Wednesday, 13 July 2022
Tuesday, 12 July 2022
Training You Can Trust
By Mark L. Bailey
[Mark L. Bailey is President and Professor of Bible Exposition, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas.
This is an edited version of the address Dr. Bailey gave at his inauguration as fifth president of Dallas Theological Seminary on October 19, 2001.]
The coat of arms of the Fitzgerald family of Ireland shows the figure of a baboon carrying a baby, and underneath is the Latin motto, Non Immemer Beneficii. The story connected with this strange device says that long ago the father of the family was away at war and had left his household in the charge of one or two old retainers and some women servants. Suddenly the enemy came to the house, and all fled, forgetful of the little baby, the future heir of the family. A pet baboon noticed the baby, ran to the cradle, caught up the child, and ran with him to the top of the abbey steeple, holding him out for the people to see. The servants were all in terror, but the baboon carried the baby down safely to the ground. When the child’s father returned, he felt that he owed a debt of gratitude to the beast that had saved the heir of his house. So he set the monkey in the center of his knightly shield and placed beneath the motto, “Not unmindful of his kindness.”[1]
While I do not have such a family crest, I am not unmindful of God’s kindness in my life in bringing me to this moment. As I step into the role of president of Dallas Theological Seminary, I do so with a sense of honor and humility. I am honored that the board, in consultation with the administration, faculty, staff, and alumni, would believe that it is the will of God that I should serve the Lord in this way. I am also humbled by the outstanding legacy of leadership that threads its way through the years of our Seminary’s history.
Our heritage is observable in our presidents, faculty, and faithful alumni who serve the cause of Christ all around the globe. God has used the support and endorsement of our previous three living presidents to confirm my understanding that He has been behind this appointment. I express my heartfelt thanks for the encouragement and support of my esteemed colleagues on the faculty and staff.
In October 1900 John Knox McLean, president of Pacific Theological Seminary, Oakland, California, spoke at the Conference on Congregational Seminaries. He entitled his address, “The Presidency of Theological Seminaries.” In that address he noted the difficulty of a faculty member moving into the role of president. If that happens, “What will most probably result? Resentment on the part of fellow professors, corporate friction, personal irritation, all-around discord, and general chaos. He is more than likely to find himself a Joseph among his brethren, his best intentions misconceived and thwarted, left alone, stripped of his garment of distinction, in a pit, and with reason to count himself fortunate if he be not given over to the Ishmaelites or other Philistines.”[2]
Thankfully I have never felt beaten, abandoned, or sold into the hands of a Midianite band. For the encouragement I have received from the previous presidents, faculty, staff, and alumni, I am deeply appreciative.
To the members of Faith Bible Church of DeSoto, Texas, and especially to the staff, elders, and deacons and their spouses, I am indebted for their love and support over these last six years—truly our most enjoyable pastoral ministry. A final word of thanks is due to the most important counselors I have had—my family. Without them I would never have made the journey of Christian service this far nor enjoyed it as much. To them I owe the most.
The two eternal verities other than God Himself are the Word of God and the people of God. Dallas Seminary focuses on these core values of truth and relationships. Tonight and tomorrow night I want to address the proposition, training you can trust equips leaders you can follow. This evening I will direct my remarks to “training you can trust” and tomorrow evening I will speak on “leaders you can follow.”[3]
We are living in an age of shifting hermeneutical theories, intruding cultural philosophies, evaporating social ethics, competing worldviews, and ongoing threats of global instability. How can we best serve our generation in the task of theological training?
John Hannah, distinguished professor of historical theology at Dallas Seminary, identifies the challenge of theological understanding in our modern culture.
We live in a world where personality has more street value than character, where psychological wholeness is more valued than spiritual authenticity. We find ourselves in a world where pleasures are embraced without moral norms or a sense of social responsibility. Christian truth is attacked not so much for its particular assertions as for its fundamental claim that there is such a thing as binding, objective truth. The quest for truth has been replaced by the preoccupation with pleasure and entertainment. Thus we live in a world of the therapeutic and the psychological, where people are engaged in an endless pursuit of self-fulfillment and entitlement.[4]
In Pisidian Antioch, Paul stated that David “served the purpose of God in his own generation” (Acts 13:36). My prayer for the students, staff, and faculty of Dallas Seminary is that our school will always be characterized by the words, “they served the purpose of God in their generation.”
I would like to suggest six critical components that make up a trustworthy equipping environment. “Training you can trust” must be biblical in its authority, theological in its focus, spiritual in its nature, ethical in its effect, relational in its context, and missional in its purpose.
Biblical in Its Authority
To ascribe authority to Scripture is to acknowledge that it is the Word of God. What has been called the “formal principle of the Reformation,” summarized in the phrase sola Scriptura, affirms that only those beliefs and practices that rest firmly on scriptural foundations can be regarded as binding on Christians.
The commitment to the priority and authority of Scripture is an integral element of the evangelical tradition at Dallas Seminary. Scripture remains authoritative for the evangelical, whether a person accepts it as such or not. For example the truthfulness of the historical and objective sacrifice of Christ is not rendered untrue simply because some do not believe that God sent His Son as the provision for our salvation.
Our commitment to the Word of God seems foolish to many in our increasingly secular culture and even among many professing believers who are enamored with that culture. R. Albert Mohler Jr. speaks to this point when he says, “To surrender this ground is to surrender the faith itself.”[5]
Alister McGrath aptly echoes this sentiment. “The only way Christianity can free itself from the subservience to cultural fashion is to ensure that it is firmly grounded in a resource that is independent of that culture. The traditional evangelical approach is to acknowledge the supreme authority of Scripture as a theological and spiritual resource, and the contemporary task as interpreting and applying this resource to the situation of today. Evangelicalism thus addresses today’s culture without needing to become trapped within that culture.”[6]
The two most significant roles of Scripture are to reveal truth and refute error. The first speaks of the ability of Scripture to convey with divine objectivity the truth God has communicated. The second provides the answer to the ever-present tendencies of subjectivity on the part of its interpreters.
We must not confuse meaning with interpretation. The Bible is true whether we interpret it correctly or not. Postmoderns argue that the reader determines the meaning of a book. But that cannot be the case with the Bible. The meaning of the text of Scripture cannot remain endlessly open to the mental wordplays of its readers. The exclusivity of Jesus is offensive to postmoderns, but it is not negotiable for the faithful followers of Jesus Christ.
Everything around us is changing, and Dallas Seminary must change in some ways in order to stay effective—not change for the sake of changing, but for the very sake of fulfilling our mission. However, what must never change is our commitment to the truth of the inerrant Scriptures. One of our supreme commitments is to hold firm to the Word of God in a world of social change.
Theological in Its Focus
By theological focus I mean that the focus of our lives, our studies, our service, and our love should be directed toward God. In Psalm 96 the psalmist exhorted everyone to sing a new song of praise to God, to proclaim the message of salvation, to declare the glory of God to the nations, to fear God who is superior to all, to ascribe to God what is due to Him, to worship Him in recognition of His greatness and holiness, to tremble before Him in humility, to say to all the nations that God reigns, and to rejoice and be glad since God will one day execute justice in all the earth.
Ronald B. Allen, professor of Bible exposition here at Dallas Seminary, writes, “For more than seventy-five years Dallas Seminary has had a constant, overarching emphasis in its theology on the glory of God. God’s glorious work in the redemption of fallen humanity is not an end in itself; it is part of the larger picture of God’s work in eternity, which centers in the display of His transcendent glory.”[7]
This is obvious in the doxology in Ephesians 1:3–14, in which each stanza climaxes with the phrase “to the praise of the glory of His grace” or “to the praise of His glory.” Thus the celebration of our salvation results in the expression of worship.
John Frame relates these two themes of redemption and glory in this way: “Redemption is the means; worship is the goal. In one sense worship is the whole point of everything. It is the purpose of history, the goal of the Christian story. Worship is not one segment of the Christian life among others. Worship is the entire Christian life, seen as a priestly offering to God.”[8]
As Gordon Borror wrote, “The lesson which seems to require constant rediscovery is the fact that worship is not primarily a state of art but rather a state of the heart. By state of the heart we mean the driving desire behind the worship life of the believer.”[9]
Theological focus must be both doxological and Christological. “Doxological” means that the focus of our lives should be to know God better than we know anyone else and to love God more than we love anything or anyone else. This is fitting in light of God’s goal for human history, according to 1 Corinthians 15:28. When Jesus has established His millennial kingdom, “then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.”
“Christological” means that we honor and glorify the Son in all we do. “The Father … has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father” (John 5:22–23). Thus the theological focus is the glory of God and the glory of His Son. In Jesus’ high priestly prayer He defined eternal life in doxological and Christological terms. “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).
Spiritual in Its Nature
McGrath warns, “If there is any long-term threat to the future of evangelicalism, it may well be the lack of attention to spirituality.”[10] By speaking of spirituality in our training I mean the total integration of faith into everyday life. As Luther advocated long ago, spirituality is life in the world oriented toward God rather than life undertaken in withdrawal from the world. Jesus taught that we are to be in the world but not of it (John 17:15–16). Today the church too often withdraws itself from the world and yet it has become more and more like the world. Worldliness undermines our public witness for Christ. As developed especially in the Pauline Epistles, the biblical answer to the world, the flesh, and the devil is a dependent life lived by the power of the Spirit. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). The ministry of the Holy Spirit is essential for living, service, and worship.
The Spirit is also essential if our witness for Christ is to be effective. As Paul wrote, “My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:4–5).
McGrath challenges believers to rediscover true spirituality in light of the great truths of Scripture. “The time has come to throw off the cult of dependency and move toward the development and rediscovery of spiritualities that will complement the great evangelical emphases on the sufficiency of the Scriptures, the centrality of the death of Christ, the need for personal conversion, and the evangelistic imperative.”[11]
Too many students today begin their studies as evangelicals and then, because of what they perceive as a lack of help in deepening their understanding of God through prayer and meditation, they turn to ritual and tradition in nonevangelical circles.
John Waterhouse, founder and publishing director of Albatross Books, decries “the loss of spiritual energy, originality and creativity.”[12] As a result we turn to alternative spiritualities from sources less than orthodox and powerlessly disconnected from the Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God was sent by Christ to indwell and empower each believer with that same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
It is time to rediscover the true source of our power, to recognize that it is not rationalism, mysticism, emotionalism, traditionalism, or asceticism. As Paul wrote in Colossians 2:23, these have no power against the flesh. As people of faith we need to experience life in the Spirit that is rooted in a personal identification with the cross of Christ and the Christ of the cross.
Spirituality must be related to our worship of God. A theological vacuity exists in much of evangelical worship today. The culture of style and entertainment has supplanted biblical concepts of worship and God’s call to the church to be holy.[13] Worship has become far too user-friendly and far too little fear-inducing. Styles of worship must minister across the generations and encourage the new in Christ as well as the mature in Christ—from the wee ones to the wise ones.
“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). God the Father is actively seeking such worshipers (v. 23).
Ethical in Its Effect
A few years ago Billy Graham was asked to reflect on evangelicalism’s past and future. Among the factors he advanced as keys to evangelical success in the coming years is obedience. “Few things discredit the gospel in the eyes of the world more quickly than moral and ethical failure by those claiming to follow Christ.”[14] Those who serve the Lord in leadership, and especially those who handle God’s Word, are held to a higher level of accountability than others who do not share that responsibility.
In the twelfth century Hugo of St. Victor linked disciplined thinking with moral self-scrutiny as two essentials in the preparation and contemplation of serving God. Such ethics are both personal and corporate.[15]
A sterling example of this was William Wilberforce, who served as a member of the English Parliament in the late eighteenth century. He had become a Christian through the influence of some of John Wesley’s early followers. Wilberforce’s Christian beliefs infused him with a strong sense of purpose. He found his mission in life sparked by his outrage over slave trade. His efforts to end slave trading began in 1787. Year after year his attempts in Parliament were defeated. Yet decades later, when Wilberforce was on his deathbed, slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire. His personal ethical response was used by God to alter a nation’s ethical direction.[16]
If we are to be salt in a decaying world and light in a dark world, we must respond correctly to the revelation of God. Moody has been quoted as saying, “The Bible was not written for our information, but for our transformation.”
Such an ethical obligation rests on Dallas Seminary, especially in light of our biblical eschatology. The apostles Peter and John both exhorted believers to lead lives of holiness in light of the Lord’s return. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (2 Pet. 3:10–11). “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. But we know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2–3).
Relational in Its Context
In a recent Christianity Today special edition on the role of seminaries one academician offered the following apologetic for the value of the seminary. “Seminaries undergird the mission of the church by the interrelated specifics of guarding the purity of the church’s mission, maintaining doctrinal purity (i.e. protecting against heresy), providing the church with sound leadership, shielding the church from negative cultural influences, renewing the church’s life and mission, and providing spiritual formation for church leaders.”[17]
We at Dallas Seminary must hold the following in proper tension for maximum effectiveness. (1) We must pursue the investigation of truth and the integrity of relationships. (2) We must balance our theology and our practice. (3) We must focus on the maturation of character and the acquisition of ministry skills. (4) We must expand partnerships between the Seminary and churches and parachurch ministries. (5) We must enhance the fellowship and mentoring of faculty and students. (6) We must improve the appreciation and coordination of the faculty and staff. (7) We need to take advantage of the unique opportunities that arise at the intersection of Christianity with culture. (8) We need to improve the dialogues within dispensationalism and in the broader evangelical world. (9) We should seek to penetrate the arenas of broader academia with the evangelical faith.
To be both biblical and relevant means that we must build bridges of relationships over which the truth can travel. We should hold our convictions with grace. But God has called us to be salt and light in the world in order to influence others both with the truth we believe and the manner in which we live. In so doing God will be glorified by our lives.
Missional in Its Purpose
Bennis and Warren write, “To choose a direction, a leader must first have developed a mental image of a possible and desirable future state of the organization. This image, which we call vision, may be as vague as a dream or as precise as a goal or mission statement. The critical point is that a vision articulates a view of a realistic, credible, attractive future for the organization, a condition that is better in some important ways than now exists.”[18]
Jesus said, “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). By imitating Christ one’s life is changed. By following Christ one learns His methods and motives for ministry. By identifying with Christ the believer is called to the centrality of the Cross. And training by Christ results in obeying truths that will impact our lives.
The mission of Dallas Seminary is to prepare men and women for ministry as godly servant-leaders in the body of Christ worldwide. By blending instruction in the Scriptures from our doctrinal perspective with practical training in ministry skills, we seek to produce graduates to do the work of evangelism, to edify believers, and to equip others by proclaiming and applying God’s Word in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
A good seminary education can provide an environment for biblical, theological, and ministry training, while allowing for personal reflection under the direction and encouragement of highly skilled and caring mentors that few people can find outside the seminary experience.
We at Dallas Seminary are committed to academic excellence with reliance on the inerrant Bible and within a context of spiritual nurture and modeling to assure preparation for effective ministry to a lost and hurting world. Our goal is for our graduates to reach people with the gospel of grace and help them mature spiritually, while cultivating their God-given gifts so that the church of Jesus Christ will be healthy and reproductive around the globe.
The unfortunate emergence of a purely cerebral education must be countered by a continued commitment to evangelism, an insistence that theology be related to pastoral practice, and an appreciation of the personal aspects of faith. We face the twin extremes of evangelical rationalism and unthinking emotionalism. My desire is that our Dallas Seminary theologians be evangelists and our evangelists be theologians, and that our scholars be pastors and our pastors be scholars.
May God help us to serve His purposes well in our generation. And as disciples instructed by Jesus, when we have done all we were commanded to do we should say, in the humility of heart enjoined by our Lord, “we are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done” (Luke 17:10). Non Immemer Beneficii! May we never be unmindful of His kindness and the grace that enables us to serve our sovereign Lord.
Notes
- Aquilla Webb, “Gratitude a Debt,” in 1001 Illustrations for Pulpit and Platform (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1926), 97.
- John Knox McLean, “The Presidency of Theological Seminaries. Should the Theological Seminary Have a Permanent President; And If So, What Should Be the Power and Duties of the Office?” quoted in Neely Dixon McCarter, The President as Educator: A Study of the Seminary Presidency (Atlanta: Scholars, 1996), 16.
- The installation service on October 19, 2001, was followed by a celebration banquet the following evening, October 20.
- John Hannah, Our Legacy: The History of Christian Doctrine (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2001), 18.
- R. Albert Mohler Jr., “Evangelical: What’s in a Name?” in The Coming Evangelical Crisis, ed. R. Kent Hughes et al. (Chicago: Moody, 1996), 39.
- Alister McGrath, Evangelicalism and the Future of Christianity (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1995), 63.
- Ronald B. Allen, The Wonder of Worship, Swindoll Leadership Library (Nashville: Word, 2001), 21.
- John M. Frame, Worship in Spirit and Truth (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1996), 11.
- Ronald Allen and Gordon Borror, Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 1982), 23.
- McGrath, Evangelicalism and the Future of Christianity, 137.
- Ibid., 121-22.
- John Waterhouse, “The Crisis of Evangelicalism,” On Being 18 (September 1992): 4-8.
- Mohler, “Evangelical: What’s in a Name?” 40.
- Billy Graham, “Standing Firm, Moving Forward,” Christianity Today, September 16, 1996, 15.
- “Hugonis de Sancto Victore Didascalicon de Studio Legendi: A Critical Text,” in Studies in Medieval and Renaissance X (Washington, DC: Catholic University Press, 1939).
- For more information see David J. Vaughn, Statesman and Saint: The Principled Politics of William Wilberforce (Nashville: Cumberland, 2001).
- Randy Frame, “Is Seminary Education Always Necessary for Pastoral Ministry?” Christianity Today, October 1, 2001, 84, 86.
- Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, The Strategies for Taking Charge, rev. ed. (New York: Harper & Row, 1996), 89.
The Doctrine of the Kingdom in Matthew 13
By Mark L. Bailey
[Mark L. Bailey is Vice President for Academic Affairs, Academic Dean, and Professor of Bible Exposition at Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas.
This is the final article in an eight-part series, “The Kingdom in the Parables of Matthew 13.”]
The message of the kingdom, preached by John, Jesus, and the disciples, included both the need for repentance and the announcement of the imminent coming of the kingdom. The former prepares individuals for the latter. Whereas in Luke 8:11 the message is called “the word of God,” Matthew appropriately referred to it as “the word of the kingdom” (Matt. 13:19), that is, the good news of the kingdom. While the message of the kingdom cannot be limited to the gospel, it must at least include it, as the various gospel contexts affirm. The good news is that God acted in Jesus Christ to provide redemption for humanity and to defeat all who would stand in the way of His being recognized as King.
Reception of the Word
The reception of “the word of the kingdom” produces varying degrees of growth in the lives of those who hear it. Maximum reception with a good and honest heart is shown to be God’s goal for every hearer of the Word of God (13:23). The right response to the message includes hearing, understanding, and doing (v. 23). Obedience is a critical concern in several of Matthew’s kingdom parables. The blessing of God is seen in the fruitfulness of one’s life. The degree of fruitfulness is not the same even among those responding rightly to the message of the kingdom. Each individual is unique in his or her heart response and understanding, and so the extent of fruitfulness also varies. That not all grow at the same rate is an encouragement not to judge one person by the benchmark of another. The differing rates of growth are also a warning that failure to produce fruit may indicate a problem in discipleship commitment that needs to be addressed. Hearing, understanding, obedience, and a commitment that holds fast even under pressure are prerequisites for maximum fruitfulness. Receptivity enhances productivity.
Rejection of the Word
Those who preach or teach the message of the kingdom need to realize that not all will respond as they ought. Three obstacles to the effective appropriation of the message of the kingdom include satanic activity, external pressures from those unsympathetic to God’s purposes, and the lack of internal spirituality within the hearers themselves (in which worry, the desire for riches, and being overly attached to this present world keep the Word of God from producing His desired results, vv. 19–22). The first obstacle is Satan, who seeks to snatch the word of the kingdom from the hearts of those who hear it but have not yet responded to it. The second obstacle is affliction and persecution from others when initial interest has been shown by a prospective hearer. The third distraction is personal desires that can choke out any possibility of a fruitful response. “The main aim of the parables is to describe the activity of God in Jesus, more particularly so that men may trust in it and become disciples, or else be offended at it.”[1]
Opposition to the Word of God
Two spiritual leaders are revealed in Matthew 13 as competing for influence in the world: the Son of Man and Satan. The devil, as the enemy (vv. 25, 28, 39) of Christ and believers, uses various strategies in seeking to carry out his objectives. One is to snatch away the word of the kingdom from those who have not yet adequately welcomed it, in order to keep it from taking root and producing fruit in people’s lives. Another strategy of the enemy of the Son of Man is placing his “sons” (tares) into the world to masquerade as sons of the kingdom. This counterfeiting activity introduces into the world a hypocritical substitution of “sons of the evil one” to imitate those who are the real “sons of the kingdom” (v. 38). Thus the righteous and the wicked are defined by their family relationship. Each person is either a son of the kingdom that belongs to God or a son of the devil, whose desire is to deceive and to destroy God’s work. The fact that it is often difficult to distinguish the sons of the evil one from the sons of the kingdom supports the fact of satanic deceitfulness mentioned throughout Scripture. Such masquerading religiosity has always been one of the enemy’s tactics. A third strategy of Satanic opposition is more subtle. Some individuals are classified as “stumbling blocks” (v. 41). These will be judged at the end of the age along with the rest of the wicked. Therefore the kingdom is under attack by Satan and those he uses as his representatives.
In spite of this hostility the kingdom of heaven will survive and succeed. The judgment at the end of the age will reveal the true identity of those wicked individuals who are allied with Satan and his attempts to frustrate God’s kingdom purposes. A professed allegiance or a superficial response is inadequate for a relationship with Christ and participation in His kingdom.
The Timing of the Kingdom
The parables of Matthew 13 reveal three phases of the kingdom. The aorist tense of several verbs in the parable of the tares (vv. 24–28) suggests a previous history for the kingdom. This would pertain to the revelation and development of God’s kingdom purposes in the Old Testament. The parable of the tares also speaks of a future phase of the kingdom referred to as “His [i.e., Christ’s] kingdom” (v. 41) and “the kingdom of their Father” (v. 43), referents to the Messiah’s future earthly reign. By far the most dominant phase of the kingdom in these parables is the present interadvent age. This period is portrayed as having a beginning (planting), phenomenal growth and extension, and a culminating judgment. This present phase began with the ministry of Jesus and His disciples. Jesus is seen as having an active and personal role in the planting phase of the kingdom (vv. 3–4). This will be an extended period of time leading to the end of the age with its climactic events.
What began with hardly any perceptible presence will reach a level of international proportions. The world continues in this era to be the stage for conflict between Satan and the Son of Man and between those they strategically place in the world to carry on their influence and purposes. The present (“mystery”) form of the kingdom is broader than but includes the church age. At the culmination of this interadvent phase of God’s kingdom angels will accompany Jesus and will separate (vv. 39, 41, 49) the wicked from the righteous. The righteous then will shine as the sun in the Lord’s kingdom (v. 43).
The Kingdom as a Present Reality
The parables in Matthew 13 focus on the phase of God’s kingdom program that extends from the time of Israel’s rejection of Jesus in His earthly ministry to the time of judgment at His second coming. Both the beginning (planting) and expansion (growth) of the interadvent phase of the kingdom are noted. The world is portrayed as the stage for the ongoing conflict between the work of the Son of Man and Satan, between the sons of the kingdom and the sons of the evil one. The various responses to the kingdom message and the continuing conflict of the kingdom messengers (sons of the kingdom) in the first two parables are portrayed as initial stages that will progress to the time of harvest.
The mustard seed and the leavening process depict the successful growth of the kingdom in the present age. While not intended necessarily to trace the growth itself, the small beginning and extensive expansion to the end argue for an indefinite period of time between these two points. These parables signal coming judgment for those of Israel who were rejecting the message of Jesus. These parables also encourage believers to remember that what God is doing during the present phase of the kingdom will enjoy a successful growth. And, in contrast to what was thought by some to be only a Jewish hope, the kingdom of God in the present age, starting with almost imperceptible beginnings, will survive and even expand to international proportions, bringing light to the nations before the end of the age.
What Jesus is doing in the present age is consistent with what God has designed for the future phase of the kingdom. This includes the international ministry to the Gentiles and their participation in the kingdom of God. While the institutional structures through which God works in each age differ, they all emphasize His concern for the world. The humble beginning and seemingly small results in Jesus’ ministry are not inconsistent with the future manifestation of the kingdom of God in which His absolute worldwide sovereignty will be recognized and consummated.
The growth of the kingdom in its interadvent phase does not result from external religious activity. Instead the growth comes by means of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is the invisible yet effective Agent of transforming growth.
The Sons of the Kingdom
The people placed by the Son of Man in the world to represent Him are called the sons of the kingdom. The citizens (sons) of the kingdom may seem indistinguishable from those who are not sons of the kingdom. However, as sons of the kingdom they are related to Christ as God’s children by means of their obedient faith. The metaphor of wheat shows them to be the desired harvest from the earth. They are contrasted with the sons of the evil one who, pictured by the tares, will be rejected by the Son of Man when He returns to earth.
The Lord’s servants are to resist the temptation to prejudge the people of this world, for two reasons. One is the danger of mistaking the character of those being evaluated (v. 29), and another is that the right of judgment is reserved for the Son of Man. He alone has the ability to discern the true character of those He will judge.
Discipleship and the Kingdom
Since Jesus interpreted the first two and the last four parables for the disciples in private, it follows that these parables suggest principles by which the disciples should live and minister. The disciples are presented in Matthew as the privileged recipients of the mysteries, since they are credited with a responsive heart of understanding (vv. 11–12, 51). Fruitfulness results from such a response. Implied also is the ongoing need to have an honest heart if future insight and fruitfulness are to be realized.
Disciples are prohibited from being the agents of judgment during the present phase of the kingdom (v. 30). As stated earlier, the reasons are that they would be prone to misjudge because of their inability to distinguish the sons of the kingdom from the sons of the evil one, and the role of judge has been delegated to the Son of Man along with his “collection agents,” the angels.
The disciples can be confident that though the kingdom with which they aligned themselves may have a small beginning, its future will be glorious and international through the powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit. What may seem invisible in its beginnings and even in its process and progress will have dramatic results in God’s timing.
Those who are disciples of Jesus and His kingdom must be prepared to give up everything that would stand in the way of wholehearted commitment to the priority of the kingdom of God, as emphasized in the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl merchant. Whether one realizes its value or not, whether one was looking for it or not (vv. 44–46), the kingdom is so valuable it is worth giving up all for it. These are reasons for participating in the kingdom; it is valuable, and its benefits bring joy. Therefore whatever is given up for the pursuit of the kingdom is not really a loss. God’s kingdom should be the highest priority in one’s life. The theme of total commitment for those who would be disciples of the kingdom is a well-recognized theme in the Synoptic Gospels.
The Mission of the Kingdom
The mission of the kingdom includes both evangelism and edification, both worldwide proclamation and comprehensive teaching. The international mission of the kingdom has been designed to reach people of “every kind” (v. 47), that is, people of every tribe, tongue, and nation. The disciples of the kingdom are to invite everyone to come in. Separation of the good from the bad (the righteous from the wicked) will be the future responsibility of the Son of Man and His angels (vv. 41, 49–50).
Teaching both the new and old truths of the kingdom is the burden of the final parable in verses 51–52. Referring to the “new” before mentioning the “old” places the focus on the mysteries of the kingdom-the parables of this chapter and probably the others Jesus taught in His ministry. The “old” would include what had already been communicated in the Old Testament about the kingdom and its future fulfillment.
The Judgment at the End of the Age
The judgment that will separate the wicked from the righteous will not occur until the end of the age. This final judgment is depicted by the images of harvesttime and the close of a fishing day (vv. 30, 48–50). This judgment will divide humanity, not along racial or religious lines as supposed by many of Israel’s leaders but according to the character of people’s lives, which will reveal their relationship and response to Jesus. The wicked will be confined to eternal punishment and the righteous will remain to enter into the kingdom of the Father (vv. 41–43, 49–50).
The agents of that judgment are said to be the angels, while the Son of Man is portrayed as the Judge who has the right to determine the destiny of both the righteous and the wicked. The punitive judgment is said to include all who are stumbling blocks and all who are guilty of wickedness (v. 41). This speaks not only of their personal character but also of their negative influence on others. Those so judged will experience weeping and gnashing of teeth (vv. 42, 50), which connotes the anguish and anger the condemned will experience in their eternal separation from God. The righteous, on the other hand, will enjoy the kingdom of the Father (v. 43), sharing in His glory.
The parables clearly support a premillennial perspective on eschatology. After the judgment at the end of the age the righteous will become a community of believers who are said to be like light in the kingdom of the Father (v. 43). The judgment that determines who will enter this future phase of the kingdom will take place on earth; no translation of saints to heaven is mentioned in Matthew 13. Therefore the future phase of the kingdom must also be on earth, and will follow the judgment of the wicked and the righteous that will occur when the Son of Man returns to earth.
The Self-Understanding of Jesus as King of the Kingdom
One of the most controversial subjects in the study of the Gospels pertains to Jesus’ self-understanding. Therefore it is only natural to ask what the parables of Matthew 13 contribute to that subject. Jesus’ boldness in teaching about His right to share the privileges of God argues strongly for His deity as well as His right to rule as the messianic King.[2] The parables themselves contain some of the boldest references by Jesus about Himself.
As Blomberg observes, “Never did such individuals [other prophets or spokesmen of God] apply symbols for God to themselves so consistently as did Jesus, and none ever claimed that he was doing precisely what the Scriptures said God himself would do. Yet in the parables Jesus claims to forgive sin, usher in the kingdom, sow his word in human hearts, graciously welcome undeserving sinners into God’s presence, seek out and rescue his lost sheep, oversee the final judgment, and distinguish those who will and those who will not enter the kingdom.”[3]
In the parable of the tares Jesus is identified as “the Son of Man” (vv. 37, 41). This title speaks of His humanity and deity in His incarnation, earthly ministry, and coming judgment. This title is loaded with implications for the kingdom.[4] Jesus has the authority to send angels to gather humanity for the great separation at the end of the age. He is not indifferent to the evil that exists in the world, as a delay of judgment might lead some to conclude. As the One who can give directions to the angels and who will preside over the judgment, only Jesus has the authority to judge. As seen in the parable of the tares, even the servants of the Son of Man are not allowed to judge (vv. 29–30). The fact that the kingdom is said to be His (v. 41) reveals He has the right to be the King. He is the One who determines the eternal punishment for the wicked and the entrance of the righteous into the kingdom of the Father. In the parable of the tares Jesus is seen as present at both the beginning of the planting process and the harvest at the end of the age. These facts clearly show that Jesus understood that He is the coming divine King.
Applicational Principles
Several applicational principles can be gleaned from the intended appeals of the parables in Matthew 13.
- Not everyone will respond to the message of the kingdom, and not all who do respond are equally fruitful.
- Satan is personally active in seeking to prevent people from receiving the message of God’s kingdom.
- Both external pressures and internal distractions hinder the proper appropriation of the Word of God.
- God desires that people hear, understand, and apply the truth of His Word in order to be fruitful for Him.
- The hearers of the Word are at least partially responsible for the level of productivity in their lives.
- Jesus’ followers should realize that Satan sends his representatives into the world to masquerade as sons of the kingdom to disrupt and hinder the work of Christ.
- Believers need to be realistic about the presence of hypocrites, but believers should not assume the role reserved for Jesus by seeking to judge others.
- Servants of the Lord need to wait patiently for Jesus to judge and separate the wicked from the righteous.
- People should decide to be followers of Christ in light of the impending judgment which will determine their eternal destiny.
- God has promised the righteous a glorious future in the shared reign of the Son and the Father in the next phase of the kingdom, Jesus’ rule on earth.
- The success of God’s work cannot be fully evaluated until the time of the judgment.
- Messiah has come in humility and will one day reign in sovereignty.
- The work of the Spirit authenticates the ministry of Jesus Christ.
- Jesus’ disciples need to depend on the invisible yet powerfully transforming work of the Holy Spirit.
- The kingdom of heaven should be the highest priority of anyone who finds it.
- No sacrifice is too great in light of the value of the kingdom.
- The joy of participating in the kingdom should motivate Jesus’ followers to make whatever sacrifice is necessary.
- Discipleship calls for wholehearted dedication to God’s kingdom purposes.
- Participation in God’s kingdom is not restricted to any single race.
- Jesus places a high priority on evangelism to all classes and cultures.
- The need to evangelize the world is motivated by the reality of future judgment.
- God’s judgment will be based on inner character rather than cultural backgrounds.
- John J. Vincent, Secular Christ (Nashville: Abingdon, 1968), 113.
- For an extended discussion of this observation see Philip Barton Payne, “Jesus’ Implicit Claim to Deity in His Parables,” Trinity Journal 2 (Winter 1981): 2-23.
- Craig Blomberg, Interpreting the Parables (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1990), 320.
- Daniel 7:13–14 especially speaks of the expectation of the coming kingdom and the reign of the saints with the Son of Man.