The Parables of Matthew 13

Part 1, The Secrets of the Kingdom

I want to devote some posts reflecting upon the parables collected in Matthew 13. The reason for this is that I find many of these parables enigmatic. These parables, at least as I read them, point toward understandings of the Kingdom of Heaven that aren't typically discussed. Consequently, people simply sidestep around them. I'd like to try, in some close readings, to dig a little deeper.

Two quick comments about the gospel of Matthew.

First, in Matthew Jesus delivers five main discourses. The first and most famous of these is, of course, the Sermon on the Mount. The third discourse is Matthew 13 where Jesus shares these seven parables. Scholars believe these five discourses symbolize the five books of the Torah pointing to Jesus as a new Moses and Lawgiver. 

Second, where the other gospels call it the "Kingdom of God" Matthew calls it the "Kingdom of Heaven." I'll likely keep saying "Kingdom of God" a lot this series.

Okay, turning to the parables, there are seven that come in quick succession. These are:

1. The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3–9)

2. The Parable of the Weeds and Tares (Matthew 13:24–30)

3. The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31–32)

4. The Parable of the Yeast (Matthew 13:33)

5. The Parable of the Hidden Treasure (Matthew 13:44)

6. The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:45–46)

7. The Parable of the Net (Matthew 13:47–50)

Some listings also include the Parable of the Householder (Matthew 13:52), but I'm going to focus on the ones above.

Now, I described these parables as enigmatic. Jesus himself describes them this way. Why did Jesus use parables? A lot of people tend to assume that the parables were folksy stories used to illustrate a Sunday School lesson. But the opposite, in fact, is the case. The images and stories of the parables weren't used to make their insights more transparent, but less. The parables didn't reveal things, they hid them. Right after the Parable of the Sower, Jesus describes why he is telling these stories:

Then the disciples came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?”

He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:

You will listen and listen,
but never understand;
you will look and look,
but never perceive.
For this people’s heart has grown callous;
their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and
understand with their hearts,
and turn back—
and I would heal them.

“Blessed are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but didn’t see them, to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them.

This passage is why I'm intrigued by this parable sequence. Again, the widespread assumption is that parables make understanding easier, not harder. Also, we tend to think of Jesus as an evangelist, that he's trying, with his preaching, to convert a lot of people. But neither of these are the case. Which subverts a lot of our assumptions and expectations.

For example, Jesus describes the "secrets of the kingdom." The whole notion of "secrets" flies in the face of every evangelistic assumption. Jesus is actually hiding something in these stories. 

Relatedly, regarding this hiding, Jesus seems to be using the parables to sort his audiences. Some people see, and some people don't. Some people hear, and some people don't. This is, in fact, the very point of the Parable of the Sower. As Jesus plainly says, "This is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand."

Which brings us to this series. Do we understand? 

The first two of the seven parables--the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds--are given direct interpretations. So, their "secrets" are disclosed to the readers of the gospel. We get to sit alongside the disciples and listen in as Jesus reveals the hidden meanings. But the other five parables aren't interpreted. Why not? Are their meanings supposed to be obvious now following the lines of the first two parables? That is, are Jesus' interpretations of the first two parables a sort of interpretive key that unlocks the others? Or, are the remaining five parables presenting "secrets" that we, as readers, are supposed to understand on our own? That is to say, are we being tested and sorted by these uninterpreted parables the same way Jesus' audience were being tested and sorted? Are we able to see? Are we able to hear? These parables are a test.

As I've reflected on the parables of Matthew 13, my personal opinion is that there is something mysterious and secretive at work in these stories. I think these parable are a test. And if so, I'd like to see what is being hidden in them.