Other
startling revelations | Featured
essays | Other
articles
In
Matthew 13, Jesus taught parables describing
the kingdom
of heaven. Christians typically believe that the “kingdom of heaven” on
earth involves exclusively the body of born-again believers---only the true Church
of Jesus Christ on earth. We will examine the parables to find out whether or
not this belief is correct. Amazingly, we will discover from Scripture that simply
being in the kingdom of heaven does not at all mean
that
we have eternal life.
The Parable of the Sower
Matthew 13:1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by
the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into
a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.
It’s important first to understand the context
surrounding the teaching of the parables here. Large crowds gathered
around Jesus.
Drawn to Jesus in these large crowds were varied and different sorts
of people, including Pharisees and teachers of the law.
Let’s look at what Jesus told these crowds by
the lake.
3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer
went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell
along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky
places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because
the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched,
and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among
thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell
on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty
times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”
Jesus teaches them the parable of the sower. He told
them that there are four types of people corresponding to the four
types of soil. But
only one type of person out of the four was “good” and
would produce fruit for God. Remember that Jesus spoke this parable
to the large crowds that had gathered around him. These crowds consisted
of these four types of people, all of whom had come hear him.
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why
do you speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom
of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 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. 13 This is why I speak to
them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing,
they do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy
of Isaiah: ”‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s
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.’
Jesus spoke to the crowd by the lake in veiled parables because he
knew that most of them had calloused hearts, closed ears, and blinded
eyes. This is significant because all of these people had taken the
time and made the effort to come hear him speak. Nevertheless, the
knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven was not given to
them, but only to his disciples. The disciples would be given an abundance,
but the crowd would be left with nothing.
Interestingly, on another occasion on which the crowds were increasing,
Luke records the following observation by Jesus.
Luke 11:29
As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This
is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will
be given it
except the sign of Jonah.
Modern-day
preachers rejoice when crowds increase at their events. But Jesus
knew the hearts of the people and was not
impressed by the
size of the crowds who came to him. Let’s now look at the second
parable Jesus told the big crowd by the lake.
The Parable of the Weeds
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The
kingdom of heaven is
like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone
was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went
away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also
appeared. 27 “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?’
28 ”‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants
asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 ”‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are
pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 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.’”
Typically,
Christians interpret this parable as meaning that at the end of the
age Christians and non-Christians in the world
will be separated.
Christians will be taken to heaven, and non-Christians to hell. Let’s
look at this parable in greater detail. Is it related in meaning to
the first parable which Jesus taught to the large crowd? In
the first parable Jesus taught about the four different types of people
who come to hear him.
36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house.
His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable
of the weeds in the field.”
37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of
Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons
of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the
enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age,
and the harvesters are angels.
40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it
will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his
angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes
sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
There
is evidence here that this second parable is related in meaning to
the first parable. According to verse 41 above,
there are now weeds
in Christ’s kingdom. At the end of the age He will
send his angels to weed out of his kingdom “the sons of the
evil one” identified
as the weeds in verse 38b. The present kingdom of heaven on earth,
therefore, consists of both sons of the kingdom as well as sons of
the evil one.
Let’s now study the third parable which Jesus taught to the crowd
by the lake. It is, not surprisingly, similar in meaning to the second.
Let’s go back to the lake where Jesus is still speaking to the
crowd.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
31 He told them another parable: “The
kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in
his field. 32 Though
it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the
largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the
air come and perch in its branches.”
Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a tiny mustard
seed which grows so large that even the birds of the air come to
perch in its
branches. What is the significance of these birds? To find out, let
us look at the very first parable above where Jesus also mentions birds.
There Jesus explains that the birds symbolize “the evil one.” Therefore
the kingdom of heaven on earth at this time has sons of the evil one
perched and living in its branches. In general, birds carry a very
negative connotation whenever mentioned in Scripture as symbolic of
a spiritual entity. The exception is the dove, symbolic of the Holy
Spirit. Let’s now look at the fourth parable which Jesus taught
the crowd by the lake.
The Parable of the Yeast
33 He told them still another parable: “The
kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large
amount of flour
until it worked all through the dough.”
The kingdom of heaven on earth here is compared to a large amount of
flour into which yeast is mixed and allowed to spread throughout the
dough. Yeast almost universally carries a negative connotation in Scripture
and is symbolic of sin. Jesus elsewhere taught that the yeast of the
Pharisees is hypocrisy (Luke 12:1). Therefore this parable teaches
that sin and hypocrisy have spread and worked all through the kingdom
of heaven on earth.
34 Jesus spoke all these things to
the crowd in parables; he did not
say anything to them without using a parable.
After leaving the crowd by the lake and going into the house, Jesus
teaches more parables about the kingdom of heaven on earth to his disciples.
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
44 “The
kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden
in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his
joy went and
sold all he had and bought that field.
Notice that the treasure is hidden in a field. The man who found it
went and sold all he had and bought that field. This field represents
the kingdom of heaven on earth. What the man was really after was not
the entire field, but only the treasure buried in the field. But in
order to get the treasure, he was required to take the entire field.
The field included weeds, a lot of dirt, worms, insects, and so forth,
in addition to the treasure.
Eventually the man of course digs the treasure out of the ground,
brushes off all the dirt, and leaves with his treasure. This parable
therefore also teaches that the kingdom of heaven on earth consists of
not only the disciples of Jesus Christ symbolized by the treasure,
the flour and the wheat, but also includes the sons of the evil one
symbolized by the dirt, the yeast, the weeds, the chaff, and the birds.
One day Christ will separate the wheat and the chaff with his winnowing
fork. He will gather the wheat into the barn, but will burn the chaff
with unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17).
Before
then, the righteous and the wicked in the kingdom of heaven must
co-exist. By nature, wheat and weeds must be allowed to grow together.
Weeds are not pulled out, because while we are pulling the weeds, we
might root up the wheat with them. We allow both to grow together until
the harvest. Only then they are separated. Therefore the sons of the
evil one must remain in our midst in the Church
until the end of the age when they are removed by the angels. Amazingly,
we must conclude that it is important for us to exercise discernment
and good judgment when we "go to church."
Then Jesus told another parable which should be interpreted in the
same way.
The Parable of the Pearl
45 “Again, the
kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he
went away
and sold everything he had and bought it.
There seems to be an inconsistency in this parable. The merchant sold
everything he had and bought the one pearl of great value. The presence
of the sons of the evil one in the kingdom of heaven is not apparent
here as it is in the other parables so far.
However, an examination of the Greek text reveals that
there is a valid alternative translation for verse 46: “When he found one
of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought
them.” The English translation of the final word autos in this
sentence depends on the antecedent. Therefore the pronoun can be translated
either “it,” referring to the “one of great value,” or “them,” referring
to the “fine pearls” which he had been examining.
As a possibility,
the merchant had looked through a bag of fine pearls. But upon discovering
that one of them was extremely
valuable and very
costly, he purchased the entire bag in order to secure the one. The
very costly and extremely valuable pearl represents the body of born-again
disciples. This interpretation is consistent with the meaning of the
parable of the hidden treasure and the other parables in this study
as well. Let’s now look at the final and seventh parable Jesus
taught in Matthew Chapter 13. It further confirms what we have learned.
The Parable of the Net
47 “Once again, the
kingdom of heaven is like
a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish.
48 When it was
full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and
collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This
is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate
the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The net obviously does not catch all the fish in the
lake, but only some of them. After the net is full of fish, it is
taken ashore and
opened. The fisherman then separate the good fish into baskets and
the bad fish are thrown away. Again, we see that before the end of
the age the kingdom of heaven on earth will consist of the good and
the bad, the righteous and the wicked, and the sons of the kingdom
and the sons of the evil one. They will be separated by the Lord’s
angels at the end of the age.
One final parable
Jesus taught an eighth parable in Matthew 22 which clearly strengthens
the conclusions we have drawn from the seven parables in Chapter 13.
Here Jesus is speaking to a crowd which in particular includes the
chief priests and the Pharisees. Listen to what he said.
Matthew 22:1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables,
saying: 2 “The
kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for
his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the
banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those
who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened
cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding
banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field,
another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated
them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and
destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
Just as
Jesus said, the Jewish nation for the most part would reject him
as their Messiah. Eventually Jerusalem was sacked in 70 AD by the
army of the Roman general Titus in line with his words. The gospel
was then later extended to the gentiles, and today the overwhelming
majority of Christians in the world are in fact gentiles. In this parable,
these are the guests the king commanded his servants to bring in from
the outside to fill the wedding hall.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet
is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 Go to the
street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10
So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people
they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled
with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a
man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 ‘Friend,’ he
asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The
man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and
foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Both “good and bad” guests filled the wedding hall. The “bad” guests
had not put on Jesus Christ; they had not lived holy and obedient lives
worthy of their heavenly calling. The king had these “bad” guests
bound and thrown outside into the darkness. Therefore at the end of
the age there will be a separation of the good from the bad within
the kingdom of heaven on earth: a separation of the sons of the kingdom
from the sons of the evil one. For many are invited, and many in fact
do come as evidenced by the large crowds seen at Christian meetings
around the world. But few of these are chosen and enter eternal life.
Conclusion
The parables
relating the separation between two groups here do not, as commonly
interpreted, describe the separation of “Christians” from “non-Christians” at
the end of the age. (This event may be another matter altogether which
is treated separately below.) Rather they teach the end time separation
of the righteous from the wicked within the kingdom of heaven on earth---within
what is known as “the Church” on earth.
In the Church are millions upon millions of people
who consider themselves Christians. Large crowds can gather at Christian
meetings. Large crowds
also gathered to hear Jesus himself when he was on earth two thousand
years ago. But Jesus clearly said that although many people are invited
and many actually show up, few are actually chosen for eternal life.
Many in the Church will be thrown into the fiery furnace where there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is traditional church teaching
which has given us a false gospel of “cheap grace” and
a false sense of security regarding eternal life. It is now time for
sobriety. We are in the last days preceding the great and dreadful
day of the Lord.
There
are many warnings in the New Testament about false prophets, false
apostles, false teachers, and false brethren
in the Church. “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 people’s 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.’” They are
all around us in the Church and in our meetings. They cannot be removed
from our midst until the end of the age. Like Israel in the time of
the Lord’s
first coming is the Church in the time of the Lord’s second coming.
These
false brethren are right
in our midst in the Church. We must therefore exercise discernment
in the Church based on the Holy Scriptures. By comparison,
warnings in Scripture to be careful of
people in the world outside
of the Church are less emphatic. We must therefore exercise caution
and good judgment especially in the Church, and not only
in the world. Observe what Paul said to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 5:9 I have written you in my letter not
to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all
meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters.
In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing
you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a
brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard
or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. 12 What business
is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge
those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked
man from among you.”
We should be careful of entrusting our salvation to another fallible
human being simply because he or she is a leader in the Church or has
some ecclesiastical title. For the sake of our own salvation, we should
do our best to study the Scriptures so that we can correctly understand
and handle the word of God. We must be sure that we are in fact saved
and that we have eternal life according to the requirements set down
in Scripture.
2 Timothy 2:15 Do
your best to present yourself to God as one approved,
a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles
the word of truth.
1 Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in
them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
If we persevere in living a holy life and in correct
doctrine, we will save ourselves---especially those of us who lead
and teach God’s
people. The sons of the evil ones in the Church do not live holy and
obedient lives. Or they do not have or teach correct doctrine. They
are wolves in sheeps’ clothing. Of course, none of them will
acknowledge being a son of the evil one. Many may not even be aware
of it.
In contrast, judgment on the nations in Matthew 25
The language found in the passage in Matthew 25 which
describes the separation of the sheep and the goats contrasts sharply
with the language
found in the parables describing the kingdom of heaven. Unlike this
passage, Jesus’ parables usually begin with expression “the
kingdom of heaven is like…” Moreover, those who do the
separating in the parables are angels sent by the Lord. The sons of
the evil one, the weeds, and the wicked are then sent to the darkness
and to the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth. However, the language found in the Matthew 25 passage is decidedly
different. This teaching is not a parable, but rather describes what
will actually take place when Christ comes in his glory.
Matthew 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his
glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in
heavenly glory. 32
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will
separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the
sheep from the
goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
This is not a separation between the righteous and the wicked within
the kingdom of heaven, but a separation of all nations. Jesus Christ
the Judge himself, and not his angels, will separate the people into
two groups on his right and on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come,
you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom
prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry
and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something
to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes
and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison
and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did
we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to
drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing
clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and
go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever
you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for
me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart
from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the
devil
and his angels.
In the parables, the sons of the evil ones are sent
to the darkness outside where there will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. But in the
passage here, the goats on the Lord’s left are sent into the
eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. The difference
in language here leads us to conclude that this judgment is not what
is described in the parables of Jesus where it involves those in the
kingdom of heaven. This judgment rather involves the judgment of the
nations.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger
and you did not
invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick
and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry
or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and
did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you
did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous
to eternal life.”
“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you
don’t
fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12). He who has ears, let him hear.
Other
Startling Revelations
Other
articles | Featured
essays
Back
to top