Matthew 13

Jesus tells many parables in Matthew 13. He starts with the parable of the sower, and then explains its meaning. He also tells and explains the parable of the weeds in the garden, and the parable of the fish in the net.

He tells His disciples why He is speaking in parables - to fulfill the judgement prophesied in Isaiah 6:9-10. And Matthew points out Psalm 78:2 as another prophecy that foretold that Jesus would speak in parables.

This chapter has many lessons for us in these straight-forward explanations from Jesus and He taught them clearly enough that we don't need to try to improve on His explanation.

But there are a few parables here that He did not explain, and these are not difficult to understand either if you pick up on what Jesus is teaching through the other ones.

Some people take the parable of the mustard seed too literally and point out the physical size of the seed and size of the tree as contradictions or fallacies. Jesus was not giving a botany lesson, though - He was expressing the point that the kingdom of heaven grows from the smallest seed of faith and becomes a place of refuge and rest for many. His own life and ministry started from humble beginnings but grew and spread across the whole world.

Leaven is a living organism. Natural leaven (before modern industrial processes) is mostly bacteria. Once you introduce it into flour it begins to eat the starch, reproduce, and spread through the flour. The kingdom of heaven is like that in our lives. A little spark of faith soon spreads through our entire being until we are completely transformed. This same parable is used as a warning in other places - to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

The parables of the treasure and the pearl point to us needing to be willing to give up earthly things and pursue God at all costs because He is infinitely more valuable.

The last part of this chapter breaks my heart. Jesus has been speaking in parables because the leaders of His own people - the ones who should have been the most welcoming to Him - basically said He was working for the devil. And now the people who knew Him the best - the people He grew up around - rejected Him and became offended by Him. Jesus is the most wonderful person to ever live, and the people who should have known Him the best are the very ones that rejected Him the hardest. It's one of the saddest ironies of this life.