In Matthew 12, Jesus passes sentence upon the Jews, for He was come to gather fruit, and had found none. In chapter 13 He must needs sow. He no longer recognizes the Jews as Jews; He sows for all, Jews and Gent lies. The six other parables present us with the forms taken by the kingdom of heaven in its various phases.
The six parables form a whole; the first three speak of the Church in the fullest sense of the word, of the Church as a thing seen by men. The last three speak of what the Church is inwardly, as hidden in the world and even in the kingdom.
1. The bad seed in the midst of the good. Tares—error disseminated.
2. The great tree. Hierarchical system of Rome, Greece, England, Protestants, etc.
3. Leaven. Diffusive doctrine, which, spreading everywhere, in the end leaves nothing but corruption.
4. Hidden treasure. The Lord Jesus gave Himself for its purchase. He values it; for Him the Church is a treasure. Every Christian whose thoughts are as his Master's can appreciate the Church.
5. Pearl of great price. The moral beauty of the Church, which is discerned only by Jesus and by those who are spiritual of the children of God.
6. The net. The draft of fish presents Christendom.
Those who know how to discern between the good and the bad ash are not men, but angels. It should be noticed that it is never men (children of God) who are to be occupied with the cutting off of the wicked. Another thing altogether is the means of doing this. Their occupation is with that which is good that they ought to discern. It is the duty of the angels to be occupied with the bad and to take them and put them apart for the judgment. The angels are occupied always with the bad, men with the good.
“Kingdom of heaven" is found only in Matthew. When the Lord is come, the kingdom must become the kingdom of God; it was so in a sense, during His life on earth, but now that the Messiah is rejected, the kingdom can only exist in mystery, therefore it is called the kingdom of heaven.
The kingdom of God gives the idea of the government of God in the hands of the Messiah.
The kingdom of heaven is the government of God in the hands of the Messiah while He is in heaven.
G. V. Wigram