For You I'd Wait 'Til Kingdom Come
“A Parable of the Word of the Kingdom”
(Matthew 13:1-23, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, September 23, 2007)
Matthew 13:1-23 1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear." 10 Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" 11 And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "' You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. 15 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.' 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. 18 "Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."
Introduction – Thy Kingdom Come
Jesus tells His disciples that this parable is about the word of the Kingdom. More specifically, I think that this story about seed and soils is about the wrenching and surprising way that God brings the Kingdom on earth through His Word and Spirit. As we read the parable, we naturally wonder about our own place in the Kingdom.
Many people pray the words, “Thy Kingdom Come” every week, or even every day, but the final coming of God’s Kingdom can seem so far away from us, and we wonder if we are going to be there. The British band Coldplay has a song with the line “For you I’d wait ‘til kingdom come.” The song was originally written for Johnny Cash to sing, but he died before he was able to perform it. That’s an interesting irony. Do we have the strength that we need even to live and to make it into God’s kingdom?
The Coldplay song is about the love of two people, and the faithfulness of one who will be willing to wait forever for the other. I am sure it must touch the hearts of those who desperately love someone who is far way. I think of the many young wives and girlfriends who are faithfully waiting for their soldier husbands or boyfriends to return from overseas. Many tears have been shed listening to that one song as girls sing those words alone at night “For you I’d wait ‘til kingdom come.” Sometimes the man may not make it home. It is also sadly possible that while the girl may be faithfully waiting for her man, he may not have remained faithful to her. These kind of fears bring tears. She has committed herself to someone forever. Will he be committed to her? Perhaps you can understand that sentiment that says, “I will be faithful ‘til kingdom come.” Is there a God who is waiting for you? Will you be there when His kingdom fully comes? Even your most powerful love for someone may fade. Will God love you forever?
A Parable for the Crowd
A kingdom is coming. The fulfillment of that kingdom involves the promise of one man. Jesus tells one of his most famous stories about getting into the kingdom in this passage. It is a story about a farmer who is planting seed. He has no machine that does the work for him. He moves his hand bank and forth and scatters the seed on the soil.
There are four soils in the story, and only one of them will yield good, healthy, delicious fruit. The first three soils fail. The hard-packed earth of the path won’t yield fruit. The birds will devour the seed. The rocky ground and the thorny soil will fail. Seedlings in one will be scorched by the sun and will die for look of roots. The plants in the other will be choked out by the thorny weeds. Only the good soil will bear fruit, and it will bring a good harvest.
This is the story that Jesus told the crowds. It was memorable, using the language of the work that they knew. But what did it mean? The words he spoke were almost frightening. Even though we are talking only about seeds and plants, they were devoured, scorched, and choked. Amazingly no explanation is given to the crowds.
Why Parables?
This seems to surprise even Jesus disciples. Jesus has been performing great signs of His Kingdom, but who can understand this story? After His talk, when everyone is walking away from this great prophet wondering why He told a story about a farmer and seed, His disciplines plainly ask Him the obvious question. “Why do you speak to them in parables.” Parables make a spiritual point using images or illustrations. Prophets like Isaiah occasionally spoke in parables, but they explained the point to their hearers. The crowd here is given no explanation.
When Jesus’ disciples ask why He teaches this way, He says that He is concealing His message on purpose. He tells them that He is not revealing everything to the crowds, because the revelation of the meaning has not been given to them. In general, when the word of the kingdom is preached, there are some few that will have ears to hear and they will be given a super abundance. Others will have no ears to hear, and they will lose everything. As if to display that fact, that day some were given nothing but stories without explanations. Only the disciples were told more, until a later day when the disciples would preach the word plainly. Even then, not everyone would hear with their hearts and believe. Of course that’s what the parable is about after all. The kingdom comes to you through hearing.
Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah from the sixth chapter when the prophet is brought up into heaven and given his mission by God. The Lord tells Isaiah that people will not listen. The time of the Old Testament is beginning to come to a close in Isaiah’s day. In Jesus’ day the door is about to be finally shut on one way of God dealing with His people, and a new and greater door will be opened through the death and resurrection of the Son of God. The closing of the Old Testament door was necessary in order for the opening of the better New Testament door, not only for Jews but for all of mankind. It still seemed like a horrible thing for
Jesus spoke in parables, and though many were confused by this, His promise of a coming kingdom was entirely reliable. We need to trust Him on this. God is working out a very big plan. The timing of when we have ears to hear is in that big plan. Still the story he told is troubling, since we are told what it means. What soil are you?
A Parable for the Disciples
The story has to do with the disciples’ preaching of the kingdom that will begin after the death of our faithful warrior who defeats sin and death for us on the cross. Concerning the seed along the path, there are those who will hear the word of the kingdom, but they will not understand it, the devil will snatch up that word and devour it before they have a chance to think about it again. For the seed on rocky ground, there will be a quick and joyful response to the word of the kingdom, but there will be no real root in the heart, and trouble and persecution will come as a horrible shock, and they will not yield fruit. Concerning the seed among thorns, there are those who will be so caught up in the matters of life that they will not be able to grow from hearing the word. Their spiritual life is choked out by other pressing matters. But the kingdom will move forward in some, like plants growing well in good soil. They will hear the word and understand it and bear fruit according to God’s good plan.
What is this good fruit that some will have? They will have ears that hear, hearts that believe, lips that confess, lives that are used wonderfully by the Lord, suffering that will somehow be endured, faith that will be worked out in love, and hope that will persevere, hope in a coming Kingdom that is here in your hearing now.
Any faithfulness that we have to God and His Kingdom will be an extension of the divine faithfulness of our Savior who went to war for us and died for us. Wonder of wonders, our great soldier did not remain in the grave, but he rose again and from heaven he consoles and empowers us by His Spirit. He gives us gifts from a far country. He grants us heavenly ears, so that we can hear, and renewed hearts so that we can love. Trust Him. He suffered for you. He has entered into His glory. Be faithful and loving, for He is faithful. He is coming back for you. How can you wait for Him until the Kingdom comes more fully? Care for the younger believers as spiritual fathers and mothers care for their children. Be willing to receive care from others, to hear God’s word and to grow.
“For you I’ll wait ‘til kingdom come. Until my days, my days are done. So you'll come and set me free, I know you’ll wait. You’ll wait for me.” Our man does not lie. He has won the victory for you with His own blood. He will never die again, and He will not cheat on you. He is coming back for you. He loves you.
Questions for meditation and discussion:
1. What could the crowds have understood about the parable if Christ gave no explanation? Could they have understood it accurately with a general knowledge of the Scriptures and an awareness of the ministry of Jesus?
2. Why did Jesus teach in parables? What are some of the positive aspects of this method? How does it reflect the judgment of God against
3. In what way had
4. What is the meaning of the four different soils in the parable? Are we a mixture of these? What is Christian fruitfulness?
posted by Pastor Magee at 10:56 AM
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