Jesus spoke many parables. A parable is defined as a story, the object of which is to learn a spiritual lesson. This narrative is of a physical story, but the hearer is to make the analogy to the spiritual lesson. Jesus used it often in a crafty way; He wanted to point out the deficiencies of the Jewish spiritual leaders without pointing His finger directly at them. In their guilt, they knew He was talking of them, but they couldn’t get too enraged to take His life without real proof. I think parables added some time He was allowed to speak freely; He was “lucky” to have lasted over 3 years before they had Him silenced --but only for a little while, right?
One group of parables is called Kingdom parables. When you read them over, you see three basic themes dominate them. We can learn much, and they have to do with how to get to heaven—so let’s study on.
Theme #1: God’s Kingdom People Would Start Out Tiny, then Grow in Number Around the World
Demonstrated In: Mustard Seed, Matthew 13:31-32
Leaven, Matthew 13:33
Example: Matthew 13:31-32: Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
A mustard seed is really tiny. Yet it becomes a tree. And a small amount of leaven will ferment the whole loaf. These parables are also a prophecy, and of course that prophecy has come to glorious truth. There are believers all over the globe (as I have found!).
There is one possible argument that you could make about this parable: How do you reconcile the huge number of believers here with Jesus’ comments in Matthew 7:13:
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
So, the argument goes, which is it? A huge number, or few? Well, it could be both. It has been agreed upon by several scientists who should know that 100 billion people have ever lived. As my earlier blog (Most Americans Are Not Saved) points out, “few” is 6-7%. But 7% of that is 7 billion. That’s “few” of everybody—but a lot of people, too.
But it could also be argued that the number of initial believers is huge, much greater than the number who get in heaven at final judgment. (See another blog on that, or I will explain it in this blog next.)
Theme #2: Many Who Start Out As Believers Get Rejected in Final Judgment
This is very important. In at least three of these parables listed below, Jesus makes it crystal clear why the “believers” get rejected. They were not rejected because “they were not saved to begin with,” or “they trusted in their own righteousness vs. God’s imputed righteousness.” For our soul’s sake, let’s seek the real reason why they were rejected, so we can avoid such tragedy.
Demonstated in:Vine, John 15:1-10
Sower, Matthew 13:3-8, 18-23
Wedding feast, Matthew 22:1-14
Five foolish and five wise virgins, Matthew 25:1-13
The faithful and wise servant, Matthew 24:45-51
Talents, Matthew 25:14-28
Separating the Sheep and the Goats, Matthew 25:31-46
Houses built on the Rock and Sand, Matthew 7:21-27
Example #1: John 15:1-10: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
This is some of the best writing in the New Testament, aside from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is the Vine; some of us are the branches. True, these verses don’t say how to get on the Vine in the first place, the initial salvation (it takes repentance and faith, explained elsewhere in Scripture), but they do a wonderful job of explaining the much-ignored path to final salvation. You need both (initial and final) to get to heaven. As these verses clearly show, we must abide in Christ to bear fruit. We must bear fruit for final salvation. If we don’t abide in Christ, we are “cast out,” we are “withered,” we are thrown into the fire, and we burn. An obvious reference to hell. The word “abide,” in the Greek, is defined as “continue, remain, tarry.” It suggests a relationship of bonding which we seek with our Savior, in gratitude for His saving us from hell. We want to find out and obey His commandments, His commandments of love, the best path for our life. Beside the requirement to obey His commandments, we must produce fruit. The word “fruit” might be best explained by Galatians 5:22-24:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
This concept of initial and final salvation is revolutionary, it seems, except in Scripture, where it is set forth plainly (see my blog, “Initial and Final Salvation.”) Protestant Reformers like Luther didn’t get it; he spent most of his time trying to be the opposite of the Catholics. If they said “works,” he had to say “grace.” I don’t deny grace. It is all grace for God to pay any attention to us sinful creatures. But the truth is, Catholics distorted their idea of works (they say a relationship with Christ is not necessary; just say your rosary, attend Mass, Confession, etc). And Protestant Reformers distorted grace (a relationship with Christ is not necessary; just accept Him, and you are saved forever, through His unconditional grace, whether you sin little or a lot, hey, we all have to sin). The real truth is, a relationship with Christ IS necessary to be saved, as Scripture clearly points out. That relationship will start out weak, of course, but then it bears a little fruit, gets pruned, starts to grow more each year. We gradually learn to love the world less, and Him more.
Example #2: Matthew 25:31-46: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ 41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
So the issue for final salvation is not a theological debate about grace, but simply, “What did you do with your life? Did you love your fellow man? Did you care for the poor?” Caring for the poor, and loving, being merciful and forgiving, are commandments Jesus gave frequently.
Example #3: Matthew 7:21-27: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
As anyone can read, hearing His commandments and DOING them is wise and keeps our spiritual house together; hearing and NOT DOING, no matter how much “service” you do to impress people, you are headed for spiritual collapse. We must “do the will” of His Father. It’s the same theme: Having been saved, doing His commandments gets you on God’s “good side” in judgment. Saying a prayer and accepting Him, no matter how sincere, might get you initial salvation; but follow through is necessary. It will mean nothing if you don’t persevere in Him as well. Living your life as you wish and ignoring God’s desire for relationship and His will for you puts you back on the road to hell.
For a little more proof, I cite John 5:28-29:
28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
This is what Jesus preached. Maybe it’s different from what you hear at church? Are we going to twist the obvious meaning of this verse? It looks clear: “Doing good” gets you final salvation: the resurrection of life. (PS: Don’t forget initial salvation—you won’t produce fruit without His Spirit’s guidance, abiding in Him). If this seems to disagree with what Paul says about ignoring the law (especially in Romans and Galatians), you need to keep context in view: Paul was in the synagogue a lot, and dealing with new Jewish believers. Many of them were Judaizers—they wanted us to keep all their laws to be saved. “Let’s get all the male believers circumcised, too,” they said. “They have to follow the law of Moses to be saved.” That’s what Paul couldn’t stomach. He didn’t want us to just follow laws; he wanted us to have a relationship with Jesus. (I have other blogs on “Paul vs. James” on this subject).
Theme #3: God’s Kingdom People Would Have Non-Believers Among Them; Let God Weed Them Out at Final Judgment
Demonstrated in: Wheat and Weeds (tares), Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43
Dragnet, Matthew 13:47-50
Example: Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43: Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”…(ed, now speaking only to disciples) “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
In His kingdom, largely expressed through the church, there will be wheat and weeds together. We sometimes can’t tell who is a genuine Christian, though. That’s all right; the angels will pull out “those who practice lawlessness.” I believe that phrase means those people who publicly preach that obedience to His commandments, making Him Lord of your life, is not necessary. They are saying, “If you accepted Him, it’s possible not to worry about His law; you are unconditionally saved.” They are practicing lawlessness with that false gospel. Likewise those who made a profession of Christ, thought they had heaven “locked in,” and lived without thinking about what Christ wanted for them, or pay any attention to His laws. They are not abiding in Christ; they are living without laws--lawless.
Jesus is saying, further, that He doesn’t want concerned believers to spend all of our time examining other church member’s lives to see if we think they’re still saved, and then tossing out those who don’t meet our qualifications. Things like Spanish Inquisitions or Salem witch trials usually come of that. In other Scriptures, Jesus counsels against judging others. The word is: Let Him decide in the last days. Let’s love the foot-draggers among us and build His church missions accordingly. It may go slower, but it’s a good test of love. I’m not saying, forget church discipline. There are many good Scriptures on that score. But, what if the church discipline goes awry? If things get like the late Middle Ages, with the church married to the State, with wicked people running the show, with adulterous kings and bishops, and the wrong people getting disciplined, that might be a time to break away from that denomination completely.
Well, think awhile on these important parables. Don’t twist them to meet your previous theology. Don’t ignore them, thinking them too hard to understand with their couched language. As you can see above, Jesus’ language is really quite clear. We often just don’t like what He’s saying.
Acknowledgement: David Bercot CD, “Kingdom Parables,” Scroll Publishing.
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