Through the eyes of Jesus
Matthew 13:10-17
Jan 9 2011

Today we are going to start a journey though Matthew Thirteen, but unlike most starts we are going to move partway into the reading to get the basis for the eight parables that Jesus taught in this section and then come back to the beginning.

What is a Parable?
Parables are more than just a story that a teacher or preacher will use to drive a point home; a parable is designed for a much more specific purpose. From a biblical point of view most parables are a story laid out from an earthly perspective or point of view to reveal a heavenly mystery or understanding. But in some cases, parables not only reveal but conceal as is the case of the parables that Jesus tells in this particular chapter.

To understand the motive behind the parables that Jesus spoke in this chapter and those to come we need to back up and look at chapter 12.

This chapter opens some time early on the Sabbath day. Jesus and His disciples are walking toward the synagogue and are apparently walking along the edge of a farmer’s field when they reach down and pull off the grains of seed and start to eat them. At this stage of Jesus’ ministry the Jewish leadership had started to take notice of Jesus and His followers and being the legalists they were saw this harvesting of the grain and grain harvesting on the Sabbath was forbidden because it was considered work.

At once Jesus started to ask the learned men of Israel some questions;
Matthew 12:3-8
3 Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and the people with him were hungry? 4 He went into God’s house, and he and those with him ate the holy bread, which was lawful only for priests to eat. 5 And have you not read in the law of Moses that on every Sabbath day the priests in the Temple break this law about the Sabbath day? But the priests are not wrong for doing that. 6 I tell you that there is something here that is greater than the Temple. 7 The Scripture says, ‘I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.’  You don’t really know what those words mean. If you understood them, you would not judge those who have done nothing wrong. 8 “So the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day.”

Just like Job when God asked the questions, these men had no answers and walked away. So Jesus continued on into the synagogue where He was again questioned with ulterior motives.
Matthew 12:10
“Is it right to heal on the Sabbath day?”
And just like before, Jesus responded to their question with more questions.

 

 

Matthew 12:11 – 12
“If any of you has a sheep, and it falls into a ditch on the Sabbath day, you will help it out of the ditch. 12 Surely a human being is more important than a sheep. So it is lawful to do good things on the Sabbath day.”

Once again the wise men of Israel had no answer for the questions so they to left Him, only they just did not simply walk away, they walked away to make a plan to capture and kill Jesus.

When Jesus left the synagogue that morning, the people that had gathered went with Him. Those that followed Jesus that day, were the hurting and the sick and Jesus healed them. They were so impressed with these healings that they went and brought a man who they thought might be beyond His ability to heal.

The people knew it was one thing to heal a withered limb, or a broken arm and maybe an earache or two, but what about a man that was a worst case scenario, a man whose blindness and deafness was the result of a demon possession.

Verse 23 tells how amazed the people were at this kind of healing, that they even said that He must be of the Son of David. This statement was one that was connected to the coming Messiah and when the nosey legal system heard this they accused Him of being associated with none other than Beelzebub, the prince of demons. It was their understanding that only those of like kind will listen to each other and since He was able to tell this demon to leave this man, He had to be none other than the ruler of the demons. Little did they know how right, yet how wrong they were?

Over the next several verses (25 – 27) Jesus lays into the Jewish leadership for their arrogance.

25 Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking, so he said to them, “Every kingdom that is divided against itself will be destroyed. And any city or family that is divided against itself will not continue. 26 And if Satan forces out himself, then Satan is divided against himself, and his kingdom will not continue. 27 You say that I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons. If that is true, then what power do your people use to force out demons? So they will be your judges

This so called wisdom that they had gathered would ultimately become a major stumbling block for them. They had gained a preconceived idea of just who and what the Messiah would look like and this Man standing before them was not fitting their mold.

It is because of their preconceived ideas that they felt that they could ask for a sign of their choosing to confirm that He was the Messiah rather than take the ones that God had told them to look for.

I think that we need to pay attention here even in today’s culture, for there are many people that are not to far removed from this mentality. How many people do you know or have heard of that go looking for there own special signs, rather than to look for the signs that God has told us to look for.
1 Samuel 28:15 – 17

At this point, the old prophet Samuel has been dead for some time now and King Saul has sent out a decree to put away all people that are mediums or witches. Any one that is caught practicing witch craft will be killed, but Saul finds a medium at Endor and has her call up Samuel.

15 Samuel asked Saul, “Why did you disturb me by conjuring me up?”
Saul answered, “I’m in serious trouble. The Philistines are at war with me, and God has turned against me and doesn’t answer me anymore—either by the prophets or in dreams. So I’ve called on you to tell me what to do.”
16 Samuel said, “Why are you asking me when the Lord has turned against you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done to you ⌊exactly⌋ what he spoke through me:

Saul used to listen to God through his prophet Samuel and Saul turned away from listening to God by not listening to Samuel and then when Saul found himself in trouble he tried to connect to God in his own way. Take those that go and look for signs of Mary or of Jesus in toast or under bridges in water marks are they really any different than Saul? Why do so many people want to listen to God only on their terms? Listen to what Jesus says about individuals that look for these kinds of signs.

Matthew 12:39
39 He responded, “The people of an evil and unfaithful era look for a miraculous sign. But the only sign they will get is the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Jesus says that all the signs to prove who I am have been laid out for all to see and this will be the final sign of just who you were talking to.

Matthew 12:41
41 The men of Nineveh will stand up with you at the time of judgment and will condemn you, because they turned to God and changed the way they thought and acted when Jonah spoke his message. But look, someone greater than Jonah is here!

Jesus is saying the men of Nineveh had less information to base their decision on than you do today and based on the information they had they knew what they needed to do. They needed to repent.

All that had been taking place still had not sunk in. Jesus is telling them to open up their eyes and start seeing and listening to what is taking place around you. As Jesus talking to the people, the people tell Jesus that His family is outside wanting Him.  They are stilled focused on the earthly and to get their attention back He asks them a question once again, “Who is my mother and brethren?” And instead of giving them an opportunity to answer or even walk away He immediately answers the question for them, the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.  

This is the setting that moves us into Chapter 13. Jesus gets up and leaves the house or synagogue and moves down to the sea side. In the process the people that have gathered continue to follow Him.  The crowd that has gathered is quite large and in order for all to hear, Jesus gets onto a small boat where He tells the first of the eight parables given in this chapter.

Up to this time in Jesus teaching Matthew 1 – 12, Jesus used a lot of parabolic illustrations, but not until we get to Chapter 13 and verse 3 do we have the disciples ask why He is speaking in parables. The disciples seem to be stating that we have been able to understand you up to now, why are you speaking differently?

Up to this point in time, Jesus’ speech pattern was very simple and plain, done with the intention of drawing all people to God, but this changed when the Jewish leadership connected Him to Satan. This is the line where all people will declare who they believe that Jesus is and based on this decision will come the determination for the understanding of the parables.

Three reasons for teaching in parables

1. To Fulfill prophecy

Matthew 12:18- 21
18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, whom I love, and in whom I delight. I will put my Spirit on him, and he will announce justice to the nations. 19 He will not quarrel or shout, and no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20 He will not break off a damaged cattail. He will not even put out a smoking wick until he has made justice victorious. 21The nations will have hope because of him.”
The change starts as a result to fulfill prophecy.

1. To Create Division.

 

Parables are designed to reveal and conceal the truth at the same time.

Matthew 13:11
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

When Jesus spoke in parables it became a tool in which Jesus could truly see those with a desire to learn more of what He was teaching, while at the same time He could use this simple tool to confound and confuse those who choose not to partake.

12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: A parable as simple as it is, is a great block for adding spiritual knowledge;

but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. But it can also act as a great door to block access to more understanding. It can in effect be used to remove an understanding.

As we move into the discussion of the parables, I want you to keep these questions in the back of your mind; “Do I understand what Jesus is saying?” If the answer is no, the next question is; “What am I going to do with this lack of understanding?” If you choose to do nothing, you will find it harder to understand the next thing that Jesus will present to you until finally a time will come where you heart will be so hard that you will never accept what is being offered. If on the other hand you take this yearning to know more of what Jesus is saying, Jesus will not only answer these questions but give you the desire to know more.

1. To confirm your Faith

Parables will ultimately prove your allegiance.

Jesus is taking some very complicated issues and making them as simple as He possible can for us to understand.  The Ultimate goal of the parables is to challenge us to dig deeper into what is being offered. And what is it that is being offered?
1 Peter 1:9
9 And you are receiving the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

Peter goes on to say that this searching has been going on for generations.

10 The prophets searched carefully and tried to learn about this salvation. They prophesied about the grace that was coming to you. 11 The Spirit of Christ was in the prophets, telling in advance about the sufferings of Christ and about the glory that would follow those sufferings. The prophets tried to learn about what the Spirit was showing them, when those things would happen, and what the world would be like at that time. 12 It was shown them that their service was not for themselves but for you, when they told about the truths you have now heard. Those who preached the Good News to you told you those things with the help of the Holy Spirit who was sent from heaven—things into which angels desire to look.

Its one thing to have a surface knowledge of who Jesus is, much like the Pharisee and Sadducees did. What did it get them in the end, scorn and ridicule from Jesus?  It  is another to have the desire to go beyond the surface and learn what is hidden.

Jesus is giving us the opportunity to look through His eyes to see what He sees, are you up to seeing a brighter future, the future that Jesus sees?