In Matthew's Steps: The Kingdom Revealed

The First Steps: Read: Matthew 13

Focus Verse: “...Jesus did not say anything to them without using a parable.” Matthew 13:34

Meditation: The Kingdom...Hidden and Revealed

Have you ever had to explain something complicated...to a child?

We haven’t had to traverse too much of this territory yet...but it’s coming. Kids ask the darndest questions, and many of those questions lead us parents in circles. How do you explain, to a five-year old, where babies come from? Or where rainbows come from? How do you answer any of the many questions that come from the mouth of children? Questions that could warrent long, detailed explanations that they really can't understand yet.

Jesus has a similar problem in this chapter of Matthew. Only difference is the question itself. The people were not asking Jesus biological questions. Their questions were more about the kingdom of God and what God’s rule meant for them in their lives.

So Jesus, like any good parent would do, gathers them all about on the shore of a lake, rides out on a boat(so they can all see and hear him assumably) and starts talking about the kingdom of heaven.

“When heaven rules your life it looks like...
- A farmer sowing his fields
- The preaching of the Word of God.
- How a farmer deals with weeds in his crops
“It moves about in the world like...
- A mustard seed growing in a field
- And like yeast rising dough.
“To God, the world is like...
- A hidden treasure in a field
- A priceless pearl.
“And in the end, we will all be caught up in it...
- Like fish caught in a net.

At the end of all these parables, Jesus asks them: “Have you understood all these things?”(vs. 51). Like a parent instructing their children, Jesus words do seem rather odd. The people reply yes...but I wonder if they really do. I wonder if they really grasp what Jesus is trying to say here and how radical it really is. Jesus isn’t confirming what we think we already know about how God works in the world. He’s changing what we think.

Seed...seed...everywhere! I once had the opportunity to talk to a farmer about how he sows his seed. “So do you scatter it like the sower does?” I asked. “Of course not!” he said. Then he showed me the machine which carefully digs the holes and places the seeds in each holes so that no seed goes wasted. This isn’t how God works at all. Instead he scatters seed all around in people’s lives. His Word goes out and is scattered. Some people don’t listen at all to him. “I don’t do God...” they say. Their seed is taken by the birds. Some people listen for awhile...but then fall away when things get tough. Like the seed sown in rocky ground. Some listen and respond...but then are choked by this or that...much like the seed with the weeds. And some...a very few...respond and grow and produce fruit. And still God sows. Still God scatters seed. God never gives up!

God doesn’t get rid of the bad things in our lives. This is a hard one, for we all struggle with temptations and inner demons that feel like weeds in the field. God doesn’t do anything with them right now except forgive them. He forgives our weeds...and the weeds in our neighbors field. In fact, that’s God’s modus apparatus for handling the world at large. God...forgives it! God let’s the world grow cause, in the end, He’ll do the hard work of separating what is death in us from what is alive. But that’s gotta wait until harvest. Or until we’re gathered up like fish in a net. It’s not gonna happen right now.

God isn’t overseeing the world on some throne. The Bette Middler song “From a distance” is WRONG...at least according to Jesus. God isn’t looking at the world from high above. He is deeply inbedded in the world, like yeast in a roll of dough. It might seem like he’s not here at all. In fact, His presence is as small as a mustard seed, but it is growing through the ages and soon even the birds of the field will nest in His branches.

Finally... we are all precious in God’s sight! God’s willing to buy the whole field, to pay the ultimate price, for the whole lot of us! We are God’s priceless treasure, a treasure that God sold everything he had to purchase. We are sought after and claimed by God in Christ. We are precious pearls, perfect treasure. We are God’s own people.

So you see how these parables change what we initially think of God’s kingdom and open it up in new and exciting ways. God isn’t stingy about the Good News...it’s scattered throughout the world. God forgives us for our wrongs...and doesn’t hold our weeds against us. God is hidden in the world, like yeast in a batch of dough. And we are precious in God’s sight, enough to have God pay the ultimate price for us.

What marvelous news Jesus gives to us today! What will it change...for you??Amen!

Questions to Ponder...1) Close your eyes and imagine what it would look like to have God ruling in your life. What picture do you come up with? Is it similar or different than the picture Jesus gives us in Matthew today?

2) What preconceptions does Jesus destroy in these parables? Are they liberating or disturbing to you?

3) God’s kingdom will come with or without our help. How might you be a help to the kingdom of God and not a hindrance?

A Prayer to Pray...
O God, our King and Redeemer, your rule in our lives looks like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Help us to find the grace, the peace, the love, and the mercy that comes through your Son Jesus Christ that we like those who’ve gone before us, might live in this kingdom now even as we wait for it to come, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.