What Is The Kingdom Like?

When you open the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke, it seems that more often that not, Jesus is speaking in some parable. With colourful language, Jesus places things “side by side,” comparing and contrasting, and drawing out from the picture he paints some truth or teaching. Sometimes the parables are short, sometimes long, but they’re always vivid, because for his parables Jesus takes illustrations from the every-day things of life: nature, familiar customs, or events that any one could imagine happening.

Readers of the Bible like the parables of Christ. The parables are an interesting, and a gentle, form of teaching; they don’t seem to be as direct as some of Jesus’ other words. It seems that no one is forced to see or respond to the truth that is spoken. Because everyone loves a good story, with these parables everyone might just sit back and appreciate these little tales that Jesus tells.

But Jesus says that his parables will always have some effect. Parables are not just stories. Those who “get” the parables will be blessed with the knowledge that is gained through them. And those who don’t “get” the parables will only sink further in their dangerous ignorance.

So, as with all of the Word of God, the parables are double-edged: They can save, and they can also condemn. And as with all of the Word of God, if we want to understand and apply what we read, we need God’s help. Even when Jesus first told his parables, it was only his disciples and close followers who understood, while everyone else was left scratching their heads. To grasp the real significance of what is said by the Master, you must have fellowship with the Master – not just when he tells his nice stories, but always.

In Matthew 13 we find a whole group of these parables. In the beginning of this chapter we read that Jesus sat down in a boat and parked it a little ways from shore, where great crowds of people gathered. As they all stood there, with eyes and attention focused on the man in the boat, Jesus spoke, and, we read, “He told them many things in parables” (v 3).

For what amounts to an entire chapter Jesus speaks in pictures: telling parables, explaining some, leaving others without commentary, and surely making the people assembled think hard with every one. These parables in Matthew 13 have a similar focus, and are united by a single theme: The Kingdom of heaven. Time and again Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like…”, and then goes on to compare the kingdom of heaven to a farmer sowing a crop, or to a mustard seed, or yeast, or a net, or to something else again.

Yet we wonder, “What is the kingdom of heaven in the first place?” If we are going to look at a pair of these parables today, we need to know what is being compared to what. Well, Scripture views the Kingdom from different but complementary angles, to give us a complete picture of a vast subject. The Kingdom of God is God’s dominion over all the world, and also God’s rule as King as lovingly acknowledged by his people. The Kingdom is God’s rule in the present, but also in the future. The Kingdom of God “comes” when God’s will is faithfully obeyed by the church, and it also comes when God forcefully defeats those who reject his will.

In these two connected parables, Jesus focuses on another aspect of God’s Kingdom; namely, how we find and enter a life that both submits to and enjoys the gracious rule of our King and God. I preach to you God’s Word from Matthew 13,

“The kingdom of heaven is like…”

1) a treasure hidden in a field

2) a merchant looking for fine pearls

1) the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field: With only a few words, Jesus describes the first simple scene, “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.”

To us a couple things about this parable sound strange. The first “odd” thing is that the man actually comes across a buried treasure. Of course, today children like to dream about finding a big chest full of gold coins and jewels. Talk of pirates and treasure maps and of stolen booty hidden away but never found back always excites children, and even some adults. But how likely is it that children in the sandbox, or those fellows with metal detectors at the beach, will ever find anything of value? Not too likely.

But when Jesus told this parable, his listeners wouldn’t have dismissed this talk of finding buried treasure as unrealistic and juvenile. For in the land of Palestine it was a real possibility that a person could stumble upon someone else’s stash of hidden valuables.