Matthew 13:33-44
Matthew 13:33. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. This is a general profession of doctrine that leavens all Christendom. Leaven is generally used for evil, but here it is its effect of permeating the whole profession that is before the mind of the Spirit, and judgment is not mentioned. The purpose of the parable is to state the fact of the general existence of the external profession of the name of Christ, leaving it to the spiritual discernment of the child of God to judge of that which so exists.
It is not difficult to see how evil is associated with these two parables. The birds of the air lodging under the branches of the tree, lead us to think of the fowls that took away the good seed sown in Matthew 13:4, and interpreted by the Lord to mean “the wicked one” (Matt. 13:19). And the general appearance of Christendom today is that of a corrupt and corrupting mass.
These three parables then, are the kingdom as viewed on earth by man in its external appearance. A harvest spoiled by the mixture of good and bad. The tree — a great human and political power on the earth.
And the leaven — a general profession of teaching of the name of Christ, without regard to individual state. It is not faith nor life, but a religion it is Christendom.
Matthew 13:34-35. Thus far this teaching is in parables, and to the multitude, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. We shall see that it is to the disciples who follow Him, and are in private with Him, that the interpretation belongs.
Matthew 13:36. It is at this point that the Lord sent the multitude away and went into the house, and there, in privacy and intimacy, unfolds to His disciples the kingdom according to the thoughts arid mind of God. What a place of privilege the believer is seen in here: It is in the secret of His presence that we learn His mind, and to look at things as He looks at them. It is to the disciples He reveals the true character — the object — of the kingdom of heaven, and the judgment of that which is evil in it, so that all in it might be consistent with the character and heart of God.
His disciples say to Him, “Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered, “He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world (that is, it goes outside of Israel); the good seed are the children of the kingdom (it produced children suited to the kingdom, its heirs), but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the harvest is the end of the world (or age); the reapers are the angels.”
The Son of Man sowed the good seed; the wicked one, the devil sowed the tares. The children of the kingdom were born of the Word, but the devil, by his sowing, brought in all sorts of doctrines that produced tares (imitation wheat). There is the mixture of the two, but it will not continue forever; the wheat will be gathered into the barn, safely housed; while the tares, having been already bound into bundles (Matt. 13:30), will be burned in the fire. So shall it be at the end of the age — the Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His (the Son of Man’s) kingdom, all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
When the Lord Jesus comes for His saints, (1 Thess. 4:16-17) all the believers are taken up — both the dead in Christ and the living. Afterward the Holy Spirit works in Jews and Gentiles, and many believers are thus found waiting for Christ, as King, to set up His kingdom in power. But the wicked are gathered out from them, by the angels, and cast into the furnace of fire, where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. We see this again in Matthew 13:49-50. The Son of Man’s kingdom is on earth when He claims it, “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father.” These are the heavenly saints in glory with Christ, the true Sun of Righteousness. He has received from His Father the kingdom, and will have His heavenly saints in the glory with Him.
In the following parables we have what is precious to the Lord in the kingdom. Not its outward appearance, as man would see it, as in the first three.
Matthew 13:44, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.”
A man has found treasure hid in a field. The man is Christ. It is not the sinner finding Christ. The sinner has nothing to sell. The treasure He finds is not Israel; it is a new treasure to be possessed when Israel was set aside. It is something of great value to Him, for which He parts with all He has, and buys the field for the treasure He knew it contained. How much it cost Him! All His glory as the Messiah was laid aside that He might do the work of redemption. He surrendered all up that He might have us. It is the work of Christ that is spoken of here. The field was not His object, but He bought it. Thus Christ has purchased the world; it is His by purchase, but it is His people in it that are the hidden treasure, that now He can claim as His own. It is really the church as the special object before Him — that which His heart sought in this world, according to the counsels and mind of God. It is they who know and enjoy this full redemption through His work on the cross. What grace to wretched sinners this is! He emptied Himself to redeem us — the people whom He loved — all else was laid aside for this.
(To be continued).