Jan 21-27-07 Jesus Teaches Through Stories

Jesus Teaches Through Stories

Matthew 13:1 MSG At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. 2 In no time at all a crowd gathered along the

shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. 3 Using the boat as a pulpit,

he addressed his congregation, telling stories.


"What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. 4 As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. 5 Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, 6 so

when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. 7 Some fell in the weeds; as it

came up, it was strangled by the weeds. 8 Some fell on good earth, and produced a

harvest beyond his wildest dreams.


9 “Are you listening to this? Really listening?"

10 The disciples came up and asked, "Why do you tell stories?" 11 He

replied, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom. You know

how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn't been

given to them.


12 Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the

insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no

readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears..


13 That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the

people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday

and not see it, listen till they're blue in the face and not get it


14 I don't want Isaiah's forecast repeated all over again:

Your ears are open but you don't hear a thing.

Your eyes are awake but you don't see a thing.


15 The people are blockheads!They stick their fingers in their ears

so they won't have to listen;They screw their eyes shut so they

won't have to look,so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face

and let me heal them.


16 “But you have God-blessed eyes--eyes that see! And God-

blessed ears--ears that hear! 17 A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are

seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.


18 “Study this story of the farmer planting seed. 19 When anyone hears news of the kingdom and

doesn't take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One

comes along and plucks it right out of that person's heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the

road.


20 “The seed cast in the gravel--this is the person who hears and

instantly responds with enthusiasm. 21 But there is no soil

of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some

difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.


22 "The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom

news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun

strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.


23 “The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then

produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams."


24 He told another story. "God's kingdom is like a farmer who

planted good seed in his field. 25 That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed

thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn.


26 When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too. 27 “The farmhands came to the

farmer and said, 'Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn't it?

Where did these thistles come from?'


28 “He answered, 'Some enemy did this.'

"The farmhands asked, 'Should we weed out the thistles?'

29 “He said, 'No, if you weed the thistles, you'll pull up the

wheat, too.


30 Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I'll instruct the harvesters to pull up the

thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the

wheat and put it in the barn.'"


God’s Kingdom is a situation where God is King and there are subjects that bow before and serve Him. Jesus, God’s Son, is Lord and

Ruler of the Church, hence God’s Kingdom is found on earth in the church. We know in the end, on that great judgment day the good

and bad will be separated.


One will go to eternal glory and the other to eternal damnation. Is he

saying in this story that there should be no church discipline? I

don’t think so, but if or when discipline is needed it better be done carefully, with love and

according to what is laid out in the epistles of the New Testament.


Matthew 13:31 MSG Another story. "God's kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. 32 It is quite small as seeds

go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it."


God’s Kingdom, the Church, started small in comparison.

3000 souls out of the population of the world started

the Church on the Day of Pentecost after Jesus

resurrection.


We will see in the book of Acts in our reading in March that the

number grew rather quickly. So what started out small, like a seed,

grew into a huge tree giving shelter, nourishment and safety to

all who believe Jesus is The Christ.


Just like a tree provides the same for birds. At the

appropriate time only God the Father knows the Kingdom’s

subjects will be taken from this earth to their new home in

heaven.


Matthew 13:33 MSG Another story. "God's kingdom is like

yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves

of barley bread--and waits while the dough rises."


I like this view of the Kingdom. Like yeast, the Kingdom, the

Church, permeates throughout the dough, the world,

spreading out and growing so it touches everyone with the

King’s love.


Yeast affects all the dough, just as the Church should have an

effect on the entire world. Isn’t that our goal as servants

of Jesus?


Luke 8:16 MSG “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a washtub or shoves it under the bed. No, you set it up on a lamp stand so those who enter the room can see their way.


17 We’re not keeping secrets; we're telling them. We're not hiding

things; we're bringing everything out into the open. 18 So be careful

that you don't become misers of what you hear. Generosity begets

generosity. Stinginess impoverishes."


Like yeast has an effect on all the dough in comes into

contact with, light affects whatever it shines on. We as subjects of Christ Kingdom need to hold Him up high.


We don’t want to budget our light, Jesus our Savior, and

become a penny pincher. No! We ought to be generous

letting our Light shine everywhere.


In letting our yeast and light affect those around us we will keep the

tree, God’s Kingdom growing and providing shelter, nourishment and

safety in Jesus. In doing this it will also accomplish what Jesus

commands in:


Matthew 6:19 MSG "Don't hoard treasure down here

where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or--

worse!--stolen by burglars.


20 Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and

rust and burglars. 21 It’s obvious, isn't it? The place

where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be,

and end up being.


Doesn’t the old saying, “Home is Where the Heart is” ring true? If your heart is truly

with Jesus your home will be with Him. How quickly our “stuff” here on earth can be

gone!


Our stuff could be stolen, wiped out by a tornado, or an ice

storm. We better make sure we’re putting all our important stuff in Jesus care in heaven.

Spiritual

Jan 21-27-07 Jesus Teaches Through Stories