The Kingdom of Heaven is Like…
Matthew 13:31 – 33, 44 – 52
The Kingdom of Heaven. What is the kingdom of heaven like? When we hear that question the searching in our mind for an answer generally leads us to images of somewhere else, something other worldly. We might envision pearl gates, golden streets, pristine buildings, crystal seas, vast fields of green. We see the smiling and loving faces of family and friends that have preceded us with the warm embraces that we have waited so long to feel again.
We see all God’s children healed from their infirmities and illnesses with perfect new bodies like the ones we are promised. And up-ahead we see people on their daily pilgrimage waiting to enter the Temple of Triune God, to praise and worship the living God that has brought us out of despair and graciously cleansed us and adopted us into His family to live with him for Eternity.
Those images come easily to our minds eye and they conjure up and reinforce the notion that Heaven is somewhere else. Those images certainly don’t seem to fit the world around us, definitely not these days. We think that we live here and God lives in there. That may be what Heaven does look like but question was, what is the Kingdom of Heaven like. The answer to that brings us a spiritual and theological truths that are found much closer to us.
First a point of clarification, when Jesus is talking about it, he calls it the Kingdom of God. Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God, but Matthew refers to it in his writings as the Kingdom of Heaven. Since Matthew is a Jew and is speaking to Jews or converted Jews with his Gospel, he is sensitive to the fact that the Jews don’t speak specifically about the supreme being. So using the phrase Kingdom of God could be a stumbling block for some. Consequently, Matthew calls it the Kingdom of Heaven but don’t be confused; they are one and the same.
It is important to understand that Matthew speaks about the Kingdom of Heaven more than any other single subject in his Gospel. In fact, all of the parables in Chapter 13 are illusions to and illustrations of the Kingdom of Heaven. But what is intended by Matthew’s retelling of Jesus words can be elusive, and probably purposefully so. It is an elusive concept because Jesus explains it in so different ways because we can see how it relates to us in so many ways.
Matthew tells us that Jesus uses the phrase “The Kingdom of Heaven is like” seven different times as the entrance into parables in this chapter alone. Jesus tells eight parables in Chapter 13 and seven of those times and in all five of the parables today start with the phrase “The Kingdom of Heaven is like”.
The past two weeks we heard two of them: the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds and today we hear five relatively short parables, all seeking to teach us something about the urgency of as well as the blessings from being a part of the Kingdom of God.
If we listen well, these stories change us. They teach us about God’s kingdom, and identify us as children of that kingdom, showing us how we must live into that identity of residents of the Kingdom of Heaven.
As we hear these parables, then, we need to be careful not to let them go “in one ear and out the other.” They need to go deep into our hearts and souls, where they can work on us and change us. Our hearing leads to obedience, and obedience leads us to transformation.
The other thing we need to remember as we hear these parables, is that they are stories of the present Kingdom of Heaven. Even though Jesus explains some parts of the parables in future tense, the Kingdom of Heaven that he refers to is a kingdom that is already among us, already present here in the person of Jesus Christ. It was there during the time of the Disciples and it is here for us, the believers and seekers among us here today. So with that in mind let’s take a look at what Jesus say “The Kingdom of Heaven is Like”.
Jesus tells us that “The Kingdom of Heaven is Like” the mustard seed. Although the smallest of all the seeds, it can grow into the largest of all the bushes and can provide shelter for birds. Things are not always the way they seem.
“The Kingdom of Heaven is Like” a small amount of yeast which can grow flour into bread enough to feed a town, not unlike the transforming power that we can experience as a follower of Jesus.
The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast remind us that the kingdom, which has already begun with Jesus, comes unexpectedly, almost unnoticed and through the eventual work of the Disciples and those that will follow becomes a Kingdom that transforms the world and dwarfs any and all other kingdoms that have, have ever or ever will exist.
“The Kingdom of Heaven is Like” a great treasure, unexpectedly found in the field of life, reminds us that faith and commitment to Jesus are so important that, when our eyes are opened to its’ value, we are joyfully willing to sacrifice everything we have in order to possess this great gift of faith. “The Kingdom of Heaven is Like” the priceless pearl, a small thing among the counterfeits and trinkets of life, has value to us far greater than everything we own.
We need to understand that finding the great Eternal Truth of being part of the Kingdom of Heaven is a treasure worth giving up everything that we own. Whether you find it by surprise or after diligently seeking for it is irrelevant, the fact is because the Truth is rare and uncommon and shown to us through the Spirit which makes it more precious and more necessary to have in our lives. It is worth everything you have.
“The Kingdom of Heaven is Like” a full fishnet, teeming with both good and bad fish. It is a sharp reminder that we must constantly be discerning the virtuous and noble from the corrupt and pointless. In many ways it is the same message that we heard in the parable of the Wheat and the Weeds. We cannot allow the distractions in the world around us to make us ambivalent to our call to be faithful and righteous residents of the Kingdom of Heaven. We need to remember that the most important thing is the most important thing!
Each of these tales makes it clear that one thing is required that if we follow Jesus, it will require everything. The price for the treasures of God is everything we have. The cost of living as residents in the Kingdom of Heaven is cost our lives, our whole life; we cannot be part-time followers of Jesus! Attaining and living in the Kingdom of God is so valuable that giving up everything on earth, but getting the kingdom and Eternity is well worth the price.
Hear the Good News my Friends…………
In Philippians 3:7-8, the Apostle Paul writes:
‘Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
In the parable the man joyfully and willingly sells everything he has so that he can have the treasure. In Philippians Paul joyfully and willingly suffers the loss of all things that he may gain Christ. I don’t think that there is an angel’s hairs width difference between those two thoughts.
The Kingdom of Heaven is Like a promise that evil will one day be destroyed, and righteousness will shine – and in the meantime, it is working in us, changing us, calling us to let ourselves be broken open like a seed that dies in order for a plant to grow and spread far and wide to change the landscape forever.
We pray it every Sunday because Jesus taught us to pray this way, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven”. This is praying for a day when God will bring heaven to earth and will bring His rule on this planet. He will rule and reign here, and as believers, we will rule and reign with Him. So that is in the future of the Kingdom of God.
When we pray and seek the Kingdom of God, we are also praying for the rule and reign of the kingdom of God in our lives. On one occasion Jesus said, “For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you”. That is our present when we are under His lordship, and when He is in control of our lives That is What the Kingdom of God is Like when we give up everything of worldly value to have the Eternal treasure that we find in Him, and to help us shape our own lives and to radically transform the world around us for His sake. Amen.