Matthew 13: Kingdom Extravaganza (5)
Pray Psalm 138.7, 8.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
The LORD will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
Sing Psalm 138.7, 8.
Regent Square: Angels from the Realms of Glory
Your Right Hand will save and keep me; all I need You will supply.
For Your love is everlasting, reaching from beyond the sky.
You will not forsake or leave me; You will save me when I cry.
Read Matthew 13.1-50; meditate on verses 44-50.
How do you measure the value of God’s Kingdom to you?
Prepare.
1. According to Jesus, how valuable is the Kingdom of God?
2. What new insight to the Kingdom does the parable of the dragnet offer?
Meditate.Jesus had already commanded His followers to seek the Kingdom as the defining priority of their lives (Matt. 6.33). He taught us to pray that the Kingdom might come on earth with the same presence, radiance, and power it has in heaven (Matt. 6.10). Here He emphasizes the great value of the Kingdom: The Kingdom is not merely as valuable as anything we could imagine or possess; it is more valuable than everything else. The man and the merchant in the first two parables sold everything they had to gain the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom, Jesus says, is more valuable than everything you have or ever can have.
The parable of the dragnet (vv. 47-50) also emphasizes the value of the Kingdom, for a great catch of fish such as is here described would have brought great joy to the fishermen who achieved it. But this parable goes one step further, and adds an aspect to the Kingdom which was previously alluded to in verse 41, but only in passing. Here we learn that, when the final gathering of the Kingdom is accomplished “at the end of the age” (v. 49), there will be many tucked in among the true citizens of the Kingdom who don’t belong there. In the Kingdom of God there are true citizens—the just; and pretenders—the wicked. Augustine described the intermingling of the two cities—of God and of man—throughout this temporal dispensation. Here Jesus provides the basis for such thinking.
This parable, while emphasizing the value of the Kingdom, begs an important question: Am I a true and just citizen of the Kingdom of God? Or am I a wicked pretender, fooling the people who know me, and fooling myself as well? And if I am the latter, I must be warned: A day of separation is coming, and the final disposition of the wicked will be terrible, indeed.
Jesus offers this parable as a warning to make our calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1.5-11) by bringing forth Kingdom fruit that declares to our world how greatly we value it.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
The Kingdom of heaven is like:
Something so much to be desired that one is willing to sell everything of value
that he has just to purchase it (Matt. 13.44).
The Kingdom of heaven is also likened to:
One who gathers much but has the wisdom to keep the good and toss the bad (Matt. 13.48).
The Kingdom of heaven is ruled by:
One Who at the end of time will send His angels to separate the wicked from among the just.
And during the separation, the just will be kept secure in vessels; but the wicked will be cast away
(Matt. 13.49, 50).
“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,
for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
and count them as rubbish,
that I may gain Christ
and be found in Him,
not having my own righteousness, which is from the law,
but that which is through faith in Christ,
the righteousness which is from God by faith;
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being conformed to His death, if, by any means,
I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Phil. 3.7-11).
Nothing is more important than to live faithfully in the Kingdom of heaven:
Here and now, and there and then.
“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings…
As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness;
I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness” (Ps. 17.8, 15).
All for Jesus! All for Jesus! All my being’s ransomed powers;
All my thoughts and words and doings, All my days and all my hours.
Let my hands perform His bidding, Let my feet run in His ways;
Let my eyes see Jesus only, Let my lips speak forth His praise.
Since my eyes were fixed on Jesus, I’ve lost sight of all beside;
So enchained my spirit’s vision, Looking at the Crucified.
O, what wonder! How amazing! Jesus, glorious King of kings,
Deigns to call me His beloved, Lets me rest beneath His wings.
(Mary D. James, 1889)
Treasuring and valuing the Kingdom of heaven; losing “sight of all beside.”
Reflect.
1. How would someone know that you highly value the Kingdom of God?
2. What makes the Kingdom of God more valuable than everything else?
3. Whom will you encourage today in their calling to seek first the Kingdom and righteousness of God?
At the end of this present age the good fish are to be sorted into baskets and the bad ones thrown away. Then all the elect will be received into eternal dwellings, and the condemned will be led away into external darkness, since they have lost the light of the kingdom within them. Meanwhile the fishing net of faith holds us together as intermingled fish both good and bad. Gregory the Great (540-604), Forty Gospel Homilies 11.4
Pray Psalm 138.1-6.
Ask the Lord for boldness and strength to hear His words, seek His Kingdom, and live as His witness today.
Sing Psalm 138.1-6.
Regent Square: Angels from the Realms of Glory
I will give You thanks and praise You, God of gods, with all my heart.
I will bow before Your temple, grateful praise to You impart.
For Your Name and for Your glory, You have magnified Your Word!
On the day I called You answered, made me bold within my soul;
when I walk in troubled places, You revive and make me whole.
For Your hand will gently shield me, and my fearsome foes control.
All the kings of earth will praise You when Your words of truth they hear;
of Your ways, of Your great glory gladly they will loudly cheer.
For the proud shall not approach You, yet You hold the lowly dear.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
We invite you to join us in ReThinking Church. We explain further at our ReThinking Church page, here.
Other columns of interest: This week: The Read Moore podcast is turning into the home stretch of our book, The Kingdom Turn.Our Crosfigell teaching letter presses ahead in a series on the state of the Church in Europe at the time of the Celtic Revival. TheReVision column continues our examination of the hope for the church, especially struggling churches. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
