Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: MATTHEW #20 - 13:1-23)
XIII. 13:1-58 THE PARABLES OF JESUS ON THE KINGDOM
A. 13:1-9 PARABLE OF THE FOUR SOILS
a. 13:1 On that :day went :Jesus out of the house, andsat by the sea.
En teheMEra eKEInee-xelTHON ho IeSOUS tes oiKIas, eKAtheto paRA ten THAlas-san.
b. 13:2 CROWDS HEAR JESUS FROM A BOAT
kai suNECHthe-san [4863] pros auTON OCHloi polLOI HOste auTON eis PLOIon [4143]
And great crowds were gathered unto him so that he entered into a boat,
emBANta [1684], kaTHESthai; kai pas ho OCHlos ePI ton ai-gi-aLON [123] hiSTEkei.
and sat; and the whole crowd stood on the beach.
c. 3:3-6 THE FIRST TWO SOILS
kai eLAle-sen auTOIS polLA en pa-ra-boLAIS [3850], LEgon,
And he spoke to them many thingsin parables, saying,
I-DOU, eXELthen ho SPEIron [4687] tou SPEIrein; kai en to SPEIrein auTON,
Lo, the sower went forth to sow; 4and as he sowed,
ha men Epe-sen [4098] paRA ten hoDON [3598], kai elTHON-ta ta pe-teiNA [4071]
some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came
kaTEpha-gen [2719] auTA: ALla de Epe-sen ePI ta peTROde [4075],
anddevoured them: 5and others fell upon the rocky places,
HOpou ouk EIchen gen polLEN: kai euTHEos
where they had not much earth: and straightway
e-xaNEtei-len [1816], diA to me Echein BAthos [899] ges:
they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth:
heLIou [2246] de a-naTEIlan-tos [393], e-kau-maTISthe [2739];
6and when the sun was risen, they were scorched;
kai diA to me Echein 'RIzan [4491], e-xeRANthe [3583].
and because they had no root, withered away.
d. 13:7-8 THE LAST TWO TYPES OF SOIL
ALla de Epe-sen ePI tas aKANthas [173]; kai aNEbe-san [305] hai Akan-thai, kai aPEPni-xan [638] auTA:
And others fell upon the thorns; and the thorns came up, and choked them:
ALla de Epe-sen ePI ten gen ten kaLEN, kai eDIdou [1325] karPON,
8and others fell upon the good :ground, and yielded fruit,
ho men he-kaTON, ho de eXEkon-ta, ho de triAkon-ta.
the onea hundredfold, the onesixty, the onethirty.
e. 13:9 Who has ears, let him hear. ho Echon Ota, a-kouEto.
B. 13:10-23 PURPOSE OF PARABLES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION
1. 13:10-17 ISAIAH FORETELLS PURPOSE AND PRIVILEGE OF PARABLES
a. 13:10 And the disciples came, andsaid to him, Why do you speak to them in parables?
Kai pro-selTHONtes hoi ma-theTAI, EIpan auTO, DiA ti en pa-ra-boLAIS [3850] laLEIS auTOIS?
b. 13:11 PARABLES BOTH REVEAL AND CONCEAL
ho de a-po-kriTHEIS eiPEN, [HOti] HuMIN DEdo-tai
And he answered and said, [that] To you it is given
GNOnai [1097] ta muSTEri-a [3466] tes ba-siLEIas [932] ton ou-raNON, eKEInois de ou DEdo-tai.
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it is not given.
c. 13:12 PARABLES EITHER AUGMENT OR DIMINISH KNOWLEDGE
HOstis gar Echei, doTHEse-tai [1325] auTO, kai pe-ris-seuTHEse-tai [4052]: HOstis de ouk Echei,
For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but whoever has not,
kai ho Echei arTHEse-tai [142] ap' auTOU.
from him shall be taken away even what he has.
d. 13:13 THE BLIND DESERVE PARABLES
diA TOUto en pa-ra-boLAIS auTOIS laLO; HOti BLEpon-tes ou BLEpou-sin,
Therefore I speak to them in parables; because seeing they see not,
and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
e. 13:14-15 REJECTION OF TRUTH WAS FORETOLD BY ISAIAH
kai a-na-pleROUtai [378] auTOIS he pro-pheTEIa [4394] E-SAIou, he LEgou-sa,
And to them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says,
A-koE aKOUse-te, kai ou me suNEte [4920];
By hearing you shall hear, and in no wise understand;
kai BLEpon-tes BLEpse-te, kai ou me Ide-te [1492]:
And seeing you shall see, and in no wise perceive:
e-paCHUNthe [3975] gar he karDIa tou laOU TOUtou, kai tois oSIN [3775] baREos [917] Ekou-san,
15 For the heart of this :people is waxed gross, And their :ears are dull of hearing,
kai tous oph-thalMOUS auTON eKAMmu-san [2576];
And their :eyes they have closed;
ME po-te Ido-sin [1492] tois oph-thalMOIS, kai tois oSIN aKOUso-sin [191],
Lest haply they should perceive with theireyes, and hear with theirears,
kai te karDIa suNOsin [4920], kai e-piSTREpso-sin [1994], kai iAso-mai [2390] auTOUS.
And understand with their heart, and should turn again, and I shall heal them.
f. 13:16 But blessed YOUR :eyes, for they see; and YOUR :ears, for they hear.
huMON de maKAri-oi [3107] hoi oph-thalMOI, HOti BLEpou-sin; kai ta Ota huMON, HOti aKOUou-sin.
g. 13:17 THERE IS A TIME FOR NEW TRUTH TO BE REVEALED
aMEN gar LEgo huMIN, HOti polLOI proPHEtai [4396] kai DIkai-oi [1342]
For Amen I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men
e-peTHUme-san [1937] iDEIN ha BLEpe-te, kai ouk EIdan; kai aKOUsai ha aKOUe-te, kai ouk Ekou-san.
desired to see what things you see, and saw not; and to hear what things you hear, and heard not.
2. 13:18-23 INTERPRETATION OF THE PARABLE OF THE SOILS
a. 13:18 Hear YOU therefore the parable of the sower.
HuMEIS oun aKOUsa-te ten pa-ra-boLEN tou SPEIran-tos [4687].
b. 13:19a WORD OF KINGDOM IS SNATICHED FROM THE WAY SIDE SOIL
panTOS aKOUon-tos ton LOgon tes ba-siLEIas, kai me su-niENtos [4920], ERche-tai ho po-neROS [4920]
When any one hears the word of the kingdom, and understands not, the evil one comes
kai harPAzei [726] to e-sparMEnon [4687] en te karDIa auTOU.
and snatches away what has been sown in his :heart.
c. 13:19b This is he sown by the way side.
HOU-TOS es-tin ho paRA ten hoDON spaREIS.
d. 13:20-21 THE NATURE OF PEOPLE WITH ROCKY-LIKE SOIL
ho de ePI ta peTROde [4075] spaREIS, houTOS es-tin ton LOgon aKOUon,
And he sown upon the rocky places, this is who hears the word,
kai euTHUS meTA chaRAS [5479] lamBAnon auTON;
and straightway with joy receives it;
ouk Echei de 'RIzan [4491] en he-auTO, alLA PROskaiROS [4340] es-tin;
21yet has no root in himself, but endures for a while;
ge-noMEnes de THLIpse-os [2247] he di-ogMOU [1375] diA ton LOgon, euTHUS skan-daLIze-tai [4624].
and when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, straightway he stumbles.
e. 13:22 HOW THORNS PREVENT FRUITFULNESS IN SOIL THREE
ho de eis tas aKANthas [173] spaREIS, HOU-TOS es-tin ho ton LOgon aKOUon;
And he sown among the thorns, this is who hears the word;
kai he MErim-na [3308] tou aiOnos, kai he aPAte [537] tou PLOUtou,
and the care of the age, and the deceitfulness of :riches,
sunPNIgei [4846] ton LOgon, kai Akar-pos [175] GIne-tai.
chokes the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
f. 13:23 FRUITFULNESS: COMES FROM HEARING AND UNDERSTANDING THE WORD!
ho de ePI ten kaLEN gen spaREIS, HOU-TOS es-tin ho ton LOgon aKOUon,
And he sown upon the good ground, this is who hears the word,
kai su-niEIS [4920]; hos de kar-po-phoREI [2492] kai poiEI,
and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth,
ho men he-kaTON, ho de heXEkon-ta, ho de triAkon-ta.
the one a hundredfold, the one sixty, the one thirty.
NOTE: “Hermeneutics” is named after the Greek god “Hermes,” who brought understanding to the Greek people the more difficult sayings of the greater gods. Theology in seminaries and Bible Colleges have borrowed this thought - to explain the more difficult passages of the Bible.
How do we apply this to the parablesof Jesus? First of all, they are one of the 4 or 5 areas of the Bible that throw light upon itself. “OT History” throws muchlight upon NT passages. “Types and Shadows” of the OT such as Moses' “Tabernacle in the Wilderness” also throws much lighton the NT. “Prophecy” in the OT, such as Isaiah 53, is exceedingly rich in showing the Passion of Jesus. Modernistic scholars and Orthodox Jews unfortunately omit, or reinterpret this passage to suit their own theologies.
When I updated my Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) degree to a Master of Divinity (M. Div.), I returned to the Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in the Chicago area to do so. The seminary had unfortunately left its evangelical moorings from the time I graduated in 1952, and now had a very modernistic professor of theology. Each member of the class had to prepare a paper on the 4 “Servant Songs” of Isaiah: 42:1-9; 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12.
God addresses each of these 4 passages to “My Servant,” whom evangelical believers take to be “Jesus, God's Coming Son and Messiah in the flesh.” The Catholics talk here of the “Sensus Plenior” or “Fuller Sense.” OT prophecy has a presentthrust, plus a “future” thought. This is true in the case of the 4 “Servant Songs”. My updating professor stronglyobjected to my use of this interpretation, lest I corrupt the rest of the class of some 24 students. He would not release me to read my paper to the class. For the final lecture he had us meet in his home, so he could give us hisfinal summary and conclusion. As an introduction he asked us as a class: “What would you think of a man who traveled to Russia as a tourist, who had a false bottom in his suitcase, in which he was secretly bringing Bibles into Russia?”
One student said, “Why - that would be good! It would bring God's Word into the country.” “No, it wouldn't”, responded the professor. “It would be an illegal act. Just like the “Sensus Plenior!”
The whole class knew he was afraid of having me read my paper before the class, because it defied his modernistic unbelief in the Bible.
So Jesus in His Parables, Life, Death and Resurrection; marvelously fulfilled the 4 Servant Songs of Isaiah. In Matthew 13:11 Jesus told His disciples that it was given themto know the “mysteries” of the Kingdom of the heavens. The parables teach many of these mysteriesalong with His other teaching - both from Himself directly and through His apostles by the Spirit. They reveal 27 clear Mysteries of the Kingdom of the heavens. We robourselves if we do not let God say what He wants to say, and let the Bible (especially in the parables) mean what it wants to mean.
We will soon note for instance 13:36-43, that here Jesus shows that the tares, the sons of the evil one, are firstremoved from the Kingdom and cast by angels into hell, prepared for the devil and his angels. Then, the sons of God - saints of the Most High - you and me, shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of our :Father. This is notthe order commonly taught in the church today! Where does thisleave the so-called secret rapture? Matthew 13:47-50 teaches by Jesus substantially the same thing. While God punished Egypt in Exodus with 10 plagues, Israel was stillthere in that judgment time - but - only shared the first 3 plagues with Egypt. The 4thplague of flies with the 6 to follow - only came on Egypt. Israel in Goshen was spared by God His wrath on Pharaoh. Can't God have little Goshens throughout earth as He firstsends judgment on the world, and has His angels at that time cast the wicked into hell, and then rewards His saints like He did for Israel in bringing them safely through the Red Sea?
History; Types and Shadows; Prophecy; Parables; Teaching of Jesus and His Apostles - all speak in unison. We have a choice: we can let God say what He wants to say, and the Bible mean what it wants to mean - or we can listen to men and leaders of denominations to tell us how theyinterpret the Bible. J.A.W.