Daily Reading: Matthew 13:44-46
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”
Here is Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of Weeds which comes directly before the parable of the Kingdom. Each item in the parable stands for something-
Sower of Seeds = the Son of Man (It is Jesus)
The field = the world
Good Seeds = those people of the kingdom.
The weeds = are the people of the evil one
The enemy who sows (the weeds) = the devil.
The harvest = the end of the age,
The harvesters = angels.
Culturally what you might not know is in Jesus’ day, sowing weeds in a neighbour’s field was a common way people had of getting even with each other. The Roman government actually passed a law against it because things got out of hand with sowing weeds.
The particular seed spoken of in the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds was most likely a variety of rye grass (known as bearded darnel). In the early stages of growth, you couldn’t tell what was wheat and what was rye grass. So, you didn’t know there were weeds in your field until the heads of grain appeared and then it was too late, because the roots would be so interwoven that to pull up the weeds would be to pull up the wheat.
The seeds of the bearded darnel were poisonous. The symptoms of eating darnel grain were dizziness, slurred speech, convulsions, vomiting and diarrhoea. That means that at some point there has to be a separation between what is good and what is bad in order to harvest.
Psalm 24 tells us that In order to “earn heaven based on your own merits” A person must:
have (all your deeds are completely blameless)
and a (motives 100% pure all the time),
who does not trust in an idol (God is our only desire, God our portion)
and never tell lies. (always keeps His promises).
It is simple. You want to be with God in Heaven? There are only four qualifications and if you do these perfectly all the time and never fail, God is waiting with open arms.
No one qualifies.
The message Bible says it this way-- Wake up, you sleepyhead city! Wake up, you sleepyhead people! King-Glory is ready to enter (Psalm 24:7). This is 1,005 years before Jesus was even birthed in Bethlehem. Yet David is prophetically preaching the Gospel. How can we ascend? If we could we would be blessed by God, we would be right before God, and God would be forever with us–but we can’t ascend.
David says wake up to what is really happening. King Glory Jesus is ready to enter your world, your life, your space. Who is this King of glory (Psalm 24:8)? Whether you realize it or not this is the most important question in all of human history? Jesus’ deeds were completely blameless. His motives 100% pure. He never lied and He always delivered on every promise. He did for us what we could not do for ourselves so that we might ascend the mountain of the Lord (heaven).
Jesus has made us righteous. Jesus has saved us, we may now ascend the mountain of the Lord, we will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father because we are the wheat of the field. Now that we know we are wheat and just as wheat never becomes a weed, we learn about the value of what we were given (Matthew 13:44-46).
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field”
If the omnipotent, all-wise God is ruling over all things for your joy, everything must be working for your good, no matter how painful (Romans 8:28, Matthew 13:44). And in the end God will triumph over all evil and all pain. So, this kingdom is a real treasure. The point here in Matthew 13:44 and in Philippians 3:8 is that the people who receive the kingdom treasure it more than everything else. “Where your treasure is (Christ), there your heart will be also” Christ lives in us (Matthew 6:21, Galatians 2:20). And if your heart is to have the kingdom above all things, then Luke 12:32 comes true for you: “It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” To give you the kingdom!