Stories of the Kingdom, Part 2

Jesus’s parables weren’t just clever stories; they were paradigm-shifting invitations to see the Kingdom of God differently. In this message from Matthew 13, we explore how God’s Kingdom grows slowly, quietly, and powerfully, even when surrounded by weeds.

High Praise
Maverick City Music

Found In You
Vertical Worship

Love Of God
Phil Wickham

Worthy Of It All
The Worship Initiative

2 Samuel 12:1-4
“Two men there were in a single town, one was rich and the other poor. The rich man had sheep and cattle, in great abundance. And the poor man had nothing save one little lamb that he had bought. And he nurtured her and raised her with him together with his sons. From his crust she would eat and from his cup she would drink and in his lap she would lie, and she was to him like a daughter. And a wayfarer came to the rich man, and it seemed a pity to him to take from his own sheep and cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him, and he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him…”

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A good story can change the minds of people who are invested in the wrong story.

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Klyne Snodgrass
“Direct communication is important for conveying information, but learning is more than information intake, especially if the learner is someone who already thinks they understand. People entrenched in their current understanding set their defenses against direct communication, and end up conforming the message into the channels of their current understanding of reality. But indirect communication finds a way in through the back window to confront a person’s view of reality… A parable’s ultimate aim is to draw in the listener to awaken insight, to stimulate the conscience, and move to action. Jesus’ parables…are prophetic instruments…used to get God’s people to stop, reconsider their way of viewing reality, and to change their behavior.”

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Instantly
Gloriously
Decisively
Abundantly

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Matthew 13:24-29
“‘The Kingdom of Heaven,’ he said, ‘is like this: Once upon a time a man sowed good seed in his field. While the workers were asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds in among the wheat, and went away. When the crop came up and produced wheat, then the weeds appeared as well. So the farmer’s servants came to him. Master,’ they said, ‘didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ ’This is the work of an enemy,’ he replied. ’So,’ the servants said to him, ‘do you want us to go and pull them up?’ ’No,’ he replied. ‘If you do that you’ll probably pull up the wheat as well, while you’re collecting the weeds. Let them both grow together until the harvest. Then, when it’s time for harvest, I will give the reapers this instruction: First gather the weeds and tie them up in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

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Matthew 13:36-43
”Then Jesus left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came and joined him. ”’Explain to us,’ they said, ‘the parable of the weeds in the field.” Jesus responds: “The one who sows the good seed,’ said Jesus, ‘is the son of man. The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. So: when the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, that’s what it will be like at the close of the age. The Son of man will send out his angels, and they will collect together out of his kingdom everything that causes offense, and everyone who acts wickedly. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. If you have ears, then hear!”

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Malachi 4:1-4
For behold, the Day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.

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Matthew 13:31-34
The kingdom of heaven, he said, is like a grain of mustard seed, which someone took and sowed in his field. It’s the smallest of all the seeds, but when it grows it turns into the biggest of the shrubs. It becomes a tree, and the birds in the sky can then come and nest in its branches.” He told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, he said, which a woman took and hid inside three measures of flour, until the whole thing was leavened. Jesus said all these things to the crowds in parables. He didn’t speak to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will tell the things that were hidden since the very foundation of the world.”

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NT Wright
We wait with patience, not like people in a dark room wondering if anyone will ever come with a lighted candle, but like people in the early morning who know that the sun has arisen and are now waiting for the full brightness of midday.

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Philippians 1:6
Of this I’m convinced: the one who began a good work in you will thoroughly complete it by the day of King Jesus.

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