This week in youth group, we covered two different passages
for junior high and high school. The high school session finished out Matthew 9,
focusing on the mission and miracles of Jesus. The junior high session focused on Matthew
13, looking at two parables of Jesus and their explanations.
In Matthew 9[1],
Jesus calls Matthew, (the writer of this gospel) who was a tax collector, to
follow Him. Matthew apparently responds in faith, because he gets up and
follows Jesus, leaving everything he had. At another time we find Jesus sharing
a meal and reclining at a table with “tax collectors and sinners,” which the
Pharisees see and rebuke. Tax collectors were naturally not respected by the
Jews, because they betrayed their own people for the sake of serving the Roman
government and by levying taxes higher than those which Rome required, keeping
the extra money. Jesus’ response is quite interesting, however, because it
tells us a great deal about God’s heart and personality. He says in verses
12-13, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are
sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners.” The Pharisees, being the religious
leaders of Israel, had grown apathetic and lazy in their heart’s devotion to
God and were rather known for their staunch adherence to the Law for the sake
of their own pride, making a big deal of their ‘holiness’ and ‘worthiness’. God
sees the heart, and Jesus sees through the Pharisees hypocrisy, telling them to
meditate on the character of God, who desires the heart affection of a person
more than the blood sacrifices or the other cultural works of righteousness that
the Pharisees abounded in. God also carries a special love for those who are lost,
broken, wounded, and needy. This is because God is good and He is a
shepherd. During the JH hour I read a passage from Ezekiel 34 talking about the
character of our loving God, who has Himself promised to seek the lost and
bring healing and comfort to those who suffer. Here is a short snippet of God’s
promise: “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make
them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring
back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the
weak.”[2]Pretty
cool huh? This is why Jesus spent so much time with broken sinful people of his
day, because He cared for them even in their broken, sinful conditions.
Back in Matthew 9, Jesus continues to perform healing
miracles for lots of people, receiving varying responses of faith, praise,
doubt, and mockery. Jesus brings a dead girl back to life at the request of a
faith-filled man. On the way there, he heals a woman who had suffered from a
blood discharge for 12 years, because she has just enough faith to reach out
and touch His garment. As news about Jesus spread out into all the surrounding
region, two blind beggars living a life of despondency and dependence on the
generosity of other people decide to seek Jesus out and ask for His healing.
Jesus asks them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They
respond, “Yes, Lord.” It takes a
lot of faith for two blind guys to journey to another region in search of the
new, popular healing-man in town! But often times Jesus will not heal or
approach us unless we are willing to seek Him by faith. It’s hard to have faith
and live by faith, but just the smallest portion of faith in seeking
relationship with the Lord will move mountains of power.
Now to the parables… A parable is a story, true or made-up,
that illustrates a greater point and gives meaning to life. Jesus give two
stories, both centered around farming, seeds, and weeds, which his audience
would be familiar with. In Matthew 13:1-9[3],
a farmer sows seed out into his fields, and the seeds fall in hard soil,
rocky/shallow soil, thorny soil, and good soil, each delivering different
results. The hard soil is too hard for the seeds to penetrate, and
rocky/shallow soil has no depth or room for seeds to live long in, the thorny
soil contains great weeds that choke the seeds of all life and nutrients from
the soil; it is only in the good soil that the seeds thrive and grow. Jesus
explains this parable in verses18-23,[4]
saying that the soils reflect different types of people, and by extension,
different types of hearts. You can be a person with a hard, shallow, or
occupied heart, and the “seed” of God’s truth will not flourish if it is not
heard and accepted, allowed to grow and take depth in your life, or given energy
undividedly from the cares of the world. But if you cultivate your heart to a humble
and teachable condition, ready and eager to devote yourself to the truth of
God, His Word can truly change you and work growth in your life.
The second parable, “The Parable of the Weeds” given and
explained in verses 24-30 & 36-43[5]
gives us a picture of God’s conclusive and preservative action at the end of
days. Frankly, there is not going to be an apocalypse of zombies that ceases
the progression of human evolution! The Creator of life on this earth will also
be its consummation. Like a farmer who gathers his plants into the storehouses
of his barn and gathers the weeds into the fire, so will God gather every cause
of evil and sin, and every person who does not believe in Him, to everlasting
destruction, and He will gather each and every person who placed faith in Him
to everlasting safety and relationship. This is really a comfort and an
eagerly-awaited expectation for God’s people! For even though good seeds
presently have to endure alongside the evils of draining weeds, there will come
a day when God will “wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall
be no more, neither shall there by mourning nor crying, nor pain anymore, for
the former things have passed away.”[6]
Oh for that day!
