This image is from page 9 in A Cartoonist’s Guide to Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew collects Jesus’ parables about the Kingdom of Heaven into one convenient package in Matthew 13:1-53. I want to make an observation about how these parables are structured.
Jesus is in the boat, speaking to the crowd on the shore. First, he tells the parable of the sower and is questioned why he speaks in parables. It is here that Jesus reveals that he is speaking of “the mysteries of the kingdom.” Then he quotes Isaiah 6, which was spoken to Isaiah just after he was called to preach repentance to the nation.
Next, we see a pattern of 3’s, beginning in verse 14. Jesus speaks three parables to the crowd that all begin with “The kingdom of heaven is like…”
- a field with weeds sown among wheat
- a mustard seed
- yeast in the dough
Then, Matthew tells the reader that Jesus spoke in parables to fulfill what was spoken in Psalm 78:2.
The story shifts in verse 36. Jesus leaves the crowds, goes into the house, and speaks with his disciples. There he explains the parable of the weeds and wheat and offers them three more parables that begin, “The Kingdom of heaven is like…”
Three parables for the crowd.
Three parables for the disciples.
What can we notice when we look at them as two sets?
It seems to me that the parables to the crowd basically say, “things aren’t always what the seem to be.” The weeds are hard to tell apart from the wheat. The mustard seed seems so small, then it grows so big. The yeast seems small and dead, but it impacts the entire loaf.
The parables to the disciples seem to have two messages. First, this mystery is a great treasure that is worth giving up everything to pursue. In other words, you have done well to follow me. Second, the weeds and the fish parables serve as bookends to the whole set. They say, “leave the sorting to God. Just focus on being wheat and good fish.”
He ends the conversation with his disciples asking them, “do you understand?” They say, “Yes.” Then he says, “every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
I wonder if he means, “I’m not making up a new religion here. I’m simply reminding us of what God’s kingdom has always been.”
Here is my encouragement for you this week. We, as disciples of Jesus, are part of a wonderful mystery. It will often seem difficult, but we can trust that God is at work. Keep the faith. God’s got this.
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