Verse by Verse

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,

46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

In the parable of the merchant looking for fine pearls, Christ revealed that God will get a treasure not only from the nation Israel but from the Gentiles as well. This is inferred from the fact that a pearl comes out of the sea. Frequently in Scripture the sea represents Gentile nations. Once again we see that a treasure from among the Gentiles becomes God’s by purchase. — Pentecost, page 218

If this take is correct, and I think it is, the pearl refers to the Gentile nations that will be blessed through Israel during the Millennial Kingdom. It does not refer to the church because 1) the Church wasn’t revealed until the revelation was given to Paul, and 2) the Church won’t be in the kingdom.

“And now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him (for I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and My God shall be My strength), indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth’” (Isaiah 49:5-6).

44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

field — In the previous parables, the field is the world

man — In the previous parables, the man is the Son of Man, Jesus Christ

According to Exodus 19:5, God declared to Israel, “If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine.” According to Psalm 135:4, “The Lord hath chosen Jacob unto Himself, and Israel for His peculiar treasure.”

… As we trace the gospel narratives, it is clear that Jesus came with a special purpose of redeeming Israel, although at the same time He reconciled the world unto Himself. It was Jesus, therefore, who sold all that He had in order to buy the treasure, Israel, and to purchase it with His own blood (Philippians 2:7-8; 1 Peter 1:18-19). During the present age, Israel is a hidden entity in the world, only to emerge at the end of the age as a major factor in the prophetic fulfillment leading up to the second coming of Christ. — Walvoord, page 105.

I would agree with Walvoord except with his reference to the present age. This age was hidden when Christ was speaking, so He couldn’t have been referring to it. He could, however, have been speaking of the period on the prophetic timeline between when He spoke and His second coming. For the rest of the time before His death, for the period between Pentecost and Acts 28, and for the still future Tribulation, Israel will be hidden. The parable only goes this far. It doesn’t refer to the time when the treasure will be dug up.

36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”

37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.

39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.

41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,

42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

This is the explanation of the parable that the Lord taught in vs. 24-30.

In the Millennial Kingdom, those who believe in Jesus Christ are represented by the wheat in this parable. Those who don’t believe are the tares.

Sin will be punished severely, so those who don’t believe will behave and look very much like believers, just as tares look like wheat.

But at the end of the age, the unbelievers will be separated and thrown into everlasting fire.

Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:7-10).

33 Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them,

35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

three measures (v.33) — a common baking measure — about a gallon and a half

It has been correctly pointed out that it is both important and interesting to interpret any expression or thought in Scripture by the presence thereof in other parts of Scripture, and especially by its first occurrence. Following that principle of investigation, we find that the first occasion upon which the three measures of meal are mentioned in Scripture is as far back as Genesis 18:6. There we have an account of the entertainment of Jehovah by Abraham. In one of the great Theophanies of the Old Testament, Jehovah manifested Himself as an angel. Recognizing Him as supernatural, Abraham hastened to entertain Him. Sarah took three measure of meal and prepared it. Passing on through the Bible I find the figure again in connection with the meal offering. For this there was fixed a minimum and maximum amount. Gideon brought an offering, and Hannah also, and on each occasion three measures of meal are spoken of. In the book of Ezekiel, in connection with the final and perfect offerings, seven times over in one brief instruction the amount of the meal offering is three measures of meal. In the Divine economy the meal offering followed the burnt offering. The burnt offering signifies the devotion of the life to God. The meal offering was the result of cultivation, manufacture, preparation, and, therefore, so far as man was concerned, always signified dedication of his work to God. Remember, too, the meal offering was an offering of hospitality; part was retained by the worshiper and part was at the disposal of the priest. In the meal offering, then, we have a symbol of the perfect communion established between the worshiper and God upon the basis of the worshiper’s service. From the simple rites of home life was taken that which was to be the perpetual symbol of dedication to God in service as the ground of perpetual communion with Him. — Morgan, pages 159-160

__________

Leaven is in itself corrupt, and is always an agent of corruption. When Sarah prepared the meal for the angel, she mixed no leaven with it. Leaven was distinctly forbidden in the meal offering, and when Paul used the figure of the leaven, whether in reference to the Levitical code, the Jewish custom, or the Master’s use of it, it was always in the sense of evil. “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, even as ye are unleavened. For our Passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ: wherefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:6-8). — Morgan, page 160

__________

The first use of “leaven” in the New Testament, in the actual reading of the books rather than in the chronology of events, is in our text. Later on, as the King came to Caesarea Philippi, and approached the crisis when the period of His propaganda merged into that of His passion, He warned His disciples to “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Mark tells us that He said, “Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod;” while Luke reports Him as saying, “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” 

Coming to the letter to the Corinthians, Paul uses the figure in connection with the toleration in the church of an incestuous person, and the lack of discipline which characterized that toleration. Yet again, in the Galatian epistle, in combating the influence of Judaizing teachers, Paul declared, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” These referenced exhaust the use of the figure in the New Testament. Thus in the Old and New alike, leaven is the symbol of that against which the men of faith are to guard. — Morgan page 161

The quote in v.35 is from Psalm 78:2.

Again, the commentaries apply this parable to the current age. I’ve already given my reasons why I don’t agree with this.

There will be sin in the kingdom.  It will be judged (Isaiah 65:20)  as it was with Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), but it will be there.

The kingdom will start with all believers, of course, all unbelievers having died off at Armageddon.  However, these believers will have children who can’t inherit salvation — they must believe for themselves.  As is the case now, the majority of people don’t believe.  Thus by the end of the kingdom, Satan is able to amass an army against God “whose number is as the sand of the sea” (Revelation 20:7-8).  That’s how “the whole was leavened”, as the parable says.

The parable features a woman introducing the leaven since she is the one who bears the children who will leaven the kingdom.

31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,

32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

This parable is also found in Mark 4:30-31.

We are not to understand from our Lord’s words that the mustard seed is the most infinitesimal of all seeds in the entire vegetable kingdom, but it is the least of all the seeds of the garden herbs; yet when it is grown it becomes the greatest of all the herbs, towering over all the rest, so that it forms a place of shelter. — Ironside, page 167.

__________

Some have noted that the mustard seed described as “the least of all seeds” is not actually the smallest seed, and that this is an error in the Scriptures. The answer is twofold. The Greek word translated “smallest” (mikroteron) is actually a comparative and should be translated “smaller,” … The thought is that it is “very small.” Second, Jesus is speaking of the seeds that were ordinarily planted in ancient gardens, hence the remark that botanists know about many seeds that are still smaller is pointless. — Walvoord, pages 101-102.

__________

The expression, “small as a mustard seed,” had become proverbial, and was used, not only by our Lord, but frequently by the Rabbis, to indicate the smallest amount.

Mustard was in Palestine mixed with, or used as food for pigeons, and presumably would be sought by other birds.

The Kingdom of Heaven, planted in the field of the world as the smallest seed, in the most humble and uncompromising manner, would grow till it far outstripped all other similar plants, and gave shelter to all nations under heaven.

Out of that insignificant seed in one year would grow a plant that became large enough for birds to nest in it. Daniel 4:12 and Ezekiel 31:6 use the figure of a spreading tree in which birds lodge to indicate a great kingdom that can protect many people. — Pentecost, page 217.

My commentaries all saw this as a picture of the world today. Many of them say that a mustard plant the size of a tree would be an abnormal thing and equate it with the professing church of the current age. Birds, they say, always represent evil and, therefore, are the apostasy and evil ones of this age, or those who profess to be Christians but aren’t.

But again, this makes no sense to me. The Lord had been preaching the literal kingdom all through His ministry up to this point. And although the Jews didn’t understand and had rejected Him as the Messiah, they hadn’t yet finally rejected the kingdom because the kingdom wasn’t offered until Pentecost. (Even if, hypothetically, the Jews had accepted Christ as the Messiah, the kingdom still couldn’t have been ushered in until Pentecost because, without Christ’s death and resurrection, there would be no salvation.)

So … I’m forced to decide for myself what this parable means. If it’s referring to the Millennial Kingdom, which I believe all of Christ’s references to the kingdom in Matthew are, then … The Jewish leaders had just rejected Christ. Only a small group of followers (a mustard seed’s worth) were planted on the earth. But someday, in the Millennium, that small group will be a huge nation that covers the earth, large enough for the other nations to take cover under its blessing.

I understand that I’m disagreeing with the widespread consensus here, which makes me wonder why I see this so differently. I think it’s this …

Many (most?) people see this age as the culmination of earthly history — Christ died and rose again and salvation is offered to everyone who believes and so all Scripture must, somehow, be about now.

I don’t agree. I think the culmination of earthly history will be the Millennial Kingdom when Jesus Christ is on the throne in Jerusalem, there will be widespread peace on earth, and all the nations of the world are blessed through Israel. That, and not the situation today, fulfills the promised made to Abraham and David. That provides the literal fulfillment of so very many Old Testament prophecies. That explains Acts 2 and Romans 9-11 and Revelation. And any claim that we’re experiencing God’s ultimate plan for earth today makes God look like a failure.

This current age is, as it is often named, an age of grace. God, before He reigns, is going to judge the world. He is postponing that awful judgment because of His grace. But it’s coming.

I think Satan primarily works by twisting the truth just enough to confuse people. Claiming that this age is the culmination of history sounds good. It makes us feel important. It can be backed up by a lot of Scripture (taken out of context or interpreted incorrectly). And it keeps people from properly understanding God’s Word.

24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;

25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.

26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.

27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’

28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’

29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.

30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The parable is explained in Matthew 13:36-43.

The explanation is given to the disciples alone (v.36), which makes it clear that the parable itself, along with the next two (the mustard seed and the leaven) were given to the crowd.

The method so far as the foe is concerned marks his wiliness, his cowardliness, his dastardly determination to harm. He was a trespasser, full of subtlety, animated by malice. There was no other motive in his action. He could gain nothing by sowing another’s field with darnel, for it is not a saleable produce, and no profit can be made out of its growth. It is as worthless to the man who sows it as to the owner of the field. This sowing, then, was the result of pure malice. — Morgan, page 151.

__________

According to the common view, these tares represent what is botanically known as the “bearded darnel” (lolium temulentum), a poisonous rye-grass, very common in the East, entirely like wheat until the ear appears, or else (according to some), the “creeping wheat” or “couch-grass” (triticum repens), of which the roots creep underground and become intertwined with those of the wheat. But the parable gains in meaning if we bear in mind that, according to ancient Jewish (and indeed, modern Eastern) ideas, the tares were not of different seed, but only a degenerate kind of wheat. Whether in legend or symbol, Rabbinism has it that even the ground had been guilty of fornication before the judgment of the Flood, so that when wheat was sown tares sprang up. The Jewish hearers of Jesus would, therefore, think of these tares as degenerate kind of wheat, originally sprung at the time of the Flood, through the corruptness of the earth, but now, alas! so common in their fields; wholly indistinguishable from the wheat, till the fruit appeared: noxious, poisonous, and requiring to be separated from the wheat, if the latter was not to become useless. — Pentecost, page 216.

18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower:

19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it,then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.

20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

does not understand it (v.19) — rejects it by choice — it was sown in his heart, but he would not receive it

stony places (v.20) — those who put on the form of godliness but with no power

Thus we see in these three classes, in which the seed perishes and brings no fruit, the Devil, the Flesh and the World represented. The Devil snatches up and devours, the Flesh attempts and fails, the World surrounds and chokes. — Gaebelein, page 273

My commentaries were of no further help. What follows is my take on this parable.

The Lord was talking to a Jewish audience. He explained His teaching to His Jewish disciples who will one day sit on the thrones over the 12 tribes in the Millennium. He was talking about that Millennium, just as He had been since He began His ministry by declaring that the Kingdom was at hand because the King was at hand.

The seeds that fell in the wayside and are eaten by birds (the Devil) are like the Pharisees, who would have no part of the Lord’s message and of whom He said, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do (John 8:44).

The seeds that fell on stony ground are like the Jews who were impressed by the Lord’s miracles but fell away when He didn’t behave the way they wanted a King to behave. From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more (John 6:66).

The seeds that fell among the thorns are like the rich young ruler who wouldn’t forsake the things of the world to follow the Lord.  Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions (Matthew 19:21-22). 

The seeds that fell on good ground are those who accepted Him as Messiah and continued to believe even when He went to the cross (although many of them had doubts).

The Lord knew that many in that generation would not accept His message and trust Him, and He was preparing His disciples for that fact. They still didn’t understand about His coming death and resurrection or that the Kingdom would be postponed.

10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive;

15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’

16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;

17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

seeing they do not see (v.13) — they did not wish to see — or hear or understand

The quote (v.14) is from Isaiah 6:9-10 in the Septuagint.

dull (v.15) = fat

The people, notwithstanding His ministry, had rejected Him up to this time, and therefore He could not give to them, nor could they have received, the mysteries of the Kingdom. To the men who had crowned Him, He belonged; and all the principles and privileges of the Kingdom they were able to appreciate and possess. The others had so far refused their allegiance and were therefore unable to see, or enter into, the Kingdom.

If we go further back for a moment, we may state the case thus. All these men among whom the ministry of Jesus had been exercised had preliminary knowledge of the ways of God as a result of the religion in which they had been born and trained. In fulfillment of the messages of their own Scriptures He had come. Certain of them had received Him, others of them had rejected Him. To those receiving Him were given the mysteries of the Kingdom. to those rejecting Him these messages could not be given, and they were in danger of losing the real value of all that they had gained through their early religious training. — Morgan, page 141.

__________

It was never God’s desire to harden anyone’s heart or to close anyone’s eyes against the truth, but it is a principle that runs throughout the word of God that the truth either softens or hardens. The very same sun that softens the wax hardens the clay; and so the very same gospel message which breaks down honest hearts and leads to repentance, hardens the hearts of the dishonest and confirms them in their path of disobedience. — Ironside, page 163.

The unbelievers could not grasp the new revelation about the kingdom because they would not grasp the revelation already given.

Most of my commentaries claim the kingdom the Lord was teaching about here is the current age, between His resurrection and His second coming. This is demonstrably wrong for several reasons. I’ll mention two.

First, verse 17 says that the prophets desired to see what the apostles were seeing. Since the prophets hadn’t known anything about the current age (as evidenced by the misunderstanding nearly everyone had about the Messiah’s suffering), they couldn’t have desired to know more. Their desire must have been related to some truth that was revealed to them in some degree — namely, the Millennial Kingdom.

Second, while John the Baptist and the Lord preached that the Kingdom was at hand — or close — because the Messiah was at hand, they never said it was here. Again, this is because of the misunderstanding about the necessity of the Messiah to suffer and die. It was only after that death occurred that the Kingdom could be — and was — offered, in Acts 2. So, it makes no sense that Christ would have moved on to teaching about what is to take place after the Jews rejected the Kingdom before the Kingdom was even offered and when their final rejection hadn’t yet occurred.

The mystery of the current age, during which the Kingdom would be delayed, was still a mystery—until the truth was given to Paul after the Jew’s final rejection of the Messiah when Steven was put to death.

1 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.

2 And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:“Behold, a sower went out to sow.

4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.

5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.

6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.

7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.

8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

On this day, Jesus gave several parables — seven in Matthew and four, including one not mentioned in Matthew, in Mark. The total number of parables in Scripture is generally considered to be 34.

seaside (v.1) — Sea of Galilee

Subsequent verses in this chapter explain why the Lord began speaking in parables and what the parable in this chapter means, so I’ll leave those issues until then.

Literally, [a parable] is a throwing or placing of things side by side, with the suggestion of comparison. Something is placed by the side of something else, with the intention of explaining the one by the other.

Invariably in the teaching of Jesus a parable was a picture of things seen, intended to revel and explain things unseen, and a rapid glance over this chapter will show how the King made use of the things that were most common in the experience of those amongst whom He was teaching for this purpose. — Morgan, page 140.

__________

In considering the interpretation of parables, it is important to observe the following words of Christ: “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you” (Matthew 13:11). The parables were designed to teach truth concerning the kingdom program. Again and again our Lord used the formula, “The kingdom of heaven is like” (vs. 24 et al.). Truth is always applicable to believers, and truth may be gained from a study of the parables and applied to persons living today. Yet it must be noted from the Lord’s own words that His parables were designed to convey truth concerning the kingdom program. — Pentecost, page 213.

46 While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.

47 Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”

48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”

49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!

50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

brothers (v.46) — almost certainly the sons born to Mary and Joseph after the birth of Christ (Matthew 13:55).

Some commentaries (and I think it makes sense) link the arrival of Mary and the Lord’s brothers with Mark 3:21: But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.” His family probably came to stop Him from speaking and stirring up trouble with the authorities.

This is not to say that He lost His affection for His brethren, or failed in love to His mother. In the last and awful hours of His intensest suffering, He still thought of her, and with tender solicitude entrusted her to the care of John. His brethren, moreover, according to the flesh, we find eventually numbered among His disciples. But in this hour, when unable to understand Him, they sought from the motive of a true affection to hinder Him in His work. He resolutely refused to yield to their desire, and by His words revealed the fact that He counted earthly relationships as nothing compared to those spiritual relationships which were born of a common loyalty to the will of God. — Morgan, page 138.

__________

The nation Israel claimed a relationship to Messiah when He should come because of a common relationship to Abraham. But Christ rejected blood ties as constituting a true spiritual relationship. The only ones whom He would accept as being spiritually related to Him were those who were related to Him by faith. In that multitude there were those who claimed a relationship to Abraham as a basis for entrance into the kingdom. Christ said the kingdom must be entered by faith in His person, not by the accident of physical birth. In this paragraph, then, we find the conclusion to the Pharisees’ decision that Jesus Christ was demon-possessed. — Pentecost, page 210.

If Mary and her sons had no claims on Christ due to family ties, the Pharisees certainly had no claims on Him due to racial ties. In that light it makes sense that this passage appears here right at the time that Christ’s offer of the kingdom to Israel was being withdrawn until after His death and resurrection.