We’ve been looking at the parables of Jesus in Matthew 13. So far we’ve covered the parable of the sower, then the tares or darnel (false wheat) and finally the mustard seed. The meaning of these parables is easily understood through Jesus’ own explanation of them and the consistent theme they illustrate. In the parable of the sower, the seeds sown by the roadside represent the message of the kingdom that are eaten by birds sent by the evil one. Then later we learn from the parable of the mustard seed the birds represent demons replacing the message with religious deception.
In the parable of the tares the enemy (again, the evil one) sows darnel (false wheat) in the field with the true wheat, producing what Jesus explains are religious pretenders that occupy the kingdom of heaven alongside true believers. Then, again, in the parable of the mustard seed the treelike plant that grows from the seed represents the kingdom of heaven that is completely influenced in every branch by religious deception promoted by demons. The interesting thing about this is that I have two study Bibles that comment on just about everything verse by verse, but the pages where the Matthew 13 parables are found are almost completely blank (seemingly no comments from the religion experts). And as we look at these remaining parables it will become more clear why this is true.
The Leaven
Now we’re ready for the parable of the leaven found in Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:20-21. The parable goes something like this. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour and it worked its way through the dough till all of it was leavened.”
The symbolism here is important to the meaning of this parable. What is the kingdom of heaven like? Here, it’s like leaven that’s been put into unleavened dough. Jesus uses this illustrative language several times. In Matthew 16:6-12 He warns the disciples to be on their guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Later, the disciples discern His meaning to be a warning against their false teaching. In Luke 12:1 Jesus again uses the term to illustrate religious hypocrisy. In Mark 8:15 He uses it to tell His disciples to mark the Pharisees and Herodians and their indifference to truth, after which Jesus admonishes them because they didn’t understand His meaning.
In this parable leavened dough (dough mixed with yeast) illustrates truth mixed with error, a condition common to all the examples given above. Again, the program of demons is to mix truth with error to create deception. The kingdom of heaven is not all error, just like leavened dough is not all yeast, but the point is that all the dough has yeast in it. Therefore, the religious institutions that exist today (including all the ones that have been formed since Jesus’ day) that make up the kingdom of heaven all share this one common characteristic, the truth they have is mixed with error.
Now, there is one element of this parable that is crystal clear and must be emphasized, because it supports what Jesus has already said in the parable of the mustard seed. All of the dough is leavened, telling us all of the kingdom is influenced by this error and deception, endorsed by Satan and executed by his followers, both spirit and human. We must keep in mind the entire parable constitutes the likeness of the kingdom. The history of Christianity (in fact, the history of the Judaism that preceded it, the Islam that followed it, or any of the other religions that came before, during or after) will show that the truth of God is adulterated with error. Most religion that exists on the earth is a combination of God’s truth mixed with demonic error. However, some of these religions do not attribute their truth to God, and in some the truth is so distorted, it’s difficult to recognize.
The missing ingredient not yet mentioned in this parable is the symbolism of the woman. In the Scriptures “woman” used in a negative sense always illustrates religion in a negative sense. This is yet another reinforcement of the same principle. In the Old Testament idolatrous Israel is called a harlot and a whore, because they embraced false religions and were guilty of infidelity with the God Who espoused them. As we’ve already noted, Revelation 17 and 18 uses the terms over and over in reference to the false, demonic religious system that is finally overthrown just before the Lord’s second coming. Here, yet again, you see the unbroken line through time. The whore (religious deception) that you see in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 16:15-42) exists through the New Testament and is finally destroyed at the end of this age (Revelation 17:1-6).
Like the parable of the mustard seed, which Jesus uses to illustrate the pervasiveness of demonic influence throughout the kingdom of heaven; Jesus uses leaven to illustrate the prevalence of error, extending to the furthest reaches of the kingdom. And just to make sure we understand where this error comes from, He uses the woman to illustrate the reality that this error comes out of the false religions of the world dominated by demons. Jesus could not have been any more clear.
The Hidden Treasure
Next is the parable of the hidden treasure found only in Matthew 13:44. It goes something like this. “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again. Then, with joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field.”
The narrative of Matthew 13 continues with yet another parable illustrating the characteristics of the kingdom of heaven, giving us more specific information to add to what we’ve already seen. Here Jesus departs from His explanation of the demonic influences being exerted on the kingdom of heaven to focus on the true believers (introduced in the parable of the tares) who inhabit the kingdom. Let’s look at the illustrations He uses here.
The field is the world. The man is the same as the man in all these parables, Jesus. The treasure represents true believers. Jesus has already acknowledged there will be a “few” that will strive to follow the narrow road that leads to life, as opposed to the “many” who will simply follow the broad road that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). He will further explain (in Luke 13:23-28) that only a few will be saved, in contrast to the many who are deceived into thinking their participation in religion will get them to heaven (compare Matthew 7:21-23).
Paul quotes Isaiah 10:22-23 in Romans 9:27 to tell us that only a small remnant of Israel will escape God’s judgment as well. Remember, this is a characteristic of the kingdom of heaven, the time in which we now live. And here God makes no distinction as to nationality, social status or sex (Galatians 3:28); the issue is always whether or not we do the will of the Father (I John 2:17).
The price Jesus pays for His treasure is “all he has” (Philippians 2:5-8), and as Jesus points out in this parable, there is joy in the payment of it (Hebrews 12:2). And when payment was made, the man buys the entire field where the treasure is hidden. Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world with the payment of Himself (I John 2:2).
This brings us to the last point. When the man in the parable finds the hidden treasure in the field, he doesn’t take it out, he puts it back and it remains hidden. The word translated “hid” above in the parable is krupto and here means, to conceal. True believers are part of the kingdom; Jesus makes that clear in both the sower and the tares. But here Jesus emphasizes the fact that in the kingdom of heaven true believers are concealed. They’re not an obvious, visible part of the kingdom.
They don’t fit the mold, they don’t rise to prominence, they’re few in number, they don’t have a voice (at least not one that’s taken seriously), they’re not the popular majority and they don’t blindly accept the majority view. More than likely those in the majority avoid them and in some cases may even persecute them. And I know for many this is all hard to believe, but if you’ll study the lives of the Old Testament prophets, you’ll see what I mean. They didn’t fit in either, they were different, isolated and mostly alone.
People who know God, understand His purpose and determine to follow Him regardless of the cost are destined to lives of rejection and obscurity in this world. They’ll never be famous; they certainly will never be successful by this world’s standards. However, it is also true those same people are the beneficiaries of God’s love and care (Psalm 37:25).
This, again, is an illustration of a principle that has been mentioned several times before. The Satanic principle embraced by the religious crowd is this: the majority is always right. However, the truth borne out in Scripture over and over again is: the majority is always wrong, and only a small minority is right. The same fact illustrated by the aforementioned “few” who follow the narrow road to life and the “many” who follow the broad road to destruction. This parable simply illustrates in a different way what Jesus has already illustrated in the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven, which is that the kingdom of heaven is dominated by religious deception. His treasure will remain hidden until He returns to take it out of His field once and for all (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).
The Pearl of Great Price
The parable of the pearl of great price follows immediately after the hidden treasure in Matthew 13:45-46. This is how it reads. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of beautiful, high quality pearls; who, when he found a single, costly pearl, went and sold all he had and bought it.” Obviously, this parable is very similar to the hidden treasure, but not altogether. Again, the man is Jesus. The purchase price is the same — “all he had”. The valuable pearl represents the same thing as the hidden treasure, true believers. The main difference is that here the pearl is purchased, instead of the place where the pearl was found. In the previous parable true believers are concealed. The religious system doesn’t recognize them and they’re relatively unknown in the world. In this parable the pearl becomes the man’s prized possession; this is Jesus’ way of giving the assurance that even though the world is oblivious to them, He’s not.
The parable of the hidden treasure and the parable of the pearl of great price when compared to one another simply give us the same information, but from a different perspective. In the first, true believers are hidden, concealed from the world; but in the second they are Jesus’ precious possession and the object of His attention and affection.
The Dragnet
The parable of the dragnet follows in Matthew 13:47-48. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and caught fish of every kind. And when it was full, men dragged it up on the shore, sat down and gathered the good fish into baskets, but threw the worthless ones away.” The details and consequences described in this parable are the same as the wheat and the tares. Just as the wheat (true believers) and tares (false pretenders) grow together in the master’s field, the good fish live with the worthless ones in the same sea. The wheat is gathered to the master’s barn, while the tares are bundled to be burned; here the good fish are put in the baskets, and the worthless ones are thrown away.
Jesus explains the meaning of this parable in verses 49-50. “So it will be at the close of this age when the angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous. Then they will cast the wicked into the furnace of fire and there will be loud crying and intense regret.” The timing of this is explained in detail in Matthew 25:31-46 with the judgment of the nations that determines who will enter His earthly kingdom (the Millennium) and takes place immediately at the Lord’s second coming.
The Householder
This is the last parable found in Matthew 13:51-52. “Have you understood all these things? And they answered Him, yes. Then He said, Every teacher properly prepared to instruct others in the kingdom of heaven is like the householder who brings from his storehouse treasures both new and old.” As in all the other parables the man described (the householder) is the Lord. To be able to instruct others about the kingdom of heaven one must have a clear understanding of the meaning of these parables that contain truths both old and familiar, along with the new and freshly revealed.