Bible in one year Matthew 13
By
Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian Arts
Ministries; Biblical precepts & Gospel music; Pastoral ministry &
counseling
Chapter
13 The Program altered 13:1-52
The Sower- Jesus told many things in parables,
Matthew 13:1-23
That same say Jesus went out of the house and
sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he go into a boat
and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables,
saying:
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some
fell along the path, and the birds
came and ate it up. Some fell on
rock places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the
soil was shallow. But then the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they
withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns which grew up
and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil where it produced a
crop –a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let
him hear.”(vv.1-9)
Parables (v.3). A parable is a
figure of speech in which a moral or spiritual truth is illustrated by an
analogy drawn from everyday experiences. These parables present truths about
the kingdom in this present day. These truths are called “mysteries” (v.11)
because they were not revealed in the O.T., and they are revealed by Christ
only to those who are properly related to Him (vv.11-13 and Mark 4:11-12)
The seeds (v.3) are the word of the kingdom (v.19), the
Lord being in this word as life.
Beside the way (v.4) refers to a place
close to the way, it is hardened by the traffic of the way; thus, it is
difficult for the seeds to penetrate it. The wayside signifies the heart that
is hardened by worldly traffic and cannot open to understand, to comprehend,
the word of the kingdom (v.19).
The birds (v.4) signify the evil one, Satan. Who comes and snatches away
the word of the kingdom sown in the hardened heart. (v.19)
The rocky places
(v.5) that do not have much earth signify the
heart that is shallow in receiving the word of the kingdom. Deep within such a
heart are rocks-hidden sins personal desires, self-seeking and self-pity which
hinder the seed from taking root in the depths of the heart.
The sun with its
scorching heat (v.6) signifies affliction or persecution (v.21).
The scorching heat of the sun causes the seed that is not rooted to wither. The
heat of the sun is for the growth and ripening of the crop, which take place
once the seed has been deeply rooted. But because of the seed’s lack of root,
the sun’s heat, which should cause growth and ripening, becomes a deathblow to
the seed.
The thorns (v.7) the thorns signify the anxiety of the age and the
deceitfulness of riches which utterly choke the word, preventing it from
growing in the heart and causing it to become unfruitful (v.22).
The good soil (v.8)
signifies the good heart that is not hardened
by worldly traffic, that is without hidden sins, and that is without the
anxiety of the age and the deceitfulness of riches. Such a heart gives every
inch of its ground to receive the word that the word may grow, bear fruit, and
produce even a hundredfold (v.23).
The
disciples came to him and asked “why do you speak to the people in parables?”
He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been
given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have
an abundance. Whoever does not have,
even what he has will be taken from him. This
is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though
seeing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of
Isaiah: “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever
seeing but never perceiving. For this peoples’ heart has become calloused; they
hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they
might see with their eyes, hear with their ears; understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them. .” (vv.10-15).
The king of the heavenly kingdom used parables to reveal
the things of the kingdom (v.34) in order to make them mysteries to the
opposing and rejecting Jews so that they would not understand them. From the
time the King came to sow the seed until He comes back to reap the harvest,
everything concerning the kingdom is a mystery to the natural mind. Only the
enlightened mind of a submissive heart can understand these mysteries.
Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone
hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one
comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. (vv.18-19)
The one who received the seed
that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it
with joy. But since he has no root he lasts only a short time. When trouble or
persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. (vv.20-21)
The one who received the seed
that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of
this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. (v.22)
But the one who received the
seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it.
He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. (v.23)
In contrast to what He said in the other six parables
(vv.24,31,33,44-45,47), at the beginning of this parable, the first of the
seven parables concerning the mysteries of the kingdom, the Lord did not say, “
the kingdom of the heavens is (or, has become) like …” because the kingdom of
the heavens began with the second parable. In this first parable the Lord went
out only to sow the seed for the kingdom. At that time the seed had not yet
grown to be the crop for the formation of the kingdom. As the Lord said in His
preaching at that time, the kingdom had not yet come but had only drawn near
(4:17)
The wheat and the weeds (tares), Matthew13:24-30
Jesus told them another parable: The kingdom
of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone
was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.
When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The
owner’s servants came to him and said, “Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your
field? Where then did the weeds come from?” “An enemy did this” he replied.
“The servants asked him, “Do you want us to go and pull them up?” “No” he
answered, “because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat
with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell
the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned;
then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.” (vv.24:30)
In verse 24, In
this, the second, parable the Lord began to say, “ The Kingdom of the heavens
is (or, has become_ like…” because the kingdom of the heavens began to be
established when this parable began to be fulfilled, i.e., on the day of
Pentecost, when the church was built (16:18-19). It was from that time, after
the church had been founded, that the tares, the false believers, were sown among
the true be3lievers, the wheat, forming the appearance of the kingdom of the
heavens.
In verse 25 the
men were the slaves (v.27), referring to the Lord’s salve, mainly the apostles.
It was when the Lord’s slaves were sleeping and were not watching that the
Lord’s enemy, the devil, came and sowed false believers among the true. A tare is a kind of darnel, a weed
resembling wheat. Its seeds are poisonous and can cause sleepiness, nausea,
convulsions, and even death. The sprout and leaves of tares look the same as
those of wheat. It is impossible to distinguish wheat from tares until the
fruit is produced. The fruit of the wheat is golden yellow, but that of the
tares is black. In the Old Testament the children of Israel, who were in the
kingdom of God, were likened to grapes growing in the vineyard (21:33-34), whereas in the New Testament the kingdom
people, who are in the kingdom of the heavens, are likened to wheat growing in
the field. The vineyard was fenced, limited, and included only the Jews,
whereas the field is worldwide, open, unlimited, and includes all people.
Verse 29 both the
tares and the wheat grow in the field and the field is the world (v.38).
The false believers and the true live in the world. To collect the tares from the field means to
take away the false believers from the world. The Lord did not want His salves
to do this, because while taking away the false believers from the world, they
might also take the true ones away. The Catholic Church did this very much and
by so doing killed many true believers.
Bible in one year Matthew Chapter 14
Attack by Herod, Baptist John was killed.
Jesus’ miracles five thousand fed and walked on water, 14:1-36
At the time Herod the tetrarch heard
the reports about Jesus, and he said to his attendants, “This is John the
Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work
in him.”
Now Herod had
arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his
brother Philip’s wife, for John had been saying to him: It is not lawful for
you to have her.” Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people,
because they considered him a prophet.(vv.1-5)
On Herod’s birthday the daughter of
Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an
oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me
here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was distressed, but
because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted
and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and
given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. John’s disciples came and took
his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. (vv.6-12)
Herod the tetrarch.(v.1) Herod Antipas, who ruled from 4
B.C- A.D.39, son of Herod the Great and brother of Arcchelaus (Matt.2:1,22). Herodias (v.3). The former wife of Herod’s
half brother Philip, her uncle. She had been persuaded to leave her husband and
marry Herod Antipas, thus committing incest (Lev.18:16). John condemned him for
this, and Antipas knew that John spoke the truth (Mark6:20).
Jesus demonstrated miracles fed five thousand
-Matthew 14:13-21
When Jesus heard what had happened, he
withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds
followed him on foot from the towns. When
Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their
sick.
As
evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already
getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy
themselves some food.” Jesus replied,
“They do not need to go away, you give them something to eat.” “We
have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,”
he said. And he directed the people to sit down on
the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish
and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave
them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate
and were satisfies, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken
pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men,
besides women and children. (vv.13-21)
Verse 16 the disciples asked the Lord send the crowds
away so that the crowds could go to buy food for themselves (v.15), but the
Lord told the disciples to give the crowds something to eat. The
disciples’ concept was to ask people to do something; this is the principle of
the law. But the Lord’s concept is to give people something to enjoy; this is
the principle of grace.
In this record of the miracle, the Holy Spirit’s
intention in His inspiration is to show that what the followers of the heavenly
King actually need is the proper food to satisfy their hunger. The disciples of
Christ did not know this, nor did the crowds who followed. The heavenly King
knew this and did something in a miraculous way to impress them with their real
need and His provision for that needs. All that they needed was His
resurrection life, which would satisfy their spiritual hunger, as signified in
this miracle.
What the heavenly King did indicates strongly and clearly
that He provides for the necessities of His followers while they follow Him in
this rejecting world. This corresponds with His word in the heavenly
constitution saying that the kingdom people need not be anxious about what they
will eat (6:31-33).
Verse 17, John 6:9 tell us that these five loaves
were barley loaves. Barley is a type of the
resurrected Christ.(Lev. 23:10). Thus, the barley loaves signify Christ in
resurrection as food to us; Loaves are of the vegetable life, signifying the
generating aspect of Christ’s life, whereas fish are of the animal life,
signifying the redeeming aspect of Christ’s life.
For our spiritual hunger to be satisfied, we need Christ’s
generating life as well as His redeeming life. Both aspects are symbolized by
small items-loaves and fish. This
indicates that in this age the heavenly King came to His followers not as a
great King to reign over them but as small pieces of food to feed them.
(John6:9)
Jesus walked on water, 14:22-33
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into
the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.
When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable
distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the
lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s
a ghost, “they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them, “Take courage! It is I, do not be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell
me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” He said. Then Peter got down out of
the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind,
he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, “ Lord, save me!” Immediately
Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “ You of little faith,” he said,
“ why did you doubt? And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly
you are the Son of God.” (vv.22-33).
Verse 22 The Lord compelled the disciples to leave Him in
order that He might have more time to pray privately to the Father (v.23).
Standing in the position of man, the heavenly King, as the beloved Son of the
Father (3:17), needed to pray privately to His Father who was in the heavens,
that He might be one with the Father and have the Father with Him in whatever
He did on earth for the establishing of the kingdom of the heavens. He did this
not in the deserted place but on the mountain, leaving all the people, even His
disciples that He might be along to contact the Father.
Verse 25 The Roman guards kept four night watches, each
of three hours, from sunset to sunrise. The first watch was the evening watch,
the second the midnight watch, the third the cockcrowing watch, and the fourth
the morning watch (Mark13:35).The fourth watch was probably from three to six o’clock
in the morning. While His disciples were distressed by the waves, the Lord walked
on the sea. This testifies that He is the Creator and the Ruler of the universe
(Job.9:8).
Bibliography,
Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.)
Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible
(NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.
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