With that in mind, I am not going to make our Lord’s fourth parable – that of “the leaven” – into a full sermon. Verse 33 – “Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” I am skipping this parable for a couple of reasons. First, because I intend to bring a message on the leaven of the Pharisees when we get to a later chapter. But then secondly, I should have included this parable in last Sunday night’s message, because I believe it teaches the same thing as the third parable. Whereas most Protestant theologians like to say that the mustard seed and the leaven in these parables represent the gospel of Christ and the rise of the Lord’s church, evolving eventually into the Millennial Kingdom of Christ, I disagree. I am not trying to be contrary or weird; I am trying to be consistent. It seems to me that the mustard TREE is an anomaly, a freak of nature – evil. And the birds have already been identified in an earlier parable as the ambassadors of Satan. I believe that we need to be consistent in our interpretation of scriptures – especially in a tight context.
Sadly, I have to admit that Baptist commentator, John Gill, far too often sided with the Protestants of his day. When he interpreted the fourth parable in verse 33 – I grimaced at his inconsistency. He wrote – “The word ‘leaven’ is every where else used in a bad sense; and either designs immorality, as malice and wickedness, or false doctrine, such as that of the Pharisees and Sadducees: but here it seems to be taken in a good sense, and the Gospel to be compared unto it; not for its disagreeable qualities, but on account of its small quantity.” He goes on to say that the gospel spreads from heart to heart and town to town, bringing down towering thoughts, pride and all kinds of sin – unto the obedience of Christ. The leaven eventually fills the Lord’s churches with such as should be saved. If I am not mistaken, Gill also believes that the gospel, not Christ, will usher in the Millennium. And he is not the only Baptist to hold to this kind of interpretation.
But being reminded by Gill himself that “‘leaven’ is every where else used in a BAD sense,” maybe that is where it is supposed to stay. Which came first – the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom the world governed by Satan? The Bible teaches that Jehovah and His rule came first and then followed the rebellion of Lucifer – the Devil. Leaven in the Bible represents evil, and I believe that it still does here in this parable. The Kingdom of God has been under attack since just before the fall of Adam and Eve, and it continues to be under that attack. Despite the propaganda to the contrary, I don’t see the truth of God growing and pervading society, rolling along until Christ Jesus will be forced by the Christianization of society to return to sit upon David’s throne. I see the Kingdom of Heaven, more and more poisoned and diluted all the time. If the Lord does not sovereignly choose to interrupt Satan’s attempt to usurp God’s throne, all of creation will end up in disaster. I look at the parable of the leaven as a warning – not as an encouragement.
After Jesus’ fourth parable, He offers some more explanation about parables in general. I plan to come back to verses 34 and 35 this evening. In verses 37-44 the Lord Jesus interprets the parable of the tares, which we will not examine again. Then beginning in verse 45 He gives us three more brief parables – but they are completely different from the first four. Before you begin to criticize my reversal in interpretation, check to see if the context condemns me. All three of these parables are small, but I believe they blend together, so we will examine them as a set.
First there is the PARABLE OF HIDDEN TREASURE.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” The only point of contact between this parable and the four earlier ones is the reference to “the field.” And I am going to remain consistent – “the field is the world.” The other highlights of the parable are all new, so we don’t have much help in understanding them.
Now, please visualize two or three of your neighbors or business contacts – those who are not Christians. How many people, except well-taught Christians, believe they are living in the Kingdom of Heaven? Would your unsaved neighbors say that they are citizens or residents in God’s Kingdom? I would venture to guess that not even 1% believe that God has a kingdom or that they are under it. The field is the world, whether the world is aware of that fact or not. Jehovah is the sovereign King over every living soul on earth – He is Creator, Governor, Sustainer, Benefactor and the ultimate Judge of everyone and everything. The world doesn’t have to admit that to be true for it to be true – it is true nevertheless.
I believe that this parable perfectly dovetails into the doctrine of God’s sovereign election and salvation. In this field, this corrupted world, filled with tares, thorns, boulders and smaller rocks, there are thousands of tiny seedlings of wheat planted by the grace of God. Or in the case of this new parable –they are treasures – valuables in the sight of God. We could let our imaginations joyfully play around with various specifics here. For example, who, why and when was this treasure hidden in the field? May I suggest that the treasure was hidden there long before the foundation of the earth? “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”
Once again, I remind you that parables and allegories should not be pushed too far and too hard. But when they are warmed with our Spirit-directed-hearts, they can mold into wonderful works of art. Take the word “treasure” for example – what is its meaning anywhere you find it in the word of God? Is it ever negative? Even if the treasure is wasted or misused, it is still valuable – it is still treasure. The treasure in the parable is a good thing.
Eons after the treasure was hidden, the Son of Man, Christ Jesus came along, walking through the field. And as He looked about, He saw you, a treasure beyond compare, buried under the filth of the world. Instantly, He knew the value of what He saw, and He took steps to buy the entire field just so that He might possess you. Oh, praise God for the grace and blessed privilege – to be recognized and loved by Christ. Forget for a moment what the Lord will do with the rest of the field – it isn’t important at this point. What is important is that He has purchased you – the great treasure.
And what was the purchase price? “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” What do you have which belongs to nobody but yourself? Most of you are members of families; you have a spouse, parents, children, siblings, bosses and employees. And as such, you are not your own – you are not a completely independent entity. For example, you can’t sell your house, just because you want to own a boat. You can’t empty your bank account because someone told you about a money-making gamble. Everything that we own we possess as a trust for ourselves and for others. What do we own which is exclusively our own? Perhaps there is nothing at all. But what was it that the man in the parable did in order to buy this magnificent treasure? He sold everything that he had.
May I suggest that Christ Jesus may have been the only being to have ever truly sold “ALL that he had.” We read from John 10 a few minutes ago, because I wanted to remind you that Christ Jesus willingly gave up everything – unlike any ordinary man ever has or could – in order to buy your soul – to pay for your redemption. There is a sense in which Christ is the owner of the field – I won’t push that point too far within the parable. But there is a more important sense in which Christ paid the ultimate price for your salvation. He purchased that treasure with the price of His own life and blood.
What can the parable of the PEARL OF GREAT PRICE add to this illustration?
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”
The Bible doesn’t speak of pearls very often – less than ten times. If you take the time to read them all, you’ll find that they are never referred to as anything other than pearls. They are not good or evil per se, even though one or two references tell us set our sights on spiritual things rather than earthly riches like pearls. Job tells us that wisdom is far more valuable than pearls, implying that on an earthly level pearls are valuable – but not as valuable as the things of God. Earlier the Lord Jesus told us ”Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” Again the implication is that pearls are valuable items, but not to be compared to salvation or the Lord’s spiritual blessings.
With that in mind, it seems to me that the Lord’s intention in this parable was exactly the same as that of the preceding parable. I would like to think of you as extremely valuable in the eyes of the Lord. I want to picture you as purchased by the blood of the crucified one. Christ sold all that He had to add you to His jewelry box.
The last parable of this chapter is quite different and yet the same – THE NET CAST INTO THE SEA.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
The Kingdom of Heaven is a field full of wheat, tares, rocks, pearls and treasures. Or in this case, the Kingdom of Heaven is a sea full of all kinds of fish – both valuable fish and trash fish. As a part of the ministry of Kingdom, a net is to be cast into the sea, encompassing all of its fish. That net will then be dragged onto the shore, and the fish will be sorted as to their value. Some will be kept while other rest will simply be cast away. If you wanted to extend the first parable, you could say that a huge excavator scraped up the tons of top soil from the field. All that dirt, rock, plant life and bug life was dropped into a crusher, a separator, a filter which spit out the garbage, but which let the gold drop into the collection chamber of the owner/operator. ”So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
I believe that there are points of clear similarities between the first four parables – the soils, the tares, the mustard seed and the leaven. I also believe that there are points of similarity between the last three parables. The first of which is that the treasure, the pearl and some of the fish are valuable. To whom are they valuable? It doesn’t matter much as far as anyone else is concerned, but they are extremely valuable to the Lord. I will say that you are of great value to the Lord. I know that some might think of that as an heretical statement. Some might say that kind of statement shouldn’t be uttered universally, but I’ll stick with it. I want you to picture yourself as important in the eyes of the Lord. I would like you to picture Christ Jesus dying on the cross in order to purchase you for Himself.
And that brings me to my second point – notice the identification that the Lord has made with you. He sold all that he had in order to buy the field in which he found you. He went out and sold all that He had in order to purchase the pearl of great price. He will have his fishermen pull in His nets containing all the fish in the sea, just so that He can separate out you with the ones which He wanted to keep.
Last week, I said that only two of Jesus’ parables were interpreted for us. That was not quite accurate, because the final parable has a bit of interpretation. It is as though the Lord wanted to make sure that we – you – would not miss this point. ”So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” There is a huge difference between not being lovingly placed amongst the Lord’s choicest jewels, and being cast into the furnace of fire where the wood, hay and imitation glass will be melted with fervent heat. There is a difference between being wheat and brought into the Lord’s garner, and being tares to be burned. “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
Still applying these last three parables, there is nothing that we can do become valuable before God. It is the Lord who places the treasure in the field and the pearl in that oyster. It is God who makes us valuable fish in His sea. But I tell you there is nothing wrong with wanting to be of value to the Lord. There is nothing wrong with yearning to be valuable and praying to be valuable. Would you like to be valuable in God’s sight, then earnestly plead with the Lord for salvation – repent of your sins before God and reach out in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ.