The Early Christian View of the Kingdom Parables | Bill Shiley

Lesson Transcript

The tares are sown in among them, and it's at night. The tares are not gathered out right away to avoid disturbing the wheat. In the harvest, the tares are gathered first and destroyed first, and the wheat is gathered into the barn. So Jesus gives us a commentary, and he uncloaks this parable and explains what it represents. O Lord, restore your ancient ways, and make your people new. Well, good afternoon, everyone. Welcome here.

It's a privilege to be here with you and fellowship together, and to be able to share in learning about a faith that has done so much for me, brought so much change and stability and joy and purpose to my own life. So the talk this afternoon is the early Christian view of the kingdom parables of Matthew 13.

So Matthew 13 is the largest collection of parables about the kingdom, and these are really important because these are simple stories that help us understand the foundational and essential concepts about what the kingdom of heaven is, about how it operates, and about how we participate in and become part of it. Parables have a special ability to teach, and we're going to look at some of that in closing as we sum up and try to pull together some lessons from these parables.

Matthew 13, again, is the largest collection of these parables, these teachings on the kingdom of heaven in parables that we have. It contains seven of them: the parable of the sower, the parable of the wheat and the tares, the parable of the mustard seed, the parable of the leaven, the parable of the hidden treasure, the parable of the pearl of great price, and the parable of the dragnet. So the obvious question is, how in the world in 45 minutes are we going to do justice to all these parables?

And the truth is, we're not. I'm not even going to try to. We could easily preach probably a couple messages on the parable of the sower and one on each of the other parables as well. So we're not going to try to do that. But what we are going to do is summarize what Jesus taught about each one and pull some of the central messages of each one out.

We'll talk about some key areas where modern views on the gospel and on these parables clashes with the historic view, the view that was taught and lived before the Council of Nicaea. And we'll zoom out at the end to get a big picture of what impressions and what understanding we get about the kingdom from these parables as we look at them all together, which is how we should always handle Scripture.

The title is "The Early Christian View of the Matthew 13 Parables." And so my purpose here is not so much to say what I think about them or ideas that I have about them, but to talk about what they understood and taught about the parables. Now, one difficulty with that is very little until origin do any of the pre-Nicene writers sit down and take a chapter, let alone a whole book, and go through and teach verse by verse.

Most of their writings are talking to a person or to a church, and they're discussing a particular issue. They're talking about a problem or just going through and giving teachings about living the Christian life. So you can't just always go and find a bunch of what they all said about any particular verse. There's some that they hardly talk about at all. And that's the way it is with these parables sometimes. They don't necessarily say something about every aspect of them.

And so on those, I'm going to do is try to teach what I've learned that they taught in general be consistent with what they taught about the gospel while bringing in their insights when they do mention it particularly or mention the topics that are in the parables. One thing that you'll notice is I probably don't have a lot of new things to say this morning.

There are some things that are impressive, but there's not all kinds of profound nuances because the early Christian writers, the gospel was written to the simple, the straightforward, honest people. You don't have to be some deep theological code breaker in order to understand them. And they definitely don't mean the opposite of what they say. Today you'd think that's some sort of a cryptic code that you have to crack, and actually most of them mean the opposite of what they say.

It's a very straightforward view of things. So without further ado, let's begin. The first parable is the parable of the sower. This parable is the first of the parables. This parable confronts the listener with his responsibility toward the rest of the parables. Jesus says this in Mark when he gives this parable, and he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?" So this parable is extremely important, and that's why it's first.

And so in this talk, I'm probably going to take about two-thirds of the talk talking about the parable of the sower. The others are fairly short, and the concepts that are in the others will be established often through the parable of the sower. This parable is all about our individual responsibility for our receptiveness to God's word. So Jesus says, "Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them.

Some fell on stony places where they did not have much earth, and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." And then he ends with this cry, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." So the storyline goes like this. The sower sows seeds.

It falls on different conditions of soil. Some seed never sprouts. Some seed sprouts but dies without bearing fruit. And finally, one soil type allows the seed to sprout and to thrive to the anticipated purpose of bearing fruit. And then Jesus ends with his cry, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." And that means that there's something in this parable that's extremely urgent and important to get. So let's unpack the interpretation of the parable. The sower. Well, who is the sower in the parable?

Well, Jesus doesn't say, but he says this is happening when anyone hears the word of the kingdom. So the instrument of sowing is not of particular importance here, but sowing happens from many sources and many places and times in our lives. But whenever the word of the kingdom is being heard, whether it's through our conscience, through the word, through somebody else, God, Jesus Christ, is sowing his seed of the kingdom. The seed. Well, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom.

So what's being sown is simply the word of the kingdom. That's the seed being sown. And what is the soil? Well, the soil is when anyone hears the word of the kingdom. So it's the people on whose ears the word of the kingdom is falling are the soils. And there's four different types. The first type that we're told about is the wayside. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.

So the wayside is a place where the ground is packed hard because of traffic. And so the seed falls there. It can't even get a start, and the birds of the air pluck it away. By the way, this is water, not coffee, just so you're not worried that I'm going to get tackled up here. The ground, it says, this person doesn't understand. And that might sound like, "Oh, the poor person." But the word understand doesn't mean like, "It just went over my head.

I couldn't get a hold of what he said." It means that they didn't internalize it. They didn't take it in. They didn't act upon it and apply themselves to its wisdom. And so because of that, Satan takes it away so it doesn't have a chance. And so therefore, it never sprouts, let alone ever bears fruit. The stony ground. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself but endures only for a while.

For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. The stony ground is not so much the rocks, but it's where there's a slab of rock underneath the soil. In New York State, and we lived there up there, they had these huge granite rock outcroppings. They're like little mountains all over with a little world of themselves up there. And the dirt on those is sitting on top of stone. So in the spring, it warms up very fast, and the stone traps moisture there.

So the rocks would just turn green really quick. But then as soon as it started getting hot and dry, they would just dry up. And that's the kind of situation we're talking about here. These hearers are shallow hearers. They're not deep, thoughtful, careful, committed people. And so he responds quickly and even joyfully to the word. He's like, "Oh, yeah, that's a great idea. Let's try that." But there's no depth and no commitment to his life.

And so when following Jesus, being part of God's kingdom starts to cost him something, this person gives up. And he ditches it as quickly as he accepted it. And so the seed does not bear fruit. The next one is the thorny ground. Now, he who receives seed among the thorns is he who hears the word. And the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. So the thorny ground heart is the person who hears, but he doesn't have a single focus.

This person is allowing other things in his life that sap his love and his attention and choke the word out so that it doesn't bear fruit. And finally, there's the good ground. But he who receives seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. This person has a soft heart. This person doesn't have limits like the stone that limits how far God's word can get down into his life.

So it goes deep and it takes over his life. He doesn't allow competition in his life that competes and takes his love and attention away. His sole purpose is to live God's word and let God's word change him and transform his life and bring fruit. He understands. He used the same term as the pathway that didn't understand. This one does. And it's his action of receiving it and putting it to practice and exercising its wisdom in his life. And so that's why this soil bears fruit. So what was the purpose of planting?

Why did the sower go out to sow? The soils and the planting was not successful based on the sowing. The fact that seed was sown and landed on it didn't accomplish the purpose. It wasn't based on the seed sprouting. That wasn't the purpose of the sowing, and it didn't make it successful. The measure of success was the fruit. Jesus highlights this.

This is another parable that in many ways I wish was in Matthew 13 right along with the others where Jesus teaches on being part of the vine and bearing fruit because of that and the importance of that, the love the Father has for fruit in our lives. "I am the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered.

And they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this, my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit. So or this is the way that you are my disciples." So what is fruit? Well, we're introduced to this concept quite a bit through Scripture. Galatians 5 is something probably most children we memorize or run across it a lot as growing up.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And there are many passages that give us these lists of character traits that are to possess our lives and to take over and display themselves in our lives. Romans 12, Colossians 3, several times in Timothy, there's different lists of these things. The characteristics that are given for church leaders are things that all Christians are to aspire to.

It's just important that leaders are chosen from people who are displaying a level of maturity in those. Ephesians 4, Titus talks has very practical lists of fruit that is the fruit of godliness that God wants to see in each person. And that's what being disciples of Jesus is, is following him and learning from him how to have his character. So fruit is how a plant reproduces itself. And so God desires for us to allow Christ to live in us, for his word to live in our mind. We have that term today.

We talk about something living rent-free in your mind. It's just there, and it just kind of is consuming you all the time. Well, God's word is supposed to live rent-free in our lives and take over and just always be popping up into everything, triggering us, if you please, about every situation of what Jesus would do and to reproduce the character of Christ in us.

And this is what it means to be found in Christ's righteousness, is not that God spreads this camouflage of Jesus' righteousness over us so he doesn't see what we're really like, but that we have the same brand, you might say, of righteousness. It's not my own righteousness, what I think is good. It's not the mosaic law and the partways righteousness that I don't knock my neighbor's whole jaw off. I can just take one tooth.

But it's a whole righteousness that goes all the way to the bottom of our being and all the way out the top. A term that we've been using in our brotherhood that's helpful about this. Sometimes people get triggered when you talk about righteousness or good works, which we shouldn't. Those are things to be desired and coveted and pursued. But is virtue, that God wants to see virtue in our lives.

Who doesn't want to be around virtuous people, have virtuous neighbors, be married to a virtuous spouse, have virtuous children, have a virtuous employer or employees? That's what we all want, and that's what Christ wants. We have to humble ourselves and follow him and submit to him and let him work his righteousness in us, not the kind of things that are comfort zones. Cyprian says this, "The road is narrow and tight, the one that leads to life. The path to glory is hard and difficult.

This is the way martyrs walk, virgins travel, or this is people who have chosen to be celibate for the cause of Christ. And all people, all righteous people, advance. Stay away from those broad, spacious roads. They're full of deadly traps and pleasures that bring death. That's where the devil flatters to deceive you, smiles to hurt you, and tempts you to destroy you.

Martyrs receive the first reward, a hundredfold fruit." They have a tremendous opportunity to display selflessness and trust and faith and obedience to God. The second reward is yours. He's talking to the singles who have chosen to be celibate for the cause of Christ. Sixty-fold. There's particular challenges. It's outstanding in our world. There's a tremendous opportunity to display the fruit of God there.

"Just as martyrs have no concern for the flesh or the world and face no small, trivial, or easy battle, you too should have strength and endurance that's second only to theirs, since your reward comes second in grace. Climbing to great heights is never easy. Think about how much effort and work it takes when we try to climb hills and mountaintops. So what must it take to climb to heaven? But if you keep your eyes on the promised reward, your labor feels lighter. Those who persevere receive immortality.

Eternal life awaits them. The Lord promises a kingdom." So the understanding here is we should strive in whatever situation we're in to produce the most amount of fruit of godliness, of Christ-like character that we possibly can. And this goes back to the subject about perfection in the Q&A. But God isn't hard to please. And Jesus even says here in the parable, there's different levels of fruit that are acceptable.

He says, "He who receives seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it and who indeed bears fruit and produces. Some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." But they bore fruit. And so wherever we're at in life, we should be trying to bear as much fruit as we can. And whether we're a beginning Christian, just learning to practice righteousness and display godliness in our lives, God's excited about that, and he's pleased about that.

And he's excited because it's a promise that there's going to be more, and he's going to continue to work with us to accomplish that. So what made the difference? Well, the soil made the difference in whether there was fruit. Now I'm going to ask a question that we shouldn't have to ask because I think anybody listening to the parable, this is plain.

But this is one of the kind of things that happen after Nicaea as people begin to try to solve questions that we can't solve and understand and create these theological, what do you call, branches out on a limb. And finally, they jumped off the tree and started building something else. And they come up with these ideas that it's like you look back at Scripture, and it's like you have to stand on your head with your eyes crossed in order to read it that way. What made the soil different? Well, the soil is people.

It's because people can choose, right? Well, in today's world, it's not that simple. There's concepts out there that actually most Protestant teachers today are building on. And however much they call for fruit and say, "Yes, you should be a godly person," they are destroying the root of it. And that is our personal choice. I'm not going to go into this really deep because Kyle is going to talk about predestination and free will and that tomorrow, Lord willing.

But there's this term that has been developed, monogistic grace. So grace is God's favor and him very simple. Jesus says, "If any man will keep my words, my Father will love him, and he'll come and make his abode with us." That's grace, when God gives us his favor and brings change. And there's this discussion about how change in a person starts. Is it can a person change on their own, or is it something you have to wait and God has to do something first before they can change?

So monogistic grace, you hear kind of the word mono at the beginning, which means solo or one by itself. Monogistic grace is where it's all something that God does. God makes a change. And that's why the soil changes and improves is because God does something. Synergistic grace, synergy is when two things work together and the output of those two things is actually greater than just the two of them together. So like we hear about this with horses.

If each workhorse can pull 4,000 pounds, when you put them together, they don't pull 8,000 pounds. They can pull 16,000 pounds. So it's two working together for a greater outcome. The early church didn't believe in synergistic grace. That's a box that's been created, but it represents more so what they believed and what Anabaptists and there have been many groups since that have believed that as well. Monogistic grace believes that God changes the soil to receive the seed and bring forth fruit.

So the soil can't do anything. You as hearers can't do anything except sit there and wait. God is somehow waiting for God to change me. This was started by Augustine. He writes about this in his discourse on freedom of the human will, I believe it is, freedom of the will in around the 390s. And he started some ideas that then Calvin and Luther took to several other levels. And pretty much any Protestant teacher or theologian is writing based on their writings. And he taught and they taught at their core.

However much they say, "Yes, you should be godly, that's good," that humans are unable to do any good, even to exercise faith toward God. Only those who God decides to regenerate can change and bear fruit. So that's how we answer it then that some people don't bear fruit. Well, God didn't decide to do that renewal in their life first. Well, the historic view is that God gives the seed and people choose to be receptive and to nurture that seed. And when you read the parable, that's pretty obvious.

When you read through Scripture, that's obvious. All through Scripture, God's crying and begging people to choose, to choose life in the Garden of Eden and with Cain there in chapter 4 of Genesis and Joshua before the people. Moses there, he's having the curses and the blessings shouted from Mount Gerizim and Mount what was the other one? I can't think of it right now.

And begs the people, "Choose life." And all through the prophets, God says all these things like, "I had this vineyard and I did all these things to it, but it wouldn't bear any fruit. What more could I have done for my vineyard?" How can you say that God's saying all those things, but it's really because he didn't decide to get in there and do the work? Again, you have to stand on your head with your eyes crossed to read it that way.

The pre-Nicean church believed that humans need God's grace to become Christ-like, that God reaches out to all with his grace. That's primarily through his word, even the grace of baptism and communion and fasting and prayer and alms and confessing our sins to each other and fellowship with other believers. Those graces all come, we're introduced to them through his word. He teaches us to do those things. So God reaches out to all with his grace, and all are responsible for their response to it.

And I would love to read lots of early Christian quotes about this because it's not a question. This changed drastically with Augustine in the late 300s, early 400s. I'm going to quote from John Chrysostom. He's technically after the Council of Nicaea, but he teaches 95% the same as the church before Nicaea. And I think his testimony, how strongly he still believed that, shows that there was a sharp twist at this time. And Augustine started coming up with these ideas that completely changed what the faith was.

Chrysostom says, "So tell me," by the way, his name, that's not his last name. It just means the golden tongue. And I can't help quoting him because he just says it so well. "So tell me, why was most of the seed lost? Not because of the sower, but because of the ground that received it. That is, because of the soul that didn't listen. And someone might ask, how can it be reasonable to sow among thorns on rocky ground on the path? When we're talking about literal seeds and soil, it wouldn't be reasonable.

But when it comes to human souls and teaching them, it makes perfect sense. In fact, it deserves the highest praise. A farmer would rightly be blamed for sowing on bad ground since it's impossible for a rock to become soil or for a path to stop being a path or for thorns to stop being thorns. But with rational beings, it's completely different. A person who is a rock can change and become rich soil.

A person who has a pathway can stop being trampled and lying open to everyone passing by and can become a fruitful field. The thorns can be destroyed and the seed can grow in complete safety. If transformation were impossible, this sower wouldn't have sown. And if the change didn't happen in everyone, it's not the sower's fault. It's the fault of those who refuse to change. He did his part. The sower did his part. And if they wasted what they received from him, he's blameless.

He showed such love for humanity." And then later on, I love this. "Although his sayings are choked, it's not because of the thorns, but because of them who suffer them to spring up. For there is a way, if you will, to check this evil growth and to make right use of our wealth." He says clearly there, it's not even just because it's not like, "Oh, I had these circumstances in my life. I couldn't help." It's because I allow those circumstances to choke the word.

This thing of free will is so freeing to me because especially coming from a very traumatic upbringing and lots of bad church experiences and bringing baggage with that, God offers. A quick announcement. No more paywall. The historic faith is now free for everyone. Explore over 2,500 Bible translations in over 2,200 languages. There are also 39 courses and over 600 lessons. And David has answered 164 Q&As so far. Freely listen to 11 of David's most popular audiobooks and also Dean Taylor's audiobook.

Listen to the early Christians through modernized anti-Nicaean writings and study the Bible and early Christians with strong tools. Every lesson and audiobook includes discussion questions designed for personal study, families, and church groups. Click on any verse and discover what the early Christians believe. Build playlists, join discussions, chat with others, and go deeper with guided questions. Donations keep it running. The access and sign-up are free. Visit thehistoricfaith.com.

Me, the grace of his word through his word and my conscience and the brotherhood. And I can make choices to respond to that. And I can change. I don't have to stay stuck in that brokenness and in the destructive life patterns, both for myself and for others. This thing that God gives us free will and his grace and his word, and we can choose to receive it and change is such an exciting and a freeing thing. Jesus clarifies this idea as well in his dialogue about why he speaks in parables.

He talks about to them it's been given and or to you it's been given and to them it hasn't been given. And the question is, why? That sounds mean. Why didn't you give it to them? Well, he says why. For whoever has, I think the idea there is keeps what he's been given. To him more will be given and he will have abundance. But whoever does not keep, even what he has will be taken away. Therefore, I speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

And in them, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, "Hearing you will hear and not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive." Why? For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing and their eyes, they have closed. Because they don't want to see with their eyes. They don't want to hear. They like their sin. They don't want to understand and apply themselves to its wisdom and be changed and be healed.

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear because they chose to. They humbled themselves before God's word and accepted it and allowed it to change them. So Jesus concludes again with this ringing urgent cry. He who has ears to hear, let him hear or let him listen. Pay attention to this because this is where it all starts. We hold the key. We can lock God's power away or we can unlock it and let it come and change us.

So in summary, all who hear the word of the kingdom must choose to receive and nurture it. God desires the fruit of Christ-like virtue from us. That's what being the king being part of his kingdom is. So we're going to move on to the other parable. This is going to go quite a bit quicker. The parable of the wheat and the tares. And these begin the parables where Jesus is giving us pictures of the kingdom. In the parable of the wheat and the tares, the wheat are sown first.

The tares are sown in among them and it's at night. The tares are not gathered out right away to avoid disturbing the wheat. In the harvest, the tares are gathered first and destroyed first. And the wheat is gathered into the barn. So Jesus gives us a commentary and he uncloaks this parable and explains what it represents. He says, "He who sows the good seed is the son of man. The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.

The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The son of man will send out his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend. And those who never ask Jesus to forgive them and come into their heart, there will be wailing and gnashing." Oh, something got wrong on my slide. Let me try again.

"The son of man will send out his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, especially those who love to obey God and blasphemously believe they should strive to be righteous like Jesus instead of trusting only in his righteousness to cover their pathetic efforts to please God. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." I didn't do any better that time, did I?

But you would think when you listen to most Christianity that that's what it would say, that it's where you washed in the blood. Did you ask Jesus into your heart? And especially if you're thinking that God will be pleased with you on the last day and you hear, "Well done because you forgave your brother and you fed the hungry and you did the things he told you to do that for sure you'll be in outer darkness and wailing and gnashing of teeth." But that's not what Jesus says.

He says, "The son of man will send out his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend." That means to push away. The way that has helped me understand it. It's not like, "And it hurt me." But in sports and military, an offensive move is to push the enemy back. So all things that push people away from God, from godliness. And those who practice lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

And then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. So again, this is extremely important to get. If you don't get this, you're not going to get anywhere. Just as the wheat was sown first and afterward the tares, so Christ came and showed the truth and heresies grew up afterward. The good word is sown and sprouts into life and afterward sin takes over and corrupts the early church.

These were two different kind of different levels that it applied to was lessons about both of these. As we go through some of these parables, especially this one and the one about the dragnet, and we reread about this thing that there's a coexisting and there's the evil with the good and there's the wheat and then there's also ones that spring up that are not godly among us. These things are a comfort to us because we don't have to worry that it's all going to pop.

But we know that Jesus said it was going to be this way. And it's a challenge to us to make sure that we are true fruit and to pray that those who spring up as seeds of the wicked one can repent and become good fruit and to make sure that we endure to the end. Just as the wheat grew along with the wheat till the harvest, I think it's supposed to be the weeds grew along with the wheat till the harvest. Some may stand among us that are actually seed of the wicked one. And we don't know that.

We trust each other and have faith and we work together to admonish and encourage each other so we're not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. But this is the time of proving. This is not because of predestination, because God chose not to change them or God chose them for damnation, but it's because of people's choices, because of who people choose to serve. Just as the tares grew along with the wheat till the harvest, it's not our job to remove tares from this world.

This is something that the church got wrong right off the bat in Nicaea. Brother David talked about that this morning that they, I guess, were okay with Constantine saying that the penalty for just having Arius' teachings was death. And Augustine took in Galatians, it talks about how Hagar's picture of Sarah's a picture of the church anyways and Hagar's a picture of the world. And so as Sarah drove Hagar out of the camp, that the church should drive the world out of the country.

And well, he went leaps and it's like, "Whoa." And here Jesus clearly teaches that they're going to grow together until the end and God's going to root them out. But it is our responsibility to remove them from the church as they become apparent. So some people will say then that, well, the church is just a mixed bag of, you know, it's just we just got to live with it and because the wheat and the tares together until the judgment. This is, he clearly says the field is the world. It's not the church.

It's the globe. And so there's many passages. The early Christians are very clear on, we talked about in Q&A, admonishing and encouraging people. And when someone persists in practicing lawlessness, that we make it clear that they're no longer part of us and we work redemptively to try to bring them back. In the end, what lands us in the fire or in the barn is whether we have practiced Christ's law or practiced lawlessness. Again, God is after the fruit that's coming out of our lives.

The parable of the mustard seed. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds, but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. So the mustard seed starts small. It grows quickly. It becomes a massive presence. It becomes a source of refuge for the birds.

In the same way, the kingdom of heaven started small, started with a baby and with a humble carpenter and with a humble group of ordinary tradesmen and a humble nation. And it grew. It grew rapidly. It took over the whole earth. Don't stumble over my picture of the tree there, okay? I didn't want to argue with AI to get David talks in his commentary. Scientifically, probably it was more like a huge bush. It becomes a source of refuge to the lofty saints and angels.

That's how the early Christians understood the birds is that the church became a home where the godly people and the angels delighted to be. The parable of the leaven. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven or yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened. So the leaven started small, kind of hear two of these parables. Actually, the last six are kind of all there's a set of two that kind of are on the same theme, but slightly different.

It started small, just like the mustard seed. It was mixed with three measures of wheat. It grew air bubble by air bubble. It's the way yeast does. A little here and a little there is the bacteria or whatever it is works. It leavened the whole lump of dough. And so the kingdom of heaven started small. It mixes with our spirit, soul, and body. The early church refers to two ways that maybe this three measures, what it represents, our spirit, soul, and body, it's the whole thing.

Or the descendants of the three sons of Noah, all of humanity is an offspring of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. So it mixes with our whole being. It mixes with the whole world. It grows by many small steps. This has been an encouragement to me as you look at things sometimes and say, well, why doesn't the kingdom come with more, you know, with the stir of the rolling drums and the trumpet that speaks of fame, as the poet said.

And it's because it works through small ways, slow, small change through small ordinary people, but then it infiltrates and it can't be stopped. It has grown to affect the whole world. The parable of the hidden treasure. So this parable and the parable of the pearl of great price talk about two different ways people encounter Christ. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid. And for joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

The treasure is Christ. Christ, his life, his teaching, his redemption, his kingdom. And so the treasure was stumbled across by happenstance. And some people discover Christ when they're not really looking for him. Something intercepts their life and they encounter him in some small way and it begins to work on them. The treasure was hidden in a field the man did not own. And so Christ is hidden in the scriptures. That's the field. And the Jewish scriptures were strange to the Gentiles.

So for a Gentile encountering Christ, he has to go and he has to own something that isn't his naturally in order to have the treasure. The treasure was concealed so it wouldn't be snatched away. And so Christ is protected in our hearts from the evil one snatching our desire for him away. And it is protected so he's not dishonored by those who do not value him. The treasure caused great joy. The response to Christ and his teachings and the one who becomes part of God's kingdom is great joy in spite of the cost.

The treasure was worth selling everything to buy the field and possess the treasure. And so Christ requires us to give up everything to follow him. We give up everything to own the scriptures and the Christ, the treasure at the center of it. The parable of the pearl of great price. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls. So this one is somebody who is out looking for something that's true and that's valuable.

Probably represents the Jewish people or somebody like the Ethiopian eunuch or Cornelius maybe, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. So the pearl was found by one seeking value and beauty. Christ is found by some who are seeking for truth. The pearl was worth selling all to possess. Christ requires us to sacrifice all else to claim him as Lord and join his revolutionary kingdom. The last one, the parable of the dragnet.

Jesus says again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which when it was full, they drew to the shore and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. He gives an interpretation of this one. So it will be at the end of the age, the angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. So the net grabs all the fish within its scope.

And so the gospel, as it sweeps the world, brings along many that hear it. The net did not make the fish fit for the fisherman's use. And so with the gospel of the kingdom, it catches many people who do not truly follow it and become Christlike. Again, with the net as it was with the parable of the wheat and the tares, there's a coexisting. At the end, the fishermen sat down on the shore and sorted the good fish to be kept and threw the bad away.

And so with the gospel of the kingdom, in the end, the wicked will be separated for destruction and the just will be saved. Again, the bad fish are not perched from the net until they reach the shore. And only in the end are the unbelievers taken out from among the righteous in the world. The judgment again is determined by the fruit born. And the wicked are separated from the just or the righteous. That's people who are righteous like Christ. So as we wrap this up, I want to go back to why parables.

Why did Jesus use parables? Why are these parables worth spending 45 minutes today, hopefully, in this encounter, making this one of the topics? Well, Jesus says some important things about why parables are used. They connect with the simple. They don't override people's free will. They give them if they don't want it, it kind of goes over their head. Requires the listener to want the truth. To him that has and keeps it, to him more will be given. There's a fourth reason that I think these are important.

And I'll tell you a little story to bring that out. So on Thanksgiving Day, I found myself at my in-laws. I enjoy being out there with them. And it was between breakfast and lunch and there wasn't a lot going on and I was trying not to snack too much. And I found myself sitting at a table with my dad-in-law and a sister-in-law, of all things, doing a puzzle. I am not a puzzle person. You'll never hear me say, this may change. I may get to being like this, but say, yeah, let's sit down and do a puzzle.

I got other things to do. It was worthwhile. My dad-in-law and I had some good conversations about, well, we were talking about the early church and baptisms and things like that. And I am a problem solver by nature. And especially when I start thinking I'm cracking one, I can be kind of like determined, like I think I'm going to get this. I'm going to figure it out. This is the puzzle that I was doing. This is an AI replica for copyright purposes.

So it had this gold gilding on all the outlines of the shelves and things that made it a lot more complex than what it looks like. It was a really tough puzzle. And it was actually so tough that I asked my mother-in-law a couple of weeks later if they got it done. And she said, yeah, in the goodwill pile. And I would get, I think I got a few pieces together and then I'd get stalled and I'd just about be ready to quit. And then I'd find a few more and I'd get them and then I'd get stumped again and I got frustrated.

And finally I decided I'm going to get the lid of the box. The part that I was working on was the rug here with all these beetles on it. And there's all kinds of little parts that look similar. And I'm sitting there trying to figure out which ones go with which. And was that the bug that goes here? And finally I decided I'm going to get the box lid and look at it. And then I was like, oh, that one's here. Oh, that actually goes right over here. And I started being able to connect things fast.

I got the whole rug done in about 15 minutes. Now, when I got a subject like this for months, it haunts me. I'm thinking for all these months, how, what am I supposed to say about the whole chapter of parables in 45 minutes? And why is this so important? And in that moment, it hit me and I said, this is what the parables do for us. They're the puzzle box lid.

See, when we get into these verses and things Jesus taught, some of the hard sayings and then things the apostles taught, and we're trying to fit this together and rationalize and yeah, but this can't because of that. And we start sticking stuff together and we think this goes on here and that goes on there. And there's the times when it's like, this has to go in here. Yeah, that's where that goes, right, on a puzzle. And we do that with theology and it doesn't match. Then we, well, then what about the other ones?

I don't know. Well, we have to make an explanation for those. And we do this with theology and we rationalize this. Then we got to come up with an explanation to unrationalize all the rest of what scripture says about this to make it match. And Jesus has given us the puzzle box lid. There's these simple teachings, these stories that give us the picture. And especially as we put them together.

And when we that gives us a jump start, because then we know when we're putting these things together and we're discussing this, we know that it's going to land with that obedience to Jesus and the fruit of godliness is what's going to matter at the judgment. It's what God really wants. We're going to know that it's personal responsibility and we have to choose. Like we know that's where it's going to go. And so that guides us and speeds us up in putting these things together.

And then it makes it so that then what we come up with is actually the kingdom that Jesus came and gave his life to bring. So as we look at these parables of Jesus, how does my picture, how does your picture in our lives and in our teaching match up with what Jesus said his kingdom is like? Because the gospel of the kingdom is the gospel that demands our response. God pouring out grace, but honoring the soil that you choose to be.

It calls you to receive the word deeply, to endure when it costs everything, and to bear the fruit of Christ-like virtue. Because that fruit is the difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of death. This kingdom of heaven begins as a single seed and takes over the entire earth. It works like yeast, slowly, quietly, completely, until nothing is left unchanged, both in you and in the world. It is a treasure demanding you sell all and a pearl worth every sacrifice you can make. The king is patient.

The tares will grow among the wheat, but the harvest is coming. And on that day, the righteous will shine like the sun and everything practicing lawlessness will be cast into the fire. So with Jesus' closing words, he who has ears to hear, let him listen. O Lord, restore your ancient way and make your people new.