You Can Read the Bible Bible Only Podcast

The reading today is broken into two distinct segments.  The first, which occupies most of chapter 13, is entirely teaching and explanation, sometimes with the crowds, and sometimes privately with Jesus’ disciples.  The next unit is introduced when Jesus had finished these sayings… and it focuses on action: in Nazareth, in the wilderness, and on the sea.

In chapter 13, Jesus tells at least seven distinct parables having to do with the Kingdom of Heaven: the sower, the weeds, the mustard seed, the leaven, the hidden treasure, the pearl, and the net.  In the first, Jesus illustrates the responses people have to hearing the word of the Kingdom of Heaven.  In the next six, Jesus paints a picture of this Kingdom that He’s been talking about from the very beginning. 

Listen carefully and you will find that these six parables fall into three categories.  There are two which speak of the Kingdom’s inevitable bounty.  Another two highlight its immense value.  And bookending these are two in which people themselves are divided – between those who receive the Kingdom and those who do not: either wheat or weeds, either good fish or bad fish.  While little is said about those who receive the Kingdom, Jesus presents a harrowing vision for those who are rejected.

At the end of chapter 13 Jesus returns to His hometown, only to find that there is little willingness to accept Him and therefore, in Matthew’s words, He did not do many mighty works there.  After learning of Herod’s interest in Him (brought on by the death of John the Baptist), Jesus attempts twice to withdraw.  The first time the crowds find Him, and His compassion moves Him not only heal, but also to feed.  The second time He actually does escape, then tracks down the disciples during a storm, at night, out on the sea. 

The first time Jesus astounded them on the water, the men asked, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?"  Today they answer their own question: “Truly You are the Son of God.” 

Our verse for this week is Psalm 19:4: Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

Matthew 13 and 14.  Now let’s read it!

In the middle of chapter 12, Matthew foreshadows the trajectory of the rest of the story: But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, to destroy Him.  Now “destroy” can mean a few things.  It can mean to literally kill Jesus.  It can also mean to discredit Him, or to distract Him, to somehow neutralize Him so that He would be ineffective. 

This is a bit of a watershed for the Gospel: our reading before this helps us see the Pharisees’ motivation; our reading afterwards exposes their intended result, at least initially.  Put yourself in the mind of the original reader who probably knows the basics of the Jesus story: they’d heard of some miraculous birth, they knew He died, and they knew – at least it had been reported – that He’d risen.   But this shell of a story leaves more questions than answers, and Matthew has set about reporting on what He has investigated and personally seen.

There was the moment when John the Baptist sent messengers to Jesus from prison: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” and Jesus answered, “Go tell John what you see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk…”  How He then condemned the cities where most of His mighty works had been done… “Chorazin!..Bethsaida…if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.”

Then there was that Sabbath when Jesus and His disciples were picking grain to eat, and Pharisees tried to lecture Him on the law.  Then Jesus went into the synagogue and they practically dared Him to heal a man with a withered hand.  It’s hard to tell whether the Pharisees are more angry that Jesus called Himself “The Lord of the Sabbath” or that He actually proved it.  Either way, that was the day Matthew first reported their conspiracy against Jesus.  

Jesus got wind of this and withdrew but kept healing – funny how the prophets predicted this as well – but the Pharisees kept turning up.  When Jesus cast out a demon, they just redirected the people: “It is only by…the Prince of Demons that this man casts out demons.”  Then when they asked Him for a sign, like they wanted to believe just like John the Baptist had, Jesus communicated the only sign they would receive – the one that would finally condemn them.  

Our verse for this week is Psalm 19:4: Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

Matthew 11 and 12.  Now let’s read it!