Bible Study, November 23, 2008

Bible Study, November 23, 2008

Matthew 13:18

Jesus explains the Parable of the Sower to His disciples; He later explains the parable of the Tares. When they ask, He expounds (though He does not do so for the multitudes).

Vs 19 - Though we perceive information with our mind, Jesus says the Word falls on the heart. The heart is where decisions are made and where faith operates, not with the mind. (See Vs 15: “understand with their heart”)

“...in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4

Vs 20-21 - WHEN, not “if” affliction arises because of the WORD (not because you’re a jerk or are trying to force people to be like you).
- Note: Sometimes we are caused to stumble by situations we don’t understand. Sometimes God doesn’t seem to make sense. Jesus isn’t talking about a person who questions God (like Job, Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, and many prophets did), but a person who falls completely away from faith because of adverse circumstances.

Vs 22 - Discuss: What is the “worry of the age?” What is the “deceitfulness of riches?”
- These things render the Word unfruitful in our lives.
- The worry of the world/age refers to personal worries, family worries, national worries, whatever vies for our attention and causes us to fear. These are the “thorns” which entered the world as a result of sin. (Political parties in the recent election, for example, used fear as a motivating factor in trying to get you to vote for a certain candidate. The current economic crisis is a “worry of the age.”)
- The deceitfulness of riches refers to the spiritual apathy that results when people live to pursue wealth. They have passed from the “worry of the age” to believing a lie about the security of money. This chokes the Word as much as care did. (Sodom and Gomorrah were wealthy, God warned the Israelites that they would grow apathetic when they entered the Promised Land and built homes and grew vineyards, the Laodicean church said they were “rich and increased with goods” and yet the Lord was outside of their fellowship.)

Vs 23 - 100, 60, 30 - percentages of increase.

Vs 24 - A second parable comparing the Word of God to “seed.” In the Sower, Jesus discussed oppositions to the Word that come at a personal level, and have to do with personal choice. Here He discusses opposition on a larger scale, as an enemy faction that seeks to destroy the purposes of God.
- Genesis 1:29-31 Then God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food. And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
- “Good seed,” is pure seed, with other kinds of seed removed. It is the Gospel without mixture, the Truth given in Love.
- Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. - John 12:24

Vs 25 - While men were sleeping - an allusion to the failure in the Garden of Eden. Are we sleeping? Are we at ease when we should be on watch (1 Peter 5:8)? The enemy comes when we are off-guard.
- “his enemy” - This speaks of a subtle, concentrated effort against the Lord as Creator.
- Q: Can Satan uproot a believer? A: Absolutely not. He can only attempt to frustrate you through his agents, the “tares.”
- “tares” - probably darnel rye, a poisonous weed, whose roots became entangled with the roots of the wheat
- “wheat” - Wheat was essential to making bread, which was a staple food in Jesus’ time.

Vs 26 - As the wheat from the “good seed” is growing, the tares become evident.
- Q: How do “tares” manifest themselves in the world around you?
A: In poisonous people. (Unequal yokes, vindictive, angry or wounded people, false teachers/prophets, people who are unwitting intermediaries for the evil one; 2 Tim. 2:26.)

Vs 27 - Q: Have you ever been tangled in someone else’s mess? Have you ever questioned the Landowner?
- Q: What would happen if God always quickly uprooted every thing and person in your life who caused you difficulty?
A: There would be no opportunity to learn faithfulness and maturity. Even Satan in the Garden had his purpose.
- God will uproot the weeds in His time.

Vs 28-30 - “First the tares.” At the point where the wheat and darnel were budding, the buds of darnel would be removed and burned to prevent re-infestation or mixture into the harvested wheat. The tares are removed while the wheat remains.
- Now we are obscured, but the day will come when the sons of God will shine with the brilliant reflected light of their Father. (Romans 8:19)

Vs 31, 32 - A third parable concerning a seed. Note: a seed. One. Small in the eyes of the world, but of greatest significance to the believer’s heart.
- Q: Are you minute, small? When Jesus fed the 5,000, how much did they have on hand to complete the task?
A: The point of this parable is that it doesn’t matter how little you have. What matters is where you place what you have, Who your faith is in.
- It “becomes a tree,” mutates, grows to immense proportions related to its beginning. (Cf. Psalm 1 - “a tree planted by the rivers of water,” and elsewhere (Isaiah?), “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord.”)
- “the birds of the air” - a reference to the Gentiles being grafted into God’s plan, but also to the fact that our experience and growth in the Lord provides rest, shelter, and comfort to others.

Vs 33 - Leaven is usually a symbol of sin in the Bible (Galatians 5:9: A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.), but here Jesus uses leaven positively. Each of the three “seed” parables had to do with a man. This parable is about a woman, a wife performing her normal function in making bread.
- The “woman” symbolizes service and submission.
- “Three measures” of meal symbolizes impartation to the whole life: body, soul and spirit.
- “hid” (For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3)
- Point: it takes a small amount of yeast to affect a large amount of flour.
- This is a picture of putting faith into action. It is not enough to simply hear the Word. We must take practical steps to receive the truth into our lives.

Vs 34, 35 - Parables reveal truth to those who are open to receive it, but hide truth from the hard-hearted.

Vs 36: - If Jesus’ disciples didn’t understand, odds are the multitude didn’t understand, either.
- Q: Would Jesus have explained this further if He hadn’t been asked?
- Q: Do you have any particular passage of Scripture that troubles you because you don’t understand what it means? What is your attitude when you encounter difficult truths? Do we ask?

Vs 37: Jesus doesn’t rebuke them, but unfolds the parable to them plainly.

Vs 38-43

Vs 44: - Q: Have you ever found a valuable item (jewelry or money) in a public place?
- “a treasure hidden” (Colossians 2:2 “...Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”)
- People buried valuable possessions in Bible times to protect them from theft. (Do not lay up for yourselves upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. - Mt. 6:19). This parable is a first-century version of winning the lottery. The text implies the man found the treasure by accident. He recognized its value, and was willing to part with everything else in his life in order to gain possession of it. Do we value the Lord?
- Revelation 3:18 - I advise you to buy of Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.

Vs 45-46 - Pearls were not farmed in Jesus’ day as they are now. There was no diving equipment. Pearls were extremely rare and difficult to find, and were therefore immensely valuable.
- The merchant is “seeking.” Where the man in the field found his treasure by accident, the merchant is intent on finding something of great value.
- Psalm 27:4 - One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to meditate in His temple.
- Everyone is seeking “goodly pearls.” (Wealth, health, education, jobs, homes, etc.) But Jesus is the pearl of great price.
- Q: What am I seeking?

Vs 47-50 - A dragnet is pulled along the bottom of the water, and picks up everything. Separation comes at the end. (A similar point as the parable of the Tares.)

Vs 51 - Q: Is it possible that the disciples fully understood “all these things?”

Vs 52 - This is a perfect summary of the kind of teaching Jesus has been giving them: timeless truths delivered in fresh ways, treasures new and old.
- “the head of a household” refers to a man paying for services regarding the affairs of the house, keeping the treasure safe until it is needed. He brings out some of last year’s dried fruit or wine, and some of this year’s grain for the benefit of visitors. He would not, like the scribes of Jesus’ day, use his treasure (knowledge) for power and prestige.

Vs 53-58 - Jesus returns to Nazareth (where He was once rejected); this was His last stop in his hometown during His lifetime.
- Jesus was in no way limited or powerless because the Nazarenes didn’t believe in Him. He “did not many miracles there” because miracles are of no value unless people have faith. Miracles will not change unbelieving people’s minds.