Matthew 13:22-30, 36-43 #2

Matthew 13:22-30, 36-43 #2
In the beginning of the parable of the tares, Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to…” Therefore, it is important that we spend some time discussing what the kingdom of heaven is. The Old Testament prophets repeatedly spoke of the coming kingdom of the Messiah. When Jesus began His ministry, He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” The phrases “time is fulfilled” and “is at hand” indicated that the time period foretold by the prophets had passed and the kingdom was ready to begin. Therefore, we can rule out the popular idea today that the prophesied kingdom was something to come thousands of years later and that today we are still waiting for it.This parable also disproves the idea that the kingdom would be a perfect paradise on earth where all the enemies have been destroyed. As we noted earlier, the enemies are side by side with the righteous in the kingdom and it is only at the Judgment that they are weeded out.

There is one other thing important here. Some believe that any time we read “kingdom” we should think of the “church.” Others believe that the Lord changed His mind about starting the kingdom and substituted the “church age” until a more opportune time. We have already shown that the latter view is not true. The former is also misguided. While there are certainly times when the kingdom refers to the church (specifically when it is referring to the citizens of the kingdom), the parable of the tares shows that “kingdom” and “church” are not always used interchangeably. Verse 41 states that the Lord will “gather out of His kingdom all those who practice lawlessness.” In the parable, “the field is the world” (vs. 38), thus the Lord is gathering out of the world (which is the realm of His kingdom), all who practice lawlessness. Therefore, in this text the kingdom is not the church, it is the realm of God’s rule. The church refers to all of those whose names are written in the book of life. It is the perfect number of saved of all time. There are no wicked in it to be gathered out. It is more accurate to think of the kingdom as “God’s rule.” As the Sower showed, this rule is accepted in varying ways. The Tares shows that those who reject will eventually be judged.
Berry Kercheville