Matthew, Chapter 13

Matt. 13:45, 46

Matt. 13:45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." In the description of the Bride of Christ in the 21st chapter of Revelation, the Holy City is said to have twelve gates and these gates are compared to pearls: "And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass." Though these gates were compared to twelve pearls, yet they are described in such a way as to indicate they are truly, but one pearl.

Though there are many local congregations, yet the Lord's bride is but one and her price was great. Jesus came to pay the redemption price for his bride as we read in Matt. 1:21, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." In order to pay this redemption price, Jesus gave all that he had, that is his life to redeem her from her sins: Eph. 5:25 "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." There has never been such a great price ever paid for anything that would even compare to the price that Jesus paid.

According to the scriptures, 1 Cor. 6:19 "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." God's elect people collectively make up that one pearl of great price and Jesus paid the terrific price to secure her for his own. Thus, Jesus is that merchantman seeking goodly pearls and found one pearl of great price. He is the one who sold all that he had to purchase his covenant people.

Matt. 13:47-50

Matt. 13:47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: 48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. 49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, 50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

The main question in my mind raised in this parable is, "Who are the good and just and who are the bad and wicked?"

The good and just are those who God chose in covenant before the foundation of the world and through the provisions of that covenant justified them and made them good. This covenant is stated in Rom. 8:29, 30: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." According to Eph. 1:4 God chose a people to be his before the foundation of the world: "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will."

Those that God chose are justified by the blood of Jesus: 2 Cor. 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Furthermore, they are made good by the effectual calling of Jesus Christ: 1 Pet. 1:23 "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." At the end of this time world, these chosen people who are made good and just by Jesus Christ will be gathered unto the vessels of their changed and glorified bodies and will be with Christ for evermore.

Those who are bad and wicked were made so in the fall of Adam. Rom. 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." They are bad by nature and wicked in practice. Paul tells us that all mankind is sinful as a result of the sin of Adam: Rom. 5:19 "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Through Adam's disobedience, the bad and wicked were made sinners along with the good and just. These who are bad and wicked, however, are not justified by the blood of Jesus and are not called in the new birth. Thus, they remain bad and wicked. Because they are sinners by nature they begin to bear the fruits of their sinful nature: Gal. 5:19-21, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

These who are bad and wicked shall be gathered at the end of this time world and cast into the lake of fire and punished with an everlasting punishment for their wicked deeds and actions.

Matt. 13:51, 52

Matt. 13:51 "Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. 52 Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old."

We realize that our understanding of God's word and the basic doctrines and teachings of God's word comes from God's opening up our understanding to these precious truths when we seek, ask, and knock after them.

The Lord compares his disciples to scribes instructed into the kingdom of heaven. The word of God is our treasure. In it are the treasures of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. We learn of it precept upon precept, line upon line, and here a little, and there a little. With the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom of God's word we are able to bring out of our treasure according to our needs to make the application in our daily lives, both for our own needs and for the needs of those we are in contact with. We bring out of our treasure (God's word) things new and old. We gather both from the New Testament and the Old Testament. Also, we gain more knowledge (new to us) from our understanding that we already have (old to us). With this knowledge we are able to make application to new trials and problems and to old trials and problems (those we have already experienced).

Matt. 13:53-58

Matt. 13:53 "And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. 54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? 55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? 56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? 57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. 58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."

This says that the people in his own country when they heard Jesus in the synagogue were astonished and they were quite skeptical. No doubt, in the minds of those people they could not get past the fact that this was the carpenter's son and that his brothers and sisters were all in that country and were common people. Jesus had not been to the colleges or universities. He had no degrees. They could not get past the physical natural aspects of the person of Jesus. It appears that many may have thought Jesus to be an actor, or magician, or deceiver. They were offended in him. They doubted his wisdom. After all, they must have thought, "how can you be wise if you haven't gone to the schools of men?" They doubted his mighty works. They saw him growing up. How could he now be healing people and doing many mighty works. In their minds, he must be using tricks like a magician to fool people.

The Lord said, "A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house." Generally, when people are familiar with someone, they find it hard to believe that God has called them. A prophet or preacher often has less respect from his own family, kinfolks, and those he grew up with than he has from other people.

For those who knew Jesus during his years before his ministry, they had trouble believing that he was a prophet or that he was the Son of God.

"And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief." We know that God is sovereign. The reason that he did few mighty works there was because he chose not to do many mighty works there. He could have done many mighty works there, but he chose not to do them because of their unbelief.