Jesus draws a large crowd and again begins to teach them in parables. His first in this series is the sower and the seeds. This parable was very influential in my call to ministry within the United Methodist Church. I believe that God loves all of the fields, and desires to bring all people to salvation. This requires the hard ground to be broken, the rocky soil to be picked free of rocks, the weeds to be uprooted etc.
Jesus explains the sower and seeds parable and then begins to tell parables beginning with the sentence "The Kingdom of Heaven is like...". He likens the Kingdom to the sower, a mustard seed, like yeast mixed in dough, like a treasure hidden in a field, like a fine pearl of great price, and like a fishing net that catches a great catch. When he finishes these parables he says, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." Matthew 13:52 NRSV.
I wonder as I read these parables and Jesus' call to bring out the old and new if I am a good scribe for the Kingdom. Do I bring out both old and new for the people I pastor, or do I get stuck in either tradition or innovation. Holy Spirit, help me to balance my service to your people.
Chapter 13 ends with Jesus back in his hometown, unable to do many miracles because of the unbelief of the masses. I will ponder today over my belief. Do I limit what Jesus can do in my life because of my unbelief?
About Me
- Pastor Bill
- I am a committed follower of Jesus Christ, a happy husband, father and grandfather!
4 comments:
Such great parables. It's so interesting how Jesus spoke like this, not just straight-out saying what he meant, but telling a story to prove a point. When you get it, it sure makes it go even deeper.
I've always liked the seed sower parable also - we can all find ourselves at different points of this scale at different points of our lives, but we can also think of people that we have seen lose their faith or gain it and change the world...I guess that's one reason why this parable can always be so personalized.
I like that pearl one too...When he finds what he really wants, he sells everything he has to get it...That's really how we should be towards Heaven. It kind of puts it into perspective.
Very interesting chapter!
Marshall
I love this chapter. I've come to think, yes, that the point of the good soil parable is just that - that we're reminded that God sows the good news everywhere, even where we think it would have been smarter to skip over. And I love the message about wheat and weeds - how they're so similar, so grown together, that it's hard to tell which is which. What does that say about us?
wow great point, Elizabeth. It's really interesting to think about how similar we may seem to other sometimes, and how when we're supposed to be the wheat we might just be coming across as weeds...
We're almost even with each other...crazy!
Marshall
Hi Marshall and Beth,
Fun to listen to you guys blogging to eachother!
It is interesting to see the wheat and the tares growing up together and the owner of the field is not that concerned!
Thanks to both of you for reading along with me in this endeavor - 2 onths to go!
Bill
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