Parables of the Kingdom

If you’ve ever wondered what Scripture is talking about when it mentions “the kingdom of Heaven” or “the kingdom of God”, studying the parables is a good place to start. Jesus shares a series of parables of the kingdom in Matthew 13. As we go through them, pay special attention to who’s who in each story. Then look for how these stories fit together.

Seeds Are the Words of the Kingdom

The first parable begins in Matthew 13:3. “A sower went out to sow.” We aren’t told who he is specifically, but when Jesus interprets the story in Matthew 18–23, he says the seeds being sown are the “words of the kingdom.” The soil onto which they drop represents the people who hear those words.

These word seeds are perfectly able to produce, but their ability to do so depends entirely on the quality of soil onto which they land. In other words, the person listening is responsible for making a fitting home for what he or she hears. If the kingdom words are to produce kingdom results, the soil must capture them before they’re stolen, keep them in place long enough for them to grow, and stay free of anything that might crowd them out.

Seeds Are the Sons of the Kingdom

Jesus speaks about seeds again in the parable of the wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24–30). Someone is tossing wheat about again, but this time the sower is identified. “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.”

The kingdom is like a man. But which man?

Jesus tells us who he is. “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man” (code for Messiah). Then he tells us what he’s sowing. “The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom” (Matthew 13:37–38). So let’s insert these characters into verse 24 and read it again. “The kingdom of heaven is like the Son of Man dispersing his kids through the earth.”

But wait a minute. How can a single person be both a man and a kingdom?

Messiah Is the Kingdom

Paul gives us a clue about Messiah that might help us in his letter to the Colossians. “It pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.” And, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 1:19 and 2:9).

Jesus is the kingdom of Heaven packed inside human skin. No wonder he could go everywhere preaching “The kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). He was the kingdom and he was at hand. Whenever he spoke, words of the kingdom would flow from his mouth and drop onto the dirt of human hearts. Those in whom those words became fruitful, became sons of the kingdom themselves.

Those sons act like wheat seeds which, when fully grown produce more seeds–more sons for the kingdom’s great harvest.

The Kingdom is a Treasure

There are two more parables of the kingdom in Matthew 13 that relate well with these first two. The parable of the treasure and the parable of the pearl. We often read them as though they deliver the same message.

But do they? Let’s focus on who’s who.

The first one says, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44). The treasure in the field is identified as the kingdom of heaven. The one searching for it is labeled simply as “a man.” Like the “Everyman” of literature—this person could be you or me looking for something worth finding. Once we recognize the value of the kingdom, we risk everything we have to possess it.

The Kingdom Looks for Treasure

Now look at the next verse. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:45).

Who’s searching this time? Not an unspecified “Everyman,” but “a merchant.” And who is that merchant? The kingdom of heaven itself. Once more the kingdom is represented by a single person. Who else but Messiah can fill this role? In this story, we aren’t looking for the kingdom, the kingdom searching for us.

We are the pearls of great price in this story. And where does he find us? Not in a field, but in the sea. Deep in the murky waters, we lie trapped in a shell and drowning in darkness. We haven’t enough light to even see our own value.

But the merchant sees it and he deems it costly enough to sell all that he has, to give even his life, to buy us for himself. He strips himself of glory and, tossing it aside, he dives deep to have us.

The Joy Set Before Us

Does it encourage you to know that while you’re searching for him, he’s seeking you? That while you find his price beyond rubies, he sees you as a pearl of great price? That while you left all behind to have him, he gave up all to have you?

When we seek after the kingdom we can be sure that somewhere on the journey we will meet him. Not halfway, perhaps, for he will surely travel the longer distance. But as we’re stumbling upon a great treasure, we’ll find him already on the lookout for a pearl of great price. Then we’ll both discover just what kind of joy has been set before us. An eternity of dwelling in and with each other for eternity. Now that’s the kingdom of heaven.