Matthew 13:24-43

What do a sabotaged field of wheat, a mustard seed and a handful of leaven all have in common? In Matthew 13 Jesus shares a parable about each one of these to point to the steady growth of the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 13:24-43

Jesus compared his kingdom to wheat growing alongside weeds and a mustard seeding growing into a mighty tree. In doing so, Jesus gives us a picture of how his kingdom grows and influences an evil world… and also how it doesn’t.

Matthew 13:24-43

Jesus teaches his disciples about the kingdom of God through short stories we call parables.  Jesus uses a number of parables to teach his disciples to be patient as they follow after him.  Even though it seems as though nothing is happening right away, Jesus calls his followers to keep eternity in mind because God is at work. 

Matthew 13:24-43

The church is the kingdom of heaven on earth, and though there are many hypocrites in it, Christ rules in it as King. The church is to continue working faithfully in the world, remaining hopeful that Jesus is building His church and that nothing will stop it, gathering in a great harvest for His glory despite the challenges and the work of the enemy.

Matthew 13:1-23

In the parable of the Sower we see Jesus referring to himself as a farmer, casting out seeds on a field. The seed is the Word of God, and the soil is our hearts. Field work is hard, but may we, by the Holy Spirit, do the hard work of preparing our hearts to receive God’s word, that renews us and draws us closer to Him.

Jesus in the sermon on the mount is making a radical claim that he is the nation of Israel’s rightful legislator. What’s more, look at where he’s making this claim; he is doing it very deliberately on top of a mountain, and as every Israelite would have remembered, the great law giver (God) gave his people the Old Testament law by speaking to them from the top of a mountain.  Jesus was claiming for himself a breathtaking authority that no one else has ever dared to claim.  He was claiming to be Israel’s and Humanity’s King   - Greg Gilbert

The tower of Babel was humanity coming together to make a name for themselves by trying to reach up to heaven. The result was God confusing their language and scattering them throughout the earth. This sermon explores how Pentecost is the great Babel reversal.

Genesis 11:1-9 & Acts 2:1-6

It has been said that Pentecost – the day that the Holy Spirit was given 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus – was a reversal of The Tower of Babel … and rightly so. Instead of people trying to reach God in their own power and with evil intent – resulting is confusion & disciplinary dispersion, God came down – resulting in a beautiful unity, clarity, and dispersion to the glory of God and for the salvation & blessing of people.

Genesis 11:1-9 and Acts 2:1-11

The story of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11 and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 are fascinating stories on their own. Placed side by side, they reveal in even greater depth the power God has made available to his followers through the filling of the Spirit as we seek to make much of Jesus.

Genesis 11:1-9 & Acts 2:1-9

The Spirit unites the scattered, brings clarity and connection in confusion, indwells and empowers His people, glorifies God, and renews and restores humanity.