Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father

 

 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.   The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

 

- Matthew 13:36-43 

 

On Saturday, we read that Jesus gave another parable to the crowds, saying:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."  Another parable He spoke to them:  "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."  All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world." 

 

  Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  Jesus gives to the disciples in private the explanation of the parable He told to the crowds, just as He had also done for the parable of the Sower, the first of the parables He began teaching.  See Matthew 13:1-23.  In today's reading, Jesus is explaining to the disciples the parable of the tares of the field, found in Friday's reading.   A note in my study Bible on this parable explains that it builds on the previous parable of the Sower, but here the focus is on the enemy who has sown his seed among the seed (or word) of Christ.  My study Bible says that as falsehood came after truth and false prophets came after the true prophets, so the Antichrist will come after Christ.  Just as the weeds in the parable appear similar to the wheat, so the devil fashions his lies to resemble the truth, as is the case in heresies.  That the devil sows while men slept indicates that heresy and lies creep in when people are apathetic. 

 

Jesus' explanation of the parable of the Wheat and Tares makes it very clear that He speaking about judgment.  As we reviewed in the commentary on the reading in which He first gave the parable (here), there is a type of weed which closely resembles wheat, but it's toxic for human beings.  So, first of all, we could think of the seed as that which grows something; there is a  clear message here about what type of crop is produced.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned His disciples of false prophets to come, in what is a parallel teaching to this parable.  He said, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire" (Matthew 7:15-19).  We can see the parallels, even in the allusion to the trees that don't bear good fruit being thrown into the fire.  But let's think of this important metaphor of Christ that He used so often, about the seeds that spring up into "good" or "bad" plants.  If we take this understanding of the enemy's seeds as lies that mislead and trick people (especially if, like heresies, they bear a resemblance to truth, such as in half-truths), then what we hear from Jesus is how building our lives on lies or partial truths leads to a bad outcome for us as persons, in the wholeness of who we are.  So the foundations of the soul, of real identity, also depend upon how we're nurtured, what we base on own growth upon.  Like plants, human beings are in a constant state of growth or change, one way or another.  We go in one direction or another, and it all depends upon how we're nurtured and what start we give ourselves each day.  In another way of looking at the parable, we might take it that we want to make sure we're ingesting the good wheat (as in the Eucharist), the things that nourish us for our best spiritual health in life, because this determines the growth of the soul.  In light of Christ's strong assurance here of a judgment to come, and the giving of His interpretation of the parable, He asks us yet again to take this quite seriously, because our very lives truly depend upon it.  The growth of the soul in life is something many people find it easy to forget about, given how busy modern life can be.  We find ourselves consumed with cares regarding work, family, keeping our lives and loved ones safe and in good care, our housing, and all manner of things we are constantly demanded to pay attention to.  It's so easy to lose focus on that slow growing, quiet inner life that concerns the state of the soul.  But nevertheless, there it is, and there it always is.  People notice us hardening our hearts; we can get to the place where we don't recognize what we're doing to ourselves in the face of these "necessities" of life.  But Christ has taught us that there is really one thing most needful, one thing most necessary, in the story of Martha and Mary (found here at Luke 10:38-42).  In light of all of His teachings, we can say that when we forget about this most needful thing, our lives are upside down, disordered in terms of what is most necessary for us.  At this time, many of us are gearing up for the period of the holidays, in which we will be bombarded with all the things that seem "necessary" for those holidays.  Black Friday, the time of the great sales in stores in the United States, is already being advertized -- all a part of the rush for things we "need" for the holidays.  But on the contrary, it's the time (in the Northern Hemisphere at any rate) when nature is slowing down, getting ready for the needful rest of winter, the earth's necessary Sabbath.  We should perhaps keep in mind that the holidays we celebrate are "holy days," and the very reason for celebration should not be lost. We give thanks to God for our blessings.  It may be a national holiday, but its roots are in our faith.  Of course, the same is true for the Nativity of our Lord, Christmas.  From the earliest times of the Church, the great and most celebrated holiday was Easter, the commemoration and celebration of Resurrection.  Christmas has been built up into the major holiday it is to a great extent by advertising and sales. We're all encouraged to give, but the hastening of so many things to prepare, to buy, to fix, to show, and all that goes with it, often seems to miss the entire point of the festival and the season.  The little family in Bethlehem, taking refuge in a cave used for farm animals, should serve to remind us that love, joy, grace, and God's glory in the message of the angels are in the midst of all of it, and this is in contrast to the anxieties that are stoked in the ways we celebrate.  It's also in tremendous contrast to the sense of competition and comparison it seems to create.  Many people are lonelier than ever at this time, or perhaps feeling want in the face of all the celebration that others seem to be doing.  With our social media what it is now, this is ever-increasing as studies confirm.  So let us remember, as we go into this "quiet time" toward winter that we need our Sabbath as does the earth and all of creation; and we need to remember God.  Remember the good growth Christ urges us toward, and what we need for the kind of persons He calls us to be, for nurturing that in ourselves and in our families, friends, communities.  Remember anything we have to be grateful for and give thanks to God, remember Christ the infant who would give Himself for the life of the world.   Let us put aside time for the things which are most necessary, so that we may grow into the "good trees" bearing the good fruits Christ desires.  Let us set aside time for the things which are most important and needful of all, and order our priorities His way.  For righteousness is about good order, right relations to ourselves and all else as Christ would order them.  Let us make time for the good seed He sows in us.

 

 

 

 

Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old

 

 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant selling beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. 

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.  So it will be at the end of the age.  The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."  

Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."

 

- Matthew 13:44-52 

 

Presently, we are reading in chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel, the chapter in which Jesus introduces His style of preaching in parables.  After teaching the parable of the Sower (explaining in private to His disciples), then the parables of the Wheat and the Tares, the Mustard Seed, and the Leaven, Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  He answered and said to them:  "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age,  and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

 

  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant selling beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."   These two parables illustrate the priceless nature of God's Kingdom.  My study Bible explains that the parable of the treasure hidden in a field is an illustration of those who unintentionally stumble onto Christ and His Church, but receive Him nonetheless with great eagerness.  The parable of the pearl of great price is an illustration of people who, on the other hand, have been searching in their hearts for Him, and finally find Him and His Church.  The other pearls, it says, represent all the various teachings and philosophies of the world.  These treasures are hidden in the sense that they are neither recognized nor valued by those immersed in worldliness.  In both parables, my study Bible further notes, to receive the treasure requires that everything else must be sold; that is, a person must surrender all things in order to receive Christ (see also Romans 14:11).

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.  So it will be at the end of the age.  The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."   My study Bible describes the image of the fishing net gathering the good and wicked as similar to the parable of the wheat and the tares (in this reading).  But this parable extends the understanding that even those gathered into the Church are subject to judgment.  

Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."  My study Bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom on this passage, who notes that Jesus does not exclude the Old Testament, but is praising it as a treasure.  Those who truly write or speak of the kingdom of heaven will draw from the unity of both new and old Testaments, for both are holy, with the New the fulfillment of the Old.  My study Bible further comments that this is indeed how St. Matthew composed his gospel.  In this Gospel, we will frequently read the words "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken" accompanied by Scripture from the Old Testament. 

It is amazing and illuminating to consider all these treasures that Christ describes, stretching from the period of the Old and through the New Testaments.  If we roughly generalize that time period, the revelation to Abraham is thought to have been approximately 2,000 years before the birth of Christ, and now we are 2,000 years after it.  Of course, the Old Testament does not begin with Abraham, but with the creation of all the universe, and the existence of the God without beginning.  (Let us once again ponder the beginning of John's Gospel, which echoes Genesis 1, but teaches us about the One who makes all things new; see John 1:1-5.)  The Bible as a whole teaches us about the continual intervention of God throughout our worldly history, and God's revelation to us -- which is all of a whole.  It is all a part of the treasure that Christ describes, "old and new" to us.  When we go through periods of life where we feel a great instability, either on a personal scale or a larger one, we should consider this consistent spiritual revelation throughout the history of the world as a reminder that God is always with us, no matter what our experience or what we think we see in a worldly sense.  Moreover, in the context of today's reading, it might give us pause to observe the evolution of our spirituality through the Bible Scriptures, and the history of worship indicated therein and through the Church.  Because while we may hear within our own understanding of time, so often the words and teachings we're given indicate something timeless, and outside of time.  Christ's miracles may be immediate, but this is part of the manifestation of the divine Son as Incarnate Jesus, a "sign" that the kingdom is present to us in that immediate and extraordinary form.  But we should not confuse, for example, the pearl of great price as indicating that its discovery is a kind of once-in-a-lifetime action only.  For the pearls that Christ gives us, the great pearl that is our faith, is something we need to understand as part of that timelessness of God also that runs through time and history in our world:  it continues to give as we continue to evolve in our faith.  The parable expresses the idea that we give all that we have for this pearl of great price, and we must not necessarily confuse that with a one-time choice, but with an action that continues throughout our lives.  As we are human beings in time, our capacity for repentance comes not as an all-at-once learning curve.  On the contrary, the learning curve of the disciples throughout the Gospels is there so that we learn how we grow in our faith, coming to discard what needs to be put aside, and to more deeply embrace what this pearl of great price does in us, and how Christ leads us.  So let us not be discouraged by what seems a tall order, or setbacks, or confusion, or things that seem to contradict what we find in our lives.  For this pearl of great price is the one thing that unites all contradictions, and it is and must be to that pearl, to our treasure, that we turn to find resolution and to continue "asking, seeking, and knocking" (Matthew 7:7).  Indeed, if we know where our treasure is, every obstacle, setback, or seeming contradiction must work to spur us to look "upward" to that place where all contradictions are resolved, to go to prayer, to seek guidance, to go forward in this journey of faith -- just as we see that spiritual journey of God's revelation in the Bible.  We await, as Christ has taught, the end of the age, when all things will be revealed (1 Corinthians 13:12).  But through everything we experience, we are taught to cling to this treasure, old and new, to learn it more deeply, to pray with it, to experience its truths which deliver us more of the same, and hope, and faith.  For this is the journey we are on, the priceless pearl we have been given, if we can receive it.

 

 

The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it

 

 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. 

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.  So it will be at the end of the age.  The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."  Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  

 

Then He said to to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."

 

- Matthew 13:44-52 

 

Yesterday we read that, after telling them more parables, Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

 

  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."  My study Bible explains that the parable of the treasure hidden in a field illustrates people who unintentionally happen upon Christ and His Church, but receive Him with great eagerness.  The parable of the pearl of great price shows those who wee searching in their hearts for Christ, and finally find Him and His Church.  The other pearls are meant to represent all the various teachings and philosophies of the world, it says.  These treasures are hidden in that they are neither recognized nor valued by people immersed in worldliness.  In both parables, to receive the true treasure asks of us that everything else be sold.  That is, a person surrenders all things in order to receive Christ. 

 

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.  So it will be at the end of the age.  The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."  Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."   My study Bible comments on this image of the fishing net gathering the good and wicked together -- noting its similarity to the parable of the wheat and the tares (see yesterday's reading, above).  It explains that this parable further emphasizes that even those gathered into the Church are subject to judgment.  

 

 Then He said to to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."  My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom's commentary here.  St. Chrysostom notes that Jesus does not exclude the Old Testament.  Instead, it is praised here by Christ as a treasure.  Those who truly write or speak of the kingdom of heaven will draw from the unity of both new and old Testaments.  Both are holy, and the New is the fulfillment of the Old.  This is truly how Matthew composed his gospel, my study Bible adds.  We can see this in Matthew's repeated use of the phrase, "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken" (Matthew 1:22; 2:15, 23; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 26:56; 27:35).  

Today's reading asks us to question ourselves, in some sense.  We're asked to question what our own treasure is, or what we think our treasure is.  Christ clearly sets out His own definition of treasure, and that is the kingdom of heaven.  He compares it to a pearl of great price, which is worth selling everything else a person has in order to attain it.  (We have to keep in mind that at Christ's time, pearls had much more value than they do today, as there was no such thing as cultured or farmed pearls -- only natural ones found in the "wild.")   Christ also describes the kingdom of heaven as like treasure hidden in a field, for which a man for joy went and sold all that he had in order to purchase the field.  So clearly He is teaching us that the kingdom of heaven is worth everything else in life, in terms of what we value or how highly we esteem something we may have.  But also contained with these parables about great beauty and great joy and real treasure is also another parable about judgment:  the dragnet that will catch everything at the end of the age, and -- once again, as in yesterday's reading, above -- about the angels who will come and separate out the good and the bad, the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth is a phrase denoting judgment.  So while we have this great and tremendous treasure, of joy and beauty and incomparable, nearly immeasurable price, we also have judgment, and "wailing and gnashing of teeth."  In Jesus' teaching and in His parables we've read in this chapter, those two things come together as part of the teachings He presents.  Somehow, the text insists, you don't get one without the other.  Many of us take great joy in this treasure that surpasses all others, in the pearl of great price.  There is so much beauty that can be seen in the Church, and rightfully so -- and there is beauty in the personal prayer in which we discover God's all-encompassing love, and the compassion of Christ and the saints.  But judgment is not something any of us is happy pondering, and moreover it's in a category of mystery that we can't know the answers to.  We don't know the secrets of judgment, but we're given today's parable (and the earlier parable of the wheat and the tares in yesterday's reading) in order to affirm that there will be a judgment, and to make certain that we are aware of this.  It is a reminder that gifts come from God with a great deal of spiritual power attached to them.  It is our refusal of that gift that is the cause for judgment.  We often think of judgment as punishment, but this isn't really the picture presented here.  Although "wailing and gnashing of teeth" presents us with a certain picture of suffering, that suffering is the result of a failure to grasp this kingdom and embrace it and treasure it.  That failure becomes one of not cherishing what we're given, and not holding it as precious as it truly is.  It's a lack of something due to our own neglect of a priceless treasure in our midst that is offered to us, and so we become part of what is discarded from that dragnet and not kept.  If anything, Christ's parables of judgment are meant to get us to regard what He offers with all seriousness, and not to take lightly what are gifts of God, a revelation of covenant.  In the Old Testament, the Law given by Moses also includes statements of judgment, of what will happen if Israel abandons her covenant with God.  But again, these may seem like punishments, while in reality they are the spiritual consequences of the rejection of such gifts.  Will we accept Christ's treasure, and value it in accordance with its true value?  How does this treasure play a role in your life?  Do you make sacrifices to keep hold of it, to cherish it?  This is the true value of the kingdom of heaven, a treasure which consists of things both old and new.  Let us not neglect our pearl of great price. 

 

 

Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father

 

 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears, let him hear!"

 

- Matthew 13:36-43 

 

In chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus has introduced parables in His preaching to the multitudes (beginning with the reading from Tuesday last week).  He taught the parable of the Sower, then gave an explanation for why He speaks in parables to the disciples, as well as an explanation of the parable of the Sower.  Then He taught the parable of the Wheat and the Tares.  On Saturday, Jesus taught the parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven, saying:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."  Another parable He spoke to them:  "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."  All of these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world."

 

 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears, let him hear!"  In the reading from Friday, we reported my study Bible's lengthy note on this parable.  One thing we can note clearly about this parable is the way Jesus refers to seeds as that which produce the ultimate fruits that identify what kind of plant grows.  That is, since He explains this as a parable about human beings, we understand sons here to refer to the children, or fruits, that spring from the seed.  What that implies for each one of us is that whichever kind of "seed" we allow to be planted within ourselves (that is, in Scriptural language, the ground of the heart), what is produced for us becomes identity.  If the "bad seed" is implanted in ourselves, we grow to become sons of the wicked one, in Jesus' language.  The good seeds of the Son of Man grow sons of the kingdom.  We are ultimately malleable, in Jesus' imagery, and what we take in determines who we become.  Let us be aware that the language implies inheritance, and those who are members of a particular house:  sons is meant for all of us, of any gender, as it gives us a sense of identity or name of a house to which we belong and which we carry with ourselves.  The idea of identity is similar to what we find in the teaching of St. Paul on sexual immorality.  Just as Jesus says here that the seed we take in and harbor determines whether we are sons of the kingdom or sons of the wicked one, so St. Paul teaches that with what or whom we associate in the body also creates identity for us (see 1 Corinthians 6:12-20).   In this context, we must recognize that we are united with Christ in Baptism.  So there is a sense of the plasticity or malleability of identity that is important in these teachings.  Our identity is not rooted in some permanent sort of fixture that never changes, and neither should our sense of inheritance be so either.  The Gospels stress repeatedly that it is not enough to be descended from illustrious forbears to take on the identity of those righteous people; what is essential is that we be like them, we do as they did.  Using similar imagery from agriculture, John the Baptist preached to the multitudes:  "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  In our modern lives there is a great deal of emphasis and interest in ancestry and genetic codes.  This gives us a type of orientation that would seem to imply that identity is not malleable or changeable, but fixed.  But in the viewpoint of Scripture, even the body is subject to that with which we interact, the things with which we choose to feed ourselves, whether we speak of something physical, emotional, spiritual, mental.  We need to understand that what we choose to dwell upon or spend time upon can become a part of identity, forming and shaping the self.  What we choose to admire or idolize makes a difference.  Let us take seriously this repeated understanding that we grow to be "like" that with which we feed ourselves, what we take in and focus on, and consider how a garden or farm needs constant work, pruning, uprooting of what we don't want, and vigilance to remain in its most beautiful and healthy state.  

 

 

 

Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field

Trinity or The Hospitality of Abraham by Andrei Rublev.  1411 or 1425-27.  Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

- Matthew 13:36-43

We have been reading through chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel, in which Jesus begins to preach in parables.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus taught:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."  Another parable He spoke to them:  "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."  All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world."

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."  He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  Jesus taught this parable of the wheat and the tares in the reading for Friday of last week.   It built upon the parable of the sower, the first parable given by Christ.  In chapter 13, Jesus is teaching in this new way, now that the crowds are so large there are many who come simply from curiosity, because His ministry has reached such proportions and is so well known.  But in private, He explains the parables to His disciples.  First He explained why He was teaching in parables, and then He explained the parable of the sower to them.  Here in today's reading, He explains in private this second parable given, that of the wheat and the tares, in which the tares are weeds that resemble the wheat, but which fool the eye, as they are not edible nor nourishing as the wheat.

If we think about wheat, we get an important image for the Gospels.  This is the image of the Eucharist, as the Eucharist is fashioned from wheat -- through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, traditional faith teaches us that Christ is present for us in the Eucharist.  Communion, then, is an image of the Incarnation of Christ, in which the divine Son becomes incarnate human being as Jesus, and walks among us to give us the word.  Many early Church Fathers have given us the understanding that the Incarnation itself happened so that God could make the offer to us that we might become more "like God."  St. Clement of Alexandria writes, "Yea, I say, the Word of God became a man so that you might learn from a man how to become a god" (Exhortation to the Greeks, 1).  So prevalent was this understanding among the early Fathers of the Church, that it forms the very foundation of the Councils that were to come, and thus the basis for our faith.  In the image of the wheat and weeds, Jesus gives us a prefiguring sense of the importance of the word He brings, and in its explanation to the disciples He emphasizes the difference between those who would be sons of the kingdom and those who would be sons of the evil one.  Both grow together in our world, and this is the state of the world.  But in this parable He gives us an image of the final judgment, what is important to God, and the manifestation of the Kingdom.  There is a discernment to be made, a judgment which will come at the end of the age, a lifetime to walk a walk in which we attempt to find true communion with Christ through His word, and be a "son of the kingdom."  The end of the age is an eschatological image which is simply too far away for us to really comprehend or even know what it is about or will look like.  But nevertheless, Jesus introduces the disciples (and us) to this understanding for a reason.  He gives us not simply a choice, but a path, a "way." (When Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" in John 14:6, that word for way in Greek also means "road.")   In this parable and its explanation, Jesus is giving us a sense of the great difference the interior choice and orientation makes, whether our communion is with God through Christ, so that we may become more "God-like" as "sons [meaning heirs] of the kingdom" or whether we are separate from such a true path.  All the value and worth, as given in the images in this parable, is in being that good wheat, that which will form this communion with God, and grow us as children of the kingdom.  That which we love, that with which we seek union, is that which we will become.  This is a clear and consistent understanding of the teachings of Christ.  While the day of judgment and the end of the age may be things so far away from us that we are not even capable of imagining or fully understanding them, nevertheless our present lives in the here and the now have meaning.  Every little step, the internal choices we make, are important enough to Christ that He would give us this parable and its vivid imagery to think about.  What do we love?  Do we take His word into our hearts?  Does Communion as a concept mean something to you?  In the image of the Eucharist, do you find the food that encourages you to "take in" His seed and to become more like Him, a "son of the kingdom"?  Each of these images brings us closer to the understanding that what it is we love in our hearts forms a kind of orientation and choice that may be a basis for every other thing we choose.  We can always stop to pray for God's will for us.  We can always pause to consider our love for God and remembrance of God.  We can honor God with love in our hearts.  We can learn to live, in the simplest moment, in a way that honors this choice in the heart, this basic orientation of identity.  The way that Jesus puts it, it little matters what everyone else is doing all around us, what we find that will distract us from this orientation, and all the ways that others don't necessarily care anything at all about it.  Nevertheless, we are assured through His interpretation of the parable that the small cares of the heart do indeed make a great deal of difference -- in fact, all of the difference to Him and to the angels of heaven, the kingdom He plans.  What we need to understand from the parable is that this end of the age which Jesus foresees is made up of the small moments of our lives.   Each moment may seem insignificant, even our lives may seem so.  We might be frequently tempted to ask what difference our particular lives make, unless we're convinced we're "important" in some worldly sense.  But it is not so to Christ, for the good wheat is that very thing which will make up His kingdom.  When we're tempted to think our momentary choices don't matter, let us remember this parable and the love that He asks us to return.  It is in that communion that His kingdom is built, His word or seed takes root, and upon which even the end of the age will rest.   We may stop to wonder why the Gospel gives us the explanation of this parable after Jesus has told two more (see Saturday's reading, above), the parable of the mustard seed and that of the leaven.  In the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus teaches about the tiniest seed that grows into a tree which harbors "birds of the air," an image of angels.  The icon above is an image of the hospitality of Abraham, in which he "entertained angels unawares" (Hebrews 13:1-2).   This is also known as an icon, or image, of the Holy Trinity.  The story of Abraham, too, is a story of judgment and the action of angels, a teaching about intercession, of small acts of hospitality, and of the power of even a single faithful person (see Genesis 18).  Angels figure in today's reading prominently, as those who will reap the harvest at the end of the age.  Let us understand the power of the smallest choice in the "smallest" of lives, which may truly harbor angels "unawares."  It does indeed, in the images of Christ and the teachings of Scripture, make a great deal of difference -- all the difference in the world.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field

 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.  So it will be at the end of the age.  The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." 

- Matthew 13:44-52

Yesterday we read that, after preaching several parables to the crowd, Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.  And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."   He answered and said to them:  "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."  My study bible says that this parable of the treasure hidden in a field illustrates those who unintentionally stumble onto Christ and His Church, but yet receive Him with great eagerness.  The parable of the pearl of great price, it says, illustrates those who have been searching in their hearts for Him and finally find Him and His Church.  The other pearls represent all the various teachings and philosophies of the world.  These treasures are hidden in that they are neither recognized nor valued by those immersed in worldliness.  In both parables, receiving the treasure requires that everything else is sold -- that is, a person must surrender all things in order to receive Christ.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.  So it will be at the end of the age.  The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."  This image of the fishing net which gathers good and wicked together is like the parable of the wheat and the tares (see Jesus' explanation of that parable from yesterday's reading, above, and also His telling of the parable in this reading).  My study bible adds that this parable further emphasizes that even those gathered in the Church are subject to judgment.

Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."  My study bible cites St. John Chrysostom, who notes that Jesus does not exclude the Old Testament, but rather praises it as a treasure.  Those who truly write or speak of the kingdom of heaven will draw from the unity of the new and old Testaments.  Both are holy and inspired, the New being a fulfillment of the Old.   My study bible notes that this is indeed how Matthew composed his gospel, as the text repeatedly uses the phrase "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken" (2:15, 23; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 26:56; 27:35).

Jesus uses the image of a field in today's first parable given in the reading.  In modern language, we use the word "field" to describe many things.  Particularly in the language of physics and the study of our world and how it's put together, "field" has come to be used to indicate levels of reality.  That is, we speak, for example, of magnetic fields at work in the universe.  The theory regarding the unification of all such "fields" or layers of reality is called "Unified Field Theory."  In some sense, we can think of the kingdom of heaven as a field, one which intersects our lives in all manner of fashion.  The experience of this Kingdom is like a field in which this great treasure, beyond all former understanding and comparison, is hidden.  We need to experience this to know it, to perceive it.  Once we have even a glimpse of this treasure for ourselves, the whole field becomes something we wish for ourselves.    We can compare it to the event of Christ's Incarnation into our world, and His saving ministry -- with its saving act of death on the Cross and Resurrection -- as a field of eternity that enters into the center of our history and impacts and intersects what we know in every possible way.   He brings with Him this pearl of great price, that changes all the values we have by the impact of its presence and our understanding of it.  Simply its existence transforms everything else by comparison to its beauty and incalculable worth.  (Let us remember that at Jesus' time, there was no such thing as a cultured pearl.  All pearls were natural, formed purely of nacre -- giving us an image of rare and extraordinary wealth, and at the same time a concept of purity, being of the same substance from the inside to the outside.)   In His example of the dragnet, Jesus once again invites us to understand that our participation in this Kingdom, and our association with it, also gives us reflection of that treasure and value in ourselves.  This shows in qualities like goodness and righteousness, a love of the truth and beauty that are part of the treasure, a heartfelt desire for the absolute good that is present within it.  Every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is therefore one who understands that this "field" of the Kingdom is one that intersects our lives on any number of levels, and throughout time.  It is in the writings and experience of the prophets and those who were capable of participation in this Kingdom, no matter how partial their understanding of Christ to come.  It is in all the saints, known and unknown to us, who have lived or will live in our world.  Recently, the Church celebrated All Saints Day.  Actually, in many traditions, "all saints" are celebrated on many occasions throughout the year.  These saints are people who love God with a devotion that is inspiring and beautiful.  They form points of treasure in our world, if you will.  Through them the Kingdom also intersects our world, bringing us beauty and light not found elsewhere.  These are not simply celebrated individuals, but also countless others whom we don't know and can't name.  To participate in this Kingdom, this great pearl of unsurpassed beauty, is to share in the light and worth that saints bring to life and share with our world -- the glory of spiritual beauty being something like the sheen of a pure pearl.  In this Kingdom, time and space create no barrier nor limit -- all that reflects it is of great value, as treasure in our lives.  It is, indeed, the field can unify through all things.  Let us draw upon it, even with every breath of life, and allow it to change who we are and how we see that we, too, can bring beauty to the world (5:14-16).

Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

- Matthew 13:36-43

In recent readings, we have been exploring Jesus' ministry of teaching the crowds in parables. If we were to take this week's readings in context, we must first start with two readings of awhile back: The Parable of the Sower, and Therefore hear the parable of the sower. This week, we read the readings that follow, beginning with Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares? In the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, Jesus told a story of the sower who planted good seed of wheat, so that it began to sprout and grow a crop. But while all men were asleep, an enemy came and sowed tares or weeds, so that they were all growing together. The man told his servants not to gather the tares, lest they disturb the good crop. But at the harvest time, he will say to the reapers: "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." In yesterday's reading, Jesus told two more parables about the kingdom: the parable of the mustard seed that grows into a large tree, so that even the birds of the air build their nests in it, and the parable of the leaven -- hidden in three measures of meal until all was leavened. The Gospel tells us: All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables, and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world."

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." As with the parable of the Sower, Jesus' disciples come to Him later, in private, away from the multitudes to whom He preached, and they ask Him to explain it to them. This teaches us that although the parables invite us in to hear and to understand, it is not certain that we all simply have all the answers. Instead, they engage us. It is important that we understand that Mystery invites us in; the mysteries of the Kingdom are those that welcome us, start us on a road, His Way -- and into engagement with Him, the Teacher.

He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one." Once again, as we discussed in the previous reading in which Jesus gave this parable to the crowds, we are confronted with a world in which good and evil live side by side. Those who choose for the kingdom, and those who do not - who may be, in fact "sons of the wicked one"- live side by side. This is the state of the world; sometimes the differences are subtle. The tares resemble the wheat.

"The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age." This gives us a sense of time and the evolution of the world. As we live side by side with good and evil with subtle and perhaps hard to detect differences, we are in a time when all grows together. And we have time. Judgment is at the end of the age, the end of the age inaugurated by the Incarnation, in which we still live. All still grows together, and we are called upon at all times to make choices, to accept the good seed, or perhaps that which chokes it or mimics it. We are called to discern, to make good choices to treasure what is good in ourselves and in our hearts. But Judgment is clearly in the hands of God and God's angels, and that is at the end of the age.

"Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" We really don't know when this will be or what it will be like. The Judgment itself is a mystery in the hands of God, of Christ. All we know is that we live in the present age, in which all grow side by side, and in which we are called to be discerning, to "have ears to hear!" We make choices, and hopefully learn, grow, produce the fruits of spiritual choice. But there are two promises here -- that the tares, the counterfeit that resembles the good crop, will somehow perish. There are many ways of thinking of fire. The Holy Spirit also appears as fire in Scripture. Fire is fully oxidizing (see the parable of the leaven in yesterday's reading), it is purifying -- it will burn that which cannot withstands its energies. In a fire test, it is the pure gold that remains and "shines forth as the sun." Let us consider, then, what we truly treasure, the things with which we identify and from which we take our identity, that remain within us as a part of us -- and think of life as lived in a kind of fire, a kind of testing in this age, and the fire of the Spirit that calls to us for response.

We don't really know what "hell" is necessarily. Some profound Christian writers have taught that hell is a state of mind. We can't practice this Judgment ourselves; that is reserved for Christ and comes at the end of this age. When asked by His disciples, even He said He did not know when that time would come; this is a part of the great mystery of the Kingdom, in the hands of the Father. But if we think about fire as an energy of the Spirit (as in the burning bush that was not consumed), then we can think of the time in which we now live and make choices as a time of testing by the fire of the Holy Spirit. Are we going to be like the Spirit? Will we become like that which can withstand this fire, the pure gold that is tested in a furnace of fire? Is it this that we will treasure in our hearts? Or is it the counterfeit, the fool's gold, the lead we carry with us in life? Let us not be like the tares that will be consumed in the fire, let us take our choices seriously. Let us have ears to hear! Let us make a commitment, and find His Way.

The pearl of great price

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old."

- Matthew 13:44-52

In Matthew's 13th chapter, Jesus has been giving us parables to teach about the nature of his kingdom, and the gospel that he proclaims. Here, he continues with more - after having given us the parables of the Sower (Why do you speak to them in parables? and Therefore hear the parable of the sower), of the Wheat and the Tares (and its explanation here), and the Mustard Seed and the Leaven.

Today's parables continue with a different theme (as opposed to sowing and harvesting). We begin with themes of treasure and value, and it continues into an understanding of judgment and its nature.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it." My study bible notes, "The Kingdom of God is compared to an earthly treasure and a costly pearl (v. 46). The driving desire of men for wealth pictures the desire of the soul for heavenly riches. The jewel is described as hidden because it requires faith and perseverance to discover it." When we seek faith, the thing that feeds the soul, there is nothing more important, nothing to compare to this need, this hunger, that is within us for spiritual food. It is the priceless reality for which there is no substitute. We put the kingdom first. In this sense, the kingdom is illustrated through these parables in the same way that Jesus answered the scribe's question about the greatest commandments. The first greatest commandment, Jesus replied, was "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." So it is with this pearl, and this treasure. It is greater than all else, and asks of us the dedication of such value. But the parable is more than a commandment - it teaches us about our own nature and our need for this kingdom, the spiritual food that our souls seek. There is something we truly need, and when we open up to that hunger within ourselves we understand that nothing is too great to sacrifice for this fulfillment. We are creatures made for worship, and only the good food for the soul will fill that need properly and well. We will have this need for this divine relationship, but we seek to fill it with many things. The pearl of great price is that which we seek in truth, which fills truly our need.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." My study bible notes here: "The Kingdom is compared to a fishing net which gathers the good and the wicked, an image similar to that of the parable of the tares (v. 36-43). The point is that the final judgment will finally disclose and separate the wicked from the righteous." An interesting juxtaposition here: of the parables of the great treasure and the pearl of great price, with the story of the dragnet of the kingdom that is searching for its own great treasures and will leave behind that which is not desired. We understand that the Kingdom also seeks its own, that which it is like. It seeks the treasure of the just and the righteous for itself. It will discard that which is not like itself: that which is unjust, unrighteous; in the words of the gospel translation, "the wicked."

In the search for those who will believe, this dragnet will catch all. Similar to the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, as my study bible points out, this net may catch all sorts. We are taught about the treasure and the pearl of great price to understand the value of this kingdom. We are also given the understanding that this net of the kingdom will catch all and sundry, all those who are attracted to it. But, as in the teachings of the Beatitudes, it is that which is in the heart which will bear the truth of righteousness - of that which is like itself. In the explanation of the Wheat and the Tares, these are the "sons of the kingdom." Discerning these parables, we get a sense of like which calls like: God's image is also sought by the Divine in those for whom this kingdom is truly that pearl of great price. The great dragnet is a search for those who will love God - not with the outward form alone, as hypocrites, but with the heart of love. Love seeks its own, that which is capable of such love, for whom this is the great treasure.

Elsewhere (in the Sermon on the Mount), Jesus has taught that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (see "No one can serve two masters"). We are to understand that our treasure is what we love, and by it is defined the heart, what is truly within us, the center of our souls and our consciousness. This is a teaching on what we value, an extension of his teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. But with the introduction of the subject of judgment, we are given a taste also of the nature of our Father and the kingdom. God also seeks that which is like God, the kingdom seeks its own children. We become children by adoption, by love. Only it is not just our Father that chooses, it is we also who make our choices deep within ourselves about what we love, what we value, what we then become by participation in that love. At all times this door is open, grace is offered. We have but to choose that which we value to become the sons of the kingdom, "like God" ("Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.") I find a great consistency in these teachings, and an interesting organization in Matthew's gospel. First we have the great teachings from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus teaches specifically and with great explanation his ideas of the kingdom, the nature of love and how we become "like God." But in these parables, there are vivid word-pictures that teach us the nature of all of this working, and how it works in us. In today's reading, we are given this picture of the great desire for the "one thing necessary." My study bible has it right when it points out that "the driving desire of men for wealth pictures the desire of the soul for heavenly riches." And it also fits with the concept of judgment, and that which is cast into the furnace. As before, we explore the concept of the holy fire. I believe it is that which burns away that which we need to cast off within ourselves, which we are better off without, as in Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount: see If your right eye causes you to sin. Nothing is too great a sacrifice for this treasure. What we love becomes a part of us, we become a part of it. Everything else that does not participate in the righteousness of the kingdom we are better off without; we practice repentance by discarding that which does not make us "like God" - "as our Father in heaven is perfect." Which do you choose? What do you love? Where is your treasure and your pearl of great price?

Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." My study bible notes on this passage that Jesus did not reject the Old Testament, but called it treasure. What we understand here is the reality of the present gospel, that does not reject the old but transforms it through new value and the new perspective that is gained therein. What will you treasure, therefore? How does it color where you have been and what you have known? Going back once again to the Sermon on the Mount, Christ's words illuminate what he told his disciples at that time, that he came not to destroy but to fulfill. How do these parables help you to fill out what you know, and to teach about what is written on the heart?