Matthew 13:41   There is coming a great changing of things. The Lord will clean house. We must always remember that this is not our job. The Christian is not called to purge the world of evil. We are never told to be violent against anyone. That is not our place. We cannot do that. However,…

Matthew 13:40   We must remember that Jesus preached on the subject of hell, or more specifically the final judgement, quite regularly. Many have tried to downplay or ignore this emphasis, but it only makes sense that Jesus would make this a focus of his teaching. We have to remember that, above all else, Jesus loves…

Matthew 13:39   We must remember that this parable is about the church. These tares are sown by the devil, and yet they are allowed to grow up with the wheat. The devil will plant tares in the church, and it will be quite common to find them there. However, Jesus does not allow his angels…

Matthew 13:38   Sometimes it is easy for us to loose touch with reality. The teachings of Christ are very helpful with that problem. They tend to bring us ‘down to earth’ so to speak. Jesus keeps the focus where it belongs, on the true nature of life. Life is not just an adventure of existence,…

Matthew 13:36   The way that the disciples asked Jesus about this parable reveals much about their understanding of it. Though they did not yet understand exactly what everything in the parable represented, they already knew that the tares were very important. They realized that the destruction of the tares was the whole point of the…

Matthew 13:34   Much of what Jesus did in his life here on earth was a fulfillment of prophecy. It would be impossible to find a prophecy he did not fulfill. And, although it is difficult for us to understand, his parables were a fulfillment of prophecy. Parables are like morality stories, the point might be…

Matthew 13:33   Some have pointed out that Jesus generally uses leaven, or yeast, to represent something evil. This has brought about some variations in how this parable is understood. However, just because the Lord uses something to illustrate evil, does not mean he can’t use it to illustrate good. It’s an illustration, that is the…

Matthew 13:32   Many have pointed out that there are seeds smaller than the mustard seed. However, the words of Christ must be taken in context. He was speaking of seeds that would be planted in the earth by people for the purpose of bearing fruit. He mentions that it grows to become the greatest of…

Matthew 13:31   Have you ever planted just one seed? Usually, we will plant much more. We know that, chances are, many seeds will fail, and a crop will be far less than expected. Here, however, though the kingdom starts small, nothing would keep it from growing. The one who planted it knew this.   Jesus had…

Matthew 13:30   Notice that the tares are removed first. You would think it is the other way around. It is not. When the Lord comes to harvest his church out of this world, there will be a great apostasy first. The tares will come out, and the true church shall remain. Bible Reading: Judges 20:1-Ruth…