Scripture: Matthew 12:46–50; 13:24–33
Oh how hath this envious man gotten in among you. Surely he hath come in the night, when men was asleep: & hath sown tares among the wheat, which when the reapers come must be bound in bundles and cast into the fire, for I know that there was good seed sown among you at the first, which when it found good ground, would have brought forth good fruit; but since there are mixed seedsmen come among you & some hath preached Christ of envy & some of good will, . . . & so it was easy to stir up jealousy in you, you having the ground of jealousy in yourselves which is as strong as death. —Margaret Fell
Questions: What is encouraging to you about Jesus’ promise that we are his family if we follow the will of God? Do you have personal experience of family divisions due to faith commitments? How does this impact your faith? How do you feel about the instruction not to pull the weeds that mimic good plants? How do you interpret this passage, and how does it speak to you about your actions and responsibilities?
Isn’t hindsight wonderful? Looking back two thousand years, we find Jesus’ disciples to be so awfully dense. It’s easy to imagine if we’d been there we would have readily perceived everything Jesus was teaching—but when we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit, probably not.
Even the ones to whom Jesus said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven,” didn’t really get it. So, we read in Matthew 13 Jesus’ explanation of the parable of the sower and the parable of the weeds and wheat. I’m not sure they got it even after the explanation.
Maybe it’s better that way. Parables aren’t meant for explanation; they’re meant for participation. A Bible class can read the parable of the mustard seed without having a “meaning” handed to them. Then, in community, we can interpret the parable. We can—and should—do the same with all the parables. That’s why we have the Spirit: to “guide us into all truth.” It makes these stories come alive. Jesus wanted that for his disciples, but it didn’t always work; hence, the explanations.
Robert Barclay reminds us that “the principal source of truth must be the Truth itself.” The Scripture is merely the “looking glass” by which we observe how prior generations of people experienced God. The Truth, Jesus Christ, is available to us anytime. With him as our guide, parables can become an exciting way of experiencing God’s kingdom together.
Let’s try an experiment: the next parable you encounter in Scripture, before assigning to it a meaning or a moral, talk about it with other Christians. Ask how it speaks to their lives. Pray to hear the Spirit’s message for your community today. I wonder what might happen.
–Phil Baisley in “Friendly Perspective” from Matthew: The Life of Jesus