The Kingdom of Heaven is Like – 7/19/26 (Matthew 13:31-33 & 44-52)
There are many different ways to tell stories. Hopefully the stories aren’t just interesting and entertaining, but that they also teach us something new and helpful; to maybe guide us and help us to grow in some way. We know, with God’s purpose in mind, that Jesus often taught, telling short stories called parables.
Wm. Barclay reminds us that as much as we want to believe in and follow Jesus, his teachings often leave us with more questions than answers; maybe a hunger for spiritual truth. Hopefully this inspires us to search for a deeper meaning in life and what our God-given purpose is. Exploring and accepting the mysteries of God can be as much part of faithfulness as is accepting and moving forward in our call to discipleship, even when we’re not sure where that’ll lead us and what it ultimately means to our daily and eternal lives.
Today, we’ll explore some of Jesus’ parables from Matt. 13. A parable’s a literary device, like an analogy or simile, where 2 often common, but dissimilar things are compared (“is like”) to convey or teach a deeper meaning. But Jesus uses parables to teach a deeper spiritual meaning, more like an allegory or metaphor where there’s a hidden meaning that Jesus hopes will be discovered to teach a moral or spiritual truth. Most parables are used to teach about the holy mystery of the kingdom of God.
About why he used parables, let’s back up to Matt. 13:10-13… He hoped to give his disciples and the other people listening a better idea of what this amazing kingdom is like and to give them a hint at what great things they’ll be blessed with if they just hold on to their faith and explore how to grow in their belief in God. To get their attention, Jesus used examples from everyday life they (and people from most walks of life) would be at least somewhat familiar with, even if it’s in a different time, culture, and place. Let’s begin to explore…
First there’s the mustard seed. Yes, there are probably seeds smaller than a mustard seed, and the mustard plants that grew in Palestine in Jesus’ day were much larger than usual ones today. Still, you can get the idea. Regardless, of size, the birds love the little seeds in the plant and flock to make their homes and nests there.
But Jesus is really teaching about faith. Our faith in God often starts out very small; like a tiny seed the Spirit plants in us. In time, with nurture and a desire to know more, that small speck of faith begins to grow. Hopefully, after many birthdays, it’s grown and blossomed into something big and beautiful and fruitful. Then we’re able to draw others in to help grow their faith. We can be kingdom people who dwell in God’s presence.
It’s a well-known fact that many great things in history began with small starts. And it only takes one person to begin a reformation. One Christian family living among people who don’t know Jesus can make all the difference to bringing them all to Christ. This had to bring hope to the little band of disciples longing to be faithful and fruitful to what God has called them to. What small things can we do to make a big difference for the Kingdom? As yesterday’s Upper Room said: “God can use even the tiniest acts to accomplish great works.” Let’s trust in the power of small beginnings!
Then Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to when a little yeast gets worked into a bowl of bread dough. Can’t you just picture the transformation from a lifeless, odorless, tasteless ball of dough to the delicious bread that comes out the oven full, fragrant, and fluffy once the yeast is mixed in and does its thing? We get that!
But in Jesus’ day, women used leaven, a little piece of dough taken from a previous loaf before it was baked and allowed to ferment (like sourdough). The leaven was mixed in with 3 measures of flour or meal to become the family’s daily bread. Jesus had seen his mother make this bread many times. So, even though yeast often has a negative, almost evil reference in Scripture, here’s a positive one. Who can resist warm bread that provides our daily sustenance?
As yeast or leaven transforms a ball of dough into something nourishing and good - life-giving in fact, so does the love of God once it gets into hearts and souls. Life changes from bad to good. Through Christ, the victim of temptation can become the victor of life, now and eternally.
Christianity transforms life in the social realms, too. Remember how Jesus and his gospel made transforming differences in the lives of “least of these” in Jesus’ day – in the lives of women, the weak and sick, in children, and in the aged. Amazing!
Next Jesus shares parables on the treasure hidden in a field, the merchant who finds a fine pearl, and the net that caught fish of every kind. Because people never knew when a thief might show up or an enemy would invade their land, they’d bury money and valuables in the ground for safe keeping. They hoped that if the inevitable happened, they could return and retrieve their treasure. But if they didn’t and someone else came and began to dig for whatever reason and found what was hidden and if the value was indeed great, they would sell what they had and legally buy the land to acquire the buried treasure.
This parable is meant to show us the value and happiness of finding the presence of Jesus in our daily lives. It also shows what value there is in sacrificing it all to acquire the gifts and graces of God. It shows one is willing to do anything for, “not my will, but thy will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven” – true kingdom work!
About the pearl parable, in the ancient world, people desired to possess a lovely pearl, not just for value, but for its beauty. So, if the Kingdom’s like this lovely pearl, it shows the Kingdom’s value and beauty. To the people who viewed that to be in the Kingdom is to accept and do the will of God, it’s a wonderful and lovely thing that surpasses anything else we could know or possess. Life in the Kingdom is the supreme loveliness that we can find nowhere else.
Whether it’s a life-long search or a great discovery unaware, the reaction’s the same. The Holy Spirit spurs on the quest to sacrifice it all to gain the most precious thing of all – to discover and live the will of God for oneself; our eternal reward.
Finally, the fish in the net parable. Yes, Jesus’ listeners related to this one! If there was a successful catch, their big nets caught all kinds of fish and sea offerings. There’s no discrimination in net fishing! After pulling the net on shore, the sorting began. The good fish were saved, and the rest were tossed. Pretty understandable!
If we apply this to the Church, God’s instrument of the Kingdom on earth, it means the church will draw in a mixture of all sorts of people; good and not-so-good alike. The New Testament church’s one where anyone can enter; all are welcome. But we get concerned if there’s “sinners and useless” ones among us. We must remember Jesus’ work on the cross; that we’re not the ones who decide who’s in and who’s out of the Kingdom.
Jesus teaches it’s our job to help do the gathering and bringing in. But we can’t judge and separate; that’s up to him. Yes, we hope and pray we and our loved ones will be Kingdom-bound, because those who aren’t will be tossed out, where there’ll be great weeping and gnashing of teeth.
As Jesus asks his listeners then, and us today: “do you understand?” We pray we can also say: “Yes, we do!” Then, we, too, will be blessed to be a disciple in the Kingdom of God. And we’ll discover the Kingdom is like a treasured combination of things old and new. We won’t reject what we’ve been taught or the life experiences we’ve lived, just like the people then didn’t reject the Old Testament or their pre-Jesus life. This helps form our faith foundation so we can build on it; build it up with the new. If we begin to grasp our God-given purpose revealed in the Law of the OT that points the way to Jesus in the NT, then we’ve been gifted with a true, life-giving treasure.
As we continue to grow in our love of Christ, we’ll discover the Kingdom of heaven is like all the gifts and graces and possibilities that Jesus continues to reveal to us each and every day through the Holy Spirit living in us. The Old and New are our guidelines for faith as we live life today.