Matthew’s Unique Message #4
The Kingdom of Heaven – A Mixed Bag
Matthew 13:24-30; 47-51; 25:31-46
CHCC: July 29, 2007
INTRODUCTION:
This summer I’ve been preaching sermons taken from the Gospel of Matthew. We’ve looked at several passages where Matthew gave information about the life of Jesus that none of the other Gospels mentioned. We’re into a section now where we’ll be looking at 9 parables that only Matthew recorded. It’s interesting that Jesus told all 9 of these stories for the same purpose: to explain what His Kingdom is like. Most of the Parables start with the words, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like …”
It makes sense that Matthew would be the one who recorded these particular Parables. Matthew, more than any of the other writers, wrote for a JEWISH audience. In fact, according to an early Church Father named Papias, Matthew was originally written in Hebrew and then translated into Greek later.
The Jews were expecting their Messiah to set up His Kingdom here on earth. They expected a Jewish Political Kingdom that would overthrow Rome. Obviously, Jesus of Nazareth did not set up that kind of Kingdom. So Matthew wrote to explain that Jesus DID establish a Kingdom.
The Kingdom of Jesus was NOT Political or Military. It was not tied to any particular Nation or Race. His Kingdom would come to be known as The Church --- It would be Universal. --- It would be Eternal. And --- at least for the present --- the Kingdom of Heaven would MIX in with the Kingdom of this World.
Today we’re going to look at a Parable about a Field where Weeds were mixed in with the Wheat. In another Parable, Jesus told about a Fishing Net that picked up all kinds of fish. And in a 3rd story He told about a Day of Judgment when the sheep would be separated from the goats. All these Stories show that --- for now --- the Kingdom of Heaven is a Mixed Bag.
1. The Mixed Bag
In the Parable of the Field, Jesus said, "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… Matthew 13:24-25
In the Parable of the Net, He said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. Matthew 13:47 This shows that the Kingdom of Heaven is INCLUSIVE. Everyone has access.
In the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, Jesus said, 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. Matthew 25:32
Have you ever wondered why there is so much Conflict in the world? You won’t find any promise from Jesus that the Conflict will end in our present age --- and this Mixing of the Kingdoms is part of the reason. For now, the Kingdom of Heaven is Mixed in with the Kingdom of this World. Righteousness and Wickedness exist side by side.
According to Scripture, this MIXED BAG will last until the Day of Judgment. In fact, a lot of the suffering in our world comes from people who try to establish some sort of Utopia on Earth --- apart from God. A Perfect Kingdom on Earth is what Marxism and Nazism, and Socialism and Communism all promise. But none of them deliver.
If you understand Scripture, you won’t be naïve about the condition of our World. In fact, you won’t be naïve about conflict within the Church either. In the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds, Jesus said, "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. Matthew 13: 24-26
Not only does the Church exist in a world of Weeds --- the enemy has planted Weeds right there WITHIN the Church. The word used for weeds here refers to a plant called bearded darnel. Darnel looks a lot like Wheat until it’s ripe. That’s why no one noticed until the wheat sprouted and formed heads. These weeds were a serious problem because Bearded Darnel is poisonous. If you eat it, it makes you deathly sick.
In spite of that, Jesus said that for now His Kingdom will continue to exist within that sort of Mixed Bag. However, Jesus also promised that a Day is coming when God will separate the Weeds from the Wheat. That Day of Judgment will be a Day of Division.
2. The Day of Division
In the Parable of the Field, that day is called the time of the Harvest.
In the Parable of the Net, that day comes when the net is full.
The Parable of the Sheep and Goats says, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 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. Matthew 25:31-32
Until that day, the Sheep and Goats will graze together, the Wheat and Weeds will grow together, and all kinds of Fish will mix together in the Net. It’s a sign of the Grace of God that he will not separate His Kingdom from the Mix until that day. The Kingdom of Heaven is INCLUSIVE, not EXclusive. And only God knows when the Net will be full. Until then, God wants everyone to have the opportunity to be part of His Church.
In the Parable of the Field the Servants asked the Landowner, Do you want us to pull out all those Weeds? “No,” the owner answered, “because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.” Matthew 13:29-30
We want to sort out the MIX ourselves. But according to the Parable, we have to wait --- because we won’t get it right! Any time we set ourselves up as arbitrary judges about who is and who is not Righteous, we inevitably get it wrong.
In a book called The Grace Awakening, Chuck Swindoll tells about a Missionary family who left their Work because of Condemnation from other Missionaries. What was the theological disagreement over? Peanut butter.
You see, the Mission field where they went did not have access to Peanut Butter. So, that particular family arranged for a friend to send them Peanut Butter from the States every now and then. The problem was that the other Missionaries considered it a mark of their true spirituality that they did without Peanut Butter. They explained, “We believe that since peanut butter is not available here, we should give it up for the cause of Christ.”
Well, the new family disagreed. And the end result was that they were pushed out of that mission.
Of course a part of me thinks that if there’s anything worth fighting over, it’s probably Peanut Butter! But a more mature part of me agrees with Swindoll who concluded, “What we have here is a modern-day example of a group of squint-eyed legalists spying out and attacking another’s liberty. Not even missionaries are exempt.”
No wonder Jesus warned, while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. If we try to set ourselves up as Judge, we make terrible mistakes. Only God can make Perfect judgment. That’s why Romans 14:1 says, “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.”
We should never expect absolute perfection in the Church … at least not until that Day when GOD Himself makes everything Perfect. In the mean time, our Unity in the Church cannot require 100% agreement on all matters. If we set ourselves up as the Judge of who is and is not righteous, we’ll get it wrong as often as we’ll get it right.
Through the years I’ve had numerous occasions when folks warned me to watch out for other people in a church. The amazing thing is that --- in almost every case --- the people I was warned about turned out to be Delightful and Dependable folks. In fact, more often than not, the ones who bad-mouthed them turned out to be the real troublemakers. Often the “weedy-est” folks are the ones who are quick to Judge someone else’s “weedy-ness.”
Until Christ comes again, we need to be patient with the “Mixed Bag” nature of the Kingdom. For now, we wait. But the day WILL come when the waiting will end. On that day, there will be no mistakes --- no injustice --- no collateral damage.
On that day, God will dole out Perfect --- and Final ---Judgment. On That Day, the Kingdom of Heaven will then be Eternally Separated from the Kingdom of this World.
3. The Eternal Kingdom
A week or two back, a TV show called 20/20 had a documentary about Hell. They talked about the fascination people have with the Eternal. According to the program, about a decade ago, 56% of Americans believed in the existence of a place called Hell. After 9/11 the percent shot up to 71%. The program presented random speculations about Hell --- from ancient Babylonia to the Greeks --- from Marilyn Manson to Homer Simpson.
It was an interesting show. But in my case, I’m not going to bet my Eternal Soul on the latest Television special. Jesus is the ONLY one who can speak with authority about eternity. He spoke from first-hand experience. With Jesus you don’t get Human Speculation. You get Divine Revelation.
Let’s look at what Jesus told us about the Afterlife from the 3 Parables we’re looking at today:
o We see that there will be a Final Day of Judgment
o On that day (and not before that day) the Kingdom of Heaven will be separated from the Kingdom of this World.
o Angels will do the Separating --- at the command of Jesus the King.
o No one will escape this Final judgment.
o Judgment will be based on what we did here on earth. The Parable of Sheep and Goats talks about those who fed the hungry, clothed the needy, and helped those who were sick and in prison. Jesus said, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’40 Matthew 25:40
And we see that there are only TWO possible Destinations:
o In the Parable of the Field… the Weeds were Burned while the Wheat was stored in the Barn
o In the Parable of the Net, the bad fish were thrown in the Fiery Furnace while the good were placed on the Shore
o In the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, the Sheep were on his Right and the Goats on his Left.
Look at what Jesus said to the sheep in Matthew 25:34: "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.
Contrast that with his words to the goats in verse 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.’
If you take the words of Jesus seriously, you can’t ignore the existence of Hell. Jesus spoke about Hell repeatedly. According to Jesus, Heaven is being prepared for those who Believe. But Hell was not originally designed with humans in mind. It was prepared for the devil and his angels.
Why would a loving God allow anyone to go to Hell? First we have to understand that at its most basic level, Hell is simply a place of eternal separation from God. Just as Darkness has no definition except the complete absence of Light --- Hell is nothing more than the complete absence of God. God does not SEND people there as much as He honors their own choice to live apart from Him.
J.P. Moreland from Talbot School of Theology explained it this way: “If God has given people free will, then there’s no guarantee that everybody’s going to choose to cooperate with him. The option of forcing everyone to go to Heaven is immoral, because it’s dehumanizing; it strips them of the dignity of making their own decision; it denies them their freedom of choice; and it treats them as a means to an end.”
It helps me understand this when I think about people I know who seem to CHOOSE to live a life of Hell on Earth. I’m not talking about those who suffer innocently --- apart from their own choices. But we all know people who WILLFULLY ruin their own lives.
These are the kind of folks who won’t listen to anyone --- not to parents or teachers --- or any authority … especially not God. These people walk WILLFULLY into traps they’ve been warned about --- traps like addiction and disease and violence. Over and over they turn down opportunities to escape those traps.
If you love someone like that, you wish with all your heart that you could somehow make their choices for them. But you can’t. It breaks your heart, but you can’t save them from the Hell they choose to live in. In the end, the choice is theirs and theirs alone.
Dallas Willard once said, “I am now leading a life that will last forever.” That is true for all of us. Right here and now we’re getting a foretaste of Heaven --- or a sampling of Hell --- according to our own choices. God honors people with the freedom to choose. And the hard truth is that some people would rather live in a private hell than surrender their lives to God.
The poet Milton was right when he wrote in Paradise Lost: “The choice of every lost soul can be expressed in the words, ‘Better to reign in hell than serve in Heaven.”
CONCLUSION:
Jesus told these Parables so you could KNOW that He wants EVERYONE to choose Heaven. That’s why God lets the Weeds grow with the Wheat until Harvest. That’s why He gathers up all kinds of Fish until the Net is Full.
But the Final Day of Judgment WILL come. On that day, God will separate those who belong to Him from those who have rejected Him.
Listen to this wisdom from C.S. Lewis. He said, There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says --- in the end --- “THY will be done.” Without that self –choice there could be no Hell.
TODAY the choice is set before you. Will you choose to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven?
