Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
‘Receiving the parables of Jesus with imagination’
The Bible is packed full of mysteries that tug on our imagination. Today, we’re engaging with some of Jesus’ parables – themselves packed full of mystery and requiring us to engage our imaginations.
In the time of Jesus, a parable was a storytelling device used by religious teachers, to convey spiritual or moral truths. Jesus used these to illustrate truths about himself and about his mission.
With this in mind, let’s go back together to Matthew chapter 13…
In Matthew’s Gospel there are more than 20 parables recorded – today we’re going to touch on just a few of these. The parables we encounter here reveal something of the treasures of the Kingdom of God – in Matthew, referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven – which, in his public ministry, Jesus spoke of a lot!
This Kingdom isn’t a place where God’s people go at their life’s end – rather, it’s a reference to the inbreaking of “God’s sovereign, saving, ‘heavenly’ rule on earth itself” (N.T. Wright, The New Testament in its World, p.595). Essentially, it’s about the here and now, as we live.
Today’s reading begins at verse 31, with the Parable of the Mustard Seed, quickly followed by the Parable of the Yeast. Combined, these two parables convey a truth that, in God’s Kingdom, small beginnings of faith grow to enormous outcomes.
As Jesus himself says, the Mustard Seed is the smallest of all the seeds, growing to become the greatest of shrubs and then a tree in which birds make their nests. I only really grasped the scale of this when visiting the Holy Land, where the conditions and climate are perfect to rapidly grow this tiny seed into its full, glorious potential!
It’s also worth noting that, in both of the parables – of Mustard Seed and Yeast – the growth is organic. It’s not growth by human strength.
Next, we jump to verse 44, where we read two further parables about the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven. First, we’re told that this Kingdom is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. After, we learn that this Kingdom is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, the merchant went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Notice how the first – treasure hidden in a field – shows ‘how a person can stumble upon this Kingdom, whilst another, like the merchant of fine pearls, may be searching for it through all sorts of substitutes before their quest succeeds’ (paraphrased, New Bible Commentary, p.834). One stumbles upon it, one searches to great lengths – but, such is its value, once they have found it, both sell everything they have in order to possess it.
If Jesus were here and took us aside to explain these four parables – as he was in the habit of doing for his disciples (see Matthew 13:10-23 and 13:34-43 as examples) – I wonder, what would he teach us?
This just my take, but I think the Kingdom of Heaven is meant to be understood as the most precious and treasured gift a person could ever receive or give. And, if received and sown by that person in faith, has the potential to be grown by the Holy Spirit into something abundantly beyond all that we could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
Now, you might be sat there thinking – but why does Jesus need to communicate in this way? If the message of God’s Kingdom is so important, why cloak it in parables? Why not be more clear?
Well, one interpretation is that Jesus contextualised everyday life through parables. This was to reveal spiritual truths to people who were open hearted, whilst concealing deeper meaning from those who were resistant. Jesus also “wanted to provoke the imagination and invite people to see what God is doing in the world from a new perspective” (Bible Project, Why Jesus Told Parables and How You Can Understand Them, watch here). He was engaging people to evoke a response. It’s a bit like a loving proposal, which invites a response rather than dictates a command.
When a person or community of faith fully opens themselves to the one who says: ‘I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go’ (Psalm 32:8), then ‘the astonishing truth … is that our own life becomes a window through which other people can become more aware of God’s gracious invitation to them’ (paraphrased, from Martin E. Leckebusch, New Parables for Today’s World, p.288).
In other words, our individual and shared life can become a bit like a parable, witnessing to the reality of God’s activity in the here and now – which, in turn, could evoke a response in a person’s heart towards the Kingdom of Heaven.
Today, we prayerfully mark a significant moment in our shared life as a Cathedral Community. The new Cuthbert Centre for Pilgrimage and Prayer will open 40 days from now – and we are inviting you to pray with us during this important time of preparation.
A very wise person once helped me to understand the significant, yet subtle, difference between works for God and works of God. Works for God begin with a consideration of my or our needs, the project we want to pursue, the community within which the project will be grown, culminating with a prayerful request for God to bless the work. In contrast, Works of God begin, simply, with saying ‘Yes!’, allowing God to grow the community, to send envoys and to develop the scenarios of His work. I believe that God blesses both, though in my experience Works for God tend to be much harder work! Saying ‘Yes!’ and allowing the Holy Spirit to instruct and teach the way in which we should go, is generally the better way.
As we enter this period of 40 days praying for this new aspect of the Cathedral’s ministry, we pray that we will be made ready to say ‘Yes!’ and for the Holy Spirit to illuminate and guide the way ahead.
We pray that we will witness many people finding the precious treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven, whether stumbling upon it or after their long search.
We pray for the vision that has been given as a seed of potential, to be grown not just into enormous outcomes, but into miraculous outcomes, in a Work of God in this place.
And, we would love for you to join us, praying in these bold ways!
Amen.