Matthew 13:47-58

Do turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

And we're finishing off a series on the parables in Matthew 13.

! I head off on holiday on Thursday,

!

Now someone was telling me that when they became a Christian,

their girlfriend lost all respect for him.

She was utterly baffled that he had given his life to Jesus.

It was like she thought he'd gone soft in the head,

and so a relationship that mattered very, very much to him

slowly went wrong and was over.

And maybe today you look at your colleagues in work,

and for them in work, their career is everything that matters to them.

Work matters to you, but not in the way it matters to them.

You want to bring honour to Jesus,

but you're not driven in the same way to get to the top,

at all costs.

And so you sometimes look at their holiday,

you look at their successes,

and look at the holidays they go on with a kind of wistfulness,

a bit of envy.

You think,

it could have been me,

if I hadn't been following Jesus.

Maybe it's friends at school,

or people in your family,

and following Jesus has made you feel rather different from them.

Maybe there's this drip, drip, drip of mockery,

and it hurts.

And moments like that,

we begin to wonder if following Jesus really is the right thing to do.

Maybe we've not consciously articulated it,

but over time,

living in the midst of that,

we've just eased off the Christian life a little bit.

Once we were like the guy in verse 44,

can you see him?

In verse 44,

this guy discovers Jesus,

in his joy,

he goes and says,

all that he has,

whatever it cost to buy that field,

whatever it cost was nothing besides the value of that treasure.

It was joy.

But now maybe the thrill has gone.

Or maybe you're like the merchant in verse 45,

of all the pearls in all the world,

that pearl was the one worth having.

It was the one worth having more than any other pearl.

But now a few years,

maybe a few decades down the track,

well, there are other pearls.

And we don't want to miss out on them.

It's a curious thing, isn't it?

If you have an athlete or a sports person

who is totally devoted to winning a gold medal,

or totally devoted to winning that trophy,

we admire them.

They're all out for it.

They're all in for it.

And we admire them.

But if we talk about being totally devoted to the Lord Jesus,

it sounds just a bit unhinged, doesn't it?

And I guess that's because we've muddled the price tags up.

A gold medal seems worth it.

A trophy seems worth it.

Success in work seems worth it.

But Jesus, well, we're not so sure.

And by the time you get to the end of chapter 13,

I think it is a bit of a puzzle.

Jesus, you say that following you is like treasure.

Jesus, you say you are the one,

that you're the pearl worth having,

but it doesn't look like it.

And if we're going to understand

the puzzlement of the disciples

at the end of chapter 13,

you've got to go back right to the beginning of the Bible.

The story of the Bible, you know it,

is the story of a God who is the creator of the world.

And because he's the creator of the world,

he's the ruler of it.

He made us,

and so he's the one that knows how we're to live.

He has the authority to say who is right

and who is wrong

and what is right and what is wrong.

But the story of humankind

is a story of rebellion.

It's a story of us saying,

we will not have you as our king.

We will not recognize you as our king.

We want to go our own way.

We don't want to go your way.

We want to do our own thing.

And so his kingdom has been taken over by rebel forces.

And whenever rebel forces take over a kingdom,

there's bloodshed.

There's always chaos and fear on the streets.

And that is what the world has become.

But back in the Old Testament,

in the midst of that confusion,

God had promised that he would send his king into the world.

He would send his king into the world to rebuild it,

to rebuild his kingdom.

And he gives to us a beautiful vision

of a king who will put down the rebellion,

who will deal with all things that are wrong

and put all things right.

And he will wipe away every tear dry.

And all that is broken will be fixed.

Everything will be restored

to how the king wants it to be.

And people will be restored to a right relationship

with the king they were created for.

It will be paradise.

That's the end of the story of the Bible.

The Old Testament ends with 400 years of waiting,

400 years of nothing.

No sound.

And then there's a guy called John the Baptist

who gets up and he says,

get ready because the king is coming.

People are looking round for the Lord of the universe

to step onto the stage

and up steps Jesus of Nazareth.

And he says,

here I am.

I'm the one you've been waiting for.

I'm the one who will bring in the kingdom of heaven.

And that phrase comes up again and again and again,

doesn't it,

in Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

This is what it means.

This is what the kingdom of heaven is like.

It is God the king

keeping his promise

to restore all things

to how they were meant to be.

It is God the king

keeping his promise

to restore all things

to how they were meant to be.

And Jesus is saying,

I am that king.

At first,

the disciples,

they are so excited

to be part of this.

They drop everything literally

and follow Jesus.

It started off brilliantly.

Jesus teaches

and thousands sit spellbound.

He heals the sick.

He stills the storm.

He even raises

a little girl

back from the dead.

And the disciples are thinking,

this is God's king.

He's got the power

and he's got the authority

to put this broken world

back together again.

To quash rebellion.

And then things take a strange turn.

Jesus starts warning his followers

that he will get arrested.

John the Baptist,

he gets thrown into prison.

Jesus performs miracles

in Chorazin

and Bethsaida

and Capernaum

and people do not acknowledge him

as king.

And the religious authorities,

they start to plot

to kill him.

And Jesus says

to his disciples,

follow me,

come and be part of what I'm doing

to restore all things

to how they were meant to be.

This is treasure.

This is the one cause

worth living for

and dying for

and giving up everything for.

But the question is,

are you sure, Jesus?

Because if you really are the king

and if you really do have authority

and power to deal with what's wrong

and you really can put things right,

how come things are going so wrong?

How come life is as it is?

Look at verse 47.

Jesus says,

again,

the kingdom of heaven

is like a net

that was thrown into the sea

and gathered fish of every kind.

When the net was full,

men drew it ashore,

sat down

and sorted the good

into containers,

but threw the bad away.

Two points this morning.

The first thing is this.

Jesus wants you to remember

that the kingdom of God

is treasure

when you remember

the day that's to come.

Jesus wants you to remember

that the kingdom of God

is treasure

when you remember

the day that is still to come.

The picture Jesus paints

is that there are all kinds of fish

swimming in the lake.

There are sardines,

there are catfish,

fish,

there's cod,

there's sea bass,

there's tuna,

whatever there is

else on sailing little.

And there's a great net.

There are two boats, actually,

and the net is put

between the two boats

and they trawl through the lake.

And they sweep up the fish.

It's dragged along.

And then the net

is dragged onto shore

and they sort the fish.

There is the good fish.

There's the fish

they can sell.

And they keep them

and they put them in a basket.

And they're the fish

that are ready for market.

But there's also the bad fish.

Bad fish that they can't sell

because no one will eat them.

And the bad fish

get thrown out

and the good fish

get eaten.

Neither option

is particularly appealing,

is it?

Which is just a

great reminder, isn't it?

You need to remember

when you come to the parables

that we're not meant

to push the parables

into different directions.

The simple point is this.

Jesus is saying

there's going to be

a day of sorting out.

Today there are

two kinds of fish.

There are the good fish

and the bad fish

and they're swimming around

in the lake together.

But today

is not the end of the story.

There's a net coming

and one day

all the fish

will be sorted.

And Jesus is saying,

isn't he,

there are two types of people.

There are the wicked

and the righteous

and the wicked

are those who continue

to rebel against the king

and the righteous

are not those

who are better

than everyone else

but they are those

who put down their weapons.

They've turned

from their rebellion

and they've got right

with the king

and they've been restored

to a right relationship

with the king

and they are following Jesus.

And the thing is,

if you are following Jesus,

you are swimming around

in the lake of this world.

And you are looking around

and you are thinking,

I thought,

I thought the king

was meant to love his people.

I thought the king

was meant to love

and protect them.

But we all seem to be

swimming around

in the same lake.

And when there's a war,

the righteous

get caught up

in the same war

as the wicked.

And when there are redundancies,

the righteous get laid off

the same as the wicked.

And both groups

suffer injustice.

Both groups get sick.

Both groups get sad.

And there are still tears.

And often it's the very fact

that we are following Jesus

that has caused the tears.

Look through the lens of today

and it makes you wonder,

does this king

actually have the authority

that he says he has?

I mean,

we've thrown our lot

in with the right guy,

have we?

But today is not

the end of the story.

There's a net coming.

And there's going to be a day

when the king sorts everyone

and everything out.

Just like the fishermen

lower their net

into the lake,

Jesus says he will send

his angels

to gather up

all the people in the world.

They'll gather up

presidents and prime ministers

and all the people

of every tribe

and nation

and language

and all your friends

and all your family

and everyone in your

whole school

and all your colleagues

and the people you love

and the people you envy

because they seem to have it all.

and he will gather them

all up

and sort them.

Look what it says

in verse 49.

So it will be

at the end of the age

the angels will come out

and separate the evil

from the righteous

and throw them

into the fiery furnace.

In that place

there will be weeping

and gnashing of teeth.

And those are very hard words

to hear aren't they?

How can he say this?

How can anyone

so full of love

like Jesus

speak words

as brutal as this?

We often think

don't we

that the fact

that there's a final judgment

shows that he is bad.

No it shows

that he is good.

Because we long

for justice to be done.

Here is the promise

justice

will be done.

He will put things

right.

But by putting

things right

he will deal

with the things

which are wrong.

He will deal

with all that opposes

his rule

which means

that he will deal

with all the people

who oppose his rule.

And I take it

the reason he tells us

and he tells you

this morning

is because he loves us.

And he wants us

to be part of his kingdom.

And he doesn't want you

to walk away this morning

thinking that his kingdom

is not really worth it

after all.

That his kingdom

is not precious.

He wants you

to see the sort of kingdom

that you are part of.

We see in the New Testament

the kingdom of God

what it's going to be like.

And then we look around

the world

at poverty

at sickness

and injustice

and we can be tempted

to think

that he's failed.

But he's not failed.

He's not yet finished.

The net is coming.

He is the king.

He has started

the restoration project

in this room.

Look around you.

There are people

who were once rebels

who've been restored

to the king.

Every church

that meets

in the name

of the Lord Jesus

and calls on his name

today

is evidence

that the resurrection

that the restoration

project has begun.

People are being right.

Being put right.

But it's not finished.

And Jesus wants you

and I to know

that one day

he will call a halt

to this old world.

And one day

he will sort

everything out.

And that is when

he will wipe away

every tear.

And there will be

no more death

and no more mourning

or crying

or pain

because the king

will finally

sort everything out.

And we will see him

face to face.

And we will be with him

and enjoying him

in all his beauty.

And we will enjoy

the fact that

he is our king

and we belong to him.

What a blessing

that will be.

So do you see

how Jesus is reassuring

his followers

this morning?

You might be

looking around

this morning

looking around

at your life

and thinking

it is not worth

following Jesus.

He's failed.

But know

the net is coming.

One day

the king

will sort everything.

He's not failed.

He's just not finished.

And Jesus is saying

in the light

of that fact

that the net

is coming

the real treasure

is not that

you've got a place

on the team.

it's not

that you've got

a place

on the graduate

scheme.

It's not even

that you've got

a place

in the country

even.

The real treasure

is that you've got

a place

in the kingdom

of God.

And on the day

when the king

comes back

to sort out

those who are his

look what Jesus

says about the people

he will throw

into the furnace.

He says

there will be

weeping

and gnashing

of teeth.

it's a picture

of total despair.

And the fact

that they were

very very popular

and they went

to all the best

parties

will be

no consolation

to them.

They thought

they had

treasure

but they were

desperately wrong.

They had

trinkets.

The real

treasure

Jesus says

is when you

have a place

in the kingdom.

And so often

those of us

who are Christians

those of us

who are in the

kingdom

we look across

at others

and all that

they seem to

have

and we tie

ourselves

in knots.

And maybe

we think

that in following

Jesus

we're missing

out on life

and there are

days when we

think that

and we think

I don't know

whether it's

worth it.

I don't think

he is worth it

but do you see

what Jesus is

saying?

He's saying

remember the day

that is to come.

And if you

have a place

in the kingdom

it may cost

you friendships

it may cost

you promotion

it may cost

you your

reputation

if you live

in certain

parts of the

world today

it may cost

you your

freedom

it may cost

you your

life

but when the

net comes

and all the

fish are

sorted

you will be

in no doubt

whatsoever

that it was

worth it.

as you see

when we look

at today

in the light

of the day

that is to

come

it changes

today.

It's not just

that one day

there'll be

treasure

but do you see

the treasure

you have

anticipating that

breaks into the

future.

Think about

if you're going

to a gig

if you've got

tickets to a

concert

that you've

been really

looking forward

to or you're

really looking

forward to

the big

sporting event

it's not just

the then

that you enjoy

is it?

You look

forward to it

you might

maybe have

the tickets

in your hand

you look

forward to

the then

now

you enjoy

the fullness

of the gig

or the concert

and the sports

event then

but now

you enjoy

the prospect

of it.

the fact

that you

are going

on holiday

maybe later

this week

means that

today is

very different

isn't it?

You look

forward to

the prospect

of it

and Matthew

has been

saying to us

in his gospel

think of

who Jesus

is.

He is the

king.

He is the

king who

is all

powerful

all knowing

and all

wise

and totally

just and

completely

pure

and he's

gentle

and he's

kind

and he's

patient.

He's the

king who

keeps all

his promises.

He's the

king who's

going to sort

everything out.

The king of

a kingdom

that will

last forever

and it will

be wonderful.

He's the

king who

has the

authority

over who

can and

can't be

part of

that kingdom.

And this

king has

forgiven you

and this

king loves

you and

this king

says you

are his

that you

are a member

of his

kingdom

and that on

that day of

sorting you've

got nothing

to fear.

to know

that you'll

be with

him and

that you're

going to

enjoy him

in his

kingdom

forever.

That is

precious.

And that

is treasure

that's not

just for

the future.

That is a

treasure that

makes today

different.

We are

rich.

The kingdom

of heaven

is treasure

and when you

remember the

day that is

to come

then Jesus

says in

verse 51

have you

understood all

these things?

Have you

got what I'm

talking about?

Have you

understood the

kind of

kingdom that

I'm going

to bring

in?

Have you

seen why

you cannot

walk away?

Have you

seen that

it is

treasure?

And they

say verse

51 yeah.

And so

Jesus says

well if you

have therefore

every scribe

who's been

trained for

the kingdom

of heaven

is like a

master of

a house

who brings

out of his

treasure what

is new and

what is old.

And so

what he's

saying secondly

is this that

the kingdom

of heaven if

the kingdom

of heaven is

treasure therefore

share it with

others.

If the kingdom

of heaven is

treasure therefore

share it with

others.

That's how it

goes in life

isn't it?

You know

something is

treasure if you

know something

is treasure you

can't help but

pass it on.

I recently

have had three

lovely opportunities

to speak about

how great a

thing Park

Run is.

How it's

great for

children.

It's good

for the

community.

There's

obvious

health benefits.

You can

do it

anywhere in

the country

or around

the world.

You can

get

milestone

t-shirts.

You can

get your

stats and

track your

progress.

That if

you look

at Park

Run

in one

way it's

very much

like

church life.

In

other

ways it's

a paradigm

for Roman

Catholicism

I'm

very

good at

telling

people

about

Park

Run.

About how

you need

to get

registered

and get

your

barcode

and what

you can

do

with

your

barcode.

But you

know

I've never

been on

a course

that helps

me to

explain the

virtues of

Park

Run.

I've never

had training

on how to

speak about

Park Run.

It just

tumbles out

of my

mouth.

My heart

is so full

of it I

open my

mouth and

I speak

of it.

And what

happens is

when we

lose the

sense of

the good

news of

the Lord

Jesus being

treasure our

hearts are

not that

full so

our mouths

don't speak.

And what

Jesus is

saying here

is if we

understand

what a

treasure it

is we

will not

be able to

keep our

mouths shut

about it.

He says

if you're a

teacher of

the law

and you've

been instructed

about the

kingdom of

heaven you're

like the

owner of a

house and

the owner of

the house

well he's a

wealthy sort

of guy.

Owners of

houses in

Matthew's

gospel are

nearly always

wealthy and

he's a

little bit

like the

merchant that

we looked

at last

week.

He's built

up an

art collection

and he's

got a

jewel encrusted

sword from

Athens.

He's got

gold bracelets

from Alexandria.

There's this

beautiful vase

that he picked

up in

Damascus and

there's a

whole series

of matching

plates in

Corinth.

And these

things are

so beautiful

that he

doesn't keep

them in a

storeroom

hidden away

from people.

He brings

them out.

He puts

them on

display.

He shares

them with

everyone.

One of

Matthew's

themes as

you read

through his

gospel is

that Jesus

has come to

fulfill the

Old Testament.

And what

Jesus is

saying here

is if you

were an

ordinary

teacher of

the law

you would

share the

treasure of

the law.

But if you

are a

teacher of

the law

and you're

instructed about

the kingdom

there's something

new to teach.

But it's

not just

something new

that has

come along

so we can

bin the

old.

That wasn't

up to

much.

Let's

talk about

the new

teachings of

Jesus.

It's not

that.

He's

saying if

you understand

the kingdom

of heaven

you will

teach the

Old and

New Testament

and you'll

see that

the old

has not

been

binned

but it's

been

fulfilled

by the

Lord

Jesus.

If you

understand

what I'm

saying

Jesus

is saying

I'm

not just

another

guy who's

turned up

out of

the blue

with some

new

teachings

that might

be of

some

interest

to some

people

I'm

the one

who's

fulfilled

the

Old

Testament.

I'm

the king

who was

promised

to bring

into the

kingdom

and if

you understand

how the

old has

been fulfilled

in the

new

then you

can't

keep it

to yourself

you'll

share

it.

You'll

teach

it.

He's

telling you

that Jesus

is not

some

hobby

horse

that people

bang on

about.

Maybe

you're

into

Formula

One

I

couldn't

care less

about

Formula

One

I

don't

understand

it.

You

talk to

me

about

Formula

One

I'm

not

interested

in it.

It's

good for

you but

it's

not

good

for

me.

Jesus

is not

like

that.

No he

is the

one that

the Old

Testament

promised.

And the

one that

the Old

Testament

promised

is not

some

religious

leader

who

might

work

for

some

people

but

not

work

for

other

people.

He

is

God's

king

over

the

whole

world.

And

one

day

every

knee

will

bow.

And so

when someone

shares the

Lord Jesus

with you

if you're

not a

Christian

this

morning

they're

not

doing it

to be

pushy.

It's

because of

who he

is.

The

king who

will

gather

up

gather

up

his

people.

He's

the one

who will

sort

all

things

out.

And that

means not

just some

people who

are into

this sort

of thing

need to

hear him

but everyone

every single

person needs

to hear

about him.

Everyone

needs to

know.

Jesus

said the

kingdom of

heaven is

like

treasure

and he

uses the

same

words

in verse

52.

If you

understand me

and my

kingdom you're

like the

art dealer.

You've got

treasure and

you can't

keep it

hidden away

in a

storeroom.

You've

got to

get it

out.

You've

got to

share

it.

And if

you do

not share

it,

Jesus is

saying you've

not understood

it.

Because if

you understand

who I am,

Jesus is

saying,

you will

share it.

Jesus is

for everyone.

It's not

Jesus is

helpful for

me.

I find

him really

helpful.

But it's

not for

the person

next door

to me at

work or

my next

door neighbor

or my

father or

my neighbors.

It's not

really that

kind of

thing.

If you're

saying that

this morning,

Jesus is

saying to

you,

you've

not

understood

who I

am.

And so

these

disciples who

said yes

understood who

he was and

went round

preaching the

message of

the kingdom.

And most

of them were

killed for

it.

Why did

they do

it?

You may

know this.

In the

16th century,

there were

some young

men who

would leave

Geneva in

Switzerland to

go and plant

churches in

France.

Their life

expectancy was

six months.

That's how

hostile the

reception was.

In the

19th century,

there were

British and

American

missionaries

who would

head for

West Africa

and they

would pack

all their

belongings into

a coffin because

they know that

they would need

it soon.

And when the

news came

back that

people had

died and

been killed,

more people

stepped up to

go.

Why?

In Cambodia

in 1979,

when the Khmer

Rouge was

massacring

Christians,

a 14-year-old

boy by the

name of

Chen had

escaped the

country and

he was in a

refugee camp

where it was

safe.

But he

discovered who

Jesus was and

when it struck

him that there

were people in

his village who

had not heard

the good news

about Jesus,

he decided to

go back.

Chen was dying

of stomach

cancer, he was

weak and he

was frail and

armed with

leaflets explaining

the Christian

message, he

walked back to

his village in

Cambodia through

minefields to

tell his fellow

villagers.

One can hardly

imagine the

amazement of

those villagers.

With this

pathetic looking

little 14-year-old

lad leaning on

two crutches

standing before

them, holding

out gospel

tracts.

Most of them

would have given

all that they

had to be in

the place that

he had just

left.

A secure

refugee camp

complete with

food and

medicine and

possible sponsorship

to America.

What was it that

compelled him to

return?

Why did he do

it?

Why did he do

it?

Because he had

understood that

the good news of

King Jesus is a

message that

everyone needs.

He'd understood

that the net was

coming.

And so in the

light of that

day, more than

anything else in

the people of the

world, the people of

the world needed

the treasure of the

good news of how to

be right with the

King.

To be ready for

the day when he

comes.

For many of us,

as I speak this

morning, you, like

myself, are worried

what people would

think.

You're worried about

the loss of a

friendship.

Worried about the

demands that this

puts on you.

Worried about the

comfort that you

would have to give

up.

Worried about the

time that it would

take to be involved

in a ministry that

would tell people

about this.

Worried maybe about

what it would mean

for your job.

And we immediately

think, don't we,

what it will cost

us.

Jesus says,

don't think like

that.

If you have the

gospel of the Lord

Jesus Christ, if you

have entered into the

kingdom of heaven, you

might lose all the

trinkets of this

world, but you have

treasure.

You have treasure.

And the fact that

we've forgotten its

treasure means we've

forgotten its value.

And so we think of

our friends and our

family and our

neighbours and our

work colleagues and

we think, they don't

need this.

But Jesus says to you

and I this morning,

there's a net coming.

And in the light of

the net, if they do

not have a place in

the kingdom, they are

poor.

And in our

storeroom, we've got

the treasure that

they need.

The picture is

encouraging, I

think.

Rejection often

makes you stop,

doesn't it?

And give up.

You think people

don't get it.

But this little

picture tells us, no,

the gospel is a

treasure.

It is priceless.

Remember the

coronation service?

Take this, the most

valuable thing that the

world affords.

The king was given a

Bible.

It's very striking,

isn't it, that there

is nothing more

valuable that I can

share with anyone

else than the good

news of Jesus.

And so pray with me

that we would see the

treasure that we have

and that we would share

it with those around

us.

That the Lord would

fill our hearts

and so we'd open

our mouths.

Let's pray together.

Thank you.