Week 36 Matthew 13
I found six parables that specifically talked about Matthew’s kingdom-of-heaven. Even though there were six different parables it looked to me like they really only said three things about the kingdom-of-heaven. So I re-arranged the six into three groups of two.
The first two begin by saying that the kingdom-of-heaven:
may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field
is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.
The second two said that the kingdom-of-heaven:
is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field
is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.
The third two said that the kingdom-of-heaven:
is like treasure hidden in a field
is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.
So I think the six parables are making three Big Points. They are that:
1. the kingdom-of-heaven is operating alongside – or parallel to – what I’d call the kingdom-of-earth. Both of them are chugging along doing what they do. But eventually a distinction & separation will be made between them.
2. the kingdom-of-heaven will start out small but will not stay small – it will expand & grow.
3. the kingdom-of-heaven is a high value site so it’s worth putting effort into getting there.
Note: three of Matthew’s parables are in 13:24-33 and the other three are in 13:44-50. Quotes are from Matthew 13:24 47 31 33 44 45 (ESV). End-of-month reading tally: 80% completed.