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“The Kingdom of Heaven is Like...”
Categories: Iron sharpens ironAll these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable.
(Matthew 13.34)
About forty of Jesus’ parables are recorded for us in the Gospels (the number depends on how you count). He surely told many more, but the ones we have are plenty, and have been taught and retaught so often and for so long that phrases like “prodigal son” and “good samaritan” are common expressions in English, while the word talent, an ancient unit of measurement, now means an innate ability. The longer parables have been studied and preached endlessly, to good effect; but many of Jesus’ parables were only a sentence or two long; and while they’re often neglected, they still have plenty to teach us. Let’s examine a few, all contained in the same chapter of Matthew’s Gospel.
Mustard Seed
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
(Matthew 13.31-32)
There’s some lighthearted exaggeration in this parable—there are plenty of seeds smaller than a mustard seed, and while it can become a very large shrub in the right circumstances, it’s a bit generous to call it a “tree.” But the point isn’t to precisely define the horticultural significance of the plant! The point is that the kingdom of heaven looks tiny and insignificant at the outset, but the potential contained within it is enormously greater than its initial impression would suggest, and the exaggeration—which the entire audience understood immediately as a normal storytelling technique—helps to make that point.
Leaven
He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
(Matthew 13.33)
Our industrialized yeast manufacturing culture (pun very much intended!) Hinders us a bit from intuitively understanding this one; but even if you picture a woman adding a packet of freeze-dried, powdered yeast to her dough, the point is roughly made, and it’s almost identical to the previous parable. The difference this time is that the leaven completely pervades the dough, growing within it at a microscopic level and producing an exceptional change in the character of the whole lump. Atop that, once the leaven is mixed in, it becomes an impossible task to find and extract it! Like it or not, it’s there to stay, and multiplies continually.
Hidden Treasure
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
(Matthew 13.44)
In contrast to the leaven, the treasure could be extracted from where it lay; but in order to rightfully possess it, the finder must first own the field. He doesn’t have the money to buy it, but finds it more than worth the effort and risk inherent in selling everything he owns, considering it all expendable for the sake of acquiring that treasure! So it is with the kingdom of heaven. Our old lives, pursuits, and possessions suddenly seem worthless, in comparison!
Pearl
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
(Matthew 13.45)
This parable makes the same point as the previous one, but uses more commercial terms. The object of value isn’t hidden, this time—it’s on the open market. But the protagonist is of the sort to know the pearl’s value better than the average person, and he can tell this is the best specimen he’s ever encountered. It’s the sort of pearl that, acquired at the right price, would be the crowning jewel (pun again intended) of a successful career in this line of work. Its sale would then amply supply for his future. The rest of the business, which he’s laboriously built over many years, is suddenly disposable, if it means obtaining that one pearl. Laying hold of the kingdom of heaven, similarly, renders everything else unimportant.
New and Old Treasure
And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
(Matthew 13.52)
In this parable Jesus describes a homeowner and his “treasure.” He doesn’t mean a box of gold and jewels; that’s a niche meaning that has taken over as the primary definition, but in the past treasure simply meant that which is valued and stored up. Here it refers to a storehouse (so CSB, NIV, NLT), and a modern equivalent would be a large and well-stocked pantry. These supplies may have been kept for years, or may have only just been harvested and tucked away, but the owner’s diligence ensures that he has something appropriate for every occasion. To what does Jesus compare it? A scribe—that is, one who is educated in the Scriptures. If he’s trained for the kingdom of heaven, he’s constantly learning more, and can delve into that vast, accumulated treasure to cover any need.
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The mustard seed, the leaven, the pearl, and both treasures are now available to all. What are you doing with them? What would you give up, in order to obtain and keep them?
Jeremy Nettles
