Jesus' Seven parables
by Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel music
There are seven parables that Jesus spoke, three parables, concerning the outward appearance of the kingdom, were spoken publicly in a boat to the crowds (vv.2, 34), whereas the three succeeding parables were given privately in a house to the disciples (v.36).
Four parables Jesus spoke to crows in publicly
Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea, he spoke many things to all the crowd stood on the shore in parables publicly.
1) First, the farmer went out to sow his seeds, some seeds fell beside the way, and the birds came and devoured them, and others fell on the rocky places, and others fell on the thorns and others felon the good soil (Matthew 13:1-23).
Disciples came to Jesus and asked “Make the parable of the tares of the field clear to us,” (Matt.3:36) Jesus answered and said, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; and the harvest is the consummation of the age; and the reapers are angels. Therefore, just as the tares are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the consummation of the age. The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will collect out of His kingdom all the stumbling blocks and those who practice lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire. In the place there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He, who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Matt.13:37-43). This parable discloses that not long after the kingdom was established through the building of the church, the situation of the kingdom of the heavens changed. The kingdom was established with the sons of the kingdom, the wheat. But the sons of the evil one, the tares, grew up to alter the situation. Hence, a difference has arisen between the kingdom of the heavens and its outward appearance. The sons of the kingdom, the wheat constitute the kingdom, whereas the sons of the evil one, the tars, have formed the outward appearance of the kingdom, which today is called Christendom.
Another parable He set before them, saying, the kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed is his field, and which is smaller than all the seeds; but when it has grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches.
The fruit of the wheat in the first two parables and the fruit of the mustard seed here in the third parable are for food. This indicates that the kingdom people, the constituents of the kingdom are of the church should be like a crop that produces food for the satisfaction of God and man. The church which is the embodiment of the kingdom should be like an herb that produces food. However, its nature and function were changed, so that it became a “tree” a lodging place for birds. This is against the law of God’s creation, that is, that every plant must be after its kind (Gen.1:11-12). This change happened in the first part of the fourth century, when Constantine the Great mixed the church with the world. He brought thousands of false believers into Christianity, making it Christendom, no longer the church. Hence, this third parable corresponds with the third of the seven churches in Rev.2 and 3, the church is Pergamos (Rev.2:12-27).
The mustard is an annual herb, whereas the tree is a perennial plan. The church, according to its heavenly and spiritual nature, should be like the mustard, sojourning on the earth. But with its nature changed, the church became deeply rooted and settled as a tree in the earth, flourishing with it enterprises as the branches in which many evil persons and things are lodged. This resulted in the formation of the outward organization of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heaven.
4) Fourth, the yeast (leaven) ( 13:33)
The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.(Matt.13:33). In the scriptures leaven signifies evil things (1 Cor.5:6,8) and evil doctrines (16:6,11-12). The church as the practical kingdom of the heavens, which Christ, the unleavened fine flour, as its content, must be a loaf of unleavened bread (1 Cor. 5:7-8). However, the Catholic Church, which was fully and officially formed in the sixth century and which is signified by the woman here, took in many pagan practices, heretical doctrines, and evil matters and mixed them with the teachings concerning Christ, leavening the whole content of Christianity. This mixture became the corrupted content of the outward appearance of the kingdom of the heavens. This fourth parable corresponds with the fourth of the seven churches in Rev.2 and 3, the church in Thyatira (Rev.2:18-29).
Ø Fifth, the hidden treasure (13:44)
This indicates that the things covered by
these latter three parables are more hidden. The first parable concerns a treasure hidden
in the field. The treasure hidden in the field must
consist of gold or precious stones, the materials for the building of the
church and the New Jerusalem (1 Cor.3:12; Rev.21: 18-20). Since the
church is the practical kingdom today, and since the New Jerusalem will be the
kingdom in manifestation in the coming age, the treasure hidden in the field
must signify the kingdom hidden on God’s created earth.
Ø Sixth, the pearl of great price (13:45-46)
Matthew 13:44, the
field is the earth created by God for His kingdom. The man is Christ, who found the kingdom of the heavens
in 4:12-12:23, hid it in 12:24-13:43, and in His joy
went to cross in 16:21;17:22-23;20:18-19 and 26:1-27:52 to sell all that
He had and to buy the field, i.e., redeem the created and lost earth, for the
kingdom. Matthew 13:45-46 the kingdom of the heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and
finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought
it. The merchant also is Christ, who was
seeking the church for His kingdom. After finding it in 16:18 and 18:17, He
went to the cross and sold all that He had and brought it for the kingdom.
The pearl, produced in the death waters (the world filled with death) by the living oyster (the living Christ) that is wounded by a little rock (the sinner) and secretes its life-juice around the wounding rock (the believer Rev.21), is material for the building of the New Jerusalem. Since the pearl comes out of the sea, which signifies the world corrupted by Satan (Isa.57:20; Rev.17:15), it must refer to the church, which is constituted mainly of regenerated believers from the Gentile world, and which is of great value.
Ø Seventh, the net (13:47-50)
Matthew 13: 47, this parable corresponds with that in 25:32-46. The net here signifies not the gospel of grace, which is preached in the church age, but the eternal gospel, which will be preached to the Gentile world during the great tribulation (Rev.14:6-7). The sea signifies the Gentile world. Every species signifies all the nations, all the Gentiles (25:32).
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