Glimpses Through Glasses – Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

A text – Matthew 13:31-33

³¹ He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; ³² it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

³³ He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

Matthew 13:44-52

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; ⁴⁶ on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

⁴⁷ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; ⁴⁸ when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. ⁴⁹ So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹ “Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” ⁵² And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

A reflection:

These two passages of Matthew 13 are Jesus at his rapid-fire teaching best, or perhaps they are snippets, collected from a great body of Jesus’s teachings and pasted together. Either way, Jesus seems to have been forever searching for and teaching with metaphors and similes that could land on and be interpreted by very different audiences. Each shows us God’s kingdom through the lens of a different person’s experience, a new pair of glasses.

All of these images that Jesus gives us for the Kingdom of God are hidden in some way: seed and treasure that are buried in the ground, a pearl that had to be discovered, leaven hidden in the dough, fish that cannot be seen beneath the surface. They are ordinary things but with extraordinary value – much bigger than their size. The abundance of God’s gifts bear for us more fruit than we could ever need. When you see God’s gifts of abundance through these different metaphors as if looking through a different pair of glasses, God’s kingdom looks very big, very plentiful, very valuable.

As for the final verse, about scribes who have become disciples, I wonder if Jesus is saying “Our Torah teachers must tell God’s story from the old scrolls as well as from what God is providing right now in me to fulfill those scrolls.” The ancient texts are treasures, and so is the contemporary experience that the Twelve have as they live with Jesus. Our own contemporary experience of Jesus and his words is a treasure, too. Perhaps all these treasures (Old Testament and New Testament stories and our own daily lives) are given to us so that we learn more about God and God’s Kingdom. But how often do we experience something in life and then look at it in light of the Triune God? Our families, our work, our friendships, our daily moments – could we see them all as glimpses through glasses at the Kingdom of God? Think of the meaning that might add to our lives!

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for sending Jesus to teach us and for providing people to write down his words so that we have them today. Help us to look at our whole life and all our experiences in light of your gracious love for us. Amen.