Parables of the Kingdom

he parable of the Sower and the Seed was the first illustration that Jesus presented to His listeners about the kingdom of heaven. The parable revealed that people respond to the Word of God in a variety of ways, with most of them eventually rejecting it. Initially, some hear the good news about Jesus Christ with eagerness and joy, but later they decide to have nothing to do with Him. Those who hear, respond, and continue to believe in God are Christians. That is the message of the good soil. Jesus’ parables about the kingdom of heaven were taught after He was rejected by the religious leaders of His day and after His pronouncement of judgment upon them and their generation (Matt. 12:39, 41-42). All of the parables reveal how the kingdom of heaven has functioned and will continue to function. The parables also reveal how the human race is responding and will continue to respond to God and His Word. There are eight more kingdom parables to explore. This study will explore all of them.

Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.” (NASB) Matt. 13:24-26

The parable is about a sower who sows good seed. The good seed starts to grow, but some tares also start growing along with it. A tare is an obnoxious weed that is often infected with fungus and sometimes has a poisonous narcotic in its seeds.[1] The tares look like wheat until they are fully grown.

The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?” And he said to them, “An enemy has done this!” The slaves said to him, “Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?” But he said, “No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (NASB) Matt. 13:27-30

The message of this parable is that it is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to determine the real Christians from the false Christians. There are many non-Christians who are kind, gentle, gracious, and loving. They look like and act like Christians, but they are not. But God knows, and when the end of time comes, God will remove the Christ rejectors and send them into the Lake of Fire for eternity. But Christians will go to His “barn” or heaven.

Parable of the Lamp. The next parable that Jesus presented after the “Sower and the Seed” was the mysterious parable about the lamp. It is recorded only in the book of Mark and nowhere else. Here is the parable.

And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” (NASB) Mark 4:21-23

The lamp that Jesus referred to was a small bowl containing olive oil. The lamp was usually placed on a shelf or on a table in order to provide light to a room. Clearly, no one lights a lamp, brings it into a room, and then places it under a basket or under a bed unless he or she are searching for something under the bed. (When I taught this passage some months ago, a dear man said, “Yes, you wouldn’t want to put it under a bed because it would burn up the bed.” That was just a humorous comment, and it was not Jesus’ point.)

And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” (NASB) Mark 4:24-25

Jesus uses a play-on-words in the statement, “Take care what you listen to.” The Greek word that is translated as “take care” is BLEPO. It’s basic meaning is “to see.” What Jesus was really saying is, “See what you hear.” He was encouraging them and us to listen to His teachings - the Word of God or the Word of the Kingdom. They were “to listen to the light.” The lamp was symbolic of Jesus’ teachings or the Word of God. Psalm 119 reveals that the Word is like a lamp. It lights our path.

Now we are ready to understand this parable. The first part of the parable tells us that the Word of God cannot be hidden or suppressed. The religious leaders and other opponents of Jesus Christ could attempt to suppress His teachings, the Word of God, but they would eventually fail. There are some today who want to suppress Jesus and His teachings. Increasingly we are hearing voices which claim that Christianity needs to be suppressed. But this parable indicates that they will be unsuccessful.

Those who hear the Word of God need to focus on it. Jesus’ listeners should not have listened to the Pharisees. They should not have listened to false teachers and neither should we. We are not to listen to messages from the pit of darkness but from the light. Those who are careful about what they hear will gain more spiritual insight, and those who enjoy the message of the darkness will lose what little spiritual insight they do have. The standard that we use is that those who seek spiritual truth will gain more spiritual insight, and those who settle for spiritual darkness will be spiritually dark. We are to listen to the light - the message of the kingdom. That is the meaning of this parable.

And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know.” (NASB) Mark 4:26-27

The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (NASB) Mark 4:28-29

The end of the kingdom will come when the harvest is complete. The harvest includes seed that started growing beside the road, among the rocks, among the thorns, and on good soil. Unfortunately, only the seed that landed on good soil will grow to maturity and ultimately be harvested. The parable is simple. It tells us that the kingdom will grow by itself and eventually come to harvest. It cannot be stopped. The message of this parable is that the kingdom will grow.