The Deciding Value of Jesus, Matthew 13:44-58

In chapter 13 Matthew records a shift in Jesus’ teaching. Beginning in Matthew 13:1-23 Jesus begins teaching in parables.

James Montgomery Boice defines a parable as:

“A parable is a story from real life or a real-life situation from which a moral or spiritual truth is drawn.” J.M. Boice

This means that the parables are not real stories about real people. This is important to note because too often people teach them as if they are historical accounts. There wasn’t a prodigal son that Jesus reminded everyone about. There wasn’t a farmer Jesus was referring too. In the case of today there wasn’t a specific merchant Jesus was talking about. Through stories about real-life situations Jesus teaches a primary truth that His followers can understand, and that those who reject him struggle to discern.

A few things to remember as we look at the three parables in Matthew 13:44-58.

1. The emphasis of a parable is almost always on the end of the parable.

2. Parables are not allegories or historical accounts.

3. Parables are not deeper than they read.

4. The point of a parable is directly related to its context, and aimed at those who are hearing it.

This means to rightly understand the parable you have to make sure you understand the point Jesus was making to those who heard it in person. This is why the context of the parables are so important, and why the writers of the gospels provide the setting and situation for us.

In Matthew 12 Jesus is teaching to a crowd in the house. Then he moves outside the house and begins teaching to a larger crowd at the shore. After teaching the crowds Jesus goes back inside the house and continues teaching with his disciples. It’s at this point that we find Jesus teaching these parables.

The three parables we are looking at today were taught to the smaller crowd of His disciples. In Matthew 13:37-43 Jesus explains that the parable he told about the wheat and the weeds.

Read Matthew 13:37–43 (CSB)

“37 He replied, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world; and the good seed—these are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all who cause sin and those guilty of lawlessness., 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Let anyone who has ears listen.”

In this parable He told the disciples that the enemy, the devil, is actively sowing seed in and around His kingdom. The seed of the enemy looks a lot like the good seed, the wheat until the fruit begins to show. But, the main focus isn’t that they can look the same, but that there is a different outcome for the good and the bad seed.

The bad seed are those who don’t believe in Christ, repent of their sins, and follow Jesus. They are dead in their sins and unrighteousness. The good seed are those who believe in Christ, repent of their sins, and follow Jesus. Those who trust in Christ are saved from sin and receive the righteousness of Christ. God credits their faith as righteousness and they are gathered into His kingdom for all eternity.

The bad seed receive the just punishment for their sin and rejection of Christ and are condemned to hell for all eternity.

Jesus defines His kingdom by faith, not by your father.

This truth is a big piece of the context of these parables. In Matthew 12:46-50 Jesus declares that those who receive Him, do the will of the Father, are His family.

According to Jesus the kingdom of God is determined by faith in Him. The reason that faith in Christ is the deciding factor for His kingdom is the fact that Jesus is the fulfillment of all of God’s promises.

Like it says in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “20 For every one of God’s promises is “Yes” in him. Therefore, through him we also say “Amen” to the glory of God.”

The Pharisees, leaders of the Jews, were teaching that the kingdom of God was all about the family tree of Abraham. They misunderstood all that God was doing and promising to Abraham. Genesis 17:1–6 (CSB) says, “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless. 2 I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: 4 “As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you.”

God’s promise to Abraham was to be fulfilled through a son, a descendant. The promise was made and Isaac was born. But the promise was fully completed in Christ. But, the promise that God made to Abraham was not just for those who came from the line of Abraham… the promise God made was that the line of Abraham would be a line of faith.

Paul, a Pharisee who was saved by faith in Christ explains this in great detail. It’s important that we note the depth of connection between everything Paul learned as a Pharisee and the way it makes sense through Jesus.

Jesus is the key to the understanding that we have of the Gospel. Look at what Paul says in Romans 4 about Abraham’s faith and the promise of God to save through Christ.

We see in Romans 4:13 that the promise God made would be inherited through faith and not through the law.

Romans 4:13 (CSB)

13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

Because the promise is by faith we understand that salvation is a gift of God’s grace. This means that the righteousness you receive from God is undeserved. It is a righteousness that you receive, not achieve.

Look at Romans 4:16 (CSB)

16 This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants—not only to the one who is of the law but also to the one who is of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all.

The promise God made to Abraham was not just for him. The promise God made was not just to the nation of Israel. The promise God made was to everyone who believes that Jesus is Lord and that He was raised from the dead.

Romans 4:22–25 (CSB)

22 Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness., 23 Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, 24 but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

With this understanding of righteousness we are able to see that Jesus’ parable about the wheat and the weeds being sorted out in the end is about those who are declared righteous by faith in Christ and those who are judged as unrighteous because of their sin and rejection of Christ.

With that in mind, we look at Matthew 13:44-58… in particular we look at the three parables Jesus tells to His disciples in the house.

Read Matthew 13:44–46 (CSB)

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it. 47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish, 48 and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous, 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

In the first two of these parables we see what faith in Christ looks like.Jesus uses two examples/situations to demonstrate the common characteristic of everyone who belongs to His kingdom.

Matthew 13:44–46 (CSB)

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.

The two situations Jesus uses reveal two different types of people who are saved.

The person who is unexpectedly confronted with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The person who is looking for God and finds Him through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We don’t all come to Christ looking for Him, but everyone who has found Him could do nothing else but have Him.

This is how God works… when your eyes are opened to the truth of the gospel, you can’t do anything else but surrender to God and follow Jesus. When God grips the heart of a believer there is nothing that can deter you from Him.

Alexander Maclaren made the point

“There are two ways of finding; there is only one way of getting.” - Alexander Maclaren

Those who teach that there many ways to be saved are wrong. There is only one way to be saved and it is by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said in John 14:6 (CSB), “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

All roads don’t lead to home. Other religions are not paths to God. You cannot be right with God apart from faith in Jesus Christ. And you cannot have faith in Jesus Christ apart from the actual name of Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 (CSB) says, “12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

Now, it can and should be said in different languages. In fact, when the truth was first spoken it wasn’t spoken in English!

The truth that are two ways of finding but only one way of getting doesn’t mean that other religions lead to Christ. It means that some people are seeking for the truth and they find it in Jesus Christ. But, the key is that they are still only saved by faith in Jesus. It’s not the same to believe that someone can be saved by Jesus with a sincere faith in something or someone else. No, that it is not all what I am espousing today. There is only one name and His name is Jesus.

There are those who are saved by faith in Christ because they have sought the truth and God has found them in their search. There are also those who are, or were, not looking and they have been graciously saved by faith in Jesus Christ. This person was confronted with the truth of the gospel and could not help but believe and follow Jesus with the rest of his or her life. There are a myriad of scenarios in which God has intervened in the godless life of a man or woman to save them. But, regardless of whether or not a person was looking or not, there is no salvation apart from faith in Jesus Christ and the grace of God.

Jesus defines His kingdom by faith, not by your father.

And the response of everyone who has faith is the same, they treasure Christ above all else.

Faith in Jesus belongs to those who see Jesus for the treasure that He really is.

They will do anything to have Christ because they can’t live without Christ

There is no salvation for those who reject the true value of Christ.

Matthew 16:26–27 (CSB)

“26 For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each according to what he has done.”

Satan and the world would tell you that there is great value in the world. Satan will twist the gospel and tell you that Jesus is the way to have more of the world. But, the truth is that Jesus is the treasure that is worth losing everything else to gain. Jesus is the pearl that is worth more than all the other ones combined.

Jesus is worthy of everything you have and everything you are because everything else is worth less.

Luke 9:23–25 (CSB) says, “23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it. 25 For what does it benefit someone if he gains the whole world, and yet loses or forfeits himself?”

To follow Jesus you must let go of everything and everyone and hold fast to Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t say that you need to be willing to let go of everything you have to have Him.

Faith is the forsaking of everything else to have Jesus and whatever comes with belonging to Him

Jesus says you have to let go of everything to have Him. I am afraid this distinction has many people aimed at splitting hell wide open.

What I mean by that distinction is there is difference between being willing to give up everything if you have too, and giving up everything to have Jesus and whatever else that comes with following Jesus.

Jesus isn’t the treasure you are willing to have… Jesus is the treasure that you have because you have let go of everything else.

Have you let go of everything else? Or, are you willing to let go of everything else if it ever comes to it. I know it seems extreme, but I promise you it’s not. Paul said it this way in Philippians 3:8–10 (CSB), “8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death,”

The kingdom of heaven is made up of those who consider everything to be a loss in view of knowing Christ.

Faith in Christ makes space for suffering because Jesus is worth it

Faith in Christ makes space for sacrifice because Jesus is worth it

If your faith doesn’t allow for suffering, sacrifice, and loss in this world then you don’t know the treasure that is Jesus.

Paul says that there is a surpassing value in knowing Jesus Christ as Lord. This surpassing value is the righteousness that you receive by faith in Jesus Christ. This surpassing value is the joy that comes from knowing God and being knowing by Him. This surpassing value is rooted in the grace of God and it is known through the mercy of God and it results in the glory of God.

The surpassing value of knowing Christ as Lord is the eternal life that you receive as an inheritance from the faith to all those who have received the righteousness of Christ.

Faith in Jesus belongs to those who see Jesus for the treasure that He really is.

This is the common characteristic of the two examples Jesus gives. The man who wasn’t necessarily looking for Jesus and the man who was looking for Jesus both sell everything they own to have Jesus.

In the third parable we see the truth that ...

Eternity with God depends completely on the gift of God’s grace by faith in Jesus Christ.

We know that Ephesians 2:8–9 (CSB)says, “8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast."

This truth hits home when you read the parable of the wheat and the weeds and now the parable of the net.

It helps to understand the sorting process that Jesus uses in Matthew 13:47-50.

“47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish, 48 and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous, 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

When the net was brought in the fish had to be sorted according to what was clean and what was unclean. A simple way to understand is that the fish with scales were clean, and the fish without scales were unclean. The fish without scales would be like a catfish here in the states. They don’t have scales, they spend their time on the bottom of the lake or river eating trash. As a result they were unclean. So, when the fishermen brought in a haul of fish they had to sort them out according to what was acceptable and unacceptable or clean and unclean.

The point that Jesus makes is that in the end the world will be sorted and judged according to what is clean and unclean, or as we see in Scripture the righteous and the unrighteous.

The righteous are those who are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. Their faith in credited to them as righteousness. In the end of days they will be gathered up together to spend eternity with God.

The evil ones are the unrighteous. Just as the unclean fish are thrown out, the unrighteous will be cast into an eternal hell.

Like we said last week:

Hell is real, terrible, and deserved.

Hell is the place where those without faith in God receive what their sin deserves.

Hell is not a place where the devil punishes souls. Hell is not a place where you live a godless lifestyle.

Hell is a place where you are punished by God and receive His wrath poured out on your sin forever.

We don’t say it enough, but the truth is that,

You are saved by faith in Jesus Christ from the wrath of God by the grace of God for the glory of God.

God doesn’t save you from eternity with the devil into a forever life with Him. You are saved from an eternity under the grueling, excruciating, terrible, and relentless wrath of God to enjoy the merciful, satisfying, joy-giving, and glorious love of God.

What about you?

1. Have you considered the truth of hell?

Hell is real, terrible, and deserved

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned…”

Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death…”

There is a final day, there is an end to the patience of God and day when the judgment of God begins. Today is not that day, but it’s coming.

The consequence of sin is hell, and hell is not an alternative approach to eternity… hell is worse than anything we can describe, and the words we have been given to illustrate it are terrible, awful, and horrendous.

Friend, we don’t want you to go to hell, but more than that we want you to have Jesus.

2. Is Jesus the treasure you have given up everything else have?

(Or is Jesus the treasure you are trying to have without giving up everything to get it?)

2 Practical Ways to Treasure Christ:

1. Hold material things and earthly plans loosely.

“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” - Martin Luther

2. Put God first, others second, and yourself last

If you treasure Christ over all things it will show in your relationships, your bank account, and your planner.

Do you treasure Christ by putting God first

Do you treasure Christ by putting others above yourself?

Practically speaking a God first, others second, and self last life is the fruit of treasuring Christ above all else. When you have Christ you can live for God and not yourself. When you have Christ you can serve others because you have Jesus. When you have Christ you don’t have to worry about yourself, because you know that He is taking care of you.