Matthew 13:24-52, "The Beautiful, Messy Kingdom"

Is the church the body of Christ on earth, and that offers love, healing, hope, and spiritual edification for everyone who will enter?

Is the church a group of sinful humans who have hurt others, indulged corruption, and committed hypocrisy and sin?

Is the church one representation of the kingdom of God on earth?

If you are curious or a believer in Jesus, but you have mixed feelings about the church, today’s message should give you some perspective from Jesus Himself. He’s going to tell us that our experience of the kingdom of God on earth in this life will be a mixture of good and bad, but it is still worth giving your life to it.

I had a seminary professor named Roy King. He had been a local church pastor and he wanted to impart everything you don’t normally learn in seminary. He spent an entire lecture one day telling stories about pastoral ministry. One would be beautiful, the next would be very, very messy. This was one of the most memorable classes I ever had. And helpful. The Bible is so full of idyllic images of the kingdom of God. Letting God run the show in your life will make your life like a beautiful, fruitful garden. Letting God run the show in the church will make us a kingdom of priests, blessing the nations by making God known. But any of us who are disciples of Jesus know that is not always our experience. It’s helpful to be honest about that, but in a way that we don’t lose heart and stop following Jesus.

Jesus preached that the kingdom of God was good news. And when Jesus wanted His disciples to understand what our experience of the kingdom of God would be like in this world, He told parables. Parables are helpful because they help us enter the reality or truth that the teller is teaching in a personal way. Here are the two realities that emerge in Jesus’ parables of life in the kingdom of God.

The Kingdom is Beautiful, so Keep Planting Seeds

Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 13 to introduce all of His parables. He pictures himself as a farmer planting seeds. He calls the seed “the word of the kingdom” (13:19). But the seed falls on different kinds of soil, which is people. Some people are like soil that isn’t prepared to receive seed, and the word of the kingdom doesn’t bear fruit in their life. But,

Matthew 13:23 (ESV)

As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

If you receive the message of God’s kingdom down deep inside and let it germinate, the kingdom of God within you will bear the fruit of faith, righteousness, good works, peace, joy, and the desire to spread more seed. God’s plans multiply in your life. You become more fully human like Jesus, and you become a priest, making others aware of God in their lives.

This is why Jesus compares the message of the kingdom of God in the gospel to good seed.

Matthew 13:24 (ESV)

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,

The thing about seeds is, they start very small but grow into something beautiful and life-giving

Matthew 13:31–32 (ESV)

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

We want the last part. We want people flocking to the Christian church. We want influence in our society. And we have had it for a long time. But I’m wondering now, have we become so focused on the big movements and the big influence, we’ve lost touch with the first part. God’s kingdom has to be planted and grow from small beginnings in your own heart before the big influence happens.

The narrative in the media will keep you focused on big problems you can’t change and the big people you can blame for them. But every time God wants to change the world, He starts small. God starts small. One person, one family, one small nation. Then He uses those people to influence a whole world. The power doesn’t come from their position or prestige. The power comes from the kingdom of God and it’s life changing properties within them.

Matthew 13:33 (ESV)

He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

What are the small things God does in our life that can grow into something bigger?

Do you believe that ordinary followers of Jesus, letting God run the show in their life, can change their workplace and school and neighborhood and home, and ultimately our society? When God the Father runs the show in your life because you follow Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, you will be less anxious, more faithful, less angry, more hopeful, you will enter the lives of others more filled with His presence. Yeast works as it mixes with the other elements of the dough. Where are you mixing with the elements of our society that have not been touched by the presence of Christ?

But the second reality Jesus discusses is just as important.

The Kingdom is Messy, so Persevere in Faith

Jesus’ parables paint a picture of a version of the kingdom of God on earth that is not what it will be one day. One day the knowledge of God will fill the earth as the waters cover the seas. In the meantime, it has only come in part. So, be patient with the process. Here are the parables as Jesus tells them.

Matthew 13:24–30 (ESV)

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,

but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’

He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’

But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers,

“Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

These pictures paint a little messier picture than the beautiful image we had before. There are good and bad things happening at the same time. Jesus interprets this for us in verses 36-43.

Matthew 13:36–43 (ESV)

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”

He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom.

The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.

Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace.

In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

May I make two observations?

Jesus is at work in our world, but the devil is too. Jesus is planting seeds for the kingdom of God, which are His followers, children of God. The devil is planting seeds in people’s lives that oppose Jesus. He is planting seeds of doubt, confusion, lies, and most of all fear. The fruit of his labor will only grow until the end.

What do we take away from this observation? We should be aware that we have an unseen but very real spiritual enemy working in the lives of people we know and love, and he is very busy. According to a recent survey, 59% of Americans who identify as Christians do not believe in the devil as a living being but as a symbol of evil. And another 8% weren’t sure. That leaves only 33% of people who say they know and follow the same Jesus that cast out demons to demonstrate the presence of the kingdom of God among us even believe that all of that was real. Maybe this is why the American church is so ineffective. We are under the satanic lullaby, unaware of the schemes of the devil.

Let me tell you, the satan is perfectly happy that most of us do not believe in his existence. He can continue to whisper his message in our ears and lull us to sleep spiritually while he stirs us up in our minds and hearts to fear and anger - the very thing Jesus told us not to do if we believe God is running the show. The result is people who call themselves Christians but don’t live like it.

What really scares me is that those same people that don’t believe the devil is real also don’t really believe Jesus was true or believe that the Bible records the truth about His life and teachings. We don’t believe in the power of the devil, but we also don’t believe in the power and reality of God. (In fact, an equal number of those Christians surveyed, 58%, also don’t believe the Holy Spirit is a living person, and 39% believe Jesus sinned when He lived on earth.)

But here is my second observation,

2. Every seed Jesus plants for the kingdom of God is established forever, and the work of the devil will be uprooted and destroyed.

Look again at Jesus’ words about the harvest at the end of time.

Matthew 13:41 (ESV)

The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,

Pay attention to little words like prepositions. At the end of time, Jesus will send angels as harvesters. They will uproot and gather all causes of sin and law-breakers out of his kingdom. God’s kingdom is established, the forces of evil have to go. (Insert some comments on the rapture - a welcome party for the conquering King, not an escape from the trouble in our world.)

As I read more of the Bible, I am more convinced that while the work of satan will grow until the end of time, so will the work of Jesus. And in the end, it isn’t Jesus and the sons of the kingdom that get out of the way of the devil to let him finish his work, it’s the exact opposite.

What does this mean for us? It means that every seed we plant for the sake of Jesus and the kingdom of God will bear fruit. So don’t be discouraged. The devil, our spiritual enemy is working in the lives of people you know to discourage them from surrendering to the rule of God in their lives. He will deceive them to believe God is a tyrant and Jesus as a liar or a fake.

And when Jesus starts to work in someone’s life to shine the light on those lies, the devil goes into high gear. He will try to distract them with the cares of the world so they get so busy they won’t have time to cultivate their spiritual life. That’s not a time for us to give up on that person. That’s a time for us to pray more, stay more connected, keep reaching out and encouraging them with the love of Jesus.

And maybe those people won’t bow the knee and cry holy while we’re around in their life. But according to Jesus, it’s not over until the harvest comes. So, hold on to hope and wait until that day when He sorts us all out. And in the meantime, embrace the mess. The church won’t be perfectly pure. Our relationships will still have trouble. But in the end, Jesus will establish all of His work, and the work of the enemy will be destroyed.

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” He did this through the cross and His resurrection.

Communion

Questions for Discussion

What are some things that make your life beautiful? What are some things that make your life messy?

When we look at our church, to what degree are we bearing fruit in Christ and fulfilling our priesthood? How could it be better?

What do we learn about Jesus in our passage?

What are the ways Jesus is working around us?

Are there some small changes you see Him making that could grow into something much bigger?

What are the ways the devil is working to oppose Jesus in our lives or the lives of people around us?

What does Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13:36-43 teach us about how that gets sorted out in the end? What does that mean for our lives now?

What do we learn about ourselves in our passage?

How will you respond to this passage this week?

Who is someone you can share this passage with this week?