WE ARE STUDYING THE FOUR GOSPELS MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN TO KNOW THE LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.
TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM.
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
INTRODUCTION
There is no reason to doubt that this Gospel was written by Matthew. It presents the narrative of our Lord’s life from the standpoint of the pious Jew; and the evident design of the writer is to show how completely and continually our Lord fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures. No other Gospel contains so many quotations from the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms. In it the predominant aspect of our Lord’s character and work is the Messianic. He was great David’s Greater Son. The keyword of the book is “Behold your King.” As King, His line is traced through the kingly race. As King, He proclaims the kingdom of heaven. As King, He promulgates the laws, describes the subjects, and announces the rewards of the Kingdom. When describing His own action at the last, when He sits on His throne and all nations are gathered before Him, He speaks of Himself as King, Mat_25:40. It was on His avowal of kingship that He was condemned to die. From every viewpoint this Gospel is one of the most precious documents in the world.
By F.B.Meyer
{e-Sword Note: The following material was presented at the end of Matthew in the printed edition}
Find the outline of our Bible study on The Gospel of Matthew at the link below.
OUTLINE OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
The King of the House of David
II. PROCLAIMING THE KINGDOM, Matthew 4:12 to Matthew 16:12
5. Discourses and Kingdom Parables, Matthew 11:1 to Matthew 16:12
NB !Note:
The Judean ministry of Jesus, which lasted almost one year, is not discussed by Matthew. This one year period is covered in John 1;1 to the end of John 4: and fits between Mat_4:11 and Mat_4:12. Matthew takes us from the temptation directly to the Galilean ministry.
Today we will look at the following question in the outline starting with Matthew 13:24-33
45.A.What other parable about a grain field did Jesus tell?45 B. What was the parable about a mustard seed? leaven? 45 C. In what respect are these parables alike?
The Parable of the Weeds
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying,
45.A. What other parable about a grain field did Jesus tell?
The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
The Mustard Seed and the Leaven
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying,
45.B. What was the parable about a mustard seed?
The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
Another parable spake he unto them;
The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
45 C. In what respect are these parables alike?
Comments by F.B.Meyer
Matthew 13:24-33
The answer for question 45. What other parable about a grain field did Jesus tell? What was the parable about a mustard seed? leaven? In what respect are these parables alike? As presented by F.B.Meyer.
OTHER PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM
The tare was a species of rye grass, which in its earlier stages, closely resembled wheat. In this world, and in the Church, professors are closely mingled with possessors. But there come great times of revealing, in the trials and difficulties of life, and in fact Satan and his angels never sleep. Let us beware of them, but be not afraid: Christ is stronger. The mustard seed and the leaven represent the extensive and intensive, the outward and inward, the objective and subjective, aspects of Christianity. Sometimes when the Church is reaching its branches to the farthest, its heart is being corrupted by the slow spread of evil. See 1Co_5:7-8. See what stress our Lord lays on unnoticed beginnings! What seed is smaller than the mustard! Yet it may be the gateway through which Nature may pour her inner energies, forcing the rootlet down and the green shoot up. And it requires but a very small amount of leaven to permeate a large quantity of meal. Bigness is not greatness. Watch the first speck of sin; cherish each grain of holy impulse.
Believer’s Bible commentary
Book by William MacDonald
D. The Parable of the Wheat and Tares (13:24-30)
The preceding parable was a vivid illustration of the fact that the kingdom of heaven includes those who give only lip service to the King as well as those who are His genuine disciples. The first three soils typify the kingdom in its widest circle—outward profession. The fourth soil represents the kingdom as a smaller circle—those who have been truly converted.
13:24-26 The second parable—the wheat and the tares—also sets forth the kingdom in these two aspects. The wheat depicts true believers, the tares are mere professors. Jesus compares the kingdom to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. Unger says that the most common tare found in grainfields in the Holy Land is bearded darnel, “a poisonous grass, almost indistinguishable from wheat while the two are growing into blade. But when they come into ear, they can be separated without difficulty.”
13:27, 28 When the servants saw the tares mixed in with the grain, they asked the householder how this happened. He immediately recognized it as the work of an enemy. The servants were ready to pull the weeds immediately.
13:29, 30 But the farmer ordered them to wait until the harvest. Then reapers would separate the two. The grain would be gathered into barns and the darnel would be burned.
Why did the farmer order this delay in separation? In nature the roots of the grain and darnel are so intertwined that it is virtually impossible to pull up one without the other.
This parable is explained by our Lord in verses 37-43, so we will forego further comment till then.
E. The Parable of the Mustard Seed (13:31, 32)
Next the Savior likens the kingdom to a mustard seed which He called the smallest of seeds, that is, smallest in the experience of His listeners. When a man planted one of these seeds, it grew into a tree, a growth that is phenomenal. The normal mustard plant is more like a bush than a tree. The tree was large enough for birds to nest in its branches
The seed represents the humble beginning of the kingdom. At first the kingdom was kept relatively small and pure as a result of persecution. But with the patronage and protection of the state, it suffered abnormal growth. Then the birds came and roosted in it. The same word for birds is used here as in verse 4; Jesus explained the birds as meaning the evil one (v. 19). The kingdom became a nesting place for Satan and his agents. Today the umbrella of Christendom covers such Christ-denying systems as Unitarianism, Christian Science, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the Unification Church (moonies).
So here the Lord forewarned the disciples that during His absence the kingdom would experience a phenomenal growth. They should not be deceived nor equate growth with success. It would be unhealthy growth. Though the tiny seed would become an abnormal tree, its largeness would become “a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird” (Rev_18:2).
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