Those who see and hear God’s Kingdom
Matthew 13:1-16:23
The Narrative Flow:
I.
Hearing the Kingdom in Jesus’ Parables (13:1-52)
Chapter 13 is the third major discourse in Matthew’s Gospel and here Matthew is focused on one of
Jesus’ customary ways of speaking to people: “parables”. There are lots of discussions today among
scholars as to how define “parables”. It is clear that the Greek word parabole, which stands behind our
English word, was used by Greek speaking Jews to refer to lots of different kinds of speech. Sometimes
it referred to a proverb, an oracle, a riddle, an allegory and a story, to name a few. But the basic idea of
a parable is a comparison. Jesus typically compares something about wisdom or the way God is working
in the world with something that his hearers knew about. He would describe one situation that was
comparable to another that explains how God and life in his kingdom works.
In this chapter, there are five parables. The first parable (vs. 3-9) and its explanation (13:18-23) describe
a sower (most likely God who acts through Jesus’ ministry) who sows seeds (God’s word about his
coming kingdom) among different places (the path, rocky soil, among thorns, and on good soil). While
the seeds that land on the first three places (who represent different people’s negative reactions to
Jesus’ proclamation of God’s kingdom) could not grow enough to become fruit bearing plants, those
sowed on good soil (people how respond positively to Jesus’ message) did grow and their produce (i.e.
their righteousness) was abundant. The disciples are confused as to why Jesus would tell a story to the
crowd and not explain it (v. 10). Jesus then explains that the “secrets of the kingdom of heaven” (v. 11)
have been given to his disciples, not to the crowds. In other words, the disciples, for choosing to follow
Jesus, are privy to understand more because they see that Jesus is the one sent by God and they want to
hear what God has to say through Jesus. The crowd will stay in the dark, just like the people in Isaiah’s
day (v. 14) who saw history unfold but could not perceive what God was doing because their hearts
were dull and they are tired of hearing (v. 15).
The other four parables in this chapter also deal with different aspect of anticipating and preparing for
the arrival of God’s kingdom. The parable of the wheat and weeds (13:24-30) and its interpretation
(13:36-43) by Jesus for the disciples (i.e. the apostles) warn servants of God not to kill or destroy the
wicked in “the world” (13:38) as a means of protecting the righteous in order to bring about God’s
kingdom. God’s eschatological judgment, unlike the potential action of the servants, can separate the
wheat from the weeds and can destroy the weeds without destroying any wheat. The parable of the
mustard seed (13:31, 32) and leaven (13:33) both teach that God’s kingdom may be small and hardly
noticeable now (i.e. as with the case of Jesus’ ministry), but in the end it will be exceptionally and aweinspiringly large when it finally and fully arrives. The parables of the treasure hidden in a field (13:44)
and the pearl of great price (13:45-46) both teach that the kingdom, whether one is looking for it or not,
is so valuable once it is discovered that a person must commit all that they have in order to hold onto it.
Finally, the parable of the net (13:47-50) encourages the righteous with the news that when God’s
kingdom arrives God will separate evil people from them and condemn them to punishment.
Class Discussion Questions:
1. Many people are attracted to Jesus’ parables. Why do you think so?
2. Several of Jesus’ parables in this chapter and elsewhere convey the idea that when God’s
kingdom comes, evil people or unfaithful servants will be punished. Do you think that this
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message of future punishment for evildoers is in any way an encouragement for Jesus’ followers
or simply a warning for those who do evil?
3. There is a popular billboard that advertises the Marine Corp. It says “We don’t take
applications. We take commitments.” Has the church been too reluctant to require
commitment to God’s kingdom that Jesus calls for in the parables of the hidden treasure and
pearl of great price?
II.
Seeing the Kingdom in Jesus’ Ministry (13:53-14:36; 15:21-16:4)
As if to illustrate the parable of the Sower, the next episodes Matthew records focus attention on
reactions to Jesus’ ministry. First, Jesus returns to his “own country” and teaches in “their synagogue”
(13:54). Matthew doesn’t bother to tell his readers what Jesus actually taught his countrymen, but they
are probably meant to assume that Jesus was again proclaiming that his ministry was initiating the
arrival of God’s kingdom. The audience finds this offensive because they know (or at least think they
know) who Jesus is, since they know who his family is (13:55-56). We might wonder whether or not the
fact that Jesus’ origins are known may have in their eyes disqualified him from being the Messiah, if it
was expected, as some scholars speculate, that the Messiah’s exact origins (whether heavenly or
earthly) is supposed to be unknown. What Matthew does tell his readers is that Jesus’ audience knows
that he has done “mighty works” (i.e. miracles), nevertheless Jesus “did not do many might works there,
because of their unbelief” (13:58). Seeing the kingdom of God coming through Jesus requires faith.
The second reaction to Jesus’ ministry comes from Herod the tetrarch (14:1-12). This is Herod the
Great’s son. After Herod died, none of his sons were allowed by Rome to be called “king”, as their
father was. Herod’s kingdom was divided among his sons and Rome gave Herod Antipas a fourth of his
father’s kingdom. Therefore, he was called Herod the tetrarch, meaning “ruler of a quarter”. It is here
that Matthew tells us that Herod Antipas had John the Baptist killed, after imprisoning him for speaking
against his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s Philip’s wife (since this would have been seen as a form of
incest). John was later beheaded to fulfill a rash, solemn promise Herod made to his niece’s dance. He
told her that he would give her whatever she asked, at her mother’s prompting she asked for John’s
head. Exactly why Herod made this oath is not clear. All that Matthew states is that the dance “pleased
Herod” (14:6), which could imply anything from the dance arousing him to simply honoring him.
Whatever Matthew wanted to imply, his overall aim is to characterize Herod’s actions as shameful,
pitiful and sinful. Upon hearing about Jesus’ ministry, this guilt-ridden tyrant assumes that Jesus is the
resurrected John the Baptist. Herod can believe that Jesus has great power but he too, like Jesus’ own
countrymen, does not know Jesus’ true identity.
Jesus’ feeding of five-thousand men plus women and children (14:13-21) and feeding four men plus
women and children (15:32-39) provide Matthew a contrast to these rejections of Jesus. The feeding of
the 5000 is one of the most memorable of Jesus’ miracles. Its significance is evidenced by the fact that it
is recorded in all four Gospels. While Jesus’ own countrymen and Herod Antipas do not know his
identity, the crowd who follow him experience that he is the one who compassionately provides food,
similar to how God miraculously provided manna and quail for the Israelites in the wilderness (Exod. 16;
Num. 11). Even though at this stage both crowds do not see Jesus’ true identity (nor even his own
disciples), nevertheless they follow Jesus and are fed.
The next reactions to Jesus come from his own disciples (14:22-32) and the men of Gennesaret (14:3536). After Jesus miraculously fed the crowd, he instructed his disciple to go ahead of him “to the other
side”. By “the other side”, Matthew is referring to a fertile plain that is on the northwest shore of the
John P. Harrison
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Sea of Galilee and is located near Capernaum. Jesus leaves his disciples to go up on a mountain to pray.
While they are away from Jesus night comes and they are deep out to sea. Unexpectantly, a storm
assaults the disciples. It is important here to remember that for Jews the sea was thought of as a place
from which evil arises.
Jesus comes walking on the water to them in the “fourth watch” (14:25), a three hour time period
before dawn. Readers of Matthew’s Gospel could not but help to hear in this account the echoes of the
OT descriptions of God “walking on the sea as if on dry ground” (Job 9:8; see also Ps. 77:19; Is. 43:16;
Hab. 3:15). At first the disciples think they are seeing a ghost, but then they are reassured by Jesus to
“take heart, it is I; have no fear” (14:27). Reassured, Peter wants to join Jesus and is invited to come out
onto the water with him. However, while at first Peter could walk on the water, when he “saw the
wind” he became afraid and started to sink. Jesus rescues Peter and admonishes him for his “little
faith”. The disciples finally react as they should. After the wind ceases, they worship Jesus and
exclaimed to him, “Truly you are the Son of God” (14:33). The whole episode is a reminder to the
church to keep its focus on Jesus as God’s Son and not to be afraid in the midst of the storm of this
present age and its evils.
The men of Gennesaret recognize Jesus as the one who has the power to heal. They go around and get
those who are sick and bring them to Jesus (14:35). Their faith in the power of Jesus to heal is so great
that they ask that people simply be allowed to touch the fringe of his garment. Those that did were
healed (14:36). They experienced the power of God’s kingdom because they could see that the
kingdom’s power was available through Jesus.
In chapter 15, Jesus will get a reaction from an unlikely source; a “Canaanite woman” (15:21-28). By
calling her a “Canaanite”, Matthew is invoking the old descriptions of inhabitants of Palestine who were
Israel’s enemies (see Gen. 10:19 and 2 Sam. 24:7). Consequential, a person a Jew might have expected
to despise Israel’s messiah nevertheless recognizes Jesus as the one through whom God’s power is at
work. Though Jesus appears to at first reject her plea for help (15:24), he is impressed with her
resiliency and faith (15:28) and grants her desire for her daughter’s healing. Someone who the
Pharisees might have considered unclean, impure and a non-Israelite and therefore unworthy to
experience God’s kingdom nevertheless has the eyes to see who Jesus is and is touched by God’s
kingdom.
Class Discussion Questions:
1. There are several different reactions to Jesus shown in chapter 14. Some reject Jesus because
they think they know who is really is. One person is perplexed and thinks Jesus is someone else?
Followers think they know who Jesus is, but are still afraid. What are different reactions to Jesus
that you have seen shown from people?
2. One of the issues in this chapter is that following or believing in Jesus opens one up to
experiencing the power of God’s kingdom, whether that is being fed food or being healed of
illnesses. How has your faith in Jesus opened your eyes to see the power of God’s kingdom in
your life?
John P. Harrison
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III.
Pharisees who can’t see what really matters to God (15:1-20; 16:5-12)
Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees in Matthew 15 primarily focuses on the issue of their hypocrisy.
They complain about Jesus’ disciples not following one of the extra-biblical traditions of the elders about
ceremonial impurity yet some of their traditions actually end up transgressing God’s law (15:3-7) rather
than helping people obey it. Also, as Isaiah had warned some in his generation, the Pharisees sometime
teach their traditions as if they were God’s law (15:8-9).
Jesus explains to his disciples that while ceremonial impurity is still a relevant issue, what really matters
to God is the moral impurity that begins in their heart. Unwashed hands and unclean foods are not the
defilements Jesus’ disciples are ultimately concerned about. They are more concerned with the
defilement that comes from their own evil desires.
Jesus also warns his disciples about the “leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees”(16:6); that is their
unclean extra-biblical teachings which they feed to others (16:12). But the disciples are initially
confused by Jesus’ cryptic saying (16:7) and bring the discussion again back to their lack of physical
bread. Their perplexity gives Jesus the opportunity to remind them about the two miraculous feedings
which should have taught them, if they had eyes of faith, that as long as they follow Jesus they will be
(spiritually) fed.
Class Discussion Questions:
1. Everybody has to have extra-biblical teachings to follow (e.g. what time to meet for church
services, what clothes can one wear, are Christians allowed to drink alcohol, what translations
are acceptable, etc.) since Scripture does not state everything we must do or can’t do. But
sometimes our extra-biblical teachings can result in focusing on what really doesn’t matter and
ignoring what really does. Can you think of a time when you were focused on something you
were told to do or not to do that you later realized wasn’t focused on what really matters to
God?
2. What criteria would you suggest Christians use to evaluate what kinds of teachings are
destructive or harmful to us?
IV.
Jesus’ identity as the bringer of God’s Kingdom is revealed to Peter (16:13-2)
This is a climactic point in Matthew’s Gospel. For the first time Jesus is identified by someone as the
“Christ” (16:16). Jesus says that this identification of his true identity was revealed to Peter by God
(16:17) and that it did not come from “flesh and blood”, in other words from natural means. Jesus
acknowledges Peter (whose name means “rock”) and his confession as the “rock” upon which Jesus will
build his church (16:18). While this acknowledgement has divided interpreters, it does seem that both
Peter is significant in Matthew’s Gospel and plays a leading role among the apostles (as he does also in
Acts) and the confession of Jesus as the Christ is crucial. We do not have to choose between these two
but instead recognize them as a unity. Peter and his confession are upon what Jesus will build his
church. But Peter’s glorious confession is immediately overcast by Peter’s refusal to see that Jesus will
establish his church by means of being executed by Jewish temple authorities (16:21). For Jesus, any
such denial of his death as the means by which God will establish his kingdom is the work of satanic
activity. Those who deny the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection are not on the side of God but
the world (16:23).
John P. Harrison
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Class Discussion Questions:
1. Peter goes quickly from recognizing something very important about Jesus’ identity to missing
something very important about his identity. What lesson do you think we can learn from this
quick turn-around in what Peter sees in Jesus?
2. Peter received his knowledge about Jesus’ identity from God and yet Jesus did not want that
identity reported to others (16:20). Why not? Why couldn’t the disciples explain to others what
kind of Messiah Jesus is?
The Narrative Message:
Chapters thirteen through fifteen contain an enormous amount of insights into who Jesus really is and
what he had to say about experiencing God’s kingdom. But one of the biggest points in this entire
section is that it requires faith to see that Jesus is God’s messiah, the one through whom God will bring
his ultimate and final kingdom. How one reacts to Jesus will determine whether or not they will
experience God’s kingdom power. If the church is afraid of the “storms” in this present evil age, they
will demonstrate they have “little faith” and are unable to see the presence of God’s powerful kingdom
in Christ. If the church fails to appreciate the death and resurrection of Jesus and wants a kingdom
without the cross and the empty tomb, they are satanically misled. The church must faithfully and
fearlessly proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom that is coming into the world and all this is able to
happen because of Christ’s death on the cross. In no one else is God’s kingdom received and
experience, seen and heard.
The Challenge:
1. Randomly choose three different peoples’ reactions to Jesus. They may be people you know or
don’t know. One might be hostile to Jesus. One might be apathetic towards him. One might
be curious. One might be totally and radically committed to Jesus. One might be cautious.
There are lots of different reactions. Choose three and reflect on what those reactions says
about what they think is Jesus’ real identity. After doing that, then ask yourself, how is your
reaction different to theirs and what does it say about who you think Jesus really is.
John P. Harrison