Jesus’ teachings are possibly most famous for His parables. Parables are essentially illustrative stories taken from ordinary life situations that His original listeners would easily understand to make His spiritual teachings clear. Matthew 13, for example, carries several such parables. Many more are scattered throughout the Gospels.
The parable of the sower
Matthew 13:3-8 “And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. “Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. “Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. “And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
Jesus later explained this parable to His disciples that the seed is the word of God. When a teacher or preacher share the word of God with men, the kind of heart that men have will determine what will happen, just like the kind of soil will determine the outcome for a seed. God’s word will come to some men’s hearts, but their hard hearts will not receive the word at all. God’s words will fall on some hearts that receive it quickly, but almost as quickly turn away from it, because of hardship or men’s disapproval. God’s words fall on other kinds of hearts that receive it, but which get chocked out because of the weeds of materialism, distraction, or other interests. Lastly, God’s words will fall on good hearts that receive His will and change (bear fruit) according to His will.
Interestingly enough, this parable is the only one that Jesus Himself gave a name “the parable of the sower”. We might have named it the parable of the soils, but Jesus’ name seems to place the emphasis of the parable on the sower, thus, perhaps the main thrust of the parable is to encourage the teacher or preacher of God’s word not to become discouraged, because the fault more often lies in the heart of the hearer than in the skill of the messenger.
The parable of the tares
Matthew 13:24-30 “Jesus presented another parable to 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 tares among the wheat, and went away. “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. “The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ “But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ‘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.”’””
This parable is primarily about God’s sovereign decision to wait until the end to judge men, specifically those in the church. The church is the field, the good seed is sown, but the enemy sows bad seed in it, too. Wheat in the ancient world didn’t grow in rows, but like grass, so the good wheat and the bad tares were growing side by side with roots entangled. Why not eliminate the tares early? Because “while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. When men may be willing to “pull the trigger” on judgment, God is willing to be patient. Peter expresses this idea in 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” Men will sin, but then sometimes turn to God later in sincere repentance. There is no doubt that the unrepentant will be punished, but God will give everyone a fair chance to turn and be saved.
The parable of the mustard seed
Matthew 13:31, 32 “He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES.””
This parable was an encouragement to His disciples and apostles. The kingdom of heaven, the church, Christianity, would begin small, with only a handful of followers, but would grow to spread across the whole world. Never let small beginnings fool you.
The parable of the leaven
Matthew 13:33 “He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.””
Leaven is what makes bread rise, soft, and flavorful. But only a little is required. Only a pinch is put into a lump of dough, but as the dough in kneaded the leaven is spread everywhere, and one is able to see the results in a leavened loaf. The kingdom of heaven, Jesus said, is like leaven, which is small at first, but has great effects in the world (the lump of dough).
The parable of the hidden treasure
Matthew 13:44 ““The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
In a world that was without reliable banking systems, it was not uncommon for people to bury their valuables in their fields. This happened especially often during times of war (a common occurrence in Israel. As armies moved through they often looted anything of value; so if you wanted to keep your valuables, you often buried them. However, sometimes the owners died and never came back for the treasure they’d buried. If you discovered a treasure, the law was that if you owned the land, you could claim the treasure; if you didn’t own the land, you couldn’t claim it. This story is of a man plowing a field that was not his own, perhaps as a share cropper or field hand. As he plowed the field his plow hits something hard. When he stops to move it, he discovers it is a wonderful treasure; but he can’t claim it, unless he owns the land. The plowman covers the treasure again, and joyfully sells everything he has, in order to gather enough money to buy the land. Why does he sell everything joyfully? Because he knows that the treasure he is gaining is much greater than the sum of everything he owns. This story was told to underscore that while following Jesus will have its costs, any cost is worth the treasure we’ll receive in the end.
The parable of the pearl of great price
Matthew 13:45, 46 ““Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
This parable is very similar to the hidden treasure above. The merchant joyfully sells everything he has in order to obtain the pearl of great price. Why? Because the pearl is so valuable. Likewise, whatever loss we suffer as a Christian, whatever persecution and suffering we may have to endure for the sake of Jesus, whatever sacrifices we need to make to obtain Heaven will pale in comparison to Heaven. The apostle Paul later put it this way in Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
The parable of the drag net
Matthew 13:47-50 ““Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
This parable is very similar in meaning to the parable of the tares, because it too teaches that the net of the Gospel will bring in “good fish” and “bad fish”. But God’s judgment at the end of time will separate the good from the bad.
Things to think about
- What kind of “soil” do you think your heart is?
- What “price” are you willing to pay to obtain the hidden treasure or the pearl of great price—salvation?