| Christian Life and Doctrine | October 1978 |
Parables of the Kingdom
THE parables of the kingdom which the Lord spoke to his disciples were given for our admonition and instruction. By examining these we can realize that the Lord was tracing a certain line of thought. He was bringing to the attention of the disciples illustrations that would demonstrate to their minds, and ours, the development of “the kingdom of heaven” class. We will trace this line of thought to determine the theme in the parables and see the lessons he was giving.
During the three and a half years of his ministry, Jesus had a great deal to say about the kingdom of heaven, picturing that kingdom which in due time he would establish and in which his disciples would have the privilege of being associated with him. This would be a spiritual kingdom, of which his disciples knew very little as yet but about which they must become thoroughly acquainted. In order to lead their minds to an understanding of this spiritual kingdom, Jesus used parables, or illustrations, drawn from familiar circumstances and natural things.
From these illustrations we are able to trace the development of the true kingdom of heaven class from its beginning to its ultimate glory. In these parables we not only find the true kingdom of heaven class described, but we find also a false kingdom of heaven class, which would appear to be associated with the true but which would be quite distinct and separate from it.
No one parable or one illustration could possibly have included all the lessons our Lord wished to convey to his disciples, just as one view of one part of a building could not possibly acquaint a person with all the many details of that building—the floor plans, the various rooms, the furnishings, etc.
The parable recorded in Matthew 13:3-8 concerns “the sower and the seed.” It illustrates how the seed of truth would be spread and how it would be received by its many hearers. Some of the seeds fell by the wayside, never taking root, never germinating, and were devoured by the fowls.
Other seeds fell upon stony places, where there was not much earth. These took root and showed evidence of life for a short period of time, but because there was little depth of soil they were scorched by the sun and soon withered away. Still other seeds “fell among thorns,” and the thorns “sprang up, and choked them.”
Some of the seeds, however, “fell into good ground [good soil], and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” This sowing of the seeds of truth has been going on throughout the entire Gospel Age, and it will continue until it results in a full harvest of that for which the seed was sown. Jesus explained some of the parables to his disciples, and some of them he did not. This is one he did explain. Because he did explain it, we have a sound foundation on which to consider other parables of the kingdom. Matthew 13:18-23 explains this parable.
The next parable is also an illustration of the sowing of seed, but Jesus changes it to include two kinds of seed. He traces the development of both kinds of seed from the time of sowing, through germination, to the time of harvest. Matthew 13:24 begins this Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. In this parable, the good seed does not represent the truth, as it did in the previous parable, but rather, as Jesus said, “The good seed are the children of the kingdom” (vs. 38)—the real kingdom of heaven class. After giving this and other parables, “Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house.” His disciples then came to him, saying, “Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.” (Matt. 13:36) Part of the explanation given by Jesus was, “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.”—vs. 40
Tares resemble wheat in many respects until the time comes for them to bear fruitage, as Jesus pointed out in the parable. In Galatians 5:22 the Apostle Paul shows the contrast between “the fruit of the Spirit” and the fruit (or works) “of the flesh,” describing these works of the flesh in verses 19-21 and reminding us that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Wheat and tares are botanically different. They are of entirely different families, and so also are those represented by the seeds. The appearance is the same for a time, but the wheat develops the fruit of the Spirit, and the tares produce the works associated with the Devil. In giving this parable Jesus illustrated the fact that along with the development of the true kingdom of heaven class, or the wheat, there would also be a class of tares, falsely claiming to be acting under the authority and the guidance of the Lord, claiming to be custodians of the truth, claiming to be the kingdom of heaven class. These would be tares. Matthew 7:21,22 indicates that this tare class will say, “Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” To these the Lord will respond, “Depart from me, you who practice iniquity.”—Diaglott translation
Jesus gave us another parable along the same line, illustrating how from a very small beginning a false system would grow and develop until it would furnish habitation for the fowls of the air. Our first parable pointed out that the birds which gathered up the seeds from the wayside did not permit them to take root and come forth. This represents the work of the Devil and his agencies. In the parable of Matthew 13:31,32 a grain of mustard seed grows from a very small beginning into such a large plant that it would provide lodgment for the symbolic “birds of the air.” This pictures a false system which claims to be the true kingdom of heaven class. In our first parable of The Sower and the Seed Jesus said that the fowls which plucked away the seed represented “the wicked one.” (Matt. 13:19) This wicked one catches away that which was sown in the heart. Then Revelation 18:2 gives a description of that false system described as Babylon. John saw this as having “become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”
Thus we see that Jesus used the phrase “kingdom of heaven” in a broad sense, to include not only his true followers, who were being developed for their future positions in the kingdom, but also those who claimed to be his though they were not.
After the Parable of the Mustard Seed, which described the growth and development of the false system, Babylon, we are given another related parable showing how the contaminating influence of the false doctrines (teachings) of that false system have been spread abroad. This is in Matthew 13:33, telling about the “leaven” hidden in “three measures of meal.” This parable has been misunderstood by most people. The usual concept is that it shows the spreading influence of the Gospel of the Lord throughout the world. But on careful analysis this parable does not support such a conclusion. Leaven is nowhere used in the Scriptures to describe that which is good, that which is desirable. In every instance in which leaven is found in the Scriptures, it is used to picture that which is undesirable, that which is imperfect, that which is evil, or contaminated by sin. Before partaking of the Passover, the Israelites were commanded to put away all leaven from their houses. (Exod. 12:15) In I Corinthians 5:6-8 the Apostle Paul, writing to the brethren, said, “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out, therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. … Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” And in Matthew 16:6 Jesus also used the illustration of leaven in the same way, warning against “the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” In the Old Testament we find that leaven represented contamination. In the New Testament it was symbolic of malice and wickedness, as contrasted with sincerity and truth. It also represented false and evil doctrines. Therefore we think it is not likely that Jesus would have used the symbol of leaven to picture the spreading of his Gospel message.
Two other components of this parable also lead us to conclude that our interpretation is the right one. There was the woman, and then there were the three measures of meal. In Scripture, a woman is often figuratively used to represent one of two widely different groups. First, a woman is used to represent the true church, the bride, the Lamb’s wife, an espoused or pure virgin; and second, a woman is sometimes used to represent the false church, or the false system, Babylon, which claims to be the true system, just as the tares claim to be the true wheat but are not. In Revelation 17:3 we read, “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” The scripture here immediately identifies the woman as the false system.
Next in this parable we have the three measures of meal which our Lord mentioned. How many of us have wondered why the Lord used this illustration of three measures of meal? Why three? We know that meal represents that which is food, that which sustains life. We are told in Matthew 4:4 that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” In a symbolic sense “meal” would represent spiritual food, or the Word of God. Why, then, did Jesus say three measures of meal? In Jesus’ day one of the standards of measures was the ephah. This was used to portion out grain, much as our gallon is used today in liquid measure. If we were describing our gallon, we might say that it consists of four quarts. But in Jesus’ day the ephah consisted of three units known as “measures,” and thus we see that in this parable Jesus spoke of the three measures of meal and that the three represented the whole or complete unit of that which was being considered. In Matthew 13:33 we find what leaven means. The woman, picturing the false church, hid some leaven in the meal, causing the whole to become contaminated.
The parable relates to the development of those who claim to be of the true kingdom of heaven class. The parable was given by Jesus to show that during the time in which the real kingdom of heaven class was being developed, the great Adversary of truth, through his woman (his agencies) would inject errors, or false doctrines, into the teachings of the Word of God, to the intent that its true meaning would be so distorted and so fermented (contaminated) that the truth would be hidden from all except the real kingdom of heaven class.
We have taken the four parables we have considered thus far—the Parable of the Sower and the Seed, the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, and the Parable of the Leaven in the Three Measures of Meal—in the order in which Jesus gave them. It seems that now we can see the reason he used this order. The lessons he was presenting were for a specific purpose. The first shows how the Word of truth would be presented and how it would be received by those who heard it. The second shows that the truth would produce a harvest of true wheat, the real children of the kingdom. But an enemy would come in, and he would sow seed that would grow alongside the wheat. In many respects it would appear to be the same as the wheat and would claim to be the same but would actually bear no relationship whatever to the true wheat. In the third parable Jesus shows how the false system, the tare class, would start from a very small beginning. He showed how that system would develop and provide lodgment for the fowls of the air, which are symbolic of the Devil and his hosts. These same birds came and took away the true seed in the first parable. This system which grew so large was pictured in the Parable of the Mustard Seed, and it would provide lodgment for these fowls of the air. The fourth parable continues along the same line, but it demonstrates how the false system which was shown in the previous parable by the tares would promulgate error, as represented by the leaven, until the real truths of God’s Word would be distorted and contaminated by the false doctrines of the Adversary and as such would be unfit for spiritual food.
Let us consider another parable, that of The Wise and Foolish Virgins of Matthew 25:1-13, which is used to illustrate two divisions of the real kingdom of heaven class. Jesus, in these other parables, was showing those who are the true kingdom of heaven class and those who are not. This parable shows those who have consecrated themselves to be the followers of Jesus and who have been accepted by him and by the Father. It speaks of five wise and five foolish virgins. All ten of them were hoping to meet the bridegroom. Only five were ready when the bridegroom appeared. These five had oil in their lamps, but the other five did not, and they were required to go into the marketplace and purchase some. While they were purchasing the oil, the five wise virgins went in to the marriage. This parable shows two divisions of those who were begotten as new creatures in Christ Jesus. There is also one more division of these, which we will explain later.
The parable shows those wise virgins, who are known otherwise as the “little flock” (Luke 12:32; Ps. 45:13; Rev. 3:21), and the foolish, who are represented elsewhere as being those whose robes have become spotted. These, as we find in Revelation 7:9, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes (which had been cleansed), with “palms of victory” in their hands. The foolish virgins, instead of becoming the bride, follow the bride into the marriage feast. (Ps. 45:14) They will be before the throne and not upon the throne.
There is still another parable which deals with the other division—the third division—the final class of those who have covenanted to become disciples of the Lord. These have received the robe of Christ’s righteousness and have been accepted by the Father but for one cause or another have “done despite” unto the Spirit of grace, as we read in Hebrews 10:29. This last parable is the one about the marriage feast, which has its application while the church is being developed and is still on this side of the veil. It is not to be confused with the marriage supper of the Lamb, described in Revelation 19:7-9.
This Parable of the Marriage Feast is found in Matthew 22:2-14. It is stated in verse 12 that the king saw a man who “had not on a wedding garment.” The thought is not that he came in without it, because the garment was required for admittance. It was furnished to all guests alike; but after this man was admitted, he had removed it. He had taken off the wedding garment! The king asked him how he was there without this garment, and the man was speechless. Then the king said, “Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness; … for many are called, but few are chosen.” The guest who took off his garment would appear to correspond to those of whom Jude spoke in verses 12 and 13, when he said, “These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”
We have now seen how beautifully Jesus used parables to illustrate and trace the development of both the true and the false kingdom of heaven classes. Revelation 19:6-9 gives us a picture of the true wheat of our second parable gathered or garnered into his barn. This is a picture of the bride ready for the marriage. “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”
The time has finally arrived, and it is the climax of the ages. It is reasonable to assume that all the holy angels, the cherubim, and all the creatures throughout the heavenly realm will witness this marriage, as the strains of that heavenly wedding march sound out, perhaps accompanied by a heavenly choir singing “the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.” (Rev. 15:3) As the bride comes forth all glorious within, her clothing of wrought gold, she will be met by her husband, the heavenly Bridegroom. The Father himself will be there to join together the Bridegroom and his bride, and to bestow his blessing upon the heavenly union. The virgins, her companions, will follow her. The majesty and the splendor of this heavenly ceremony will be beyond human description. As expressed by the words of the poet, “That will be a marriage such as earth has never known, when bride and Bridegroom are made one, before the great white throne.” That will indeed be a glorious time!