Matthew 13:1
Outline:
I. \\#Matt 1:1-3:17\\ The Presentation of the King
II. \\#4:1-7:29\\ The Person of the King
III. \\#8:1-11:1\\ The Power of the King
IV. \\#Matthew 11:2-14:13\\ Decisions Concerning the King
A. \\#Matt 11:2-15\\ A Decision by the Forerunner
B. \\#Matt 11:16-19\\ A Decision by the Masses
C. \\#Matt 11:20-24\\ A Decision by the Cities
D. \\#Matt 11:25-30\\ Jesus Encourages The Wise Decision
E. \\#Matt 12:1-50\\ A Decision by the Pharisees
1. \\#12:1-14\\ Questions Concerning the Sabbath
2. \\#12:15-21\\ Jesus Response
3. \\#12:22-45\\ The Pharisee’s Strategy
a. \\#22-37\\ When Jesus Performs Miracles
b. \\#38-42\\ When Jesus Doesn’t Perform Miracles
4. \\#12:43-45\\ A Warning to Israel
5. \\#12:46-50\\ Jesus’ New Family
F. \\#Matt 13:1-52\\ Decisions by Jesus
1. \\#1-3, 10-17, 34-35\\ To speak in parables
2. \\#4-50\\ To reveal God’s plan in parables
a. \\#4-9, 18-23\\ Spreading the Word of the Kingdom
b. \\#24-30, 36-43\\ The Enemy of the Kingdom
c. \\#31-33\\ The Growth of the Kingdom
d. \\#44-46\\ The Value of the Kingdom
e. \\#47-50\\ The Diversity of the Kingdom
3. \\#51-52\\ To Bless His Own with Understanding
G. \\#Matt 13:53-58\\ A Decision by Nazareth
H. \\#Matt 14:1-13\\ A Decision by Herod
I. \\#Matt 13:1-52\\ Decisions by Jesus
A. \\#1-3, 10-17, 34-35\\ To speak in parables
1. \\#1-3\\ In General
a. \\#1\\ "The same day"-Matthew is tying a change in
Jesus’ ministry to the events of chapter 12, namely,
Jesus started speaking in parables "the same day"
that the religious leaders made their minds up to
reject and to kill Jesus \\#Matt 12:14\\.
b. \\#2-3\\ "And great multitudes were gathered… And he
spake"-Jesus made a notable change in His public
teaching, so much so, that His disciples noticed it
\\#10\\.
2. \\#10\\ The Change-"Why speakest thou unto them in
parables?"
a. The change was Jesus began to speak to the "great
multitudes" in parables.
b. As Matthew had been demonstrating, the religious was
not the only group who had made decisions about
Jesus, the public at large and many cities had as
well.
3. \\#11-17\\ The Reason
a. \\#11, 13\\ "Because it is given unto you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom… to them it is not given."
(1) Jesus’ reason was the most obvious one.
(2) \\#13\\ "neither do they understand"-It was to
hide truth from those who had rejected Him but
to still reveal it to those who accepted Him.
b. \\#12\\ Why would God want to withhold truth from
those who were rejecting Jesus?
(1) Jesus gave a principal. Principals are more than
answers. They are modes of behavior for God by
which He blesses or curses humans.
(2) The principal-"whosoever hath… shall be
given… abundance but whosoever hath not…
shall be taken away even that he hath."
(a) The topic here is not material blessings but
spiritual understanding.
(b) Those who have spiritual understanding shall
continue to gain more understanding but
those who have little will lose even that
little bit.
(c) By "having" spiritual understanding, Jesus
was speaking of those who would respond to
spiritual matters. By "having not," Jesus
was speaking of those who understood a
spiritual truth but refused to respond to
it. This is born out in \\#14-15\\.
(d) So the people, both in general and the
religious, had the evidences of who Jesus
was all around them, but they refused to
accept it; hence, God began to withhold
spiritual truth from them.
(e) The present spiritual blindness of Israel
today is the end result of this principal
being applied.
Ro 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be
ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your
own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to
Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
(f) However, it can also happen to the Gentiles.
Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they
glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was
darkened.
Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that
is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
(3) \\#14-15\\ A Fulfilled Prophecy
(a) This was also prophesied in the Old
Testament.
Isa 6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye
indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive
not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears
heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart,
and convert, and be healed.
(b) Isaiah prophesied the people deliberate
hardness when he said their hearts were
fat, their ears were dull, and their
eyes were closed.
(c) Isaiah also prophesied what God would do
when he said they would hear but not
understand and see but not perceive.
(4) \\#16-17\\ A Pronounced Blessing-"But blessed
are you eyes… and your ears"
(a) \\#16\\ "But"-This is not to be the case
for those who will respond to truth given.
i. From this point, Jesus will take the
disciples apart from the crowd to
explain meaning of the parables to
them.
ii. That ministry has fallen to the Holy
Spirit today, but God still reveals
truth to those who will respond and
hides it from those who will not.
(b) Why were the disciples blessed?
i. Because "many prophets and righteous
men have desired to see those things
which ye see… and to hear those
things which ye hear."
ii. The disciples were seeing the
fulfillment of God’s promised coming.
4. \\#34-35\\ The Consistency
a. \\#34\\ "without a parable spake he not unto them"
It appears that Jesus, perhaps from this point on,
spoke mainly in parables.
b. \\#35\\ This also fulfills a prophecy.
Ps 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter
dark sayings of old:
B. \\#4-50\\ To reveal God’s plan in parables
1. \\#4-9, 18-23\\ Spreading the Word of the Kingdom
a. \\#4-9\\ The parable given.
b. \\#18-23\\ The parable explained a new method of
actively sharing the news of the kingdom with others,
called evangelism, and the choice those who hear will
have.
(1) \\#4, 19\\ The seed
(a) \\#19\\ "When one heareth THE WORD OF
THE KINGDOM"
(b) The seed is the knowledge of the kingdom.
(c) Although there has been no official word, the
definition of the kingdom has altered
somewhat.
i. When the kingdom first began to be
preached to the Jews, its primary
meaning was the Jewish reign of
Messiah on the earth.
ii. After the rejection of Jesus, the
kingdom’s primary meaning becomes the
salvation that allows the Lord to
reign in hearts.
(2) \\#3, 18\\ The sower-Someone with the seed must
spread it. Some see Christ as being the Sower
and indeed that is what He was doing on earth.
but every Christians is also called with the
duty to spread the gospel.
(3) \\#4, 19\\ Satan-Described as "fowls" in the
parable and "the wicked one" in the explanation.
Satan and his workers constitute the force
working to stop the work of evangelism.
(4) \\#4-7, 19-23\\ The soils -Four different
soils are listed describing four different
reactions to the truth given.
(a) \\#4, 19\\ The Wayside
i. This soil is packed and hard. Before
the seed can take root, fowls pluck it
up.
ii. This describes the lost whose hearts
have been hardened by their walk in
this world. While all can be saved,
many will not before Satan can steal
the truth from their spirit.
(b) \\#5-6, 20-21\\ The Shallow
i. The soil is good but so shallow that
the good seed can not put down roots.
ii. This describes those whose hearts do
respond to the Word but they are
lacking in character and so can not
give the repentance and devotion to
Christ required. Soon, the truth is
gone from them. These are likewise
lost.
(c) \\#7, 22\\ The Starved
i. The soil is good and deep enough to
produced, but filled with so many
useless plants that eat up the
nutrients and block out the sun that
the good seed is starved and choked
out.
ii. This describes those whose hearts do
respond to the Word, with joy, but in
time they allow the world to choke out
their love and devotion for Christ.
Theologians debate whether these are
actually saved and carnal or the lost.
(d) \\#8, 23\\ The Solid
i. The soil is good, deep, and able to
feed the seed and produce a crop. The
crop may vary in size, but there is
an evident harvest of fruit.
ii. This is the only description that we
know with certainty speaks of the
saved for it is the only soil which
produces any fruit. The fact that the
fruit varies accounts for the varying
degrees of growth and production in
the Christian life, but every
Christian should produce fruit.
2. \\#24-30, 36-43\\ The Enemy of the Kingdom
a. \\#24\\ A Picture-"The kingdom of heaven is likened
unto"
(1) Parables are pictures or similarities between
a spiritual truth and an earthly reality.
(2) Another change is that Jesus is speaking a lot
more about the kingdom of heaven.
(a) Previously, He and John only announced that
it was coming. Now, Jesus gives details
about it.
(b) I believe He does so because the nature of
the kingdom has changed.
i. It is no longer strictly Jewish, but
now Gentiles are invited.
ii. It is no longer the birthright of a
nation, but now it is the choice of
the individual.
iii. It is no longer a physical kingdom, but
now it is exists in the heart of the
believer.
(3) This parable will reveal how the kingdom’s
spiritual enemy is like an earthly enemy.
b. \\25-30\\ The Parable
(1) \\#25\\ "But while men slept"—-Sadly, there are
workers who sleep. While this could be a
heavenly condemnation of the workers’
inattention, it is also a earthly reality. As
long as God’s people are in these physical
bodies, they will have weaknesses.
(2) "his enemy came"—There is a spiritual enemy.
Satan does exist.
(3) "and sowed tares among the wheat"
(a) Not only does Satan exist, he works to
thwart God’s purpose and to hurt God’s
people.
(b) Growing tares look like wheat until they
begin to bud.
(4) \\#26\\ The result was that the tare grew among
the wheat.
(5) \\#27-30\\ "Let both grow together until the
harvest"-The landowner, for concern of the
wheat, decided to let both grow together.
(6) \\#30\\ "bind… the tares… to burn them; but
gather the wheat into my barn." At which time,
the wheat and tares will be separated.
(a) The tares will be burned.
(b) The wheat will be the master’s.
c. \\#36-43\\ The Interpretation
(1) \\#36\\ Once in private, the interpretation is
given to the disciples, revealing to them the
truths the parable had hid to the others.
(2) \\#37\\ "He that soweth… is the Son of man."
(a) Meaning Jesus.
(b) This is not a parable of what happens on a
small, everyday scale. Rather, it is the
description of what is happening on the
larger, church-age scale.
(3) \\#38\\ "The field is the world."
(4) "The good seed are the children of the kingdom"
That is, the saved.
(5) "the tares are the children of the wicked one"-
That is, false professors of faith.
(6) \\#39\\ "The enemy… is the devil"
(a) It is the devil’s purpose to sow
counterfeit professors in with the genuine
processors.
(b) They may look like is for awhile but
eventually, their wicked hearts manifest
that they are not God’s.
(c) Their purpose is to cause confusion and to
deter us from the work of God.
(d) God does not want us to attempt to remove
the false from the real because in so
doing, we might cause harm to genuine
Christian’s who do not always act like
Christians.
(e) So, for the time, God allows the false and
the genuine to abide together.
(7) "the harvest is the end of the world."
(8) "the reapers are the angels."
(9) \\#40-43\\ In the end of the age, God will send
His angels to gather His own to Himself and will
cast the false professors into "the furnace of
fire" \\#42\\, where "there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth."
(10) That sounds like a picture of hell.
3. \\#31-33\\ The Growth of the Kingdom
a. We remember that the kingdom that Jesus was presenting
to His disciples (and us through them) was a new
concept to them.
(1) Previously, the kingdom was primarily Jewish and
supposedly, all Jews—at least all that were
deemed worthy—would enter it.
(2) They are now being told that this kingdom will
start small and grow.
b. In fact, the kingdom HAS grown.
(1) When Jesus was speaking this, He had only a small
following and the number was going to shrink.
(2) The fact that this word has been fulfilled
reminds us that the kingdom, as we know it, may
soon finish its course.
c. There are several ways the kingdom of God would grow
larger.
(1) \\31-32\\ Like the mustard seed, it will grow
physically.
(a) Mustard is a spice and type of mustard some
think Jesus was speaking of was Black
Mustard.
(b) Black Mustard starts as a small seed but
grows into a tree about 10 feet tall.
(c) So unlike many spices which grow only as a
vine, this spice can actually grow
physically tall.
(2) Like the mustard tree, it will grow in its
strength.
(a) The mustard seed produces a tree strong
enough for the birds to lodge in it.
(b) I do not think the birds represent the devil
in this parable. Rather, they serve to
illustrate the strength of the kingdom.
(3) \\#33\\ Like the yeast in the leaven, it will
grow in its influence.
(a) Yeast or leaven is normally symbolic of sin
in the Bible. I do not think that is the
case here as the kingdom of heaven itself
is being compared to the leaven.
(b) Yeast is known for its ability to permeate
the whole. So the kingdom has permeated the
whole world with its godly influence.
(c) Two things which are interesting.
i. The leaven was "hid in three measures of
meal."
aa. That is, the leaven was not kept
separate but was mixed into meal
and that meal was then mixed into
a larger portion of meal.
bb. Jesus was hiding the leaven into
His disciples. They are the
smaller portion which would in
turn, spread to others.
ii. Our Lord specifically mentions "three
measures of meal." If this number has
a good significance, it seems to be
unknown at the present.
4. \\#44-46\\ The Value of the Kingdom
a. These are two parables with the same point.
(1) If you give up everything you have, it is worth
it to be apart of this kingdom.
(2) The notion that one might have to sacrifice
anything to be apart of God’s kingdom was new.
b. This is not speaking of "earning" heaven but of the
worth of being a part of God’s kingdom.
(1) Many Christians are saved but are members of this
kingdom by word only.
(2) They are not an active apart of this kingdom
because they think it will cost them too much to
obey Christ.
(a) Friend, it will cost you too much to stay
out!
(b) It will cost you eternal rewards!
c. This Kingdom of God is worth everything you have!
5. \\#47-50\\ The Diversity of the Kingdom
a. \\#47\\ When it is all said it done, this kingdom of
God will have fish from every corner of the sea!
(1) Again, this is something new to the Jewish mind
concerning the kingdom.
(2) God’s kingdom is comprised of the save from every
walk, every race, every country, and every
ethnic group under the sun?
(3) The work of God is not just American, or just
English, or just Caucasian.
b. \\#48-50\\ "and some bad"
(1) But like the parable of the tares, this parable
reminds us that not all who claim to be God’s
are God’s.
(2) Those which say they are God’s but are not, will
be cast into "the furnace of fire." This again
sounds like eternal damnation.
C. \\#51-52\\ To Bless His Own with Understanding
1. \\#51\\ "Have ye understood all these things?"
a. While it was the intent of Jesus to hid truths from
those who reject Him, it is never His desire to hid
truth from those who are yielded to Him.
b. "Yea, Lord." — The disciples probably did not under-
stand as much as they thought they did!
2. \\#52\\ A Parable of Truth
a. Jesus compares the kingdom to a "householder…" with
"treasure things new and old."
b. Jesus is the household and His treasures are truths,
primarily about the kingdom.
(1) Jesus has not cast away the old treasures
(truths). Everything promised to the Jews about
a literal, physical, Jewish kingdom will come
to pass.
(2) But because the Jews are rejecting Him, some new
treasures are being added. All of these new
truths are about a kingdom the Jews previously
knew nothing about. It is our church age.
II. \\#Matt 13:53-58\\ A Decision by Nazareth
A. \\#53-54\\ "his own country"
1. In \\#Matthew 9:1\\, Matthew made reference to Jesus’
"own city," which we interpreted to be Capernaum.
2. Here, Matthew refers to Jesus’ "own country," which was
probably a reference to where He was raised, the city
and surround area of Nazareth.
3. \\#53\\ "he departed thence."
a. We were told in \\#Matt 11:1\\ that Jesus departed
(we believe from Capernaum) "to teach and to preach
in their cities." So Jesus began to travel around
the area of Galilee.
b. In \\#Matthew 12:9\\, Jesus entered into a synagogue.
While we do not know what city that may have been
within, we know it was not Jerusalem for the temple
was located there.
c. \\#Matthew 12:15\\ After the Jewish leaders made up
their mind to reject and kill Jesus, we are told that
"he withdrew himself from thence." Obviously, Jesus
was removing Himself from any immediate and direct
danger which would likely require Him leaving the
area of Galilee.
d. That strategy seems to be repeated here and Jesus is
pictured as leaving Galilee and traveling west toward
Nazareth.
B. \\#55-58\\ Nazareth’s Decision
1. \\#55-57\\ "they were offended in him"
a. \\#55\\ "Is not this the carpenter’s son?"—Nazareth
could not get past their familiarity with Jesus’
family.
b. The questions they ask seem to indicate that they were
jealous.
(1) \\#54\\ "Whence hath this man this wisdom, and
these mighty works?"
(2) \\#56\\ "Whence then hath this man all these
things?
c. It turns out that the people of Nazareth did not know
Jesus at all!
d. "offended" means they were angered or indignant.
e. Nazareth, like so many others, rejected Jesus.
2. \\#57-58\\ Unlike other cities (Chorazin, Bethsaida,
and Capernaum \\#Matt 11:20-24\\), Jesus did not pronounce
a curse upon Nazareth, but rather stated a truth that was
true not only of His ministry in His home town but of many
of many prophets and ministers who have served the Lord
among their old acquaintances.
a. \\#57\\ To paraphrase, a prophet might be honored but
not by his those who think they know him best. Many
have found it difficult to successfully witness and
minister to those who are close to them.
b. \\#58\\ "he did not many mighty works there because of
their unbelief." Sadly, the people’s lack of faith
cost them seeing the power of God in their midst.
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