"Shine Like the Sun" Matthew 13b Aug 25 2024

[Matthew 13:24-43]

Intro and Scripture

Glad you’re with us

We’ll be looking at the next part of Matt 13 today

At 58 verses, it is quite a long chapter

Last time - we looked at the Parable of the Sower

Today:

The Parable of the Weeds

Parables of the Mustard Seed and Leaven

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

Today: The Parable of the Weeds

Before we get to that, here is our scripture reading for today

Look at Matt 13, beginning in verse 41:

Matthew 13:41–43 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, 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.

(pray…)

Parable of the Weeds

The title of my sermon today is “Shine Like the Sun”

Which is what Jesus said about what will happen to Christians in the last days

We are in the midst of the third discourse of Jesus in Matt - the parables of Jesus

Last week: The Parable of the Sower

Jesus gave us that parable - then he explained why he taught in parables - then he explained the parable to us

Today: The Parable of the Weeds, and some other very short parables - and then Jesus explains the Parable of the Weeds

Jesus used the parables to teach - and his parables reveal the secrets of the kingdom

But he qualified his teaching by saying that only God has given understanding to the secrets of his kingdom to those he chooses

In other words - a true understanding of the teaching of Jesus means to respond in faith - and not an academic understanding

And the very faith in God that we have comes from God - if you have faith in God, Jesus says you are blessed (v. 16)

We need to be cautious in our interpretation of these parables

First: as Jesus taught these parables, we need to be aware of the audience he was speaking to

Several times, the Bible refers to the fact that Jesus was speaking to his disciples, and to “the crowds”

Reminder: When Jesus walked the Earth, the OT Mosaic law was still very much in place

Even though the gospels are in the NT

For example, Jesus would heal people and then send them to show themselves before the priest

Jesus taught in parables to the crowds - but to the disciples, he explained what they meant

He explained to them the meaning of the Parable of the Sower - and today: The Parable of the Weeds

Jesus did this all under the Mosaic Law - but his life and his death and resurrection fulfilled the Law and led to the Dispensation of Grace we now enjoy

Further - his disciples were the ones who helped start The Church Age at Pentecost - and we are still part of that Church which has been handed down through the ages

Jesus was making the way for this new age of grace - he was paving the way for his Church

But more than that, he was revealing the true nature of his Father’s kingdom - which existed then, and now, and forever more

The parables show us the past - they minister to us now - and in some cases, they reveal what will happen in the future

It’s not a stretch for us to take away meaningful applications from these parables - and apply them to our lives today

If there’s no application, then we’re just marveling at interesting stories

Here’s the Parable of the Weeds - we’re in Matthew 13 read with me, starting in verse 24

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.” ’ ”

Recap:

So in this parable, a man sows good seed in his field

But the enemy comes while the servants are sleeping and plants weeds among the good seed - and then the enemy takes off

So then the good seed grows up and produces grain - but there’s also weeds among the wheat!

So the servants go their master and say, “I thought you planted wheat!! What’s up with these weeds”

And the master replies, “Oh yeah, that looks like the work of the enemy”

And the servants are like, “So do you want us to go out and gather the weeds to get rid of them”

And the master says, “You better not do that now - you might accidentally gather up some wheat - just let everything mature until the harvest - then I’ll have the reapers gather the weeds first and burn it. Then they’ll gather the wheat and put it in my barn.”

Parables of the Mustard Seed and Leaven

We’re going to come back to that in a minute

But in the very next verse, Jesus tells us more short parables

Jesus now gives us the Parables of the Mustard Seed and Leaven

Beginning in verse 31:

Matthew 13:31–33 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.” 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 does he mean about all of this?

It’s pretty obvious

In the kingdom Jesus is talking about

In this kingdom - good seeds are planted

We are the good seeds

And out of those seeds comes fruit

Not because of the seeds, but because of the Sower

Jesus is saying that his true followers will produce in his kingdom

Just like a tiny mustard seed

And like a small amount of leaven that made the flour grow

To look at this further, a tiny mustard seed was planted in a man’s field

It was the smallest of all seeds

But it grew larger than all other garden plants

Even to the point that it becomes home to many birds

And the woman who hides that leaven in the flour

The kingdom of heaven produces

As the NT scholar, Craig Keener says, “Jesus’ kingdom invades the world in a hidden way.”

We should all produce good works in love

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

Then we come back to the Parable of the Weeds

And just like in the Parable of the Sower, Jesus explains to his disciples what is the meaning of this parable:

He says that in this parable, the sower is the Son of Man (himself)

The field represents the world - and the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom

Technically, Jesus calls us “good seed” - and what is produced is wheat - later to produce grain

The weeds are the sons of the evil one

The enemy is the devil

Clear enough so far?

This parable related to the people back then, but it also relates to us

We are the sons of the kingdom - who were planted by Jesus, by his grace

We now live in this world - but we also live among non-believers who are under the authority of the devil

This is our current status

Look at how Jesus explains this parable, starting in verse 36:

Matthew 13:36–38 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,

But then Jesus includes future prophecy, which we have yet to see

Verse 39:

Matthew 13:39–43 ESV

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.

Last week, we discovered the sower was us - as we sow the gospel into others

This parable is different - the sower is Christ! Notice the seed is “good seed” and that seed is us!

We are the “sons of the kingdom”

Remember that Jesus taught them what his kingdom was like - and what it will be like

The church is part of that kingdom - but it’s more accurate for Jesus to teach on his kingdom and not the “church” for a couple of reasons:

He had yet to establish his church

For Jesus to refer to the “kingdom of heaven” is very on point - it only includes the ones who are faithful and righteous - those who are the sons of the kingdom

And we are only righteous because of our faith in him through grace

Only the faithful are part of this kingdom

The church is part of that kingdom - but not everyone who sits in a church pew is part of God’s kingdom

That’s why it’s better for him to teach on the “kingdom of heaven,” rather than say church

Just because you’re a member of a church - doesn’t mean you have faith is Jesus

If you have faith in Jesus you are part of his kingdom and you’ll obey his command to be part of his church

But even his true church has people in it who are not faithful - only God knows

Church doesn’t get you saved - only by having faith in the blood of Jesus saves you

Part of this parable is true right now - part of it has yet to be fulfilled

The non-elect will be thrown into the lake of fire - and God’s elect will rest for all eternity in heaven

So, the picture is of us right now in the world - the righteous, we are among the weeds

That’s the present picture - we are in the world - we are the sons of the kingdom - we are the righteous

And yet, there are weeds all around us

The question is - what do we do with this parable?

There is no imperative in this teaching - I see nothing in which he’s explicitly instructing us to do something

It merely sets the scene - we are in the world among the “weeds:” - we’re among the non-Christians - those who have not placed their faith in Jesus

Application and Close

So what do we do with this parable?

Here we are - in the world’s field - Jesus planted us here as his “good seed”

And we are among weeds - those who have no faith in Jesus

First - there are two mistakes the church can make from this parable:

1.) We try to live far away from the weeds - that we completely separate any association from weeds...

2.) We carelessly live too close to the weeds - in order to please them, we try and look like the weeds...

Think of last week’s parable - the Parable of the Sower

Here’s the quick summary:

We are the sowers - who spread the good news of Jesus

The seeds of the gospel fall on various soils - some are bad soils, but some of the seeds fall on good soil

The seeds on good soil grow up and produce more sowers who, in turn, share the gospel with more people

And so on

Do you suppose that maybe it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine that the “sons of the kingdom” in the world probably need to influence and share their faith with the “sons of the evil one”?

Why else are we in the same field?

Can I suggest that even though Jesus is the true Sower - that we need to sow seeds of the gospel to the “sons of the evil one”?

(Illustration:)

I want to close with an illustration

Growing up in SoCal in the 60s and 70s 15 mins from Disneyland...

What do you suppose is the greatest ride at Disneyland?

In my opinion -

The greatest ride at Disneyland is...the tram ride from the parking lot to the main entrance...

I say it’s the greatest ride because of the excitement and anticipation of the day ahead

The worst ride is the tram ride at midnight from the exit back to the parking lot...

Talk about seeing the difference in people’s faces!

The first tram ride is full of happiness and expectation

The last tram ride - everyone is exhausted - they’re legs hurt -

Parents have been carrying a sleeping toddler on their shoulder for the past two hours - and they can’t wait to find their car and drive to their hotel, and crash for the night

Right now, the whole world is on a tram ride

Some are going to hell

Some are going to a place that’s a billion times better than Disneyland

And it never ends

And your legs never get tired

The world is watching us on the tram ride

They’re not quite sure why we’re so excited

Every now and then, they’ll ask, “Hey, where are you going?”

What are you going to tell them?

You’re standing in the field with weeds

They’re bound for hell

But you will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father

And they have the opportunity to go where you’re going

Are you prepared to plant the seed of the Gospel?

(Pray…)

Communion

Matthew 26:26–28 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.