Friday, June 8, 2018


WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An international Sunday school lesson commentary
For Sunday June 10, 2018

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PARABLES OF GOD’S KINGDOM
(GOD’s Kingdom grows despite earthly obstacles)
(Matthew 13:24-43)

   One of the main differences between the “Church” and the “Kingdom of Heaven” is that the Church includes both “saved” and “unsaved” people alike, whereas the Kingdom of Heaven will only be populated with those who are saved, and so too will the earthly “Millennial Kingdom” of CHRIST be. Here in Matthew 13, JESUS provides us with several parables that witness of that fact, as now we see a very distinct turning point in HIS ministry here on earth.
    Up until this point JESUS had done much of HIS teaching in the synagogue, but now because of open opposition from the Pharisees, Sadduces, and Scribes, the doors to the Church were slowly being closed to HIM. And even though HE was still being welcomed by the common folks of the congregation, the hierarchy of Judaism was beginning to search for ways to discredit HIM, and were, more and more, dead set on trying to trap HIM in HIS words.
    Taking up at verse 24, JESUS relates the parable of the farmer who planted good seeds of wheat in his field. That night, however, while everyone slept, his enemy came and planted weeds all among the wheat that he had sowed.
    As the crop began to grow, the farmer came to the realization that he had a “weed problem” to contend with in his field, however, instead of disturbing and running the risk of destroying his wheat crop, he decided to let the wheat grow to maturity among the weeds, and then, just prior to the harvest, remove the weeds without doing any damage to the valuable wheat that was needed for food and nourishment.
    After the crop ripened and became ready for harvesting, the harvesters first removed the weeds from the wheat field and burned them. Then, they harvested all of the wheat from the field and stored it safely within a barn.
     This parable by JESUS paints a vivid picture to those who were familiar with Palestinian farm life. The weeds, or “tares” depicted in this story were one of the most hated problems that a farmer had to contend with in his labors. These particular weeds, called “bearded darnel”, in their early stages, very much resembled wheat, and in fact, it was extremely difficult to distinguish between the two at that point in their growth. However, once they matured, the task of distinguishing became very easy, and so a farmer would be wise to wait until then to separate the two.
    Sandwiched in between “the parable of the wheat and tares” and its explanation, we find two other short parables, one of the “Mustard seed”, not the smallest seed, but rather, it was the smallest of all the seeds for gardening in Palestine in those days, and was often used in the proverbial sense to describe something very tiny. And, there is also “the Illustration of the Yeast”, which explains how a very trace amount of something can become a very large influence in life, or have a huge affect on life as a whole.
    In the parable of the Mustard seed, JESUS imparts to us a fact that has been historically proven over all of time, and that is, “great things always begin small”. The Mustard seeds of Palestine were likened unto that, as they often grew into 10 to 12 feet plants. And so we can see here that this parable is not an exaggeration by JESUS, by any stretch of the imagination.
    The Kingdom of GOD had come into the world through the presence of JESUS. Christianity would start with one MAN, but would catapult into a major religion before the end of the first century. This was one of the most personal parables that JESUS ever spoke, however, HE wanted HIS small group of young men to realize the challenge they were up against, and HE also wanted them to know that with GOD, all things were possible.
    There would be no room for discouragement. Each man had to first serve as one witness in every place that they went. And from all those small beginnings in each place, the influence of CHRIST would grow, until all the kingdoms on earth, have become Kingdoms of GOD.
    The parable of the yeast can be likened to the illustration of the mustard seed, as only a very small amount of leaven is needed to make bread rise. The amount applied may be small, but its influence on the way things turn out is tremendous. Christianity had small beginnings, but in the end its influence, the transforming power of CHRIST, will overcome the world, just as HE did.
    In the end, man will not be judged by any “single act”, or even “stage”, of his life, but rather, we will be judged by the whole of our lives. For, that is why GOD reserves judgment until the end, and not at the beginning. The parable of the wheat and tares serves to teach us that lesson. The world is full of both good and bad people, and sometimes, because of hypocrisy (play acting) it is difficult to tell which is which. However, if we wait and observe for long enough, eventually they will both, through their actions, help us to identify, just who they really are.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander





    


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