Matthew 13:24-30 & 13:36-43

Kingdom of Heaven is Like....

Part 1

(Parable of the Tares)

We learned in last week’s study that only those with good and noble hearts, who receive the Word with patience and keep it, will bear the intended fruit in their lives. Thus the "mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" will be received only by some, and not all. This truth was illustrated further when Jesus taught about the parable of;

1. “The Wheat And Tares"... (Matthew 13:24-30) 

1. Jesus' purpose is clearly to teach about the principles related to "The Kingdom of Heaven"

1. For he begins with "The kingdom of heaven is like..."

2. Therefore Jesus intends to reveal principles related to the "rule of God" as it would soon be manifested in the Person of His Son, “Jesus Christ”

2. Like "The Parable Of The Sower", this parable is one of the few which Jesus' explains

1. The explanation was given in response to the disciples' asking (Matthew 13:36)

2. Jesus gives us the explanation in(Matthew 13:37-43)

3. For the study I focus on Jesus' explanation of the parable, then draw some truths from it.

2. The Parable Explained by Jesus 

1. Who is the Sower? 

1. Jesus, who in His preaching went about proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

Matthew 4:23

2. In Daniel Jesus is identified in a vision as one who received a kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14)

3. Who, after His ascension claims to have received authority (Revelation 2:26-27; 3:21)

2. What is the Field?

1. The World, into which the Son of Man (Jesus) came to sow the seed

2. Jesus exercises authority over HIS Kingship, the World Matthew 28:18; 1 Peter 3:22; Revelation 1:5)

3. Who is the good Seed?

1. The Wheat, or the sons of the kingdom

1. Those who gladly accept Jesus as their Lord and King, submitting to Him freely

2. Like HIS disciples, we are those who observe all that HE commands (Matthew 28:19-20)

2. When compared with "The Parable Of The Sower", we see mixed metaphors.

1. The disciples are those who constitute the "good soil", in which the seed has been sown as in “The Parable Of The Sower”

3. However, in this parable, we the disciples are the "good seed" 

1. Thus, when one receives the "seed" of the kingdom (which is the Word of God),  we become the "good seed" (we become a son of the kingdom)

4. Who are the Tares?

1. "The tares are the sons of the wicked one"

1. Those who are described as those who practice lawlessness

2. These are those who are in our churches, we think they are Christians, but they are not, because are not submitting to the LORD’s authority now following HIS will

3. Their actions prove they were never of us John 

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

(1 John 2:19)

4. We cannot know the hearts of men, but GOD does, and one day HE will weed out the deceivers like weeds in a garden to be burned in the fire where the fire is never quenched and gnashing of the teeth (Matthew 13:42)

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,

(Matthew 13:41)

5. Who is the Enemy?

1. The enemy is the one who sowed the bad seeds

2. The same one who tempted Christ in the desert

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

(Matthew 4:1)

3. He tried to tempt Christ and failed (Matthew 4:1-11)

4. He will now try to destroy the efforts of Christ to save our souls

5. He will do all he can to stop Christ from winning souls for HIS Kingdom

6. When is the Harvest?

1. The harvest is the end of the age in which…

1. The gospel of the kingdom is being preached

2. People who receive the gospel can become the "sons of  the kingdom"

 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

(Colossians 1:13)

2. The “age" that will end with a great "harvest", identified elsewhere as the glorious coming and appearance of our Lord (Matthew 26:31-32; 1 Timothy 6:14-15)

7. Who are the Reapers?

1. The Reapers are GOD’s Angels

1. These angels will accompany Christ when He returns

and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

 (2 Thessalonians 1: 7-9)

2. The angels will separate Christ’s good servants from the wicked servants 

 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just,

(Matthew 13:49)

3. Now Jesus stresses the main points of HIS parable

1. (Matthew 13:40)

1. The problem of the "tares" will not be fully addressed until the "harvest"

2. This is done so as not to hurt the growth of the “good seed”, (Matthew 13:28-30)

2. (Matthew 13:41) 

1. At the end of the age that the Son of Man (Jesus) will resolve this problem

2. With His angels He will "gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness" The wicked ones

3. (Matthew 13:42)

1. Those gathered out of His kingdom will be properly dealt with!

1. Those "that offend" and who "practice lawlessness" will be

2. Cast into the "furnace of fire"

3. Experience "wailing and gnashing of teeth"

2. The punishment of the wicked is a recurring theme in several of the parables.

1. The Parable Of The Dragnet (Matthew 13:49-50)

2. The Parable Of The Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:34-35)

3. And as described in the Judgment Scene, Jesus talks of a place prepared for the wicked (Matthew 25:41-46)

1. A proper proclamation of the gospel must come with a warning to those who do not receive Jesus as their LORD and Savior, that eternal separation from GOD is the consequence

4. (Matthew 13:43a)

1. The "righteous" will prevail in Christ Jesus (the good seed, the sons of the kingdom)

2. After the harvest they will "shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of our Father"!

4. Jesus ends by telling us 

 "He who has ears to hear, let him hear"

(Matthew 13:43b)

1. He is warning us to listen, and hear what HE is saying

1. If we are dull of hearing, and miss the warning, we could be in the fire, instead of in the kingdom to come

2. For those willing to listen, there are several truths to be gleaned from this parable as it relates to the kingdom of heaven, the church, and to our personal lives

2. Christ is longsuffering, so that we can grow

1. Why does Christ suffer so long with the wicked around us?

2. Why does He not come today and judge the "sons of the wicked one?"

1. To give you and me more time to grow!

2.  Peter tells us the Lord'sis not slow as we would think, but rather GOD is slow so that none will perish (2 Peter 3-9)

3. So while Christ is certainly desirous that everyone will come to repentance, He has a special interest in those "sons of the kingdom" who are still growing!