What Does Matthew Chapter 13 Mean?
A huge group of people follow Jesus from the overcrowded house He was teaching in at the end of the previous chapter to the shore of the Sea of Galilee. So many people gather around Him that they cannot all see and hear Him. To solve this, Jesus gets in a boat and sits just a bit offshore. The crowd stands on the beach and listens as He begins to teach them in parables (Matthew 13:1–3).
Parables are usually short stories designed to emphasize a greater truth. The main purpose of a parable is to make large or abstract ideas easier to grasp. By relating something to more common experiences, parables make those deeper concepts more accessible. At the same time, because they rely on symbolism and metaphor, parables can be somewhat obscure. They certainly blur minute details, but those are not their primary purpose. The disciples ask Jesus to explain at least one to them, which He does during this chapter.
Jesus intentionally avoids explaining the meaning of the parables to the larger crowd, however. He tells the disciples that it has been given to them to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Israel at large, however, especially her religious leaders, was rejecting Jesus’ role as the Messiah and the truth His miracles were powered by God. Because of that, Jesus says the people would fulfill Isiah’s prophecies about those with dull hearts who will not see or hear or understand. The idea is that the people were resistant first, and in response, God amplified their misunderstanding as a form of judgment. Christ’s disciples, though, are blessed to be able to see and hear what so many prophets and righteous people longed to see and hear down through Israel’s history (Matthew 13:10–17).
Matthew notes that Jesus now teaches the crowds in parables partly to fulfill a prophetic statement in Psalm 78 (Matthew 13:34–35). These specific teachings are in the context of Israel’s response to Jesus’ ministry. While there are useful parallels to how the gospel is received, or rejected, the main purpose of these teachings is not to present a litmus test for salvation. The parable of the sower, in particular, has been picked apart in an effort to create a sort of “salvation spectrum,” but this is not the intent of the message.
The first parable taught to the crowd is that of the sower who was planting a field. To get the maximum harvest, farmers would scatter seeds right over the border of the prepared soil. So, some seeds fall on hard-packed paths which are not ready for planting; birds eat those. Other seeds land on thin soil and begin to grow, but underlying rocks prevent growth; those sprouts die in a heatwave. Other seeds fell among thorns that choked the plants as they grew, preventing them from being abundant. Finally, some seeds landed on good soil and grew to have enormous yields (Matthew 3:3–9).
Jesus explains—only to His disciples—that the seeds represent the word of the kingdom. Those who do not understand it are the hard soil of the path. Such persons are hardened or resistant, and the message never even penetrates the surface. Satan snatches away that truth like a bird grabbing a seed. Rocky soil represents those who seem to accept the truth, but without any depth. As soon as difficulty comes, they wither and fail. Thorns represent competing interests from the world, like money. Lives choked with those distractions have no room to allow truth to flourish. The good soil is those who receive the word and are productive with it (Matthew 13:18–23).
The kingdom of heaven is described by Jesus using yet another parable. This one involves a man who sows grain in a field. His enemy comes by night and scatters weeds among the good wheat seeds. This is a known tactic used to sabotage another person’s crops. The plant in question is likely darnel, also called tares: inedible grasses that look almost exactly like wheat until they produce seeds. Rather than uproot the good wheat, the farmer wisely waits until the harvest. At that time, all the plants will be harvested, but the weeds will be separated out, bundled up, and burned (Matthew 13:24–30).
In a later moment, Jesus explains to His disciples that He is the farmer, and the field is the entire world. The children of God’s kingdom are the good wheat, and the children of the Devil are the weeds. For now, both will be allowed to live and grow. In the end judgment, however, they will be separated, and the evil ones will be thrown into a furnace (Matthew 13:36–43).
In a similar teaching, Jesus depicts the use of nets to catch fish. As the net is pulled through the water, it collects many different things. Once everything has been caught, fishermen sort what’s valuable from what’s not. In the same way, God’s final judgment will distinguish between those who are His children and those who are not (Matthew 13:47–50).
The kingdom of heaven is also compared to a grain of mustard seed that grows to a large plant. This represents how the kingdom will be great and glorious, just as the Old Testament predicted—but not immediately. Rather, it will grow into that state (Matthew 13:31–32).
Christ also symbolizes the kingdom of heaven is like leaven in flour. What appears to be a tiny thing—small amounts of yeast—hidden among something large—a huge batch of flour. Likewise, the kingdom’s apparently small, obscure beginning will come to affect the entire earth (Matthew 13:33).
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, or a costly pearl. Wise people recognize the value of these items and give up everything else to acquire them. The point of these parables is not that one must sacrifice everything to obtain salvation, but that there is a clear difference in value between earthly things and heavenly things. Giving up all we have only seems radical when we don’t realize how valuable the rewards of the kingdom really are (Matthew 13:44–46).
When Jesus asks the disciples if they comprehend all He has told them, they answer “yes.” They certainly grasp more about how the kingdom of God will be, compared to what they knew before. Jesus relates this to a wealthy person who shows others his treasures—both what is old and what is new. This represents the disciples being trained to teach others how lessons of the Old Testament fit with revelations from the New Testament. Despite the disciples insisting they know exactly what Jesus is saying, later incidents in Matthew’s gospel show they still lack complete understanding (Matthew 13:51–52; 16:21–23; 26:6–13).
The chapter concludes with a trip to Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, where the people reject Him despite His wisdom and the mighty works He performs. Since they know Him—or, rather, think they do—they refuse to even consider new information. In fact, they’re insulted at the suggestion that someone they think little of could be so important. Since the people are insincere and disinterested (Matthew 7:6), Jesus does little supernatural work there (Matthew 13:53–58).
Chapter Context
Matthew 13 follows Jesus from the overcrowded house at the end of the previous chapter to a crowded beach on the Sea of Galilee. He teaches a large crowd in a series of parables, which He doesn’t fully explain. However, He reveals their meaning to His disciples inside a nearby house. Jesus pictures the kingdom of heaven as a sower, a sabotaged field of wheat, a mustard seed, and a pearl dealer, among other things. He then travels to His original hometown of Nazareth where He is rejected by the people He grew up with. This leads Matthew back to depictions of Jesus’ miracles, after sadly recording John the Baptist’s death.
Verse By Verse
Verse 1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.
Matthew 13 begins with “that same day,” continuing from the end of Matthew 12. Jesus had been inside a house crowded with people who had come to hear Him teach and, likely, to see His miracles. Now Jesus moves out of the house in order to sit and teach the people by the Sea of Galilee. Sitting down was the customary teaching position for a rabbi during this time.
Matthew 13 contains one of five long speeches—known as discourses—made by Jesus in Matthew’s gospel. This one begins in a similar way to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, where He found an elevated place to sit and be heard as He taught to a large crowd (Matthew 5:1). This discourse is slightly different from the others; it is presented not primarily to Jesus’ disciples, but also to the crowds, in general. Jesus will make clear when He explains why He is teaching in parables (Matthew 13:10–17).
Verse 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach.
Jesus has left behind the overcrowded house He was teaching in at the end of the previous chapter. He has moved outside and sat down on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 13:1). The crowd that has gathered around to hear Him teach has grown so large it will be difficult for many of the people to hear what He is saying.
To solve this, Jesus gets into a boat that is pushed a bit back from the shore. The crowd remains on the beach, allowing more of them to see and hear Him. Tradition says this took place on the Sea of Galilee at a place now called the “Cove of the Parables.” It provides a kind of natural, curved amphitheater which would have allowed Jesus’ voice to carry a great distance.
Once in the boat, Jesus again sits down, assuming the customary position of a rabbi when teaching.
Verse 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.
The setting for this long teaching session to follow has been established. Jesus sits on a boat a little out from the shore of the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd stands on the beach to listen (Matthew 13:1–2). Matthew now reveals that Jesus will speak to them in “parables.”
The word “parable” is a combination of the Greek words para and ballō, literally meaning “to throw alongside.” Most parables are like sermon illustrations. They use some example or story from everyday life to bring to light the truth of an idea. Simply stating a spiritual idea is one thing; connecting it to a story makes it much easier to understand and remember. At the same time, parables—when not explicitly explained—can also disguise the full message. This is a point Jesus will make later in this very chapter (Matthew 13:10–11).
This raises an important caution about parables: it is tempting to read meanings into them which are not intended. Not every minute detail in a parable necessarily lines up with some exact point about the kingdom of heaven. Parables, by their very nature, are meant to give a general sense of an idea, not the tiniest details. For instance, this verse begins a parable about a person “sowing” seeds, which involves throwing or scattering them. However, this does not mean believers ought to randomly or casually “toss” the gospel into the world. Trying to read such minute detail out of a parable completely misses the point.
Teachers throughout the ages have used parables in their teaching. Many of Jesus’ parables begin with the words “the kingdom of heaven is like…” So far in Matthew’s gospel, the heart of Jesus’ teaching has been that the kingdom of heaven is near. The parables serve several functions, but one is to give those who can understand a better idea of what Jesus means when He talks about the kingdom of heaven. Christ will interpret two of the parables for His disciples, to help them better understand their meaning and how to think about parables, in general.
The first of Jesus’ parables in this chapter begins by introducing a seed-sower. Aside from the fishing industry, Galilee was an overwhelmingly rural and agricultural region. Those gathered on the beach listening would immediately have seen in their minds the picture of a sower, someone planting a field. He or she would carry seeds in a pouch (or perhaps in the folds of a garment). He would grab a handful of those seeds and toss them out across the field as he walked methodically to gain the maximum coverage.
Many of Jesus’ parables describe agricultural settings. Elite teachers may not have been concerned with being understood by the common people. Jesus, though, uses language and images the common people will recognize.
Verse 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.
Jesus begins His first parable (Matthew 13:1–3) by describing the act of planting a field. He pictures a sower, something His audience could easily picture in their minds. The sower would carry a pouch with seeds of grain, or would have held them in the folds of their clothes. The sower grabbed handfuls and scattered them thoroughly across as much of the field as possible. Obviously, this is very different from modern farming practices, where machines deliberately place seeds in massive, straight rows. In the ancient world, sowing a field like this meant hoping for as much seed as possible to take root and grow. The more seed was scattered, the more potential crops there were to gain.
This parable focuses first on the scattered seeds that don’t make it to maturity. The first of those are the seeds tossed along the edge of the field, which land on hard-packed, uncultivated walking paths. That ground is not prepared for seed—it has not been tilled, or turned, and its surface is hard. Seeds landing there merely lay on top of the path and wait to be eaten by the birds.
The disciples will later hear what each of these scenarios represents. In this first one, seeds that fall on the path are like people who hear teaching about the kingdom of heaven and just don’t get it (Matthew 13:19). They’re either disinterested, hardened, or unprepared. One way or another, the “seed” of this teaching never even breaks the surface. Almost immediately, Satan comes and snatches away the eternal truth of the kingdom, before anything else can happen to make it take root in the person’s heart.
Verse 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil,
Sitting on a boat on the Sea of Galilee, facing a beach crowded with listeners, Jesus has begun to tell parables (Matthew 13:1–3). He is describing a farmer who is planting a field, sowing seed. The parable fits alongside of the attempts by Jesus and His disciples to teach the people of Israel about the coming kingdom of heaven.
The parable describes a farmer who scatters seed liberally across the entire field, hoping to produce as many fully-grown plants as possible. Some of the seed overlaps the edges of the field, falling along the hardpacked path (Matthew 13:4). The birds came and ate those seeds. This represents Satan snatching away the truth of the kingdom from those who do not understand it (Matthew 13:19).
Here Jesus describes seed that falls onto rocky spots in the field, covered by a thin layer of soil. Those seeds quickly germinate, with new plants springing up from the shallow dirt. The following verse will show, however, that they cannot survive. Jesus will describe later (Matthew 13:20–21) what these failed seeds represent.
Verse 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.
Jesus is teaching a large crowd through a parable about a sower planting a field of grain (Matthew 13:1–3). The sower scatters seed all over the field as he walks back and forth across it. The parable describes what happens to the various seeds as they land in different spots in the field (Matthew 13:4–5).
The prior verse mentioned seed falling onto rocky places covered by a thin layer of dirt. Those seeds quickly germinate and spring up. There’s just enough soil there for them to sprout, but not enough to develop any real root system. As soon as the hot sun comes up, they die. Without roots in deep soil, there’s no support to endure stress. Such plants will not survive.
Jesus later explains this parable to His disciples (Matthew 13:20–21). The seeds represent teaching about the kingdom of heaven to the people of Israel. The hope is that as many people as possible will repent, believe in Jesus as the Messiah, and be prepared to enter the kingdom. Seed sprouting from rocky soil is like the people who hear the message of the kingdom and quickly receive it, despite not having any “root” in themselves. Their acceptance is superficial, like the thin layer of dirt on top of a rock. When hard times or persecution come, they quickly fall away from their faith.
Verse 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
Using a parable, Jesus is describing the fate of various seeds that fall when sown into a new field (Matthew 13:1–3). Jesus will explain in the following verses that this parable is about what happens to the message of the kingdom of heaven when it is preached to various groups of Israelites. Some seed falls on the path and is eaten by birds (Matthew 13:4; 19). Other seed falls on rocky soil. It springs into a little plant that quickly dies from lack of roots and access to moisture (Matthew 13:5–6; 20–21).
The third group of seeds falls among thorns or weeds. The seeds sprout, and there is plenty of soil to develop roots. However, the plants lose the competition for sunlight and nutrients with the thorns. The grain does not survive.
As with the other metaphors, Jesus will later explain the meaning of this parable to His disciples (Matthew 13:22). The seeds that fall among the thorns or weeds represent those who hear the message of the kingdom and accept it, but worldly concerns such as money win the competition for their time, attention, and priority. Commitment to Jesus and the kingdom are lacking, so they are unfruitful.
Verse 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Jesus has been describing types of soil in a field being planted by a farmer. As the farmer sows his seed, Jesus has described it as falling on various kinds of bad soil, including the hard-packed path, rocky spots, and place with thorns growing. In each case, the seed fails to produce plants that survive or thrive (Matthew 13:1–7). Each of these represents a person whose spiritual “soil” is not receptive in one way or another (Matthew 13:19–22).
Thankfully, this parable also includes what happens when the seed falls on good soil in the field. Each seed germinates, takes root, and grows. There is deep soil, and no weeds to compete with. So, the plant thrives into full maturity. Each plant replicates itself multiple times over: one planted seed produces a plant with thirty, sixty, or one hundred additional seeds. According to most scholars, these would have been considered good yields for a field in the Galilee region, where Jesus was teaching.
Christ will eventually explain the point of the parable to His disciples (Matthew 13:18–23). The sowing of the seed represents preaching about the kingdom of heaven. The types of soil represent the types of people who hear His message. Seeds that don’t grow into fully mature plants represent those who don’t understand the message, don’t have the depth to keep going after receiving the message, or don’t commit to the kingdom because of the cares of the world or deceitfulness of wealth.
Seeds that result in productive plants represent those who receive the message and commit to Jesus and the kingdom of heaven.
Verse 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”
After concluding His first of several parables to the crowd gathered on the beach (Matthew 13:1–8), Jesus proclaims from His spot in the boat, “He who has ears, let him hear.” This phrase is used as a clue for listeners to carefully review what He has just said and to work to understand it.
In the following verses, Jesus’ disciples will ask Him why He teaches in parables. His answer will reveal that not everyone “has ears,” in a spiritual sense. Not all people want to listen, or understand, and Jesus does not intend for everyone who hears His parables to fully understand them.
Context Summary
Matthew 13:1–9 turns the focus back to Jesus’ spiritual teachings, with the parable of the sower. As Jesus sits in a boat just offshore, He tells the crowd about a seed-thrower whose seed fell on a path, on rocky soil, among thorns, and on good soil. Only the seed on the good soil is productive. Jesus later explains the meaning of the parable to His disciples (Matthew 13:18–23), but He does not fully explain it for the crowds.
Verse 10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
Matthew described Jesus speaking to a large crowd gathered on the shore of the Sea of Galilee while sitting in a boat. It is possible that the conversation with His closer group of disciples (Matthew 13:10–23) takes place after that larger teaching session has ended.
In either case, Matthew pictures two different groups of people listening to Jesus’ teaching. One group is made up of His disciples, which would have included the Twelve (Matthew 10:1–4) and possibly others. The other group is “the crowds.” This segment is made up of Israelites who have travelled far to find healing for themselves or their loved ones, to witness miraculous healings, or to hear Jesus’ teaching.
The disciples now ask why Jesus speaks to the other group, the crowds, in parables. Jesus has not always done this when speaking to large crowds, including in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5—7). It may represent a change in His teaching style. This change makes Jesus’ immediate meaning less clear, something the disciples would have wondered about. Christ will show in the following verses He is deliberately adding a thin layer of obscurity to His teaching, and will explain why.
Verse 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
Jesus’ disciples, including at least the Twelve (Matthew 10:1–4) and perhaps others, have come to Him about the parables He is teaching the crowds. It is likely this conversation takes place after Jesus has finished teaching the crowds while sitting in the boat on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 13:1–2). The disciples have asked Jesus why He is speaking to the people in parables.
When Jesus uses them, parables often take the form of small stories. These are meant to symbolize larger truths about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus’ answer shows how differently He sees the motives of the large crowds that come to hear Him, as compared to His own disciples.
Jesus tells the disciples that it has been given to them to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. It has not been given to those in the crowds, the general population of Israel, at large. Jesus wants His disciples to know that a) He expects them to understand the parables and the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, b) their understanding of those things is a gift to them, not a result of their own effort or wisdom; and c) that others in Israel have not been given the same gift.
What are the secrets of the kingdom of heaven? Jesus’ parables were intended to reveal how the kingdom of heaven worked and what it was like. The following verses will describe more specifically what these secrets are that are given to some and kept from others.
Verse 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Jesus is preaching to a huge crowd of Israelites. He is teaching them in parables: small stories used to illustrate truths about the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:1–3). The disciples come to Him and ask why He teaches the people this way (Matthew 13:10). Likely, they are asking why He is not more straightforward about what He means, as He was during the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5—7). Jesus has told them that the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given to them and not to the people (Matthew 13:11).
Now He adds that more will be given to the one who has, but from the person who does not have, even more will be taken away. In this context, what is given and taken is knowledge about the kingdom of heaven. By extension, this also implies the ability to participate in the kingdom. In the arrangement of Matthew’s gospel, this follows Christ’s statements in the previous chapter about the coming judgment for “this generation” of Israelites. This was due to their lack of repentance and rejection of Him as the Messiah.
The disciples’ commitment to Jesus as the Messiah results in them being given more and more understanding about the coming kingdom of heaven. Israel’s rejection of the Messiah, as a nation, has resulted—and will result—in being given less and less understanding. Much as with God’s approach to Pharaoh in the Exodus (Exodus 4:21; 8:32; 14:4), those who resist God will have their hard-headedness amplified, as a judgment of their disbelief.
Verse 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
The disciples have asked Jesus why He teaches the larger crowds in parables (Matthew 13:10), rather than in the straightforward way He did in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5—7). Jesus has said the disciples have been privileged to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven; that blessing has not been granted to Israel, at large. He has added that to those who already have this knowledge more will be given. Those who do not have it will have whatever they do have taken away (Matthew 13:11–12).
In this passage, Jesus states clearly that He is teaching in parables both to put the truth in front of the people and to keep them from fully understanding it. He says that though seeing they don’t really see and that though hearing they do not really hear. In short, they don’t understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven even though He is presenting them in the form of these small stories and descriptions. This is both because of their own resistance, and God’s intervention.
Taken out of context, this might seem cruel, as if God is deliberately withholding information from those who are sincerely seeking it. However, in the previous chapter Jesus condemned the Pharisees and “this generation” of Israelites for their unbelief. Most people express a shallow, superficial interest, but not a truly repentant, submissive faith (Matthew 7:13–14). During the Exodus, God responded to Pharaoh’s stubbornness (Exodus 8:32) by making him even more stubborn, as a form of judgment (Exodus 14:4). Jesus is presenting a picture of understanding the truth being both rejected by the people of Israel and kept from them.
Israel, through her religious leaders and the nation as a whole, has rejected Jesus as the Messiah. At least part of this is because He did not fit their conception of what Messiah should do in the kingdom He should establish. Rather than submit to what they see and hear, they resist. So, Jesus says He will keep the religious leaders and the people from understanding. This, also, fulfills prophecy, as explained in the following verses (Matthew 13:14–15).
Verse 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘”You will indeed hear but never understand,and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
The disciples have asked Jesus why He now teaches the crowds in parables. Likely, they are asking why He doesn’t spell out more clearly what He means (Matthew 13:10). From their perspective, it makes sense that if Jesus is more direct, more people will understand and believe. Scripture, in fact, shows this is not the case. Christ’s explanation includes a prophecy from Isaiah which dispels that misunderstanding.
Jesus’ surprising answer has been that He is teaching in parables, in part, to keep the crowds from fully understanding. These stories are a way of both teaching and restricting full access to the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. That knowledge has been given to the disciples. It is also being kept from the Israelite nation, at large. This is in response to their own stubbornness and disobedience.
This fulfills yet another prophecy from Isaiah. Jesus references the very beginning of Isaiah’s work as a prophet of God, described in Isaiah 6:8–10. Isaiah responds “Here I am! Send me,” to God’s question about who would go for Him. God tells Isaiah to go and tell the people of Israel, in essence, to hear what is told, but not to understand it.
Jesus applies Isaiah’s words to this generation of Israelites, as well. He says they will indeed hear but never understand and will indeed see but never perceive. In the case of Jesus’ generation, the people have heard the teaching of the Son of God with their ears. They have seen the power of the Son of God on full display in His miracles. But they have failed to understand or perceive that Jesus is, in fact, the Son of God and the Messiah. The ultimate reason for this is rebellion: they don’t believe because they don’t want to believe (John 5:39–40; 7:17). So, God will obscure their understanding even further, as a form of judgment (Proverbs 29:1).
Verse 15 For this people ‘s heart has grown dull,and with their ears they can barely hear,and their eyes they have closed,lest they should see with their eyesand hear with their earsand understand with their heartand turn, and I would heal them.’
A prophecy found in Isaiah 6:8–10 features God passing along these words. Jesus applies Isaiah’s words to the Israelites of His own generation. He says that the hearts of the people have grown dull. They can barely hear with their ears, and their eyes are closed. Why? They don’t want to see or hear or understand, because then they would need to repent.
In prior verses, Jesus has indicated that He’s deliberately teaching in parables in order to partially obscure the truth from the crowds. Prophecies such as this show why this is an act of judgment, not an unfair trick. The people’s refusal to believe comes first, and in response, God amplifies their stubbornness. Those who are sincere can, and will, still hear the message and accept it. But most will not (Matthew 7:13–14).
Both Isaiah and Jesus are explaining two primary messages. First, the people, including the religious leaders, have refused to believe that Jesus is the Messiah despite hearing His words and seeing His miracles. Second, and for that reason, God has ensured they will not believe now despite hearing Jesus teach in parables and seeing further miracles. The people are responsible for refusing to understand what is obvious, and, as a result, God has acted to keep them from understanding in the future (Proverbs 29:1).
Verse 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
Christ has compared the Israelites of His generation to those of Isaiah’s era. Both generations will be guilty of hearing and seeing the truth while refusing to listen to or accept the truth. Both generations refused to repent. In the case of Jesus’ generation, the religious leaders and the people had heard the voice of the Son of God teaching them clear truth. They have seen the miracles of the Son of God with their own eyes. Still, they refused to accept that message—they deliberately and stubbornly chose to reject that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the bringer of the kingdom of heaven.
That’s why Jesus is teaching in parables: to keep them from understanding what they have already refused to understand (Matthew 13:10–15).
Here, Christ turns His attention back to His disciples. This refers to the Twelve (Matthew 10:1–4) and probably other committed followers. Their eyes and ears are blessed, because they choose to really see and hear. They understand what Jesus is teaching because they believe that Jesus is the Messiah (John 7:17). They obediently follow truth where it is meant to lead, based on what they have seen and heard. They understand, and so God gives them understanding (Matthew 13:11–12).
Verse 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Jesus has demonstrated the great difference between the disciples and the rest of Israel, including the supposedly wise and educated religious leaders. The people have not been given knowledge of the great mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. The disciples have been given those secrets (Matthew 13:10–16). The greatest of those mysteries is that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God on earth, who will bring the kingdom of heaven.
Christ wants the disciples to understand what a great gift they have been given. Many prophets and righteous people throughout the long history of Israel have longed to see, hear, and understand what Jesus’ disciples now see, hear, and understand. The prophets only knew that, through God, they wrote about something great to come in Israel’s future. They knew they wrote, under inspiration from God, about something great that would bring blessing to the Gentile nations, as well. They could not entirely know what it was (Hebrews 11:39–40).
The disciples, greatly blessed, learned the secret first. All who believe their message—the gospel—come to know the long-hidden mystery of salvation through faith in Jesus. Peter, present when Jesus said this, put it this way in one of his letters:
“Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look” (1 Peter 1:10–12).
Matthew 13:10–17 comes in between Jesus’ telling of the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1–9) and His explanation of that story (Mathew 13:18–23). The disciples ask why Jesus so often uses parables when teaching crowds of people. According to Jesus, the disciples are privileged to know secrets that the prophets and righteous people longed to know. His use of unexplained parables, in part, is because Israel has rejected Jesus as the Messiah. This will fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy about those with dull hearts who will hear without understanding. Otherwise, they would turn and be healed.
Verse 18 “Hear then the parable of the sower:
Speaking to a large crowded gathered on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus presented the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3–9). The disciples had asked why Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables (Matthew 13:10). After thoroughly answering that question (Matthew 13:11–17), Jesus now returns to the parable of the sower to explain its meaning to the disciples.
Jesus is willing to explain the parable to His disciples because they are willing to receive His teaching and act on it. This is different from the crowds that followed Him or the Jewish religious leaders. The disciples were uniquely blessed with eyes that could see and ears that could hear the truth Jesus taught them (Matthew 13:16). Jesus has declared their great privilege to know and understand the mysteries many righteous people and prophets in Israel’s history longed to know and understand (Hebrews 11:39–40).
Verse 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
Jesus is beginning to explain the meaning of the sower parable (Matthew 13:3–9). In the New Testament, a parable often takes the form of a very short story meant to illustrate profound theological truths. Not every single detail is meant to carry an important message. Rather, it’s the overall message that’s meant to be grasped. Jesus’ parables, especially, described truths about the kingdom of heaven.
This parable described a sower planting grain in his field. Farmers would scatter seeds across every part of a prepared field as they walked, distributing some of the seed right on top of the borders to ensure every inch was covered. In those cases, some seed would fall along the hard-packed path. When that happened, Jesus taught, the seeds would sit and wait for the birds to come and devour them.
Now Jesus shows that the seeds represent the “word of the kingdom” or His teaching about the kingdom of heaven. Different soils represent people with different levels of interest. Seeds falls onto the hard-packed earth represent those who do not understand spiritual teaching. This may be the crowds, in general, or the hardened, unmovable hearts of the Jewish religious leaders. The truth fails to penetrate below the surface, and Satan easily snatches it away from them.
A major point of controversy in this parable is whether Jesus is describing the difference between those who come to faith in Christ and those who do not. Interpreters have disagreed on where among the four options the line of salvation is drawn, or if it’s even part of the lesson. Most scholars are cautious about what Jesus means about not understanding the “word of the kingdom.” The same is true of shallow commitment due to persecution or worldliness, as in the following verses (Matthew 13:20–22). Christ is speaking most directly about whether Israel will receive Him as the Messiah. His emphasis is on producing “fruitful” plants who multiply themselves into more and more participants in His mission.
In short, while this parable presents useful parallels to how people respond to the gospel of salvation, most interpreters do not think this passage is meant to teach anything regarding eternal salvation for people in general.
Verse 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,
The parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3–9) is being explained to the disciples by Jesus. The seeds scattered by the sower represent the “word of the kingdom” or teaching about the coming kingdom of heaven. Soil that is hard packed represents those people who are disinterested or hardened against the message, and so it makes no impact at all (Matthew 13:19).
Now Jesus describes what is represented by seed landing on rocky ground. Those seeds immediately sprang up into plants in the shallow dirt above the rocks. They were quickly scorched and withered away when the sun rose. They lacked the roots to provide needed moisture.
Rocky soil represents those who hear the word of the kingdom and hastily receive it, but with shallow or insincere faith. These are the people who like the idea of the kingdom, or want to be included, but only so long as it comes with few consequences. In the following verse, Jesus will show that hard circumstances and persecution cause these marginal followers to fall away. Their emotional decision and lack of commitment is exposed by external pressures.
As with the rest of this passage, scholars differ on whether these categories are directly related to salvation. Since Jesus’ most immediate lesson is about the response of Israel to His teaching (Matthew 13:10–17), that seems unlikely. There are clear parallels about how some people respond to the gospel, but separating people into saved or unsaved does not seem to be Jesus’ point here.
Verse 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
Jesus is describing the meaning of the parable of the sower to His disciples (Matthew 13:1–9), something He did not provide to the crowds to whom He taught the parable (Matthew 13:10–17). In the parable, a sower scatters seed across different kinds of soil. Jesus has shown that those seeds represent the “word of the kingdom,” or the good news of the coming kingdom of heaven. Jesus, as the Messiah, is the one who will bring that kingdom to reality.
Those represented by rocky soil (Matthew 13:5–6) like the idea of the coming kingdom of heaven. They respond to that news with joy. They seem to immediately understand and accept the truth. Their early growth looks exactly like that found in richer soils. However, persecution and difficult circumstances are like the sun coming out to scorch a plant. Only those with roots providing water and support can survive hardship. Trials expose those whose belief was merely emotional with no real commitment to Jesus. The pressure causes them to quickly fall away from belief in Jesus as the Messiah.
As with all verses in this passage, eternal salvation does not seem to be the main point in question. Jesus’ primary lesson here is about how the nation of Israel will respond to His ministry (Matthew 13:10–17). There are clear, useful parallels here to how some people react to the gospel. However, most scholars advise caution about trying to apply this parable as a way of determining whether a particular person is saved.
Verse 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
The disciples are being taught the deeper meaning behind the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1–9). Jesus spoke of a seed-thrower whose seed falls on various kinds of soil as he plants a field. The seed that falls on the hardpacked dirt of the path is like the word of the kingdom of heaven that is not understood by those who hear it (Matthew 13:5–6, 19). The rocky soil represents those who seem to receive the word at first, but have no depth. Hard circumstances and persecution cause them to fall away (Matthew 13:5–6, 20–21).
Now Jesus describes the soil among the thorns or weeds. This represents those who hear and understand teaching about the kingdom. However, they are distracted by worldly things. That includes wealth and ultimately superficial concerns. Their potential growth loses out in a battle against materialism and the stress of everyday life. Just as a weed steals nutrients from the soil and the light from the sun, those cares steal away the needed time and attention to commit to the Messiah. The plant never grows to maturity, so it never multiplies into more seeds of grain.
It’s crucial to remember that Jesus’ most immediate point is about how the nation of Israel will respond to His teaching (Matthew 13:10–17). This parable is not meant as a spectrum from “lost” to “saved,” though there are useful parallels with how people respond to the gospel.
This soil represents the experience most familiar to people living in times of general prosperity. Wealth is deceitful in several ways. One is the nagging pressure to always have “more.” Another is that money is so essential that it must be borrowed before it is earned.
The “cares of the world” do not describe disaster or persecution or grave illness. They are simply the everyday stresses of busy lives. In short, those represented by the thorny soil decide they simply don’t have the time, energy, or attention span to commit to the Messiah and participate in the kingdom of heaven.
Verse 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Jesus is explaining the meaning behind His parable about the sower (Matthew 13:1–9), an enrichment given only to His disciples (Matthew 13:10–17). He has connected the seed that failed to produce fruitful plants to the kind of soil it fell on. That soil represented different kinds of people. Some did not understand. Others made a shallow commitment to the kingdom. Still others failed to thrive because of a focus on wealth and the cares of the world (Matthew 13:19–22).
Now, though, Jesus comes to the good soil. These are the people who both hear and understand the word of the kingdom, with Jesus as its king. They receive this teaching and commit to Him with a clear and steady focus. The result, like that of a successful crop of grain, is to reproduce themselves in service they provide. They also generate other, equally fruitful members, who also make a commitment to the Messiah and the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus describes yields of a hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold. Commentators disagree on whether these would have been good crop yields for grain during Jesus’ day. Perhaps they would have been excellent in the arid regions of Palestine and merely adequate in the more fertile areas of Israel. In either case, Jesus is not literally talking about grain. He is describing committed disciples who, through their service and teaching and example, lead others to understand and receive the word of the kingdom.
Interpreters and scholars differ on the exact application of these verses. A minority suggest Jesus means this to be a parable about eternal salvation versus eternal damnation. Others interpret this as a lesson about productive disciples versus unproductive followers. Most suggest the parable should be read within the context of Jesus’ ministry to Israel; those who grow into productive plants are the Israelites who receive Jesus as the Messiah and become participants in the kingdom He is establishing. There are certainly useful parallels for salvation and discipleship, but the main context of the passage does not seem to be about those topics.
Context Summary
Matthew 13:18–23 explains the lesson behind the parable of the seed-thrower who dropped seeds on four different types of soil (Matthew 13:1–9). The hardpacked soil of the path represents those who don’t understand teaching about the kingdom of heaven, so the evil one steals it away. The rocky soil is those who receive the Word gladly but fall away under pressure. The thorny soil is those who are unproductive because of the cares of life and lies about money. Only those who receive the Word and reproduce it represent the good soil. While this is an important explanation, Christians often differ about how those categories relate to specific issues such as salvation. The four groups represented are not necessarily meant to form a spectrum; each has its own lessons to teach.
Verse 24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,
Most of Jesus’ parables take the form of short stories meant to create a picture of heaven’s kingdom. Matthew seems to have shifted His focus back to Jesus’ teaching. In this case, Christ is speaking to the large crowd gathered on the beach of the Sea of Galilee as He sits on a boat just offshore. Later, Jesus and the disciples will go into a house where Jesus will explain the specific meaning of this parable (Matthew 13:36–43).
To understand these parables, it’s important to remember that Israel had been waiting hundreds of years for the arrival of the promised Messiah. There was an expectation that this Promised One would establish His kingdom. Israel’s leaders and most of her people have not received Jesus as the Messiah, in part, because He is not bringing the kingdom immediately, as they assumed He would. At this point, Jesus has not seemed interested in judging the unfaithful, overthrowing the Romans, or establishing a new political kingdom of Israel. Jesus’ parables are meant to explain God’s actual intentions and give context to His preaching about the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus begins by once again picturing a farmer planting a field of grain. Jesus’ listeners likely included many people who worked in agriculture and had participated in planting or tending or harvesting fields. His audience would have quickly understood the exact scenario Jesus describes.
The kingdom of heaven is being compared to the situation Jesus will describe, not the sower specifically. The important point for the story is that the man sowed good seed into the field. The following verses show that this parable, unlike the previous one (Mathew 13:1–9), is not about the quality of the soil or the people that soil represents. The elements are the same, but they are being used for a different lesson, with different symbolism. Now it is the seed that represents people. The sower used only good wheat seeds on this field and nothing else.
Verse 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.
Agricultural parables would have been especially easy for the original audience to visualize. Many people worked on fields and would have recognized the scenarios Jesus described. This parable starts with a sower who has finished the work of planting a field. The sower used only good wheat seeds (Matthew 13:24).
Now, though, an enemy comes to the farmer’s fields at night while his workers are sleeping. This does not necessarily mean that the workers are to blame. The story doesn’t suggest that they should have been awake and guarding the field, only that the enemy is sneaky and up to no good. This is an important point in interpreting parables: that not every tiny detail is meant to have some literal application. The point of any parable is to explain a larger idea, not to create a detailed explanation.
The enemy’s attack takes the form of sabotage. He sows a second round of plants, weeds, mixed right in with the wheat. It’s possible that this was a known form of vandalism, and that the people listening to Jesus had seen or heard of this very thing happening before. Scholars suggest the audience likely would have imagined the weeds to be an inedible type of ryegrass called “darnel” or “tares.” Prior to modern sorting techniques, this was a difficult weed to manage. It looks almost exactly like wheat, at first. By the time it can be clearly distinguished, it’s already fully rooted in the ground.
The following verses will show the great lengths the farmer would need to take to get rid of the weed and save the crop of grain. Especially during this time in Israel’s history, this attack would have been malicious, both to the farmer and to those who depended on him for food. Jesus will later explain to the disciples exactly what each element in this parable represents (Matthew 13:36–43).
Verse 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.
This parable of Jesus describes an attack on a farmer’s crop. The farmer planted a field with only good wheat seeds. During the dark of night, his enemy came and planted weeds in the field, as well (Matthew 13:24–25). Now Jesus reveals just how effective the attack has been. By the time the wheat plants begin to develop, the weeds are entrenched.
Bible scholars say the weed Jesus describes was likely “darnel,” a semi-poisonous ryegrass that closely resembles wheat in the early stages of its growth. These plants are also known as “tares,” and the use of that term in translations such as the King James Version is why this is often called “the parable of the wheat and the tares.” This is a common plant, and the attack Jesus describes here has historically been one way of sabotaging another’s crops.
Only later, after the wheat begins to bear grain, would the difference become obvious. By that time, though, the roots of the weeds and the wheat would likely have been entangled. As Jesus will show, the only good solution was to harvest the wheat and weeds together and then to separate them (Matthew 13:29–30). Later (Matthew 13:36–43), Jesus will explain to His disciples exactly what each element of this parable represents.
Verse 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’
Jesus is telling a story, a parable, about an attack on a farmer’s field of wheat (Matthew 13:24–26). Later He will explain to His disciples exactly what each element in the story represents (Matthew 13:36–43).
Shortly after the farmer planted his crop, an enemy snuck into his field under the cover of darkness and planted weeds alongside his wheat. Bible scholars understand this weed to be “darnel,” also known as “tares.” This is a poisonous ryegrass that looks so similar to good grain that it is sometimes called “false wheat.” The difference only becomes noticeable once the wheat plants begin to bear grain. By then, the root systems of the two plants would be intermixed in the soil. This kind of sabotage is a known tactic in agriculture, meant to devastate someone else’s harvest.
The servants responsible for tending the fields eventually notice that these weeds are growing up alongside the otherwise healthy grain. They take their observation to their master, the farmer, along with pointed questions: How is this happening? Didn’t you use good seed? If so, where did these weeds come from? The servants responsible for taking care of their master’s field want to know where the process broke down. Despite what some interpreters claim, Scripture doesn’t blame the field workers for letting this happen.
Verse 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’
This parable is sometimes called “the wheat and the tares.” “Tare” is another name for a weed sometimes called “darnel,” an inedible ryegrass that is sometimes called “false wheat.” As a young plant, it looks almost exactly like wheat until both begin to bear; then the difference becomes obvious. By that point, though, the roots of the wheat and the weeds are likely entangled.
In the story, a farmer’s servants have come to him to ask how it is possible that weeds have come up throughout the field along with the wheat. Did he use good seed? The farmer now assures them the seed was good. An enemy has attacked them, sowing the seeds of the weeds in among the good seeds of the wheat. This would not have been an unheard-of act in Jesus’ era. Sabotaging another’s field with hostile plants is an act seen in many places around the world.
The servants now ask the farmer if he wants them to go and pull up all the weeds. That’s not an unreasonable question: darnel is mildly poisonous, so it can’t be ignored, or the entire harvest will be ruined. In the following verse, the farmer will explain why that’s a bad idea. The two plants will be separated, but not yet.
Jesus will soon explain to the disciples exactly what each element of this story is meant to represent (Matthew 13:36–43).
Verse 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.
As part of a parable (Matthew 13:24–28), a farmer’s servants have asked if they should pull out unwanted plants. They have discovered weeds, called darnel or tares, growing alongside the wheat. Since this inedible ryegrass resembles wheat plants early in the growth cycle, the sudden appearance of so many weeds was an unwelcome surprise. After the master explains that an enemy has done this to them, the servants want to know if they should get to work and pull up all the weeds.
The master now tells them no. Had there been only one or two small plants, or a scattering of them, weeding would have been the simplest solution. This was not a natural problem, however—this was an attack (Matthew 13:25). There would have been many, many weeds intermixed with the good plants. By this stage of development, when the plants can be distinguished, the roots of the weeds would have been entangled with the roots of the wheat. Pulling up that many weeds could destroy the good grain before it is ready to harvest. So, the master will present a better strategy (Matthew 13:30).
Parables are stories meant to summarize larger ideas about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus intends for His disciples to understand these truths, so He will explain exactly what those are later (Matthew 13:36–43).
Verse 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
This concludes the parable of “the wheat and the weeds,” also known as “the wheat and the tares.” A farmer’s field has been attacked. After the farmer planted good wheat seeds, an enemy snuck in after dark and planted weed seeds alongside the wheat. The weed in question is almost certainly darnel, also known as tares or “false wheat.” This looks almost exactly like wheat early on, so the infestation is only discovered after the good wheat plants begin to develop their grain.
The farmer has explained to his servants why they cannot pull up the weeds. By this time, the roots of both wheat and weed are likely entangled. Taking out one or two plants would be one thing, but in this case the entire field is riddled with weeds. To yank out the weeds will bring up the wheat plants too soon.
Now the farmer reveals his strategy for dealing with these weeds. He will leave them alone for now. He will let them grow to maturity alongside the wheat, and then he will tell his harvesters to gather the weeds first and then the wheat. They will harvest the weeds, bundle them, and burn them. At that point, the wheat is going to be harvested anyway, so it can be collected and put into storage in the farmer’s barn.
Jesus began this parable as He did most of those recorded in this section: by saying “the kingdom of heaven may be compared to…” (Matthew 13:24). This is because many people wondered why Jesus, as the supposed Messiah, was not immediately bringing judgment on Israel’s enemies and the unfaithful. They assumed the Promised One would set right to overthrowing the Romans and setting up His kingdom on earth. To dispel those misunderstandings, Jesus explains the kingdom using parables.
In this parable, Jesus symbolically described two groups of people: those who will be gathered into the barn and those who will be burned up. The barn represents the kingdom of heaven that He has been preaching about. The fire represents God’s judgment, which is sometimes compared to a harvest. Jesus, then, is answering the question of how He has brought the kingdom without bringing the judgment. He is allowing both the “kingdom people” and those destined for God’s wrath to remain together until the “day of the Lord” when the judgment will come and He will establish His political kingdom on earth (Matthew 13:36–43).
Context Summary
Matthew 13:24–30 contains the parable of the wheat and the weeds, also known as the parable of the wheat and the “tares.” Christ will later explain this as a metaphor for God separating believers from non-believers in the final judgment (Matthew 13:36–43). He tells the crowd of a farmer who sowed good wheat seeds into a field. His enemy, though, sabotaged the field with weeds. This probably meant planting a worthless plant that looks deceptively like wheat. The farmer sensibly waits, allowing the wheat and weeds to grow together rather than risking damage to the wheat by uprooting the other plants. At the harvest, the farmer will tell his workers to gather up the weeds and bundle them to be burned.
Verse 31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.
Jesus again begins a parable by saying “the kingdom of heaven is like…” These teachings must be understood within the context of Jesus’ life and ministry. Some in Israel rejected Jesus because they expected the Messiah to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth immediately, with great power and judgment. They wanted to see Him overthrow the unfaithful and Israel’s enemies and restore Israel to power and glory and prosperity. Jesus uses these short stories to explain how God intends to implement the kingdom of heaven, and to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament.
Here, Jesus depicts the tiny seed of the mustard plant planted by a man in his field. The mustard seed was commonly used at this time as an example of smallness (Matthew 13:32). Why would Jesus compare the glorious coming kingdom of God to such a tiny thing? That would not fit with what Israel expected from the kingdom, but the meaning of the parable is profound.
Verse 32 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.
Jesus again begins a parable by saying “the kingdom of heaven is like…” These teachings must be understood within the context of Jesus’ life and ministry. Some in Israel rejected Jesus because they expected the Messiah to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth immediately, with great power and judgment. They wanted to see Him overthrow the unfaithful and Israel’s enemies and restore Israel to power and glory and prosperity. Jesus uses these short stories to explain how God intends to implement the kingdom of heaven, and to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament.
Here, Jesus depicts the tiny seed of the mustard plant planted by a man in his field. The mustard seed was commonly used at this time as an example of smallness (Matthew 13:32). Why would Jesus compare the glorious coming kingdom of God to such a tiny thing? That would not fit with what Israel expected from the kingdom, but the meaning of the parable is profound.
Verse 33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
This parable is not so much a story as a snapshot of an ordinary event from everyday life. Most people would have seen a woman making bread. That process included adding leaven, usually yeast, to flour. Leaven is a fermenting agent that causes dough to rise over time. Jesus’ point with this parable is closely related to the previous parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13:31–32). Something seemingly tiny and obscure spreads, and grows, until it is something relatively enormous.
In this metaphor, a small amount of leaven is mixed into or “hidden” inside three measures of flour. This would have been about 50 pounds, or 23 kilograms. This would create enough bread to feed about 100 people. Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to the leaven, the agent that causes the flour to grow into abundant bread.
Again, Jesus’ description of the kingdom of heaven as a small thing that grows over time would not have fit the expectations most Israelites’ held for the promised kingdom. Jesus is showing that the kingdom will begin in the hearts of His followers and only eventually grow to become the glorious kingdom the people were hoping for.
Alternatively, some read this parable differently, understanding the leaven or yeast to represent evil. Leaven is often used in that way in stories or analogies throughout the Old and New Testaments, though not always. If that was Jesus’ intent, then the leaven in this parable would be like the weeds in the parable about the wheat. The leaven would represent the existence of evil alongside those who would come to trust in Jesus as King and Savior. Those evil ones, however, are doomed to be eradicated by Jesus at the judgment before He establishes His political kingdom on earth (Matthew 24:41–43). Preventing this interpretation, however, is the fact that Christ does not refer to leaven infiltrating the kingdom. Rather, in this parable, leaven is the kingdom.
Verse 34 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable.
Matthew has been clear that Jesus’ teaching is directed at two separate audiences: His closest followers and “the crowds” (Matthew 13:10–11). Here Matthew repeats that, at this phase of His ministry, Jesus only taught the crowds in parables, somewhat obscuring His specific meaning about the stories and illustrations. This seems to mark a change in strategy, at least from Jesus’ clear instruction in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5—7). That contrast is not an accident, however.
Jesus previously answered a question from the disciples about why He was doing this. In short, their hearts are already dull (Matthew 13:12–16). Since the nation of Israel, as a whole, has refused to understand that He is the Messiah, they will not be given more clear revelation about the nature of the kingdom of heaven. Their own refusal to believe results in God’s judgment, which takes the form of being made even more resistant.
Verse 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables;I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
Matthew has repeated once more in this chapter that Jesus spoke to the crowds only in parables (Matthew 13:3, 34). Parables are short stories or illustrations designed to reveal a larger truth. Jesus most often used them to describe the kingdom of heaven. The parables were often hard to understand, and Jesus described them in greater detail to His disciples. Previously, it seemed that Jesus was more direct, as in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5—7). The shift to a more obscure style is probably what prompted the disciples to ask this question. Jesus responded that it was because of the hardness of the people’s hearts (Matthew 13:15). They refused to believe, so in a form of judgment, they would be made even more resistant.
In that passage, Jesus made it clear that this fulfilled a prophecy of Isaiah (Matthew 13:14). Now Matthew points to Jesus’ use of parables as the fulfillment of yet another prophecy, this one from Psalm 78:2: “I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old.” Matthew’s version of the text changes the last line to “what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
Matthew applies Asaph’s words from Psalm 78 to Jesus. In doing so, he describes Jesus’ parables as revelations of long-hidden truths about the nature of the kingdom of heaven. By communicating those truths in the form of parables, they remained hidden for many of Jesus’ listeners.
Context Summary
Matthew 13:31–35 contains two short, closely-related parables about the kingdom of heaven. One refers to a tiny mustard seed which soon outgrows all the garden plants; it becomes like a tree. The other parable describes the leaven a woman puts in flour to make it grow. Both parables show that the kingdom of heaven will be tiny, at first—with just the disciples. Quickly, though, it will grow into something surprisingly large. Matthew quickly reminds his readers that Jesus taught only in parables at this time, fulfilling yet another prophecy.
Verse 36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”
Large crowds followed Jesus as He travelled around Galilee. Most of the people were not followers in the sense of being committed to belief in Jesus as the Messiah. Rather, most came to see His miraculous healings or to hear His compelling teaching, but not in any sincere effort to follow God. Jesus described them as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s words about a people with dull hearts and no capacity to understand the truth (Matthew 13:13–16).
In this chapter, Jesus had taken a seat on a boat and taught to a large crowd gathered on the beach on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 13:1–2). Matthew has been clear that Jesus spoke about the kingdom of heaven only in parables (Matthew 13:34). Now He has finished and enters a house, likely in Capernaum, with only His disciples. They ask Him to explain the parable of the weeds and the wheat which He taught to the crowd (Matthew 13: 24–30).
Although Jesus will not explain His parables to the crowds, He is willing to do so for the disciples. He has told them that it has been given to them to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:11) and that they have the spiritual willingness to understand in a way the larger crowds cannot (Matthew 13:16; John 7:17).
Verse 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
Jesus begins to explain to His disciples the meaning behind a parable that He taught to a large crowd (Matthew 13:24–30). Now the crowd is gone, and Jesus and His disciples are alone in a house, likely in Capernaum (Matthew 13:36). The parable began with Jesus comparing the kingdom of heaven to a man who planted good seed in his field. In that parable, the man who sowed a field represents Jesus Himself, the “Son of Man.”
The title “Son of Man” is how Jesus most often described Himself (Matthew 26:24; Mark 2:10; Luke 7:34; John 8:28). He was a literal son of man in the sense that He was fully human. However, this is also an important symbol of the Messiah, taken from a vision seen by Daniel (Daniel 7:13–14). Jesus Christ was also this “Son of Man” described as ruling over all peoples forever. Jesus was both man and God, and the fulfillment of prophecy, which may be why He took on this specific descriptor so frequently.
Verse 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,
At the disciples’ request (Matthew 13:36), Jesus is describing a parable He taught to the crowd (Matthew 13:24–30). This parable is called the “parable of the weeds” or the “wheat and the tares.” Jesus described a man who sowed good seed into his field. His enemy, though, came in the night and scattered tares, a kind of weed, among the good wheat seeds.
Jesus has said that the man who sowed the field represents Himself, the Son of Man (Matthew 13:37). This is a Messianic title taken from a vision recorded by Daniel (Daniel 7:13–14). Now Christ explains that the field represents the entire world. The good wheat seeds are the “sons of the kingdom” and the weeds are the “sons of the evil one.”
By sons of the kingdom, Jesus seems to mean all people who can be described as God’s people. These are the ones who will be citizens of His eternal kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. The sons of the evil one are all who, in rejecting Christ, belong to the Devil (John 8:43–47). Jesus allows for only one option or the other. Nobody is described as belong to him- or herself.
Historically, some commentators have taught that “the world” here means “the church” and that those who belong to the Devil will participate in the church alongside those who belong to God as legitimate children of the kingdom. That seems to be quite a stretch, given that Jesus refers to the field as “the world,” not “the kingdom.” And, that Jesus refers to there being a notable difference between the two (Matthew 13:26–27). The more reasonable explanation is that it is not the church represented by the parable, but the world at large, occupied until the time of judgment both by those who are citizens of God’s kingdom and those who are not.
Verse 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
Jesus is explaining to His disciples the parable He told to the crowd about the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24–30). He has said the one who sows good seed into a field represents Himself, the Son of Man (Matthew 13:37). The field itself is the whole world, and the good wheat seeds being sown are the sons of the kingdom, those who will become the citizens of God’s eternal kingdom. Jesus identified the weeds as the sons of the evil one (Matthew 13:38), leaving only two eternal categories for humanity: those who belong to God and those who belong to Satan.
Now He adds that the Devil is the one who planted the weeds among the good wheat seeds. It is because of the enemy that those who belong to Satan exist alongside those who belong to God in the world. However, the harvest will come eventually. In the parable itself, the farmer waits to uproot the weeds until the harvest, at which time they will be sorted out and burned (Matthew 13:30). Jesus describes that harvest as the end of the age, the prophesied time of God’s judgment, sometimes called the “day of the Lord.” Jesus now says that those who will harvest the field, the reapers, will be His angels. Jesus describes their grim work in the following verses.
Verse 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
The parable of the wheat and the weeds was previously taught to the crowds (Matthew 13:24–30). In that parable, an enemy snuck into a farmer’s field by night and sowed weeds among his good wheat seeds. The result was that the wheat and the weeds grew together, side by side, until the time for harvest came. When it did, the farmer said he would have his reapers gather the weeds and bind them in bundles to be burned (Matthew 13:30). In the story, the farmer represents Jesus (Matthew 13:37) and the good wheat represents those who come to faith in Him (Matthew 13:38).
The weeds represent the “sons of the evil one” who planted them (John 8:43–47). Those who belong to Satan will be gathered to be burned with fire at the end of the age. In the following verse, Jesus identifies the reapers as His angels who will carry out this task of separating “weeds” from the true believers of the world.
Verse 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,
Jesus is describing something that will take place at the “end of the age” during a time of judgment on the earth. This is part of His explanation of a parable (Matthew 13:36). This end-times sorting is represented by the time of harvest, when the farmer’s reapers will gather all the weeds that have grown up with the wheat to be bundled and burned (Matthew 13:24–30). Jesus has explained that the reapers in the parable represent His servants, the angels.
Now Jesus says directly that He, the Son of Man, will send these angels to gather out of His kingdom all “causes of sin and lawbreakers.” The Hebrew phrase these words are taken from may have originally appeared in Zephaniah 1:3. The phrase is apparently difficult to translate. Whatever it means exactly, it is clear from Jesus’ teaching that the angels will take out of the world—by then entirely transformed into the kingdom of Jesus—everything that belonged to Satan or causes evil to continue in the world. This would include people and, perhaps, other things.
The fate of these children of the evil one is revealed in the following verse.
Verse 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
In the parable of the weeds and the wheat (Matthew 13:24–30), Jesus depicted two plants living side-by-side in a crop, due to an act of sabotage. Some are good wheat and others are inedible weeds. The two were so intertwined in a field that they could not be separated without damaging the valuable grain. So, the farmer waits until the harvest.
The good wheat represents the children of God’s kingdom. The weeds represent the children of the Devil (Matthew 13:38). The harvest is the time of God’s judgment, when Christ will set up His kingdom on the earth. At that time, the entire world—represented by the field—will be His kingdom. Christ will send the reapers, His angels, to gather out of His kingdom all the law breakers and the causes of sin.
Now He adds what will be done with them. They will be thrown into the fiery furnace, a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus often used this language to describe the eternal fate of those who do not repent of their sin in order to be included in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:22; 8:12). He is describing the experience of God’s judgment on those who do not come to His kingdom through faith in the Messiah. We commonly refer to this as hell.
Verse 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
Jesus has given His disciples a detailed explanation of the meaning of the parable of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:36). He is the sower of the field, which is the entire world. He has sown into His field good wheat seeds, which are the sons of the kingdom of heaven. The devil has come in the night and sown into the field weeds, which represent those who belong to him. When the harvest comes, Jesus has said, He will send His angels into the world to gather up all those who belong to the evil one, the lawbreakers and anything that causes sin. They will be thrown into the fiery furnace, hell, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in agony (Matthew 13:37–42).
Now Jesus concludes by describing the fate of those who belong to God. He calls them “righteous.” They will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Not only will they be granted entrance to the kingdom, they will shine as children of God the Father (Proverbs 4:18; 1 John 2:8; 2 Corinthians 4:6).
The New Testament is clear that entrance into this kingdom is found only through faith in God’s Son, Jesus (Ephesians 2:8–10). His death on the cross pays the price for the sin of those who trust in Him, and they are given credit for His righteous life, as well as being entrusted with good works to carry out.
Jesus concludes His explanation with a solemn warning to pay close attention, and to apply His words. The phrase “he who has ears, let him hear” was used during this time to call attention to especially important teaching.
Context Summary
Matthew 13:36–43 follows Jesus away from the crowds and back into a house with His disciples. They ask Him to explain the parable of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24–30). Jesus tells them He is the farmer, and the field is the world. The good wheat seeds represent the children of the kingdom, and the weeds—also known as “tares,” likely an inedible plant that looks like wheat—are the children of the Devil who planted them. The harvest is the judgment at the end of the age. Then the reapers, God’s angels, will gather all the wicked and all forms of sin and throw them into the fiery furnace. The righteous, though, will shine in the kingdom of their Father.
Verse 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Jesus is speaking in parables to describe the kingdom of heaven. This time, He compares the kingdom of heaven to treasure found hidden in a field. The man who finds the treasure does not simply take it. Instead, he leaves it there, sells everything he has, and buys the field in order to get the treasure it contains.
It was common in this era to hide money or other belongings in the ground. Banks, as we think of them in the modern world, simply did not exist. Poverty and political turmoil made everyone vulnerable to having their possessions stolen or taken by those in power. It would have been more common then, compared to now, for a stash of valuables to be left in the ground because the previous owner died without letting anyone know they were there. Jesus uses this idea to describe the kingdom of heaven.
By rights, such accidentally discovered treasure would belong to the owner of the land. Local laws and customs seem to suggest that so long as that treasure remained buried, it was considered part of the field. If it was removed from the earth, it was the property of whomever owned the land. In other words, the treasure could not simply be taken—that would be theft. However, if the field’s owner sold the land, he would also be selling any buried valuables. The new owner would be legally free to dig up and take such treasure. The point is not detailing of property law, however. Christ’s message is that the kingdom of heaven is worth trading for everything a person owns, in order to come into “possession” of it.
This is a difficult principle for humanity to accept. In Matthew chapter 19, Jesus will famously tell a rich young man to sell all he owns and follow Him (Matthew 19:21). This comment is given specifically to that person, in order to prove that he’s unwilling to follow Jesus if it means losing his wealth (Matthew 19:22). For this reason, Jesus says rich people enter the kingdom of heaven with great difficulty (Matthew 19:23). Worldly wealth makes us feel secure, despite it having no eternal value. It’s easy to become addicted to comforts, and to lose an eternal perspective.
Some commentators read this parable differently, seeing the treasure as the people of Israel and Jesus as the man who sacrificed all He owned—the riches of heaven, His life—to buy the field in order to redeem them. However, this seems to insert meaning into the parable that is not obvious from the text. The man in the parable acts to gain something more valuable than what He sacrifices; Scripture elsewhere makes it clear that God did not choose Israel because of some special worth (Deuteronomy 9:4–6).
The larger idea of the parable is that any sacrifice is worth belonging to the kingdom of heaven. That theme is underscored by the following parable, as Jesus ties the meaning of both together.
Verse 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls,
This begins another short parable. Jesus begins by saying “again,” which directly ties the meaning of this parable to the previous one. In that parable, a man sells everything he owns in order to buy a field. He does this because he has found a treasure in the field that is of enormous value. Jesus’ point was that it is worth any sacrifice to belong to the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:44).
This parable likely also fired the imaginations of Jesus’ listeners, because it pictures unexpected good fortune. This one features a merchant in search of fine pearls. In ancient times, divers would hunt pearls in the ocean waters that surrounded the middle east. The best pearls could be sold for enormous sums of money. This is not much different from how large, pure gemstones, such as diamonds, can be worth staggering amounts of money in modern contexts.
Jesus will continue to show how the kingdom of heaven is like such a pearl.
Verse 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Jesus frequently taught in parables. Stories, even short ones like this, are a powerful way to communicate a big idea or answer a big question. Jargon or technical terms might not let an idea sink in for most people. Connecting the larger theme to something more readily understood, however, makes it more accessible. In this case, the question is, “What would it be worth to be included in the kingdom of heaven?”
The parable describes a merchant looking for especially fine pearls (Matthew 13:45). He finds one pearl of enormous value. He recognizes that the pearl is worth more than everything else he owns combined. He sells it all to obtain this extraordinary item.
Again, Jesus is saying that the kingdom of heaven is worth the cost of everything we have in this life. The pearl merchant isn’t giving away his possessions for no reason; in fact, he’s drastically increasing his wealth. The idea of selling all he has might seem radical, but it makes perfect sense given what he gains in return.
Jesus taught in an earlier chapter that “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39). This and the previous parable drive that point home. It is worth the cost of our entire lives to be included in the kingdom of heaven. The value of what we gain in eternity is far above what we can experience in a short earthly life.
Just as some attempt to read extra details “into” the text of the prior parable (Matthew 13:44), some commentators strain to find alternative meanings for this text. A common example is suggesting the pearl represents the church and that Christ sacrifices everything to save those who trust in Him. It’s true that Jesus offers a tremendous sacrifice which saves those who trust in Him (John 3:16–17), but that is not the point being made in this specific passage.
Context Summary
Matthew 13:44–46 contains two short and related parables about the value of the kingdom of heaven. The first depicts a treasure hidden in a field. The man who finds it gladly sells everything to buy the field, so he can acquire the treasure. Likewise, a pearl dealer trades all his wealth in exchange for a pearl of enormous value when he finds it. Both stories show that inclusion in the kingdom of heaven is worth any amount of sacrifice. Whatever is lost in pursuit of the kingdom of heaven is a small price to pay, considering the value of what is gained.
Verse 47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.
Jesus continues His catalogue of parables meant to describe the kingdom of heaven. He is concluding with a few very brief lessons. Recent examples compared seeking the kingdom of heaven to men selling all they had to obtain an even-more-valuable treasure (Matthew 14:44–46).
In this story, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to another scene which would have been familiar to most Israelites. It would have been especially meaningful to those who lived and worked around the Sea of Galilee. This describes a common process of fishing, which is the use of a net. An especially common form of net fishing is sometimes called trawling, which involves sweeping a net through the water. Alternatively, a large net is thrown flat onto the surface of the water, and sinkers pull it down, trapping everything underneath inside the net. Either method gathers up everything it surrounds, including many varieties of fish and animals. Some of these are useful to a fisherman, others are not.
This is the central idea of the parable: the net collects everything, but not everything collected is kept. Jesus will show the fate of the captured creatures in the following verses.
Verse 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.
In one of the final parables included in this chapter, Jesus once again compares the kingdom of heaven to something His listeners in and around Capernaum would have known well. In this case, the symbolism comes from fishing on the Sea of Galilee. Specifically, Jesus describes fishing with a net. This style of fishing takes many forms. Sometimes a net is stretched between two boats, or between a boat and the shore, and then dragged along the bottom of the lake. In other cases, a circular net is thrown flat onto the water and pulled down by weights. Either method results in a variety of animals being captured; not everything caught in the net is something the fishermen want or need.
What happens next is common sense, but in the context of the parable it carries an important lesson (Matthew 13:49). The contents of the net are sorted. Some are considered good, meaning they’re worth eating or selling. Others are bad, meaning unusable for anything at all. The fishermen do the work of sorting through all the different kinds of fish and throwing the bad ones away while saving out the good in special containers.
Every Israelite had likely observed this process. This would have amplified the impression the parable made on those who understood the idea behind it.
Verse 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous
Jesus explains the meaning behind His parable about the fishermen sorting out their catch of every kind of fish (Matthew 13:47–48). He is making the same point He did in the earlier parable of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24–30; 36–43), only this time with fishing instead of farming.
The fishermen who sit on the beach throwing out the bad fish and saving the good ones represent the work of the angels at the “end of the age.” Jesus is describing the judgment that will come when He returns to set up His political kingdom on the earth. That judgment will begin with the angels sorting and separating the righteous from the evil on the earth. As the rest of Matthew’s gospel and the New Testament will show, those who are with Jesus, saved by faith in Him and His death for their sin on the cross, will be declared righteous. Those who have rejected Jesus will remain in their sin and their status as “evil.”
In the following verse, Jesus once more declares that the work of the angels will be to throw the “bad fish,” those who are evil, into hell.
Verse 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Those found to be evil on the day of judgment—anyone not saved through faith in Christ (John 3:16–18)—are consistently said by the New Testament to be cast into a place of terrible distress. This is often referred to as a fiery furnace, as in this verse. This place is often described as one of crying and teeth gnashing, traditional expressions of great misery. This is Jesus’ usual picture of what we commonly call hell (Matthew 13:42; 18:8; Mark 9:48; Luke 3:17; John 15:6).
In these parables, Christ does not provide details on what causes a person to be sorted either into the kingdom of heaven or into hell. The point of the parables is simply that a separation will occur—that God is going to classify people into one of only two categories. However, the Gospels and the remaining New Testament explain the criteria clearly. The righteous do not become so on their own by their good choices (Romans 3:10). Instead, they are the ones who receive “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:22; Titus 3:5; John 3:16–18).
Those who reject this path to righteousness through faith in Jesus are identified by the sorting angels as evil, children of the Devil (Matthew 13:38; John 8:43–47), and are thrown into the furnace (John 3:36).
Context Summary
Matthew 13:47–50 contains a parable about fisherman. This is closely related to the parable of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24–30). Fishermen use a dragnet to bring up a large catch, which includes many kinds of fish, good and bad. The workers sort the fish, discarding those which are “bad.” Jesus immediately explains that this is like the angels who will come and separate the evil from the righteous at the end of the age. They will throw those who reject faith in Christ into the fiery furnace where there is anguish and misery.
Verse 51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.”
This extended section of Jesus’ teaching began in verse 36. Jesus and the disciples left behind the crowds and entered a house together. The disciples asked Jesus to explain the meaning behind one of the parables (Matthew 13:36). Jesus has done so both by spelling out the meaning of that parable and adding several new parables to it.
Now Jesus asks His disciples if they grasp what they’ve been told. The disciples claim they do—but it’s certain they don’t understand as well as they think they do. As the gospels continue to explain their interaction with Jesus, the disciples will demonstrate further confusion about the truths being presented. Many examples of this will be recorded in the next chapters of Matthew (Matthew 13:21–23; 26:6–13). Of course, thanks to instruction from Christ, these men had better understanding of the kingdom of heaven than before.
Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom must have introduced them to several new ideas. Like most Jewish people of that era, they likely expected the Messiah to immediately overthrow Israel’s enemies and set up Israel to prosper in the world. Jesus has taught, in parables, that the kingdom will start small and grow large over time (Matthew 13:31–32). He has also taught that the righteous and the wicked will live together, side by side, until the day of judgment comes (Matthew 13:24–30). Still, it is worth any sacrifice to be included in the kingdom (Matthew 13:44–46) because a day of judgment is coming in which the evil will be removed and thrown into the fiery furnace by the angels of God (Matthew 13:47–50).
Even as a partial picture of what is to come, that would have been a lot to take in. Whatever Jesus’ core group of disciples truly understood, it required adjustment. They had to re-assess their expectations for what the coming kingdom would be like. In the following verse, Jesus will show why it is important for them to continue to work at understanding what He is teaching.
Verse 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
Parables, by definition, summarize a larger idea using symbolism and storytelling. That makes large ideas easier to process, but it also obscures specific details. This miniature parable is not especially clear, in part because Matthew does not record any specific interpretation. Scholars offer different views. The main point, common to all interpretations, involves the need to explain both the Old Testament prophecies and their accurate fulfillment in the New Testament era.
Christ has asked the disciples if they understood His explanation of the parables. They have said they do (Matthew 13:51). Now He responds by referring to scribes, who, at that time, were Israel’s teachers of the law. They studied and interpreted Scripture and told the people the proper way to live by it. In a very meaningful sense, these disciples are being taught deeper truths by Jesus (Matthew 13:10–11), and so are like “[scribes] trained for the kingdom of heaven.” As such, the disciples’ work would be to teach these truths to others (Matthew 28:19–20), both “old” and “new.”
The image Jesus creates is that of someone wealthy who presents the treasures of his household. Some of those items are old. We might think of antiques and family heirlooms. Some of the treasure is newly acquired, but still greatly valuable. Jesus pictures teachers of these great truths as those who show both God’s revelation in the Old Testament Scriptures and the new revelations of God’s truth through Jesus Christ. Those teachers would need to show how these treasured truths fit together.
This, in fact, is exactly what Matthew does in his gospel. He often references the “old treasures” of Israel’s Scriptures to show how they are fulfilled in Jesus’ work and words. The other men gathered before Jesus will do the same as they teach the gospel in the years to follow (2 Timothy 3:16; 1 John 1:1–4). That work will require them to understand Jesus’ teaching in these parables.
Context Summary
Matthew 13:51–52 concludes the section on the parables of Jesus with a question. Jesus asks His disciples if they’ve understood His words. The disciples say yes. Jesus uses one more short parable, comparing a scholar trained in godly things to the master of a house showing his old and new treasures to someone. Christ, for His part, is teaching both the meaning of older Scriptures, and the new fulfillments coming from God. This also means the disciples should teach others what He has taught them: the unified meaning of Old Testament Scriptures and the teaching of Jesus.
Verse 53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there,
Matthew concludes his description of Jesus’ teaching of the parables first to a large crowd gathered on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 13:1–2) and then to His own disciples gathered in a house (Matthew 13:36). After Jesus had finished, He went away, likely meaning he left Capernaum, Jesus’ adopted hometown. Matthew wrote earlier that Jesus left His original hometown of Nazareth to move to “Capernaum by the sea” (Matthew 4:13) and also that Capernaum had become Jesus’ “own city” (Matthew 9:1).
The following verses describe what happened when Jesus returned to visit His original hometown of Nazareth. An English proverb is that “familiarity breeds contempt,” and this is exactly what Christ experiences among those who think they already know Him.
Verse 54 and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?
Both Joseph and Mary had apparently grown up in the small town of Nazareth, about halfway between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean. They returned to Nazareth after Jesus’ birth and their time in Egypt (Luke 2:39), and Jesus spent His childhood there (Luke 2:40). Eventually, though, Jesus moved to the more populated town of Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 4:13).
Jesus now returns to visit His “hometown,” which most commentators understand to be Nazareth. Some commentators see this visit as being separate from the one described in Luke 4:16–29, where the people of Nazareth attempted to kill Jesus after He claimed to be the fulfillment of one of Isaiah’s prophecies about the Messiah, then compared them to people in the Old Testament Scriptures not miraculously saved by God. Most towns in Israel, even small ones like Nazareth, had a synagogue. It was common for visiting rabbis to be invited to speak in the synagogue when in town. Jesus did so in Nazareth. He apparently also did some miracles there, perhaps of healing, though He did not do many (Matthew 13:58).
The reaction to Jesus’ teaching and His miracles was both astonishment and rejection. The people asked where He got this wisdom and the ability to do these mighty works. They didn’t deny Jesus’ obvious power, but they were offended that someone who had come from among them would seem to be so important and favored. Jesus did not fit into their idea of Him, and they were committed to Him fitting their preferred mold.
Assumptions and prejudices can blind us to truth. When we think we know something, or someone, we tend to favor those expectations over new information. Many, many people in the world think they already know all about Jesus. Many, however, know very little, and are offended when presented with the truth (Matthew 13:57).
Verse 55 Is not this the carpenter ‘s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
Jesus has returned to His childhood hometown of Nazareth. He has taught in the synagogue and has likely performed some miracles, the very things which have caused huge crowds to follow Him around Galilee for some time. Here in Nazareth, though, the people are offended by Jesus (Matthew 13:57).
The questions being asked here are not worshipful or sincere. Rather, they’re dismissive, even sarcastic. The tone of their response is along the lines of saying, “who does Jesus think He is? We know this guy. Where did He come up with all of this?” Their response to Jesus is to ignore what’s happening by saying, “oh, I already know what I think about Him.”
As in Mark’s gospel, the townspeople point out that they saw Jesus growing up. Most likely, both Jesus and Joseph worked as craftsmen in that region (Mark 6:3). Historians suggest there might have been high demand for masons and carpenters in Nazareth when Jesus was growing up to rebuild a nearby city that had burned. Joseph’s adopted son Jesus likely worked in the same profession before beginning His public ministry and moving away. It’s possible that Joseph has died by this time, but the people still remember him.
In the same way, the people declare that they know Jesus’ family. They know Him as the son Mary and brother to her other sons, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. Jesus is normally described as a half-brother to those four, since He was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18) and the others were born in normal fashion to Joseph and Mary.
In short, the townspeople declare that since they already know who Jesus is—a carpenter’s son and normal resident—there is no reason to think He could be anything else. Certainly, it’s not possible He could be powerful or important. Whether it is this same visit or not, Luke describes a moment when the people of Nazareth attempt to kill Jesus, in part, for claiming to be the Messiah (Luke 4:16–29).
No matter how powerful His preaching or miracles might be, Jesus will never be accepted by those who insist they know better. Even today, believers and non-believers alike often cling to inaccurate ideas about Christ. In their minds, they “already know” Jesus, and have nothing to learn.
Verse 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
The people of Nazareth are convinced that they already know who Jesus is; whatever He’s saying or doing now cannot change their views. Jesus grew up among them (Matthew 13:54–55). They all went to the synagogue together as children. His sisters were all present in the room. They knew His adoptive father Joseph, who might have been dead by now. His mother Mary was there. They’re not truly asking where Jesus obtained wisdom and power. Rather, they’re being sarcastic, the way someone might snap “who put you in charge?” to a peer.
If the people had simply been marveling at the unexpected, their reaction might have made more sense. Had these questions been followed by repentance, it would imply sincerity. Instead, their astonishment caused them to reject any idea of Jesus being important, let alone being the Messiah. As the following verse shows, they felt insulted by Jesus instead of worshiping Him. Their comfortable, established concept of Christ was too ingrained to be changed.
The same mistake can be made today. Both for claimed Christians as well as non-believers, it’s possible to prefer traditions, myths, and assumptions about Christ rather than accurate teaching. When presented with new information, some will respond by waving it away, claiming they “already know” what they need to know.
Verse 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.”
The people of the town Jesus grew up in, Nazareth, took offense at Him. Scripture records that they were “astonished” by His wisdom and His mighty works. However, this was not an amazement leading to sincere questions or belief. Rather, it was offense. In their minds, they already knew who Jesus was, based on His childhood. They were not only disinterested in more information; they were insulted at the idea that someone like Jesus could be so important. The sense of this passage is that the Nazarenes thought the hometown boy was trying to rise above His place.
Luke describes their rejection as happening for a more specific reason and with more dire consequences. Whether it was the same visit or another one, the people flew into a rage after Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment of one of Isaiah’s prophecies about the Messiah. He compared them to those in the Old Testament Scriptures who were not miraculously saved by God. They tried to throw Jesus off a cliff (Luke 4:16–29)! Whatever the reason for their offense at Jesus, He responded to them by comparing Himself to the Old Testament prophets: “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household” (Mark 6:4).
This phenomenon is partly summed up in the English expression “familiarity breeds contempt.” When we’re exposed to certain things, we tend to take them for granted. That can either mean missing their value, or letting our assumptions become dogmatic. Many people have misconceptions about faith, and about Jesus Christ. When the truth is presented, such people often become offended—they don’t like to be told their perception of Christ is wrong. Rather than respond to evidence, they dismiss it as if to say, “I don’t know where you came up with that, but I already know what I need to know.”
Verse 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Luke’s description of a visit by Jesus to His hometown of Nazareth includes a demand from the people that Jesus do the kinds of miracles they had heard He had performed in Capernaum (Luke 4:23). This might be the same incident Matthew refers to here, or a subsequent visit. In either case, Jesus refuses. This verse shows that He would not do many miracles in Nazareth because of the unbelief of the people. This is consistent with His response to similar demands from the Pharisees (Matthew 12:38–39). Such people are not sincerely asking for proof—they’re ignoring the evidence they’ve already seen, and insincerely demanding more.
Matthew notes that Jesus “did not” perform many miracles, for that reason. Mark indicates that Jesus “could” not, but not because Jesus needed people to believe in Him for His miracles to work. Rather, this is much like saying “I could not give my son a reward, because of his bad behavior.” It means Jesus could not appropriately do something, since it would contradict His message, not that He was physically incapable of it.
Jesus was the Son of God and filled with all of God’s power. He could do whatever miracles He wanted to. Yet as Jesus emphasized to those He healed, He responds to requests inspired by faith (Matthew 15:28; Mark 10:52), not disingenuous demands for proof (John 2:18–19; Mark 8:11–12). The fact that the people of His hometown refused to believe that His power came from God gave Him little reason to demonstrate His power to them (Matthew 7:6).
Context Summary
Matthew 13:53–58 describes Jesus’ trip to His hometown of Nazareth. The people are astonished at His teaching and miracles, but they do not respect Him. Instead, they ask where His wisdom and power come from. Many of these people would have known Jesus from His youth, and they know His earthly family. That includes Jesus’ mother and half-siblings. Rather than accept His words, the hometown crowd is offended. So, Jesus refuses to do many miracles because of their unbelief. Because the people think they already everything about Jesus, they ignore His actual message.
Chapter Summary
Matthew 13 focuses mainly on a series of parables. Jesus first describes these to a large crowd along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Later, in a house, He explains to the disciples the meanings of the parables of the sower, the weeds, and the fish caught in the net. Jesus then travels to Nazareth, teaches in the synagogue, and is rejected by the people of His original hometown.
Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded 
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