I am shopping for a new phone anticipating my sabbatical next year, mostly because I want the better camera. When I was in Spain, Brad took better pictures with his newer phone.
“When sightseeing, we want to capture memories of our visit and experiences. When the sight we see is especially spectacular, we take multiple pictures of it. With things that are so big or so beautiful, just one picture can’t possibly do justice. We must take multiple views from multiple angles to try to capture the sight.
Who has been to the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls, Westminster Abbey in London or Notre Dame in Paris, the Great Pyramids of Giza or the Great Wall of China, and taken just one picture there? No one I know! We take multiple pictures to try to do justice to the magnificence.
As we read Matthew 13, consider yourself on a sightseeing tour. Our guide shows us the kingdom of heaven. Yet we discover that a single view couldn’t capture it all, and we are given the opportunity to see it from multiple angles. Matthew 13, then, is a kind of sacred scrapbook, as the Lord offers us a series of pictures of the kingdom of heaven. (I should note Matthew uses kingdom of heaven, while other gospels say the kingdom of God. These snapshots show us God’s reign.)
One of the pictures in the scrapbook is larger- perhaps it is in panorama mode. (Recall last week Veronica showed a picture of the kingdom with four different kinds of soil.) Now we will see a quick series of smaller pictures. Each is a picture of the kingdom, yet they are different pictures. Here it looks like a tree. There it looks like leaven. It appears to be a transaction, and yet, it resembles a fishing net. If you look at all the snapshots together, you’ll enjoy a wonderfully full picture of the kingdom of heaven” (Sermons.com, David Kalas). READ Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
When Jesus asked the disciples if they understood all the parables, did you answer yes? I sure didn’t. These snapshots of the kingdom are hard to fit together. Jesus concludes with the scribe, the master of the household, who is really the one who knows the truths of the Old Testament and applies them to Jesus’ new teachings. Maybe that’s why the Old Testament lesson is about Solomon asking for and receiving wisdom. Solomon knew what he did not know and asked God to help him lead the people. Solomon showed humility in serving God.
Here, Jesus has created snapshots, but he is also someone who knows how to engage his audience. “The mustard seed and the yeast speak to those who know the land and the kitchen. The hidden treasure and pearl speak to those who understand acquisition, risk, and the marketplace. The dragnet full of fish speaks to those whose livelihood depends on the sea. Jesus moves from agrarian to domestic to commercial to maritime” (Working Preacher, Zina Jacque). Jesus is meeting people where they are and describing God’s kingdom in each of their own language.
At first, I wanted to take each parable, each snapshot, and dive into what Jesus was teaching. That is until I discovered that they shared things in common. “The kingdom of heaven is here. It is hidden. It is growing. It is worth everything. First the kingdom is hidden. The mustard seed disappears into the ground. The yeast is concealed inside three measures of flour. The treasure is buried in a field. The hidden pearl must be found. And even the fish lurk beneath the surface of the sea. The kingdom of heaven is not immediately visible. It does not announce itself with fanfare. It operates beneath the surface of things, and it requires that those who desire it seek it out” (Working Preacher, Zina Jacque).
The woman working with the yeast is a wonderful example. Our translation says, “mixed in” but that word in Greek usually means “to hide.” She hid the yeast in flour leavening enough to make 40 loaves of bread. The yeast hidden and unseen within the bread is the source of its inevitable transformation. The kingdom works the way fermentation works—quietly, invisibly, powerfully changing everything it touches. I also love that she is not observing God’s kingdom, she enacts it. Her hands are in the dough, as God transforms the world like yeast leavens and changes bread. The kingdom of heaven is at work even when you cannot see it.
Secondly, God’s kingdom starts small but grows. Like a tiny mustard seed, what started with a carpenter in Nazareth has grown into a world-wide faith. “A seed the size of a grain of sand becomes a tree large enough to hold nests. A lump of leaven transforms enough flour to feed more than 100 people, and a single discovery in a field is worth liquidating everything you own. The kingdom is not proportional. (The kingdom grows.) It is expansive, extensive, and extravagant” (Working Preacher, Zina Jacque).
The first two parables Jesus told to the crowds. But he waited to tell the disciples the final three, the hidden treasure, the pearl and the net. Jesus makes the kingdom more personal, maybe because the disciples are the ones who gave up everything to follow Jesus. These parables show that “the kingdom of heaven is valuable beyond measure, and it will cost you everything to participate in it fully” (Working Preacher, Zina Jacque).
The idea of selling all we have makes us nervous. What in the world could be so valuable to motivate such a drastic action? A pearl or a treasure? These parables proclaim God’s kingdom as being worth such a sacrifice. A sacrifice we would joyfully make to possess what God’s kingdom holds. What Jesus is asking the disciples, and us, with these parables is are you all in? Is the God’s kingdom the most important thing in your life?
“There is an ancient legend about the monk who found a precious stone. A short time later, the monk met a traveler, who said he was hungry and asked the monk if he would share some of his provisions. When the monk opened his bag, the traveler saw the precious stone and, on an impulse, asked the monk if he could have it. Amazingly, the monk gave the traveler the stone.
The traveler departed quickly, overjoyed with his new possession. However, a few days later, he came back, searching for the monk. He returned the stone to the monk and made a request: “Please give me that which enabled you to give me this precious stone!”
A commitment of the whole heart, that’s what heaven…the kingdom of heaven requires of its followers. I love this parable because Jesus does not say the kingdom of heaven is like a pearl of great price. He says the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant, a merchant who finds a great deal on a flawless stone and does everything in his power to close the sale. That’s commitment to a greater cause. That’s sacrifice and hard work. That’s what heaven is like” (Sermons.com).
John Wesley wrote, “The kingdom of God within us is a treasure indeed, but a treasure hid from the world, and from the most wise and prudent in it. He that finds this treasure, (perhaps when he thought it far from him,) hides it deep in his heart, and gives up all other happiness for it.” (Sermons.com)
“If human edifices — like Westminster Abbey or the pyramids — require more than one picture, what will suffice for the kingdom of God? A single picture cannot possibly capture the whole truth about the kingdom. We need multiple angles to get a proper sense of God’s kingdom.
Look at its length, for it stretches all the way from first-century Palestine into eternity! Marvel at its breadth, observing how it applies to the individual yet also encompasses the whole world! And, finally, stand in awe of its height, as it reaches from a manger in a barn all the way to the throne room of the universe! Yes, we will need many pictures to capture this sight. The pictures that Jesus shows us reveal to us the significance of what we are seeing. The significance of the kingdom of God. Amen” (Sermons.com, David Kalas).
