Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: MATTHEW #21 - 13:24-35)
C. 13:24-35 EVIL AND GOOD TO THE END: GROWTH AND NECESSITY OF PARABLES
1. 13:24-30 GOOD SEED AND TARES CONTINUE TO HARVEST
a. 13:24-25 GOD'S KINGDOM: A MIXTURE OF GOOD AND EVIL
ALlen pa-ra-boLEN [3850] paREthe-ken [3908]auTOIS, LEgon, Ho-moiOthe[3666]he ba-siLEIa
Another parable he set before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens
ton ou-raNON anTHROpoSPEIran-ti [4687]kaLON SPERma [4690]en to aGRO[68]auTOU:
is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his :field:
en de to kaTHEUdein [2518]tous anTHROpous, ELthen auTOU ho echTHROS [2190]
25but while :men slept, his :enemy came
kai ePEspei-ren [4687] ziZAni-a [2215] aNA MEson tou SItou [4621], kai aPELthen [565].
and sowed tares also among the grain, and went away.
b. 13:26 But when the blade sprang up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
HOte de eBLAste-sen [985]ho CHORtos [5528], kai karPON ePOIe-sen, TOte ePHAne kai ta ziZAni-a.
c. 13:27 CONCERN OF LORD'S SERVANTS CONCERNING PRESENCE OF TARES
pro-selTHONtes de hoi DOUloi [1401] tou oi-ko-deSPOtou [3617] EIpon auTO,
And the bondmen of the householder came andsaid to him,
KUri-e, ouCHI kaLON SPERma Espei-ras en to soaGRO? POthen oun Echei ziZAni-a?
Lord, did you not sow good seed in your :field? from where then has it tares?
d. 13:28a And he said to them, a hostile man did this.
ho de EpheauTOIS, EchTHROS [2190]ANthro-pos TOUto ePOIe-sen.
e. 13:28b And they say to him, Will you then thatwe go away, andgather them up?
hoi de auTOLEgou-sin, THEleis oun a-pelTHONtes, sulLExo-men [4816]auTA?
f. 13:29 NO! BECAUSE OF THE DANGER OF LOSING GRAIN
ho DE phe-sin, Ou; ME po-te sulLEgon-tes ta ziZAni-a [2215],
But he says, No; lest by chance in gathering up the tares,
e-kriZOse-te [1610] HAma auTOIS ton SItou [4621].
you root up the grain with them.
g. 13:30 SOLUTION: TARES WILL FIRSTBE SEPARATED FROM GRAIN AT REAPING TIME
Aphe-te [853] su-nauXAnes-thai [4885] amPHOte-ra HEos tou the-risMOU [2326]:
Let both grow together till the reaping:
kai en kaiRO tou the-risMOU eRO tois the-risTAIS [2327],
and in theseason of the reaping I will say to the reapers,
SulLExa-te [4816] PROton ta ziZAni-a, kai DEsa-te [1210] auTA eis DESmas [1197]
First gather up the tares, and bind them into bundles
pros to ka-taKAUsai [2618] auTA: ton de SIton suNAge-te eis ten a-poTHEken [596] mou.
to burn them: but gather the grain into my :barn.
2. 13:31-32 MUSTARD SEED: PARABLE OF AMAZING GROWTH
ALlen pa-ra-boLEN paREthe-ken [3980] auTOIS, LEgon,
Another parable he set before them, saying,
HoMOIa esTIN he ba-siLEIa ton ou-raNON KOKko [2748] siNApe-os [4615],
The kingdom of the heavens is like to a grain of mustard seed,
hon laBON ANthro-pos, ESpei-ren [4687] en to aGRO auTOU:
which a man took, andsowed in his :field:
ho miKROte-ron [3398] MEN es-tin panTON ton sperMAton [4690];
32which indeed is a lesser among all the seeds;
HOtan de au-xeTHE [837] MEIzon [3187] ton laCHAnon [3001] esTIN,
but when it is grown is greater than the herbs,
kai GIne-tai DENdron [1186], HOste elTHEIN ta pe-teiNA [4071] tou ou-raNOU
and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the heaven
kai ka-ta-skeNOIN [2681] en tois KLAdois [2798] auTOU.
come and lodge in its branches.
3. 13:33 LEAVEN: AMAZING GROWTH OF EVIL
ALlen pa-ra-boLEN eLAle-sen auTOIS; HoMOIa esTIN he ba-siLEIa
Another parable he spoke to them; The kingdom of the heavens
ton ou-raNON ZUme [2219], hen laBOUsa guNE,
is like unto leaven, which a woman took,
eNEkru-psen [1470] eis aLEUrou [224] SAta [4568] TRIa, HEos e-zuMOthe [2220] HOlon.
andhid in three measures of meal, till all was leavened.
4. 13:34-35 PARABLES: FULFILLMENT OF ISAIAH
TAUta PANta eLAlesen ho IeSOUS en pa-ra-boLAIS tois OCHlois;
All these :Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds;
kai choRIS [5565] pa-ra-boLES [3850] ouDEN eLAlei auTOIS:
and without parable he spoke nothing to them:
HOpos ple-roTHE [4137] to 'reTHEN diA tou proPHEtou, LEgon-tos,
35so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,
A-NOIxo [455] en pa-ra-boLAIS [3850] to STOma [4750] mou;
I will open my :mouth in parables;
eREUxo-mai [2044] ke-krumMEna [2928] aPO ka-ta-boLES [2602].
I will utter thingshidden from thefoundation.
NOTE: In this paragraph, (C. 13:24-35) - we find 3 more parables of Jesus, plus an explanation from Isaiah why Jesus did not speak to the crowds of His day apart from parables. Perhaps those of us who are teachers today, could take a leaf out of Jesus' book. D. L. Moody and George Whitefield did, and the fruitfulnessof both their ministries is amazing. Parables, like stories, are attention-getters, for they relate to everyday life, and those who have not yet made a full decision for Christ, can easily relate to them. Such hearers will not have a grasp of the spiritual implications, but as soon as they dochoose to be a disciple of Jesus - immediatelythe Holy Spirit causes them to remember these parabolic stories, and they swiftly move into an understanding of the Kingdom of the Heavens.
This was so with me. From the age of 10-14, I spent much time learning the stories of the Bible through a Sunday School take-home paper called “The Canadian Boy”. Each week for 4 years I turned to the “Puzzle Corner” on the last page. There I found 4 questions each week: “Where in the Gospel of Matthew do we find Jesus feeding 4000?” I didn't have a clue, nor did I have a concordance or know what it was for. So every week I read in these 4 places in the Bible till I found the answers; I then mailed in my 4 answers each week on a postcard. At the end of each year I received a list of books, of which I could choose one as a free gift! I am a book-worm, not a tape-worm - and in winning these 4 books I received an unusual knowledge of the Bible - painlessly as it were. As soon as Jesus revealed Himself to me at Passover 1944 when I was now 20 - immediately all I had studied during those 4 years now came alive, plus much more. This is what the parables of Jesus did for His people Israel in His day!
Notice the truth that springs out of His first parable in the section above about the wheat and the tares. Here Jesus reveals that the Kingdom of the heavens for the last 2000 years is composed of these two types of people! Parables remain hidden to those who are tares, the sons of Satan. But for disciples, the Holy Spirit opens up God and His truth to them, just like Jesus explained them to His 12 disciples (though one was a devil).
Solomon understood this. In Proverbs 25:1 he writes, “It is the glory of God to conceala thing (like in parables); But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” We - you and I - are a Kingdom of priests! As such, God delights for us to search out His hidden truths! Evil men never understand such things, and go to their final end in ignorance. The majority of the world's inhabitants are in this category. They follow the broad way that leads to destruction, and parables hide from them the true riches of God.
Lastly, the amazing growth of the mustard seed (13:31-32) - is the inheritance for you and me. I invite you - join with me in diligence, in praying over and meditating upon the Word of God on your knees - vocally! George Muller and George Whitefield both did - hours every day! And see the extraordinary fruitfulness of these two lives. J.A.W.