More Parables

Parables

“Jesus Set Before them”

Presenting another parable

So they can wrestle with, not to be spoon fed

W/O explanation, These Parables are

Elusive

Challenging

Unsettling

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like”

What is the Nature of the Church

What is the Nature of the Faith

What is the Character of Jesus in the Role of the King

vv.34-35

Psalm 78:1–4 “Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.”

Psalm is recounting the Good works of God in the history of Israel.

Christ is the ultimate fulfillment in the function and responsibility of the Psalmist.

Parables are revealing Spiritual Truths, Godly wisdom and teaching to those who will wrestle with and apply it appropriately

Response requires action

Hear the words and understand the story - but It ought to move the feet

Tares Among Wheat

Explanation Comes Later

Sower remains the same:

Matthew 13:37 “And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,”

His men fall asleep - Enemy sows tares

Tares - Darnel

Weed that resembles wheat until its too late to tell them apart

Poisonous

base of the plant - into the root becomes entangled

vv. 28-29

Answer:

Matthew 13:30 “‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ””

Matthew 3:12 ““His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.””

As a Disciple of Christ:

Don’t fall asleep on the Job

We have a Job to do for our Master

As in Parable of the Sower - liberally spreading the Gospel

God uses men to seek His Sheep

Judgment belongs to the Lord

Deuteronomy 32:35 “‘Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, In due time their foot will slip; For the day of their calamity is near, And the impending things are hastening upon them.’”

Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”

All things work in God’s time

Galatians 4:4–5 “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

Interacting with the Parable as intended

As a discerning disciple of Christ

The Mustard Seed

Mustard Seed - Smallest known seed in this region

Becomes a Tree!

Allusion to Daniel 4

Remember Babylon!

Same God tears down Kingdoms, builds them up again

Though this faith is small now, the Kingdom will grow as the Gospel is effective

What about now?

The Leaven

The yeast that will rise the whole lump

Leaven is usually an analogy for sin - this is how sin works

So, too, is our Faith

Understand:

Theres no room for you

God sows the seed

even amongst sin and evil

Remember:

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

God Prepares the Harvest

Ephesians 2:4–6 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”

Grows it into the Tree

Genesis 26:2–5 “The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.””