Introduction to the Sermon at the Sea
Notes
Transcript
Matthew 13:1-3, 10-17
Well this is a little different…
On Easter Sunday I preached two different messages, well in reality it was one really long message that i broke up into two parts. The first being come and see, and the second being go and tell.
The angel said, Come and See He is not here, He is risen. We can come and see the Resurrected Jesus, and he offers each of us the opportunity to come and see how he wants us to follow him. We can experience an extraordinary God. But he also calls us to go and tell others that he is risen and they too can encounter him. We are called to go and tell of His resurrection and the new life he offers, and as we go and tell we advance his kingdom of light and push back the kingdom of darkness.
In fact…in the great commission we are called to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and to teach them all that Jesus has commanded us.
And as I was preparing for where to go next in the direction of our teaching, the Lord put it on my heart to talk about the rest of the teachings of Jesus.
It’s part of the Great Commission…
Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Teach them to obey all the commands I have given.
We know that Jesus also said in
John 8:31-32
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
And so as I looked back on what we have taught so far, and where I believe the Lord is guiding us in our teaching…he gave me this outline.
In the book of Matthew, there are 3 separate sections of Jesus’ teachings.
Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5-7 - Practical instructions and plain and clear teachings of Jesus.
You have heard it said…I say… These are the teachings that amazed and gathered the crowds. At the end of the sermon on the mount, Matthew records these words… Matthew 7:28-29
“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.”
But there are two other sections of teachings that Matthew Records for us.
The Sermon on the Sea: Matthew 13
7 Parables of Jesus that help us understand the Kingdom of God presently. And this is where we are going to spend the next few months, unpacking these parables. So we can see what Jesus taught about the present age and how God deals and works in our midst between the time of his comings.
And lastly, if the Lord wills and allows it, I plan on doing a sermon series all about Jesus’ final teachings before he ascended. In his last sermon, the
The Olivet Discourse: The Sermon on the Mount of Olives: Matthew 24-25
- The sermon delivered by Jesus on the Mount of Olives just before his crucifixion. He sat there with his disciples and looked out over the city of Jerusalem and knew that his death was near. And in the most amazing terms he described what would happen in the centuries and millennia that followed, when nation would rise against nation, and wars, famines, and earthquakes would characterize the whole period. Eventually, he said, a world government would develop, headed by a great leader who would exalt himself as God and the world would follow after him. Then God would bring about a time of great trouble such as the world had never seen from its beginning till its end. At the end of that time Jesus would appear again for all the earth to see and would establish his kingdom.
And while I know there are some who hesitate that we even study the end times…there are others who wish we would right now…I feel we must first spend time here in Matthew 13. Looking at this lesser known, Sermon on the Sea and hearing about Stories of the Kingdom.
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
13:1- Later that same day…Jesus left the house and sat beside the lake.
I believe it’s important to realize there is a shift in Jesus’ ministry and teaching that takes place on this particular day. Something happens within him, and maybe this is me reading too much into Jesus’ humanity…but there is a shift here. If we go back, to the start of this day, to the start of this time of ministry in Capernaum. If you go back to Matthew 12… as you read through the events that take place, I can literally feel the frustration growing within Jesus towards the religious leaders and the people of Israel.
It starts with Jesus performing a miracle on the Sabbath and the religious leaders the Pharisees calling a meeting to plot out how to kill this renegade preacher.
Then Jesus healed a blind and mute man who was bound that way through a demon, and when the religious leaders found out they began to spread the rumor that Jesus himself getting the power from Satan to cast out demons. And Jesus in response calls out their hypocrisy, and sternly warns them not to commit blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. They they will be given an account for every idle word they speak.
And that leads to verse 38, where on one particular day, some of the religious leaders and teachers, some of the Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.”
As if the healing of the mans hand on the Sabbath or the demon possessed blind and mute man’s healing wasn’t enough…now they are asking for another sign…
And maybe this is a word for someone here today. You keep asking God to give you a sign that he is real. You keep asking Jesus to show himself to you, and your asking for another sign. Sign after sign. But you don’t realize that every time you open your eyes in the morning. Or every time you watch your son or daughter laugh. Or every time you take a breath of air, you are already living into the grace of God’s provision. He has already given you everything you need to believe. You must open your eyes though to what he has already done.
But Jesus’ response to the religious leaders shows the level of frustration that I see welling within Jesus towards Israel…
You want another sign? Well, the only other sign I will give to them is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be.
In other words. The only other sign you are going to receive is the Resurrection. In other words, the resurrection is to be the sign to Israel that God is behind the whole enterprise of sending Jesus and that he is indeed their promised Messiah.
And then he closes this discourse with the religious leaders by warning them about the danger of being reinhabited by demons after they had once been cleansed, and then to speak of the priority of spiritual relationships over natural ones.
Chapter 12 closes with these interesting words…
46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” 48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
So it is on this day…this day where I believe Jesus’ frustration with the religious leaders and much of Israel is at a high point where he goes out to the sea and sat beside the lake.
But the crowd followed…and so…
Jesus got into a boat. There he sat and taught as the people stood on the shore. He told many stories in the form of parables…
That bit of background is necessary in order to understand that something strange is happening here in these parables. Some corner has been turned. Jesus is unfolding truth that he had never unfolded before. Furthermore he does it in a way that he has never used before. You may not realize that this is the very first time, as far as we can tell by comparing the record of the Gospels, that Jesus ever spoke in parables. You might think that he used parables all through his ministry. He often did employ metaphors and similes and he was constantly referring to pictures drawn from life around him. But this is the first time that he ever spoke in stories which have a spiritual message hidden in them. So the disciples are struck by this.
Matthew records their reaction in Verse 10:
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” 11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
This passage outlines for us one of the most profound principles that God operates within. And understanding this principle is foundational for us as believers to move forward in understanding what God is doing here and now. In the time between Jesus ascended until his return.
In other words…in order for us to understand how God relates to humanity during our present age, we must first understand this spiritual principle. You can never understand what is happening in current events nor in the whole scope of history unless you understand this principle. It is not only the principle by which God judges nations and determines the course of international events, but it is the principle by which he governs what happens to individuals as well.
So as we examine Matthew 13:10-17, we will
first look at the disciples question… Then Jesus’ response to their question. Then we will examine this central principle to which all history turns And finally we will examine the example of how this principle plays out in Israels history.
First: The question… Matthew 13:10
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
“Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”
The disciples clearly did not understand what Jesus was doing. They didn’t understand his story, or even why he used it. He’s never taught like this before. Yeah, he has used metaphors and illustrations before but he hasn’t taught just using a story, that frankly we have no idea what it means…to the point where he has to being to explain them to his disciples so they can understand them. Jesus, for some reason was beginning to hide the truth, to veil it so to speak.
Veils at weddings are few and far between anymore. But they used to be commonplace. Veils were used to hid the brides face from her future groom until the moment they are in the closest most intimate relationship known to mankind.
But here Jesus was veiling, hiding the truth that he was speaking so plainly about before. It’s tempting to think that much of Jesus’ teaching was done in parables, and it is but this is the first time that he was doing it and it didn’t happen in the beginning of his ministry. A corner has turned and it puzzled the disciples so they had to ask him…Jesus why are you doing this.
But boy were they probably tickled pink when Jesus gave his answer.
Second: His Answer Matthew 13:11
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
“You are permitted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of Heaven, but others are not.”
The word translated secrets means, literally, "mysteries." In Scripture a mystery is a truth which cannot be known by the normal exercise of human wisdom and knowledge. It is a truth about life which, if we are to know it, God must tell us about it, God has to reveal it to us, because it could never be discovered by the exercise of human thought.
That is why these secrets, these mysteries, about the kingdom of heaven, and therefore about life, will never be found in science or literature or history or any other discipline of human knowledge or investigation. They are simply not there. And yet they are essential to the understanding of life. And if we are to fully understand life, and history and how God relates to us in it all, we must have these truths these mysteries revealed to us by God himself.
In man’s pursuit of wisdom, if done without the revelation of God, is done in vain.
We can discover many things about life and, by our technology, we can invent a lot of useful implements and gadgets but we will never, never satisfy human life on those terms. We must know more; and only God can tell us. That is why these mysteries are of great importance.
This is why man's wisdom is never enough, mans pursuits are never enough. Like the song from the Greatest Showman…
All the shine of a thousand spotlights
All the stars we steal from the night sky
Will never be enough
Never be enough
Towers of gold are still too little
These hands could hold the world but it'll
Never be enough
Never be enough
Never enough for me…
But what do you think was going through the disciples mind at this moment when Jesus said…”“You are permitted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of Heaven, but others are not.”
You know what I hear?
Hey guys, come here I have a secret to tell you and only you can know it… because…
You are special… You are privileged. You are in the know. You’re in the in crowd.
And that can almost lead to a pride right?
But before Jesus lets it get to that point he lets the disciples in on the principle to which gives them the privilege to be on the in crowd…He goes on to tell them the basis upon which they were chosen and not someone else. It is simply this:
Third: The Kingdom Principle: Matthew 13:12
12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
The kingdom principle to which God deals with Humanity. A kingdom principle to which God governs his dealing with us. It’s a law of nature just as newtons law of thermodynamics or the law of gravity.
“To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”
This law of life is so fundamental that it applies to everything in life, to every realm of existence. It is true on the physical level.
We all have muscles in our bodies.
Today I am sore…because yesterday I used some muscles that I haven’t in a little while.
Because this principle, when it’s boiled down to it’s simplest form states this…truth must be acted upon in order to be retained.
Our muscles must be worked out in order for the strength to be retained.
Our intellect must be challenged in order for it to be retained.
Life is built this way.
Same thing is true for our other pursuits in this life. Guitar…If I were to just set it down one day and not pick it up for a few years, yes I would be able to remember some things, but I would have forgotten more than I remember.
And so here Jesus is revealing this law of nature. This kingdom principle to his disciples by saying…. Guys this is why I chose you. Because you not only listen to the truth…you put it in action.
You do something with it.
The kingdom principle that we need to understand, we need God to reveal to us is that Truth rejected or unused is lost.
God is constantly confronting men with truth about everything, at every level of life. Man is so constructed that he is made to act upon truth. But if he doesn't he loses the truth which has already been given to him. That is a very vital and important principle in understanding human life. That is the basis upon which God determines advance or regression either in individuals or in nations.
Every nation that has come and gone and fallen into history can be summed up in this principle. When they were confronted with the truth, they either accepted or rejected it. And as they reject the truth…their nation falls at the same time. The Great Roman empire is a perfect example of this. As the nation was confronted with the truth of our Savior, they chose to follow natural pleasures and other gods and so their great nation fell.
And even today, our nation is falling because we have rejected the truth and are following other Gods.
This principle is then illustrated on the national level by Jesus when he says,
Fourth: Jesus illustration of this principle at work
13 This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’
Israel rejected the truth
What does Jesus mean? Well, the fact that he spoke in parables was the beginning of the process of taking away the truth from a people who would not receive it. They had it, but they did not act on it. Jesus spoke very plainly to them at the beginning. They knew he spoke the truth -- they even said so: "Never man spake like this man. Where has this man received this wisdom? Why is it that he teaches us not as the scribes and Pharisees but with authority?" (John 7:46 KJV). They watched him and listened to his matchless words. Crowds were greatly attracted to him, and followed wherever he went. But only a relative handful did anything about it.
And so the time came when he began to veil the truth. That is what a parable is -- a veiled, hidden truth. By it truth is being removed, taken away. Jesus says, "This is why I am speaking to them in parables -- because they will not see. They have the truth set before them and they will not act. They will not understand, just as Isaiah said." Then he quotes Isaiah further:
But you are blessed because you see and you hear.
And you are even more blessed when you act upon what you hear.
Church, as we examine these stories of the kingdom over the next few months. Let us remember this kingdom principle.
May we be faithful like his early disciples to go.
As you look around at life today it is very obvious that something is terribly lacking in the understanding of men.
We have vast technological ability and can construct all kinds of useful gadgets, and we can improve the physical standard of our lives, but something is still terribly lacking.
As a society…
We do not know how to enable people to live in harmony with one another.
We do not know how to remove the frictions, the hostilities, the guilt of man.
We do not know how to heal his hurt.
And yet those secrets are given to us the church.
But only to those prepared to act upon them. That is the key.
That is why it is so terribly important that when God teaches you something, you do not delay acting on it. Do not just put it up on your wall and say, "I learned a great truth today. It blessed my heart. There it is: You can read it for yourself." -- No! Act on it!
We need to put into practice that which God is calling us to do or say. May we be willing to put into action our faith.
When he calls us to practice hospitality, may we be willing to open up our homes. When he calls us to care for the strangers, or clothe the naked, or house the homeless may we be willing to listen, and put into action our faith.
I won’t pretend to know what action God is calling you to do. But I do know that he wants you to use what you have. And when you are faithful in acting upon it, more will be given.
Likewise, the opposite is true…if you don’t he will use someone else…and you will lose what little you had.