbols that are used to represent evil are birds, the heat of the sun, rocky places, in other words these hearts were not ready to receive or did not want to receive the Word. They did not understand the Gospel of Christ. Some willingly and gleefully accept the Gospel but never allow it to take root in their heart and therefore when trouble comes they fall away. How many of us quickly fall away when faced with troubles. Trouble comes to us and we instantly revert back to the ways of the world instead of relying on God to meet the need. We let the thorns the worries and pressures of our life rule us. We let the love of money deceive us and these things choke the life from us and leave us unfruitful. But some are good soil and not only do they joyfully hear and receive the Gospel but they understand it and allow it to take root deeply in their heart and manifest its self in us. The fruit we show is our testimony, our witness to others of the Gospel we know and understand. Those that have ears let them hear truly means LISTEN, and Act on that which you hear! Christ is saying, listen to what I say and apply it to your life and it will bring you true life!

Matthew 13:10-11 We see hear that now the disciples come to Jesus and question His methods of teaching. Jesus answers them saying the mysteries or secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been made known to them but to those that oppose Him they will not be made known. We can safely say these mysteries or secrets would be that Jesus is the king, the Messiah, and that there is a kingdom of God and only one way to gain entrance to the kingdom is through Jesus by faith through grace and that no one will be kept out of heaven because of nationality or sex and that the kingdom once only for the Jews is now open to the whole world. To those that believe the kingdom of God will be opened. The disciples understand because they accept Christ and follow Him the others reject Christ and turn from Him so the mysteries of the kingdom are hidden from them.

Matthew 13:12 Whoever has will be given more knowledge of the kingdom of heaven if they are willing to receive it. God gives unto those wanting to receive the understanding and knowledge of His Word. Those though not wanting to receive even though they have some knowledge it will be taken from them. Not necessarily taken away by God but instead it will be taken away by the evil one by Satan. Satan will continue to disguise and falsify the truth so as to deceive as many of God’s children as possible.

Matthew 13:13 Jesus goes on to say this is why I speak in parables so those that believe will understand but those that do not will not understand even though they hear. So instead of wasting time on hearts that are hard and causing them to fall even deeper into sin Christ speaks in ways that they do not understand in hopes that they will find his mercy and come to repent of their ways thus having His mind and thoughts revealed to them.

Matthew 13:14-15 And now Christ quotes from Isaiah 6:9-10 to those that openly reject Him saying, you will continue to hear, continue to see, but not understand, and not perceive the truth. And you will not receive the truth because your hearts are calloused and your eyes have been closed. Jesus clearly gives reason why some reject Him and lose what knowledge they already have. And it because their eyes are closed and their ears deadened that God is not to blame for their loss of salvation the loss lies with them. Salvation is only for those that truly accept the Son of God as the Messiah, crucified, buried, and resurrected! For those that believe Christ says that He will heal them. This healing I believe is not just physical healing, but mental, spiritual, and any type of healing needed.

Matthew 13:16 This verse tells us that the blessings of God are only for those willing to see and hear. And as we will read in the following verses Jesus elaborates on this to include receive, understand, and be fruitful.

Matthew 13:17-23 Jesus is now going to explain to the disciples why they are blessed. He says that many longed to see what they see but didn't and that they are truly blessed because they have heard and seen the witness of the prophecies of old concerning the Messiah. “Hear then the parable of the sower.” This is Christ’s introduction to the parable. Christ says that when anyone hears the Word but does not understand the evil one comes and steals all that has been sown in their heart. The evil one of course is Satan. And Jesus says this is the seed sown by the road. Jesus goes on to say that the next one is sown on the rocky soil and hears the Word and receives it right away with great joy. But soon trials come to this one and joy fades and he falls away. Paul wrote about people like this in Galatians 5. Any time distress, or persecution, worry over finances, anxiety over life, and basically trouble of any kind comes along and these folks on the rocky soil fall apart. Jesus says that the one sown on good soil produces a crop. They are fruitful; they bring forth fruit and accomplish good works in their life such as love, faith, hope, and compassion. And their fruitfulness spills out to all they come in contact with abundantly to the tune of 100 fold, 60 fold, and 30 fold.

Matthew 13:24-30 Jesus now tells them another parable about the wheat and tares. Tares means weeds and resembles wheat till fully ripened. The purpose of Christ’s relating this parable is to explain that genuine faith can exist beside, and amongst even those with no faith or with a false profession of faith. In other words even though you might have to work around sinners your faith can still exist and remain strong. And even when you are amongst false prophets your faith can stay strong and when the harvest comes the weeds, the tares will be found and discarded. The man could be the disciples sowing good seed, Jesus sowing good seed, or you sowing good seed. The good seed is the Gospel, the Word of God given to those willing to receive so they can go forth and be sown into other fields. The other fields are the different areas of the world. And Jesus goes on to say that while everyone was sleeping and this does not mean that sleeping is bad, it’s just that most often when darkness falls and honest people sleep the bad come out under cover of darkness. The enemy is Satan and the weeds are the forces of the evil one. And the workers of the field come forth after the evil ones sowed tares and ask why tares are in the field. The man, Jesus, the disciples, you, said the enemy did this. And this enemy is a bitter cruel adversary, a hated enemy of God. And He also said do nothing let them grow together till the harvest because you might also destroy the wheat with the tares. So let them grow together till the harvest and then gather up the tares and bundle them together to be burnt and bring the wheat to the barn. At the end all those not believing truly in God will be found and gathered up and brought before judgment. Many may think they are fooling people and even fooling God but they are not and their day will come when Christ is given the order to gather the saints.

Matthew 13:31-32 Jesus now tells another parable, the parable of the mustard seed. Jesus wants to show that even though the beginnings of Christianity were very small it would grow. Even though when you first receive Christ your faith is small perhaps as small as a grain of mustard seed it will grow as you allow Christ to dwell in you. A mustard seed when first planted is very tiny, almost like a speck on your hand but when planted and nurtured it grows into one of the larger plants of the field. Mustard plants can grow to ten feet in height. We must remember that Jesus is not saying this is the smallest seed in the world nor is it the largest plant in the world, but in the area of Palestine this was the biggest plant. This tree has branches where the birds will come to and find rest and it is to show that Christ’s love will cover the world and everyone that comes to Christ will find rest. (Revelation 11:15 & Daniel 4:21)

Matthew 13:33 Another parable is told about the leaven and here Christ teaches that He cannot be stopped. The parable of the leaven shows us that the Gospel of Christ will continue until it reaches every corner of the world. The leaven is yeast and causes things to grow, most often in the Word it symbolizes things unclean but here Christ gives it the symbol of growth and something god. When you put yeast in anything it quickly and silently saturates and changes that which it is placed in.

Matthew 13:34-43 All Jesus taught them He taught with Parables and spoke not to them without using parables because this would be the fulfillment of the prophecy of Psalms 78:2. Jesus explains the parable found in verses 24-30. Jesus answers saying He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man and the field is the world and the good seed are the sons of the kingdom and the tares are the sons of the evil one. And the enemy meaning hated enemy, bitter enemy, strong adversary is Satan and all his minions. And the harvest is the end of the world. I do not see how the teaching of this parable can be any clearer to the Believer than what is shown and that is a day of judgment will come after our life is over and those who are not in Christ will find themselves hopelessly lost to eternal hell fire. (Joel 3:13, Revelation 14:15-19) And the righteous or the children of the kingdom, which means those who believed and obeyed the Word of God, will shine forth as the sun. So let all who have ears hear and believe so they can receive the great blessing of eternal life glorious and wonderful escaping the damnation of the evil ones.

Matthew 13:44-46 The hidden treasure parable is given to teach that the kingdom of God is worth giving up everything to gain possession of it. Jesus continues to expound on this teaching in the parable of the pearl of great price. Jesus says that it is like a merchant searching for the finest pearl and once finding it he goes and sells all he has so he can purchase the pearl of great price. In other words we can see from this teaching that the kingdom of God is worth any sacrifice we make. There is nothing more important than God’s kingdom. A great commitment is required on the part of the Believer to obtain the kingdom of God. The Believer must give up everything to possess the kingdom of God.

Matthew 13:47-50 Jesus continues with these next verses to increase our knowledge of the kingdom of Heaven. Some feel the kingdom of Heaven or God is the church and this is not true, the church is the body of Christ and is separate from the kingdom of Heaven. The kingdom of heaven is created after the second coming of Christ. The church if filled with Holy Spirit Believers prepares hearts for God’s kingdom. Good and bad sometimes will live together side by side but it will not always be that way. There will come the time when God will separate the good from the bad and the righteous will receive eternal life and the wicked will receive eternal damnation. The Word of God touches the hearts of both the good and the bad and some receive it and some don't. Some receive it and prosper and grow from it while some receive it and abuse it. No one knows for sure when the net will be pulled in and that is why it is so important to be sure you are in the net filled with Christ standing firm on the Word of God sharing that truth with others. At the end of time there will be great pain and misery for those not in the Word of God, for those that followed the false teachers, the evil one, they will be thrown into the fiery furnace.

Matthew 13:51-52 Jesus asks of them, have you understood these things, and they answered yes! To understand something means you have knowledge of it and makes you accountable for that understanding. A disciple is one that is accountable to the things of God. And Jesus continues to say that anyone that has become a disciple of God is like the head of a household bringing forth great truths to all. In other words apply the Word not only to your life but to teach others to apply it in their lives.

Matthew 13:53-58 After telling the parables and meanings of them Jesus moved on traveling to his hometown of Nazareth. Once in his home town He began to preach and teach in the Synagogue. Remember at an earlier time in this same Synagogue they had rejected Jesus’ teaching. (Luke 4:16-30) They said is this not the son of the carpenter (Joseph). They gave even the names of His mother and brothers. James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas would be children born to Mary and Joseph after the birth of Jesus and thus His half-brothers. This is the Judas who wrote the book of Jude not Judas Iscariot. And they said also are not His sisters here with us also, meaning Mary and Joseph gave birth also to daughters so Jesus had half-sisters also. They questioned where Jesus got this power to perform miracles and the knowledge to teach and preach in the manner He did. They lacked in faith and became offensive with Jesus and Jesus said that even a prophet was not welcome in his own home or in his own household. And He did little there because of their unbelief. In other words unbelief stifles the work of God.

Father, thank You for Your Word and keep it burning in my heart and on my lips, always keep me bold and ready to go forth proclaiming Your Word in Jesus name amen.
Where Jesus is Lord!
Living Vine Ministries
Pastor Thomas Miles

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