Here, in 13 chapter, a new scene opens before us, and the new thing which was ever present with the Lord, and which was the eternal purpose of God, now commences. The Lord proceeds to give an account or description of His work under the similitude of a Sower sowing good seed. There is no more heralding the advent of the kingdom. Jesus no longer presents Himself as the Messiah; but now, on an entirely new principle, He manifests the grace of God.
Up to this time God had patiently waited for the performance of these righteous demands He had upon Israel, which had their foundation not only in that He was Creator and Giver of all good—the Gentiles in this respect owed obedience as well as Israel, but there was the additional claim peculiar to Israel. God was their King, and had made Himself known to them as such. And He had taken special care of them, a special interest in them, and had done for them all that could be done. But it was all in vain. The more they were blessed in outward privilege, the more they sinned and rebelled against Jehovah. All the fruit that the vine, on which God had bestowed so much care and attention, ever brought forth, was wild grapes.
The Lord God was merciful and gracious, while visiting the sins of the fathers unto the third and fourth generation, and showing mercy to thousands of them that feared Him. Now His grace takes an unlimited form, is unconditional, seeks for nothing in man, looks not for worthy persons, but His grace is unto all without distinction. The Sower scatters his seed upon the earth, as well upon the stony or thorny, as upon the good. The grace of God, the new dealing of God with man, would be not the enforcing of His just demands, even though merciful and gracious, but, on the contrary, God giving to man everything from the pure sovereign grace of His own heart. That is, the old thing and the new thing are essentially different.
In reality, the Lord was preparing the way for the sowing of the seed from the first. The whole history, as given by Matthew in the previous chapters, could have no other termination than Chapter 13 gives. As we have seen, from the first indication of rejection, the kingdom was presented in a different way.
At first it was the privilege of the Jew by birth, then that was set aside through their carnality and fleshy apprehension of it, and the kingdom was shown to be elective, and to entail suffering and oppression upon the heirs. And now it was altogether a new thing, and the very purpose for which the Lord came into the world, stands out clear and distinct. It is our privilege to see, in some degree, the wisdom of God in delaying the announcement, that it was an entirely new thing the Lord was about to do, until His rejection as Messiah, and His consequent break with the nation, was an accomplished fact.
Now Jesus tells openly to the multitude the character of His mission, and how it would be received. In fact, He speaks of His work while here on the earth, the effect of it upon man, where the good seed took permanent root, and the condition of those who, in any case, brought not forth good fruit; then, in a series of prophetic parables, what would become of the kingdom He was about to establish, and what would be the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.
The first parable in 13 chapter is not illustrative of the kingdom, but the preparatory work necessary for its establishment. While it was a mere question of birthright, no such work was needed. But when Israel, like Esau of old, sold their birthright, everything was changed; and if the Lord was to have a kingdom at all here below, it was necessary to begin from a fresh point, and on altogether a new principle. We say necessary. But it was the necessity of Divine grace, of His boundless love. It was Love that sent, Love that came, Love that died. It is Love supreme, Love that now calls sinners, and applies the precious blood to the guilty and stained conscience, purges it, and gives the believer a title to stand free of all accusation in the presence of Light.
The parable of the Sower is the preaching of the Word, to which Israel, as a nation, is judicially deaf. This is different from the preaching of the kingdom, in the former chapters. The preaching of the kingdom, is to a nation owned of God, but rebellious, and calling upon them to repent, in view of the blessing and glory of the coming kingdom. The preaching of the word, is God proclaiming grace to everyone without distinction of condition, or state, or character.
The six following parables do not apply to the time of our Lord’s sojourn here, but to the time after His going away, and before His return in power and glory. Then the mysteries of the kingdom will cease, and the authority of the King will be enforced in all the world. Now it is moral, and spiritually appreciated and submitted to only by faith. Then power will be in exercise, and his authority will make itself felt and feared. His first act will be the slaying of those who said they would not have the man Christ Jesus to reign over them.
Here, in this chapter, for the first time, we have the expression, “Mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” It would assume a form unknown to prophecy. The prophets fully described Messiah as a rejected one, and that He would be put to death; but not the peculiar and exceptional form His kingdom would take consequent upon His rejection. They depict the sufferings and future glory of the Messiah. The Jewish remnant, suffering, then triumphant, and the Gentiles receiving blessing through them. Christ, the Messiah, reigning over all. But the mysteries of the time of the suffering, (when God would accomplish His hidden purpose, never revealed to any prophet, of calling out from Jew and Gentile, and forming His church,) are for the first time found here. The abnormal state of the kingdom, the fearful prevalence of evil, and yet the existence of a small but highly prized remnant are given; but only now in parable. The instructed eye may discern the Church in the treasure, and the pearl. But all that we read of, are the similitudes of the kingdom of heaven. For it was not necessary in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to delineate the Church in its higher and more special character, but this which was common to it and the kingdom, then about to be set up.
The earthly kingdom, the subject of prophecy, is for the present, in abeyance. Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, in their description of the Messiah’s reign, picture to us the earthly scene of His glory. Isaiah gives the moral picture in 11 and 12 Chapters. Ezekiel in the latter chapters of his prophecy gives the ecclesiastical, or the metropolitan relations of Jerusalem, the name of which will be, “The Lord is there.” Daniel gives the external relation, the Gentile powers, all that remain of them (the toes of the image) is broken and destroyed. One might call this the political aspect. But all this, for the present, is postponed. Meantime heirs are gathered for heavenly glory.
“A sower went forth to sow, &c.” This is now the work of Jesus. He has the seed. He scatters it on the earth al I around Him There is no looking for the best land, or most fertile spot. The grace of God is “unto all.” This seed is called the word of the kingdom. The parable simply gives us facts. Good seed was sown. Some fell by the way side, and the birds picked it up. Some fell on stony ground, it soon sprung up, and as soon withered, there being no depth of earth, the sun soon scorched and dried it up. Some fell upon ground filled with thorns, and the good seed was choked. Some again fell upon good ground, and here alone became fruitful. It is not a question here as to why men are likened to this or that, but merely such is the fact. The way in which the word would be received by different classes of men is beautifully-, and, of course, truly set forth by these similitudes. The ground cannot be intended to give the natural condition of men, for then we should have good men before they received the word, which is solemnly denied by the word of God. No, we repeat it is simply the fact that seed was sown, and in one case it was productive, when men received the word, and were newly-born by it, it was like good seed sown in good ground, there was fruit. But the Lord explains His own parable. And we have only to look around us now to see instances—alas! how many—of the same things.
We learn from the word of God, that there are three great enemies which oppose the true reception of the word into the heart. And in every case where the word when heard is unproductive of good fruit, the cause is sure to be found in one of these three. They are the devil, the flesh, and the world. Of course, there may be differences in the development of the opposition manifested in different individuals, but the source of every failure in producing good fruit, is traceable to one or other of the antagonistic principles. So here. The Lord tells us that the birds are the wicked ones, “when any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he that received seed by the way side.” No case more desperate than this. None so far, apparently, removed from the life-giving power of the word no apprehension, no feeling, no understanding, like the beasts that perish, the complete stupor of death, the complete dominion of the devil. Now when we see individuals who come time after time, and regularly hear the gospel, and go away again as careless and as unconcerned as before, need we ask, who it is that so enthralls them? who it is that has made their hearts and consciences hard and impenetrable like the ground that is constantly trodden upon, so that the seed lies on the surface? They hear the word, and instantly forget. The devil catcheth away the seed sown. How little such are aware who it is that is so indefatigable. Not a single grain does he leave. Oh! if such a one reads these words, let him awake to the awful condition in which he is. There is one who is stronger, and who can deliver him from the power of the evil one.
(To be continued, if the Lord will.)