Matthew 13: Kingdom Extravaganza (2)
Pray Psalm 72.7, 8.
In His days the righteous shall flourish,
And abundance of peace,
Until the moon is no more.
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.
Sing Psalm 72.7, 8.
Martyrdom: Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed?
Let righteousness abundant be where Jesus’ reign endures;
let peace increase from sea to sea ’til moonlight shall be no more.
Read Matthew 13.1-17; meditate on verses 10-17.
Are you seeking that which Jesus has given to you?
Prepare.
1. What did Jesus say was “given” to His disciples?
2. Whose eyes and ears are “blessed”?
Meditate.
Given how much Jesus spoke and taught about the Kingdom of God, it’s striking that the subject almost never comes up with His detractors. Their problem with Jesus was twofold: First, He set aside their traditions as vain and unBiblical. Second, He claimed to be God. Both of those teachings challenged the authority of the religious leaders of the day, and turned their hearts against Him. Or rather, these matters exposed their hearts as set against Him from the beginning.
Only when it looked like their opportunity to destroy Jesus was slipping away did they play the king card, warning Pilate that Jesus’ claim to be King of Israel deserved death from the servants of Caesar. Otherwise, we don’t hear much from the religious leaders about the Kingdom Jesus proclaimed and brought near.
This is because their hearts were so turned against Him, that they could not receive any of His teaching about the Kingdom. Jesus taught in parables because He knew two things: First, to those whom God had given—or would give—understanding into the mysteries of the Kingdom, the parables would ultimately make perfect sense, and guide them in their calling to the Kingdom and glory of God (1 Thess. 2.12). Second, for those whose hearts were set against Jesus, and who had made up their minds to destroy Him, the parables would make no sense whatsoever. God would prevent them from making the connections the parables require. They would regard the parables as nonsense and not worthy of debate, not because they were, but because the leaders had already decided against Jesus.
Their hardness of heart did not thwart the Lord’s plan; instead, He used their hardness to accomplish the work of redemption, for in their sending Jesus to the cross, they carried out God’s good purpose in making Jesus the Sin-bearer for the world. But for those who had eyes to see and ears to hear, they would be blessed to know mysteries that prophets and righteous men longed to know, but did not (vv. 16, 17).
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“What fools they are who manufacture idols for their gods. Their hopes remain unanswered.
They themselves are witnesses that this is so, for their idols neither see nor know.
No wonder those who worship them are so ashamed.
Who but a fool would make his own god—an idol that can help him not one whit!
All that worship these will stand before the LORD in shame,
along with all these carpenters—mere men—who claim that they have made a god.
Together they will stand in terror.
The metalsmith stands at his forge to make an ax, pounding on it with all his might.
He grows hungry and thirsty, weak and faint.
Then the wood-carver takes the ax and uses it to make an idol.
He measures and marks out a block of wood and carves the figure of a man.
Now he has a wonderful idol that can’t so much as move from where it is placed.
He cuts down cedars, he selects the cypress and the oak, he plants the ash in the forest
to be nourished by the rain. And after his care,
he uses part of the wood to make a fire to warm himself and bake his bread, and then—he really does—
he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god—a god for men to worship!
An idol to fall down before and praise!
Part of the tree he burns to roast his meat and to keep him warm and fed and well content,
and with what’s left he makes his god: a carved idol!
He falls down before it and worships it and prays to it. ‘Deliver me,’ he says. ‘You are my god!’
Such stupidity and ignorance!
God has shut their eyes so that they cannot see and closed their minds from understanding.
The man never stops to think or figure out, ‘Why, it’s just a block of wood!
I’ve burned it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat.
How can the rest of it be a god?
Should I fall down before a chunk of wood?’
The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes;
he is trusting what can never give him any help at all.
Yet he cannot bring himself to ask,
‘Is this thing, this idol that I’m holding in my hand, a lie?’” (Is. 44. 9-20 TLB).
That is exactly what it is like for those who “see” but are fully blind to God’s truth;
and those who “hear” but are completely deaf to understanding Christ’s teachings.
Those with Paul at his conversion experienced this phenomenon, as he tells it in his own words:
“Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon,
suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me.
And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’
And He said to me, ‘I AM Jesus of Nazareth, Whom you are persecuting.’
And those who were with me indeed saw the light,
but they did not hear the voice of Him Who spoke to me” (Acts 22.6-9).
And in many respects, although they “saw” the light, it did not impact them in the same way it did Paul,
because he “could not see for the glory of that light…” (Acts 22.11). His eyes, in fact, were blinded by the
light of the glory of Jesus Christ. Paul’s fellow-travelers merely saw but did not truly see (Matt. 13.13).
We, blessed of God, have seen and heard things that the prophets of old longed to see and hear.
We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us into understanding the things that we see and hear—thus understanding the mysteries of the Kingdom of God both here and now and there and then.
We will not be those who foolishly worship idols; but wholeheartedly only worship God our Savior.
Waiting and longing for more of Him in abundance (Matt. 13.12). Always and forever.
Reflect.
1. Today’s idols aren’t carved statues perched on a mantle. What makes wealth, leisure, fleshly pleasure, or power over others an idol?
2. Why do idols blind us to the truth that is in Jesus?
3. What idols seem particularly to tug at the souls of believers?
He did not say “You see not” but “You shall indeed see but never perceive.” He did not say “You do not hear” but “You shall indeed hear but never understand.” So they first inflicted the loss on themselves, by stopping their ears, by closing their eyes, by making their heart fat. For they not only failed to hear but also “heard heavily,” and they did this, He said, “lest they should turn for Me to heal them.” Thus He described their aggravated wickedness and their determined defection from Him. John Chrysostom (344-407), The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 45.1-2
Pray Psalm 72.15-20.
Ask the Lord to show you how to seek the Kingdom today and to give you insight into the mysteries of the Kingdom for your life and work today.
Sing Psalm 72.15-20.
Martyrdom: Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed?
Let Christ be praised and all the gold of Sheba be His right.
Let blessings to His Name be told, and prayers made both day and night.
And let the earth abound with grain, let fields His fame proclaim.
and may our King forever reign and nations bless His great Name.
Now bless the God of Israel Who wondrous works performs.
And bless His Name, His glory tell both now and forevermore!
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).
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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.
